Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1889-08-12
ALOGMAN ROMANCE
&c Marries the Maiden Who
Saved Him from the Flood.
on &c gwOLLEN susQUEHANEA

Noble Mary Yerger Braves the Treacher-
Gus carrent IN Fram skin and Res
cues the Logman from Certain Death.
How Pig TIioted Through the Flood.
Disputes Over the Recovery Of Will
iamsport Logs
HARRISBURG, Aug. 12.--John Prov
ley, young fisherman whose good ma
tured habits have made him popular for
many miles along the Susquehanna
river, walked into The Perry county
court house the other day and asked for
q marriage license. His face was not 50
brown that ii did not betray his bushes
when he announced the name of his
prospective bride, but it was not because
she bad ever been guilty Of a wrongdo-
ing that he flushed. The girl was Mary
4erger, and he was very proud OF her.
They had lived within ten miles Of each
other for years. but il was not until the
recent great flood in Pennsylvania that
they were brought to an acquaintance.
The Log Catcher.
Johr Is a carpenters son, and he i'm
dustfiously aided his father 10 provide
for a larae family by fishing and pilot
ing fishing parties from the big towns
around the river. Most of his time was
spent along the Susquehanna, near which
his parents lived
When the June flood came, people
from oil parts Of the country hurried to
the river to see the sights. Mary Yerger
and boy, son OF the farmer with whom
she lived, loitercd on the waters edge
until dusk of the day when the water
hi ~ Esaxny
sons had tarried so long. but she and the
boy forgot the time while looking out
on the swift waters at boom log
catcher. He was standing in frail
skin, hooking the big hooms with long
pole and towing them TO land on the OPP
posite side of the river. Boom after
boom was thus secured, and he operated
with such vigorous regularity that il
seemed his strength would soon be ex-
hausted.
Overwhelmed by tho Current.
He had just landed one Of unusual
size which took all his strength and
Mary thought he would rest while be-
fore going out into the troublesome
waters again But he didn't, and wip-
ing the Precipitation from his brow with
Il part OF his torn shirt sleeve. he quickly
rowed out and was headed toward a
large walnut log. Before he reached the
coveted prize his boat had been caught
between q mass OF the booms, which
ground 1t to pieces like thing of glass.
He escaped most miraculously from in
stant death by climbing over the logs
and reaching the water. He tried to
swim for the shore, but 1t was plainly
seen that he was too much overcome to
ret even half the distance. The current
was swift, and he was beginning TO SO
down with it,
The nKaldon to the Rescue.
Mary Yerger knew that he would
drown unless she saved him, for nobody
else was in sight. 1t was a perilous at
tempt, but She did not hesitate. She
was not the kind of q woman to see
human life thus sacrificed without at
least an effort to rescue, and with al
most superhuman strength she dragged
into the water a rowboat that had been
pulled up on elevated ground safe from
the rising water. When she reached
the man he was SO nearly exhausted that
lie could not climb into the boat without
her assistance.
1t was with proud satisfaction that
John related this circumstance while the
clerk was filling out his marriage liz
cense. John and Mary are married
now, and they expect to get pretty
good start toward housekeeping when
tho Lumbernens exchange Of Williams
port pays for the logs which John
caught.
Prosaic Facts About Ipgs.
Two hundred million feet OF these huge
boom LOGS are now lying along the banks
and are covering the islands of the river
from Williamsport to the Chesapeake
bay. Each log contains the private
- - n~aA -
exchange have been out since the high
water receded identify ing them and tax
ing account of stock. The "Algerinesm
and those on whose land the logs lodged
when the flood went down. are holding
them for the salvage money which an
old state law allows. In the courts of
all the counties bordering ON the river
the Lumhermans exchange has entered
suits against the persons to recover their
properly upon the payment of ten cents
Tor each log, but the "Algerinesn are
making a hard fight against the ex-
change. on the ground that the law gives
them authority to claim fifty cents In
ono Of the counties 10 log catchers are
included IN one proceeding. aud they
have engaged all the lawyers in that
county to defend them. In some OF the
counties the exchange has made AMIGA
bic settlements, and portable saw mills
are now going up at different places
along the river to cut the logs into
lumber.
"Reminiscences Of the Flood.
Il was novel sight when the logs
came down the river. and they caused
untold destruction in their passage
They carried with them bridges fences,
houses and barns. and many Of the large
island farms were SO completely covered
with the piles OF legs that one could
not touch his foot on.a spot Of ground.
The owners marks are branded on them
IS they are on Mexican ponies and on
the ranchmens cattle.
On Monday following the Saturday
when the food was at its height and
after the bridges had been swept away.
two big logs came down the river, un-