St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-07-23
MISCELLANY.
THE -LEARY RAFT.

A fter n eventful voyage of 16 days,
lie big Leary raft, which left ST.
ohn June % in tow of the tug Ocean
ing, was safely landed at Leasy's
y sin in Whale creek, an arm of New
wn creek near New York, July IA,
Without the loss of single stick.
This is the largest timber raft which
Ter attempted an ocean voyage. 1t
Ecntains timber enough to build
mall village 1t was built in sec
IONS. Each section is about so feet
ong, 40 feet wide and 16 feet deep.
Ehere were 16 sections in all, and
were linked together with great
ron chains The raft contained
6bout % ZOO feet of timber, or 8 800
100 feet of lumber. 1t would have
Lii on the ocean the tow was 1000
let long.
81 The raft left ST. John in tow of the
Ocean King. When some distance
81 ut it was joined by the tug Edgar
ii. Luckenbach. Both are powerful
ocean tugs.
ri The towing was done with nine-inch
|hemp hawsers. Each tug had two
Ia these hawsers attached to the raft
and kept about $50 fathoms ahead
of the tow. 1t was an unwieldy
I'D ass, but the tugs made an average
[of two and half miles al hour.
II The tugs encountered severe
|storm off Mt Desert, and they put
|fpr Bar Harbor. Before they reach
ed shelter, however, the raft parted
and 10 sections drifted away.
81 The Ocean King started in pursuit
|of the drifting sections, while the
81 uckenbach moved on towards Bar
|Harbor with the other three sections.
The Ocean King lowered about the
Il runaway sections until the storm
"a bated, and then got a line aboard
and towed them safely into Bar Har-
Dor Here the tugs remained three
days patching up the raft.
Fl On the arrival at Flushing bay the
+ taft was divided in three parts. The
Ocean King took six sections, the
Iuckenbach six, and the Scandina
kVian the remaining four. Then there
were the tugs Henry P. Crawford,
alpha, Evir, Active and Imperasor,
which assisted in bringing the raft
hown the river. The smaller tugs
acted as rudders to the divisions.
HThev had ropes fastened to the rear
of each tow, keeping the raft straight
tened out on it's windings down the
East river 1t was a formidable fleet,
and the river craft gave it a wide
berth. 1t took several hours to get
the raft into Whale creek This was
the most successful venture in raft
Building and towing ever made by
MIR. Leary.
This raft is truly a wonder; for
nothing of its kind, of such enormous
size, has ever been ventured upon an
ocean before. 1t is made up of rough
logs, or piles, committed to the wa
ter just as they were cut and trim
med in the woods, secured together
in sections, and the sections after
ward united in one great raft This
raft is eleven hundred feet long; has
sixteen sections, each fifty-five feet
long, forty feet wide and seventeen
feet deep. The raft draws thirteen
feet of water, and is tOwed by two of
the most powerful steam tugs. 1t is
1agrer than all the Leary RATS here
tofore despatched put together. 1t
contains upwards of 100000 feet
of lumber, board measure. 1t is
harder to manage than a string of
army mules a mile long. and some
times as eccentric in it's behavior.
When the sea rolls, its sections undu-
{ late and twist and comfort them
selves like the folds of an enormously
magnified sea-serpent. The crests of
the waves dash against their sides
and fly in great volume of spray
against and over them.