Evening journal., 1891-07-15
SAFE IN PORT AT LAST.
Arrival of the Leary Raft al
u,,.... New York.
A vER1TABLE FOREST AFLoAT

The Strange Craft Consisted Of 10000
Sticks of Timber. Many weighing Three
wons Eaoh-rhere Were $500 900 Foe,
ST Lumber In the Great Tow.
NEW YORK, July i5.--Leary's big timber
raft from New Brunswick, commercially
known as Learys raft No 6. anchored of
Riker's island, Flushing bay, at a. m
Later it was broken into three sectioni
and towed through HEX Gate to Whale
creek, tributary of Newtown creek Ths
raft was built at Hart's lake, N. b.. and Il
the largest and longest of the kind ever
sent to sea- The raft left st. Johns har
Dor June 20, and was towed from there "a
Flushing bay by the tugs Ocean King ano
Louis Luckenbach In shape il Is like Its
predecessors but several hundred feel
longer than the famous Joggins raft lost
at sea in December, 1887, and which foi
months drifted about the ocean, con
stant menace to vessels. Its length is 1.sO
feet and the distance from the tugs to the
rear end Of the last section was g. 800 feet.
How the Raft Was Built.
In towing the sections were separate
ten feet. There were alxteen sections OF
cigar shaped cribs averaging ifty-hv
feet in length, forty feet in thickness
laterally, and nineteen feet in height Ths
raft contains some IL, 900 pieces or sticks
sssat spruce and pine timber from forty fiva
seventy feet in length, together with
I. quantity Of beech, birch and maple
great ~aking total Of s.5OO,OO0 feet
timber, IL y Of the sticks runs from
The diamete. thirty-hve inches at thu
twelve inches TO ~ebes 10 ten inches al
butts and from six H. largest sticks Of
the points. Some Of tn, ~yse tons each.
Norway pine weigh about T. eft 10 It's
The estimated cost OF the city, is |
owner, James ID. Leary, of this @it
$4,000 The contract price for towins
20 Whale creek was "a 900 exclusive OF the
cost OF the hawsers Its value Is estimated
at $4,000.
About a Thousand Carloads.
In rough figures the quantity Of timber
contained in the raft is reckoned at fifty
schoonarloads or 900 carloads Owing to
bad weather and fog the progress Of the
tow was slow. The most serious trouble
occurred Sunday, June 28, ten miles out
side Of Bar Harbor. The sea- began to rise
and breaker upon breaker fell violently
upon the raft. The man whose duty II
was to light the lamps swinging from the
tripods on the raft could not perform his
task.
Thirteen Of the cribs parted aud were
tossed about as though made Of cork.
Fortunately the gale and high aid not |
continue, the parted section was ~ecover- 1
ed and after delay Of two days the raft |
resumed its course.
The Strange Crafts speed.
There were eleven days Of actual towing
and the average speed attained against
head tides was one mile an hour, and with
fa{r tldek about three and one-half miles
an hour. The building Of the great raft
was begun in the ST. John river ..~svvoen
St John and Frederict~a oct. (, 1890, and
was sognnr,ll.-.sesu N Nay last The cribs
wxts BUILT on The ice about Georgetown.
Each crib has strong chain laid length
wise In the center Of the timber, the whole
being firmly secured on the outside by
binders Of heavy wire rigging.
Under and around each crib is a 'ksihch
chain with a half-hitch over tho top and
at the middle OF each crib, tie chain also
stretched from crib to CRIB, thus giving
longitudinal strength and providing pre-.
ventive against concussion. The cribs are
coupled together much the same as a rail
way tram. ana the Wnole STRUCTURE was SO
designed that in case OF necessity one sec
tion could have been cut adrift without
losing the whole.
Gvictory for Lnmbermen.
One hundred men and fifty horses were
employed in the work OF cutting and trans
porting the tiinbers from tho forests to the
'cribbing ground" Temporary frames
were built Of four sills with posts mortised
into them and securely braced The logs
were slid on skids into the frames, and
after being secured the frames were taken
down.
The object Of bringing timber to New
York In this manner is to get the longest
and largest logs here, since vessels trading
in Nova Scotia cannot bring sticks exceed.
ing sixty-five feet ia length Those OF
greater length come from Michigan and
Ohio by rail, which is expensive transpor
tation, as three or four cars are necessary
20 carry them. The present raft has beer
brought here by Mr.. Leary for his owr
use in ship building and in the construc
tion Of docks and piers.
"Our unqualified success in bringing I,
New York the biggest raft ever floatet
without losing a stick, said Mr.. jane
Murray, the constructor OF the raft, "wil
cause a revolution IN the methods of trans
porting lumber shall look forward Il
the day not far distant when lumber shall
be towed from the north shores OF New
Brunswick 10 Liverpool"