The Colfax chronicle., 1892-01-02
AN ADVENTURE.

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Terrible Experience OF Two Boys
In Hurricane.
Large rivers, the sides of which for
score of miles back are covered with
spruce and pine forests. come rolling
here and there into what are known as
the Great Lakes of North America.
In winter scores Of thousands of men
are busy in these forests, cutting down,
hauling and squaring trees; and to-
ward the spring. when the warm sun,
the rains and the melting snow in sthe
woods burst the icebound streams, the
woodmen roll the logs and timber in
to the rushing water, by which they
are borne down to the lakes
At the mouth of one OF these streams
was large boom constructed of joints
of timber fastened together at the ends
with short pieces of chain; into this the
logs and the timbers swung as they
were volleyed out Of the river.
Old Ike Rogers and his two sons,
Albert and Frank, had spent several
days in tine middle of May picking out
all the logs that had upon them two
crosses, which was the mark of their
property. They had sharp, steel
spikes in their boots. which enabled
them to stand upon the timber and
logs; and they pulled ont each piece
from among the scores of others of
different marks with their pointed
iron peevys, dragging them out to the
clear water and putting them in raft
joints
The joint of raft is constructed of
three tiers of logs or timber from
twelve to twenty-four in row, each
tier being placed across the one below
II. The corners are held together by
a heavy wooden peg. and the joints are
fastened together in any number by
means Of bnom poles, till the raft is
made as large as is necessary.
When the wind favors, the raft is cut
loose from its moorings, two or three
sails are hoisted upon it, and it is head
ed out into the lake for the sawmills.
have known some of these RATS to be
IN acre in area, having house built
on the top. where the raftmen sleep
and do their cooking.
When the raft about which am to
relate this story was ready for sailing,
Old Ike set out for the nearest country
store to buy q couple of pairs of
blankets for the voyage, as it is very
cool on these northern lakes in May.
As It was dead calm when he left, no
precaution was taken to moor the raft
TO the stout piers at the brink of the
water; and the two boys, who were
tired from their many hard hours toll
ing, lay down in the hut on the raft
and went to sleep. How long they
slept they could not say, but it was
probably four or five hours; however,
when they awoke the wind was shriek-
ing over the raft; and when they came
out of the caboose, they found that
they had been driven better than half
mile out into the lake, and that great
waves were rolling over the logs Evil
IDENTIFY their father had not reached the
shore in time to join them, and the sur
face of the lake was in such q state of
fury that IL was impossible for him
now to be able to come to the raft in a
small boat The two frightened boys
stood by the caboose, to which they
were obliged to cling fast in order to
keep their feet, so violent was the gale.
All around them was one white, roar
ing wilderness of water, and the spray
came drifting over their heads like
heavy rain. Two or three large
schooners. which had also been caught
in the storm, had taken three reefs in
their canvas and were lying-to, this be-
ing the only way in which they could
keep afioat In such heavy sea.
The raft was driving straight before
the wind. and II allowed to go on in
this course would reach the opposite
shore in Ave or six hours; but the
brothers knew that il they were to
strand there the raft would get broken
mp among the great granite rocks and
would be lost As it was, they felt
that the great floating mass could not
long sustain the pounding of the
waveA It was made up of about thirty
joints, and as q great wave rolled un-
der IL the poles creaked and the whole
raft groaned. At one end three row.
locks were fastened into the logs, and
by these were laid three heavy spruce
oars each about twenty feet long with
wide blades, 10 Be used in steering the
raft and sculling it along in the calm.
Albert and Frank had been with their
father many time before when he
took RATS to the sawmills, so that they
knew everything about steering and
sailing, but they had never been out on
the lake in such . storm ss this
They had two large sails attached to
strong masts with them and thres Of