The Penn's Grove record., 1895-11-08
NrHRILLISG FIFTY-MILE BoAV
RIDE.
Through Forests. Along Precipices'
Over Canyons. Sometimes swift
Iy, Now Leisurely, Covering
the Distance in six Hours.

aume. No other fume surpasses 1t,
and il is doubtful il any other is equal
10 il in length and grandeur of the
scenery passed through in a journey
from The summit Of ons Of the high
pursot the Sierra Nevada to the plains
beneath, fifty miles distsnt. Ihehnme
has just been completed to the little
toxn Of Clovis. twelve miles north OF
Fresno, and Is iftv-swo miles IN length.
Fiumes for floating lumber are so
in California that deserip-
ton Is s~uperfuous except to say thai
This is in general like all others, con-
,isting of boxes shaped like the letter
V and on t~restles varying in height
from a few feet 20 a hundred, depend
ing on the character OF the country
traversed. The fune starts at Stephen
son Greek, one Of the tributaries of
the San joaquin River, at an elevation
of nearly 5000 feet above the sea, and
after q winding course of hfty-two
miles it terminstes ina vineyard twelve
miles out on the plains beyond the
foot OF the mountain. The trough
carries the water which floats the lum
Der.
The fume boats, in which the RAPID
Journeys are made down the fumes,
are simple. They are made the same
shape as the Y-boxes OF the fumes.
The upper end Of the boats are closed
by a Board nailed across, but the
lover end, which points down stream,
is left open to let out the water which
yolsshes over the sides of the boats
from time to time. One, two or three
short boards ara laid across for seats,
depending upon how many are to
make the journey. A carpenter can
Manufacture one of these boats in less
than half al hour. The boat is meant
for only one Journey, for none is eve
Eauled back for another journey.
The frs. ride down the Pine Ridge
iiume from start to finish was made a
few days $50. The sides of the fume
were covered with ice, caused by the
cold night and the splashing water.
Scarcely had the boat touched the cur
rent before its edges also were slippery
with ice. That Vas no matter, and IN
a second or 50 the boat, with its pas
sengers. was sweeping down the trough
of water, and trees were spinning past
50 rapidly that they seemed like the
spokes Of a swift wheel.
The passenger does not realize just
how he gets into the boat nor how he
makes the start. 1t is all over before
he has time to think. He has an I'M
g~overnable desire to clutch at things,
but. before he can do so he is gone,
and the speed makes him catch his
breath, and inst Is all he al do. The
start has been made, and it must be a
race to the finish, If one should at
tempt to stop when the speed is so
great it would result in something
serious Even If he should see a
broken plsce ahead of him, where the
hume had gone over a precipice, he
could not stop, but must run into il
and take the consequences. Such a
mishap is not likely, but is possible.
There are places here and there where
the fume passes over ground more
nearly level and the current is CORE
spondingly slow, and a person can
spring out and let the boat go; or he
might, when safely out, run along the
foot plank and, by holding the boat,
bring that to a stop also. But in the
steepest places $ mar could not run
fast enough to keep up with the
boat
Before the passenger has time to
look back or forward, or to ask any
question, he has run the first hall
mile, and is sweeping around a curve,
which opens to his vision a sight not
pleasant to contemplate. The fame
passes between two walls of rock, and
then out along the face Of q solid roch
forming the side of Stephenson
Mountain. II one can look down
while speeding across this giddy
height he will see beneath him-just
how far he has no power to estimate
the csnon of the creek, deep down in
the shadows Of the morning, almost
dark with the depths. The boat seems
10 be Aging through space. 1t is but
e moment till the giddy place is
passed, and the boat darts into a mass
Of gloomy pines growing against the
lde of the moun:sln.
After q four miles run the boat sud
denly emerges from = forest of pines
and frs, and those in the boat expert
snee the feeling of 8 person in a bal.
loon, when the world seems to dro,
Awsy from under him. The tiume run
put over a high t~restle, and at ir,
glance nothing is visible underneath
There seems to be nothing but Nh
fsthomable space sheer down. Thi
Is near the turn around the point @
Stephenson Mountain, and the vas
Ibyss beneath, which had seemed bot.
somless, is the canon Of San Joaquin
River, down Just how far beneati
Eould be hard TO gs=ss. 1t looks no
sss than 5000 feet; it may be less.
The passenger cannot look twice n
he scene. The next minute he has
t1NoC0 AEoA MfU Llc IupST Llel
curve after curve around a rocky
mountain, and after a little while the
anon which had seemed SO nearly bot.
Iomless has been left behind. The
frst twelve miles of the journey brings
ne traveller to the western face of Pine
;idge, the last drift of snow disap-
and the stately groves Of sugar
inc and arbor villa begin to give place
o tangled thicket of manzanita and
haparral, and the starved and stunted
iigger pines and gnsrled jack oaks
AXE the place Of the tamarGcks which
row about the reservoir at the start
ng place Climate succeeds climate |
$ the boat rushes from ridge to ridge.
Passing around the mountain at the
cad of Dry Creek, Fresno City, forty.
I've miles distant, is seen, with the