Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-05-20
INDIAN JOHNS NERVE
ADVENTURE OF A RAFTMAN WITH A
CARGO OF NITRoGLYcERIN

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ADVENTURE OF A RAFTMAN WITH A
CARGO OF NITRoGLYcERIN
Che Death Dealing Craft Was Deserted By
Its Regular Crew, and Awful Things
Might Have Happened but For the Cour-
age and Skill rs Pilot Shown by John.
John Jeffersy, or Indian John. as
he was called, who died near Tionis-
Ia, Pa, the other day, /" said G. P, Nc
Dermott, a western Pennsylvania lum-
Der operator, twas one Of the last Of the
old time Allegheny river pilots, the
men who guided the immense pine RATS
from the headwaters to Pittsburg in the
days before the big steam mills and
the railroads came into the wilderness
and made rafting thing of the past.
He was an Indian of the Cornplanter
family, and must have been well on to-
ward 100 years old. They tell hundreds
Of tales of Indian Johns exploits as a
raftsman. a calling that was attended
with constant danger and great hard
ship. remember well one act of his
that showed the GOODNESS and bravery
Of the man.
1t was in the days when the lower
Pennsylvania oil districts were supplied
with nitroglycerin from the isolated
factories in the woods of Warren and
Mexican counties. The explosive wasn't
manufactured elsewhere in the region
then to any extent. The nitroglycerin
was run down the Allegheny in stiletto
shaped boats 80 feet long and feet
wide. Each boat carried about 10, 900
pounds Of the stuff, and each boat was
manned by two men,. They ran swiftly
| in the current, and the weight of their
cargo was SO great that in case Of col
lision between one Of these boats and
other craft in the river the chances were
10 to that it would be followed by
horrible consequences, and everything
else on the river gave them a wide
berth.
1.-THE men who ran these nitroglycerin
boats had strict orders to tie up wher-
ever night overlook them and not to
run minute after dark. These men, as
may well be imagined, were absolutely
without fear and managed their death
bearing craft with a nonchalance and
independence that were source of per-
petual terror to the crews Of ordinary
boats, to raftmen and to the citizens of
the towns past which they ran or near
which they tied up.
ION one occasion the crew of nitro
glycerin boat were overtaken by dark
ness at a lonely spot where there was
nothing but deep woods on either side.
The night was cold, and it is presumed
that the men were hungry. The men
were Jake Barry and Dick Spooner, bet
ter known as Devil Dick, from his
recklessness in handling nitroglycerin
while hauling it in wagons to the mills
or in unloading it. 1t lis known that
these were the men, because they had
started down the river with boatload
of nitroglycerin, which they never de-
livered at its destination, and they were
not seen in the oil regions again. It is
supposed that after being overtaken by
darkness they decided to keep on until
they got near to Brady's Bend village
before they tied up. Of this am posi-
tive, anyhow-it was dark night. I
know this because was passenger on
one of my RATS, which Indian John was
plotting, and we were making for
Brady's Bend ourselves for the night.
We were nearing the place, and the raft
was being gradually pulled ashore, when
we heard some one shout out Of the
darkness not far astern:
Look out, there, you fellowsl
Jumpl'
''Then we heard two splashes in the
water. We didn't know what it meant.
We couldn't see anything behind us,
and the men on the raft kept pulling in
for shore. Then out of the darkness an
object bore down upon us dimly, scraped
the hind end of the raft and came gently
on down. gliding noiselessly along the
side Of the raft Then one of our men
yelled:
"A torpedo boat!'
For a moment we were all terror
stricken, but quickly saw that all dan
ger to us from the boat was past. Ev-
erything was plain to US now. The boat
had been abandoned by its crew when
they discovered us ahead in the dark
ness and expected the collision that
would have rent us to atoms. But In
dian John thought quicker and farther
ahead than we did. Like a flash he
thought it out that if that boat went on
down the river with it's cargo Of de-
struction it would surely come in con-
tact with something afioat or ashore
with consequences horrible to contem-
plate. He no sooner thought than he
acted. The boat had gone OH past us,
or rather our raft, drifting shoreward,
had parted from the boat. It was no
longer visible-at least to me. Indian
John jumped overheard and likewise
disappeared. It could not have been
more than ten seconds when the old In
dams voice shouted to Us from some
where out in the river:
Me goteit him! Me run it him in
and tiel
..And so he dill Heguided the nitro
glycerin boat thu ough the darkness that
was by this time utterly impenetrable,
and brought it to shore at a place Of
safety When it is known that a slight
characterization Of distance or locality
might have brought that deadly craft
into forcible collision with rock on
the shore or bottom, and its pilot would
have been scattered to the winds, the
nerve and skill it required for that old
river man to voluntarily take the risk to
avert possibly greater loss Of life and
destruction may be imagined
Whether Jake Barry and Devil Dick
succeeded in getting ashore or whether
they were drowned no one ever knew.
If they did get ashore, they didn't show
themselves in Brady's Bend. If they
had, after the news got around, they
might just as well have been drowned
or staid on their boat and been blown
up, for they never would have seen day
light again. New York Snn.
Where the Bee Works.
Properly considered, beehive is
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