The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-03

ment. The thing was not land; it was
not a ship; it was not whale. 1t was
not anything that enters into the or
binary voca bulary of a man at the
bow. 1t was a mystery; that is all II
could he called. Recollacting his bust
ness the lookout cried: Something
mysterious, sir, pint off the sta
boardl''
The mate went to the rail and, look
ing at the thing, said: 1T is not land!
< It is not a ship 1t is not whale!
Then what is it?'
Everybody on deck went to the rail
and looking at the thing said: 1T is
not land It is not d shipi 1t is not
a whale Then what is it?''
Meanwhile the Lille B. was sailing
nearer and nearer to this formidable
object. Finally the mate grew merry
Gus and going TO the cabin stairs
called down to Captain Hitler.
We've sighted something, sir, and
it's not land; it's not a ship and it's
not a whale, and we don't know what
it is
The captain came on deck and go
ing TO the rail looked at the object and
said: It's not Ia" But here he seized
his speaking trumpet and an instant
later the wild orders roared through
the vessel: slip the trolley! Throw
the ship onto a switch-send man
back with a hag-wire the superin-
tendent-hell to pay-this here's sea-
serpentp'
Immediately all was panic on board
the Lille 3. Men rushed to and fro
dragging at ropes and disappearing
at their misfortune while the captain
roared more orders than nine ship
loads Of sailors could possibly have
obeyed. But before they could stop the
ship she had sailed very close to the
thing and the captain going to the rail
said: 1t is not land. 1t is not ship
1t is not whale! 1t is not sea-ser-
pent but may / have my own main
mist stuffed down my throat if it is
not the famous lumber raft which was
lost in the North Atlantic some years
ago and for which U. S. S. Enterprise
and the revenue cutter Grant made
such painful but useless search.
And so Captain William B. Hitler
of the bark Lille B., now lying in
Erie basin, solecnly states that on
.July ] he discovered the celebrated
raft some 500 miles off the coast of
Labrador. 1t was headed southwark,
he says, but was not making much
more way than a foundry. The raft
IS larger than any ocean liner, and it
would be an ugly customer to meet
under the conditions of a twenty-knot
gait and a dark night. The sea-ser-
pents do not object to navigation by
reasonable.
John Leary. the lumber expert, who
first conceived the plan Of transporting
lumber at sea by means of a raft, was
recently interviewed at his Newton
Greek sawmill. 81 think Captain Hill
ler's story TO be very probable. 1 was
employed personally in the construc-
ton OF this raft, and | know that it
was constructed as strong-if not
sstronger-than many ocean steamers.
Its general compactness and soliddty
made it almost as inseparable as one
great massive log.
1.-The raft was the largest by some
200 feet of any ever shipped by sea.
In fact it was too large. Nothing like
If is now ATTEMPTED. 1t was construct
ed on an improvised dry-dock at Two
Rivers, Nova Scotia, in the fall Of
1890 and launched on the plan Of an
Atlantic liners launching. The largest
RATS we now undertake are 800 feet
long and weigh about 1000 tons. The
one we lost was 600 feet in length
aoneer than any liner 1t weighed 10000
sons. The method we used in con-
str,1cting the monster was new and
has been patented in this country,
Canada and Europe. We now use 1t
on 4 smaller scale. IT took us just one
dav over six months to build the great
~ II and we required the steady en-
nloyment Of fifty-five men. The dis
finr1lishing feature of the system now
nafented-and what makes me feel
positive that wherever the raft is it is
whole the method of fastening the
structure together with chains. 1t is
vnt q matter of merely punching the
LOGS and then binding them. as many
-,,iesnt conclude The method in fact /
Sc unite ingenious. For instance, the
strength is all concentrated in one long
and T1owerfal center chain. The raft
nav be towed by either termination
~ this chain Side chains placed di-
aponaIly to the center are added at
ff1e ends so that the greater the force
annlied to the tow line, the stronger
fhe logs are drawn together. and at
every yard or so along the body, chains
5es5ing from the center line are
brought through to the surface and
fte.s being carried over a distance of
: bout six feet return TO the center
The great 600 feet raft was sixty-two
feet beam at its widest part. 1t was
Constructed like a monstrous cigar, as
mis- form seemed to Us most sea
xaorthv. The necessary tapering to ac-
cnr1piisil this design was mainly Sc
c,,red BY arranging the timbers with
fl,e buts toward the center.
when completed the structure con-
4afned q. 600 sticks of spruce and
ming timber from thirty-fve to ninety
Sre feet in length and great guam
f5tv of beach, birch and maple max