Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1898-07-15

ON THE STILL RIVER.
sH s t8 S f8
0~o~0~@~0~O


There was considerable ill-feeling be-
tween the two camps. 1t all began with
Billy Chetwynde declaring that he
could paddle from Silver Glen dam to
the railroad bridge in twenty minutes.
Nobody had ever thought of doing 1t in
less than twenty-five before, and Hal
Burgess, who heard Dilly's boasting
from the other tent stuck his head
through the flap and said:
"What you growing about, Billy? Do
you want to make q new record for
Still RiverT
II can do a better sprint than you,
anyway, Mr.. SMARTER exclaimed Biz
ly, shying saucepan at Halls head.
But the head was Immediately with
drawn and there was only Halls mock
Ing laugh in reply to the missile, and
that was all the beginning. But the
ending
Hal took 1t up the next morning as
soon as Billy appeared. "When you
going to make that wonderful record,
BillyT he asked, and before the day
was over we were all sQuabbling over
the individual padding of both crowds.
Nothing would satisfy us but chance
tournament In which every member of
the Chetwynde crowd was pitted
against some member of the Burgess
fraternity. Now take my advice: when
ever two parties of school friends camp
out near. each other see that there is no
racing or trials of deXterity. At least
IL you want a quiet time.
There isn't a more peaceful spot In
all the State than the stretch of quiet
water known as Still River But from
the day Billy and Hal got to wrangling
over who could make the best time be-
tween the dam and the railroad bridge,
the two tents full Of fellows were In
continual squabble. Before we were
all having jolly good time and every
fellow behaved himselif But after the
'mild-eyed angel of peace folded It's
wings and fled"-well, as my young
brother Teddy remarked with great
freedom of speech, 'the Kilkenny cats
weren't in it"'
greatest excitement was over the trial
between Billy and Hal Both had the
best canoes of the lot-real Indian
Hrchbarks made by Johnny Nose TOR
Nosey Johnny, as we called HIM, a
half-breed Indian who was quite
character about Silver Glen. All we
could think or talk about were the
races, and fishing ball play and swim
ming were forgotten while we prac-
ticed our strokes on the quiet waters
OF the Still River.
Well, Billy was inclined to "blow" on
all occasions, and he had done an extra
amount of Dragging before this race,
so perhaps 1t served him right to be
beaten. But | hated to see Hal do It.
Hal was always so awfully topping
when he got the best of n fellow. Billy
had declared that he could make the
distance in less than twenty minutes,
and he was just twenty-one minutes
and seven seconds in getting over the
course, according to Freddy Maxwell's
stop-watch, while Hal got in in little
oNCl hlltNCtu uiluulOS.
Well, the Burgess crowd was. of
course, too unbearably fresh TO live
with after that, and when 1t was dis
covered that Ned Chetwynde, BiIly's
cousin, had invited Halls brother Dave
around behind the tents and thrashed
him royalty, we older fellows, who
should have frowned upon any such
proceeding, never took either of the
youngsters to task
So these were the strained relations
existing between the two camps on the
day the mill hands at Silver Glen
struck. We heard they were going to
strike the day before, for Jim Nolan,
Halls fathers gardener, drove by on
his way to Lonsdale and told us about
1t. Mr.. Burgess was one of the chief
owners of the mill. and Nolan had been
sent to telegraph him 10 come I'D from
New York and settle the trouble with
the men, All the old hands liked Mr..
Burgess and they would listen to him.
knowing that he would give them fair
treatment.
But the men who were stirring up all
the trouble mt the mill did not want
Hars father as arbitrator, and there
fore the message was to be sent him
from Lonsdale so that there would be