Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1898-07-30

Honestly no one commits crime here :
for they are always caught by the mounted
police, as there are only two ways out of
the country.
WALSH CREEK, June s.
You see we are down thus far and have
not been drowned or killed and have 10
more bad water to 60 through; for all no.
is as smooth as lake, Five-Finger rapids
being nothing but gentle ripple. We
have been through some pretty bad water
and nearly got on a rocky lee shore On
Tagish Big Windy Arm but just pulled of
by the skin of our teeth. For about half
an hour ! thought you would see your son
again in six weeks, for we would have lost
our outfit though we ourselves could easily
have gotten out o. X.
Saturday last was the exciting time. We
camped about IL o'clock in the evening, or
what ought to be evening though it is all
daylight now land got up again at 2.30 in
the morning after three and one-half hours
sleep. We ran down with the CUR ent
about 80 miles and got to Miles Canyon at
II o'clock. Here we found two miles of
boats tied up to the bank, some 1900 or
more Of them, so we all hitched up to the
bank and l staid to look after the boat
while George and Gus went down to look
at the canyon and the White Horse rapids
three miles below.
learned that three men were drowned
the day before, and Lippy, who made the
big strike last year on the Ell Dorado, was
dumped with his wife and child and
two men and had an escape that was
miraculous. So l made up my mind for
something pretty bad but said would run
them if the other boys did, Everyone was
having his boat run through by pilot who
charge 500 to $40 each trip and clear over
| 800 day.
George, Gus and the other boys came
back looking pretty sad. Dick and his
crowd said they would get pilot to take
their boat through for they wouldn't risk
themselves. George thought the three
men in our crew were not enough to run
the boat through, so we got old Jack, a
riverman, to take the stern with George in
the bow and Gus and me at the oars. The
oars are 16 feet sweeps, and we stand up
facing the bow and row, so we can see
everything going on.
We had lunch about o'clock and COW
cred everything with tarpaulin. and about
started. We turned bend and had
little quick water; then another bend and
there was Miles canyon right ahead of us.
The river, several hundred feet wide, mar
rows down here to about 100 feet and, of
course, makes rapid. The walls are per-
pendicular rocks very high; the current is
SO swift that it makes cone in the center
several feet higher than the sides, and one
keeps his boat in the center. Just below
the canyon is swift water full tf rocks and
bars. As we went by this we saw boat
wrecked and all its content lost, but the
men got ashore.
AS we turned bend there we were in
the White Horse rapids. They are about
three-fourths Of a mile long and it takes
about three minutes to run them 1t is all
white water as if under the toll bridge. The
first part isn't bad if one can keep to the
right of a rock where most OF the boats are
wrecked, but at lower pitch the water
narrows down to a stream 81 feet wide and
the waves are very high. However, we
didn't take in a bucketiul OF water while
most OF the boats get halt filled.
We ran down about mile before we
could find a landing place; then George
went back to run another boat through and
| went back to watch the others come down
the rapids. l saw one man run birc,