Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-27
INGENIOUS BOATMEN.
oregon Stone 1Eorkers Devise Boat
That Pulls Itself Upstream.

rom IL Nltiloias-
Doubtless nearly every boy with taste
for ut-of-door-sports has made boat
which the wind or the current would
cause to float over the surface of pond
have seen some lads rig up RATS on which
they could themselves ride down a swift
flowing creek and 1 knew one, even, who
was clever enough to build complete little
steamboat He could light lamp under the
little boiler and the steam would form, and
the piston would work, and the wheels
would revolve just as in big vessel that
carries passengers and freight The trou-
Bile with all these toy boats. however, is
that they will go only one way. Having
made their trip, they have to be toilsomel y
dragged back by hand to be started again
in the same direction.
While travelling in Oregon some time ago
l discovered boat which seemed to me
the most ingenious thing OF its kind L mad
ever seen. was built by some stone
workers to convey their stone from the
quarry well up toward the head of a small
river. down to the mouth. The stream IS
everywhere so shallow that IL can be ford-
ed without danger; but it Is broken at IN,
tervals by stretches of rapids, or rlliles
as they are called in that neighborhood
often extending as far as hundred and
fifty feet. The men built a fat-bottomed
boat, which they loaded with stone, ana II
carried its cargo down the stream admir-
ably But then arose the problem, how TO
get 1t back when it had been emptied. 1t
was too heavy to haul up the stream by
hand Where the water was comparatively
smooth there was no trouble, because one
man could ride on the scow and make his
way along with a paddle and a pole: but
the difficulty was to get II up the RAPIDS
The best Of boatmen could not hope TO
propel it against so powerful current, and
uphill at that.
How do you suppose they accomplished
the task, finally?
G.
sage.
They made two large paddle-wheels, which
they placed one on each side OF the
sCnw. and jUi ned them by a thin but strong
piece of wood. in the shape of a cylinder.
This turned with the wheels, and served the
double purpose Of an axle and windlass.
Each end of the cylinder near where 1t
Joined the wheels played in socket some
what like the row-lock used with an oar,
only stationary, and mounted on the top
of a triangular truss. To the cylinder was
fastened a rope about two hundred feet
long. When the boat reached the bottom of
a rapid it would be made fast to the shore.
Then the man in charge of the boat would
ford the stream and mount the opposite
bank taking with him the rope in a coil,
and paying il gradually out as he walked,
so as to keep Il always taut. At the head
of the rapid. or Il trttie beyond, he would
faSten the further end of the rope to a
tree The moorinss of the boat would be
loosed and the current left to do the rest
without assistance. The paddle-wheels, I'M
able to resist the force of the water flowing
aga INST Their sunken blades. would slowly
revO,ve, and of course every revolution of
the wheels would cause the rope to wind
itself around the axle. With each turn of
the rope the boat would necessarily be
drawn forward and up the stream so, by
the effee, uf the continued winding. 1t would
gradually rise and rise till it reached the
place where the current ceased to exert so
much power There it would be made fast
again. until the rope could be disengaged
from the cylinder and cooled. ready for use
when needed. Then the man would cut loose,
seize his paddle pole, and work away till
the next rapid was reached, when he would
start off with his rope and repeat the opera
ton described above.
This process Is wearisome with heavy
stone boat but it struck me as 1 watched 1t
that a bright boy could adapt 1t to toy
scow and get a deal of amusement out Of
it If the experiment did nothing more, it