Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-11-29
rNaESrors noArMEY.
Oregon s,nne-workers Devise a Boat That
PilIs Itself upstrcam.

OreBOn sfnncrWorkers btNiNc " t>uif Ahhs
Pulls Itself Upstream.
In the ST. Nicholas Francis Filing.
ton Leu p descr be, 40 ineen Us degice
by which certain Oregon sSonrs workers
save themselves a deal of unnecessary
labor.
Doubtless nearly every boy with a
taste for out of-door sports, he says,
has made boat which tie wind or the
surface Of pond have seen snna
lads rig up rats on which they could
themselves ride down a swift- flowing
Greet: ard | knew one, even, who was
clever enough TO build complete little
ste mboat He could light a lamp
under the little boiler, ard the steam
would form, and the piston wo1ld
work, and the wheels would reyolEe,
Just as big vessel that ayrIes pas
myers and freight. The trouble with
all these toy boats however, is that they
will only go one way. Having made
their trip, they have to be tollscmeIv
dragged back by hand to be started
again In the same direction.
While travelling In Oregon. some time
ago, | discovered boat which seemed
to me the most ingenious thing IF its
kind | had ever seen 1t was built by
some stone-worKers to convey their
stone from the quarry well up toward
the head of small river, down 10 the
mouth. The stream is everywhere SO
shallow that it can be forded without
| danger; but it is broken at Intervals
by stretches OF rapias, or 'riiiles," as
they are called in that neiehborhond,
often extending as far as l50 feet. The
men built fiat-bottomed boat, which
| they loaded with stone, and it carried
| its cargo down the stream admirably.
But then arose the problem, how tn get
| it back whom 1t had been en1ptied. 1t
was too heavy to haul up the stream
| by hand Where the wa.er was com.
! paratiyely smooth there was no trouble,
f, because one mau could ride on the
scow and make his way along with a
paddle and q pole: but the difficulty
was to get it up the rapids. The best
of boa men could not hope 10 propel
it against 50 powerful current, and
uphill at that.
| How do you suppose they accom-
plished the task, finally
BY making the boat work its own
passage.
They made two large PADDLE. wheels,
which they placed one I'm each side oil
the scow, and joined them by thir
eut strong piece of wood, in the shape
of o cylinder. This turned with the
wheels, and served the double purpo
of an axle aud windlass Each enc
OF the cylinder, near where it Joined
the wheels, played IN q socket some.
what like the row lock used with an
oar, only stationary, and mounted on
the top of triangular truss. To the
cylinder was fastened rope about 2O(
feet long. When the boat reached tn,
bottom of rapid, it would be madt
fast to the shore. Then the man ir
charge of the boat would ford the
stream and mount the opposite bank
taking with him the rope 10 coil, ant
paying 1t gradually out as he walked
go as to keep 1t always taut. At tb'
head of the rapid, or a trifle beyond
he would fasten the further end of th,
rope 10 tree. The moorings of the
boat would be loosed, and the curren
left to do the rest without assistance
The paddle wheels. unable to resist tn
force of the water flowing against thei
sunken blades, would slowly reyolve
and, of course, every revolution of til
wheels would cause the rope to wint
itself around the axle With each turl
VI tHC topo bilb boah Nould hcOS5dhIii
be drawn forward and up the stream
SO. by the effect Of the continued wind
ing, it would gradually rise and ris
till it reached the place whore the cur
rent ceased to exert so much power
There it would bs made fast again
until the rope could be disengaged fror
the cylinder and coiled, ready for us
when needed. Then the man woul
cut Loose, seize his paddle or pole, an
work away until the next rapid wa
reached, when he would start of wit
his rope and repeat the operation de
: soribed above.
: This PROCESS is wearisome with
heavy stone-b boat, but it struck ne, a
/ watched it. that bright boy coul
adapt it to toy scow and get deal {
. amusement out of it. If the exper
msnt did nothing more, it would 9
3 least be Il lesson in the art which ever
!, mechanic must learp-of making th
forces OF nature his servants, and cor
3 polling them to do for him what woul
. otherwise require a good deal OF labt
Q at his hands.