The sun., 1901-07-21
DOWN THE FLUME ATNIGHT,
PsALoUS RIDE o. AN INJURED CAL.
IFORNIA LUMBERNAN,


win Him Down Chute Thirty Miles Ions
esd 1oo Fest High In Places Strain Of Oh.
Jourssy -rhs Trip Safely Made.
SAN FRANCISCO, July io.-Three Butt.
county men had a ride last week wl,b
they will never forget They work IN .
big logging camp In the Sierras. and two
OF them brought the third. Edward Layler
down the Sierra Lumber Company's num.
In box at night. That they ever reached
their destination was due more 10 good
luck than anything elea.
LAwler is the foreman Of the camp ana
he was caught between the ends OF two
heavy logs. His left leg was crushed and
broken. and the mill doctor decided that
to save his life he must at once be removed
TO Chico. the nearest town.
The. accident happened shortly before
p. N. Chico was twenty-eight mlles
away. To get to the stage road would
neoessitate a two-mile climb up a hill I, 600
feet high to get out Of the canon After
that would come hard. dusty ride along
the mountain ridge over rough lava beds.
IL u long. tedious ride In the daytime
Al night with a badly wounded man In
the wagon 1t was impossible There was
the hume. although 1t was a dangerous
undertaking.
Accordingly, Lawler was brought from
the camp to the mill over the logging rail.
road. distance OF four miles. A boy or
boat. was built to At the fume, a goodly
supply OF whiskey was given the men, and
they started on their perilow ride al $ p NJ
Word was telephoned to the different
stations along the line and o carriage was
ordered to be at the Chico end. TLey
arrived after midnight. Lawler Is now
In Ban Francisco in a hospital. but il will
be year before he Is able to go about.
How did 1t feel to come down at ni-ht,s
repeated one OF the men In reply to a ques.
uon. That's something can't tell you.
simply held to the box and listened every
second TO hear the fiume crack and drop
out from beneath us. 1t was cold when we
started. but l perspred all the way, and
when l got to Chico | was completely ex-
hausted. It's fearful strain on a man
to ride down the grade
The Sierra Lumber Company's flums
was built more than twenty years ago
for the purpose Of floating lumber from
the mill to town. II was the first in TIE
nally II was more than fifty miles from mil
to dump. and more than a million dollars
was sunk In the scheme before II became Q
working success. The upper end was mora
than 1000 feet higher than the lower.
The fune Ia 80 inches wide across the
top and 20 inches deep. Is shaped like
Y and Is supported on trestles Along
the side runs ten-inch plank walk: tsie-
phone line 70 strung overhead: stations
are built every few miles to accommodate
the men who keep the lumber running
smoothly and the fiume In repair From
co. 900 to 100. 900 feet Of lumber day. for
eight months in the year. now pass down.
at an average cost Of only 90 cents for each
1000 feet.
AZ the timber was cut the mill was gradu-
ally moved down the canon until II has
now reached lts final resting place. and tbs
upper twenty miles Of Hume has rottcd
away. The remaining thirty miles Of the
fume furnishes one Of the most exciting
rides which can be taken. Sometimes
men take the ride for pleasure, but not
often Once a woman rode down. The
hume men ride on RATS, light. dry. ie-foot
planks piled wedge-shaped. 20 inches wide
at the top and at the bottom and 10 inches
thick. Strangers usually ride on a box,
or boat, a triangular box built 10 flt tho
fume, open at the forward end, but solid
aft. Against this the water pushes and
forces the box along
II was on box that the Lawler party
rode, and what astonished the fume men
was that tho weight OF three heavy men.
combined with the humping and scrapilg
OF the box along the sides Of the fiume, To
say nothing of the tons and tons Of water
piled up behind did not cause the lightly
constructed treetles to give way. Such a
thing has happened before. A fall. especi-
ally on the grade, is sure death.
II takes three and a half hours to make
the trip on a raft. and save on the FIVE miles
81 lad nj l.
standing 1t is more difficult trick than
driving logs down the Connecticut River
this balancing oneself on a narrow raft
and fully as dangerous.
Starting from the MILL the hume passes
over great sawdust piles: piles as big in
area as City Hall Park in New York and Is
feet deep SO solidly is tho sawdust piled
black, az II forest fire had once ragged there
Then for Ave miles II runs along the side
of the canon close TO the creek. through
dense woods which form continue, /,
green arch above At the end of this first
section Is a station, and here 1t Is that the
real ride begins.
1t Is called the grade, and for another
five miles you ride with your heart in your
mouth. II IA "a II you were coasting down
the chutes at Coney Island. only Il seems
as II you were never to reach the end. Two
hundred feet below the creek plunges
along, silver ribbon sparkling IN the bright
sunlight, and high above rise steep noun
tains. bare and brown So fast DO you rid
that tho raft sometimes runs away from
the water and sticks against the sides Of the
fume.
This ls the time when II is really dangerous,
for when a wave strikes the raft II lifts Il
and whlrls il around double curves and
over hundred foot trestlcs as easily as A
plank il tossed about in Hell Gate Some
times lumber orawlS up and over the sides
and u shot down into the rocks below.
The scenery Ia wild and grand. and when
you look back in rounding the curves you
can SEQ the fume far above, winding and
twisting along the mountain side, while
below the creek tumbles along between
huge lava rocks and makes sudden dives
OF fifty feet or more.
There was no moon on the night tho
Lawler party made the trip. and haze
obs~ired tho stars. They rode for most
OF the way in absolute darkness. with only
the roar OF the creek and the noise II their
boat humping along for company
After leaving the grade the canon broad
ems out into biz basin, with sides 800 feet
high Perpendicular cliffs rise on the we~t.
but on the east are green trees and pastures.
1t IL this way for three miles, when again
the clhnn nerrows and lava rocks take ths
place Of Dv;lsh. More trCstles are eros Ci,
ninety feet or more in the air, and you pass
into Iron Canon, where the creek nows
between solid walls Of iron ore 100 feet high.
and finally out into the great Sacramento
Valley. The last few miles are through
orchards and across wheat fields There
Il no perceptble grade to the fnme. md
the raft barely moves II Is not unuil you
reach the end, where the lumber IS dumped
nj, and bult into great niles by Cinnamon.