The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-12-11

1T Is easy enough for an engineer 10
show ability In New York or In other
big towns where he can get about all
the tools and eenvenienees ever dcvls-
ed. 1t il when an engineer finds him.
| self IN the wlldS of jungle or up IN
the mountains. hundreds of miles from
civilization, that his own natural IN
genuity and invention count" said n
veteran engineer to Il youugster who
had been admitted TO the ranks of the
| Engineers club.
Down in Surinam, Dutch Guiana,
where the arrival OF sailing schooner
causes a sensation, where Il mail
steamer enters the muddy harbor once
in two weeks to ,nrry two hours 10 get
rid of It's mall and to take on Il few
passengers, there WAS once Il Young
American engineer who showed that
he had the proper spirit OF Invention to
advance him 10 the front ranks of the
profession. Like all the best lnven-
lions, his was the simplest one. and 1t
was one that was widely talked about
among the profession TO the credit of
the inventor.
To understand the story properly
you need trlhing insight into Surf
nam and its habits. Here Indians may
be seen on the streets wearing only a
breechcloth. The white population Is
SO scarce that all are thrown together
as If In one large family Engllshmeil,
Americans, Germans, Dutchmen and
frenchmen all combining together and
forming clubs and society to keep
themselves from dying of sheer lone.
someness
In this primitive town there was n
man who held the splendid monopoly
of owning II large scow That, up
there, seems n remarkably small thing
TO be proud Of but the value Of even Il
scow depends entirely upon where the
scow Is and whit It VIII cost TO replace
II, This particular scow had been built
by American ship carpenters sent es-
pcclally from the United States at
grcnt expense There WAS not another
scow IN the entire harbor, and about
all of the heavy river work 10 he done
for the city and plantations and min.
Ing companies was done by this one
vessel. Its loss. therefore. would have
been not only severe one for the own.
er. who had a monopoly Of the bust.
ness In those days. but II would have
been little short of national ealam-
ity
"One day, while the scow was an
chorcd In midstreum. one of those
smashing black squalls for which the
tropics are famous broke over the rlv-
er, and for twenty minutes you could
not see ten feet away or heHr mnn
shouting ut your elbow. When tho
storm finally abated, the scow was not
to be seen, aud II was found she h"a
so1e down. deck load aud AT. To most
OF us there seemed about rs much
chance of raising the vessel rs there
would he 20 raise an ocean steamer
sunk In the middle of the Atlantic
at WAS about this time that the
young engineer took n hand in the
problem He asked the dimensions Of
the scow and was told that it was T.
by 60 feet, and then he announced that
if the owner would provide him With
four men he would raise the scow for
certain sum OF money. The bargain
WINS made, though the contractor re-
fused to say how he would 20 about
the job.
"Now. you must know that aside
from the ebb and food tide which al
tcrnnte every six hours, there Is also
what is known MS "A spring tide. This
comes with the full of the moon. and IT
has the effect of making II higher food
tide than any during the month. The
opposite to the spring tide Is the neap
tide, and that happens at the dark of
tho moon, with the effect that Mt no
other tide during the month Is the ebb
tide SO low M it Is ut that time The
difference IN tho height Of water be
tween the ebb at neap tide and the
flood at spring tide Is considerable.
"The engineer waited until neap tide.
On that day he towed n number of logs
down The river. These lie anchored
over the scow ana sent men below to
fasten chains TO one side Of the scow.
and these he fastened TO the logs on
the surface. Then he waited patiently.
As the spring tide approached hc tow
ed other logs down the river until he
had enough to make quite n raft. and
on the day of the highest tide all the
logs were tied together and fastened.
The tide rose steadily, ana the more IT
rose the more the raft went down un-
der the strain of the pull on the chnius.
At last. Just MS It seemed that the raft
was unequal to the occasion, 1t was
seen to bob up violently, and moment
| later there was n commotlOn In the
water, and the scow appeared. Whit
| had happened, OF course. was this The
chains pulling upward on one side OF
| the scow tilted It more and more until
the deck load began to slide off, and
finally, when all the stones had slid IN
| TO the river. the scow came up under
its own buoyancy. The remainder was
simple. The vessel was towed TO the
shore, where II was hauled up on the
sand, ana when tho water receded
holes bored into the huh caused the
scow to empty. Later the holes were
plugged up again, and the old ship was
| as fine as silk."-New York Times.