The Jennings daily record. [volume] (Jennings, La.) 1900-1903, 1902-06-14

in log jam on the Sara
Baker. of Plattsburg, re-
Gently. in describing the opera lions of
1oggers in the Adirondacks. "A log
swung across the verge of the last
precipice at High Falls. and over 40
900 pieces became massed in a solid
formation there is the narrow gorge
We did not use dynamite in those days
and nothing could be done to break
the jam except to cut out the log which
held the key to the situation.
"A volunteer was called for. and
Henry Martin was the only driver who
offered to chop the offending log away
A large rope was thrown across the
river and held at either end by men
Martin dashed himself to the rope. was
drawn to the centre of the gorge and
lowered to the verge of the precipice.
Martin chopped there for two hours,
during which all of us We're in a ter
ribie suspense. and then the log
snapped in two. The thousands of
pieces which We're thus released. pushed
by the great accumulation of water
went tumblins, laundering and sroau-
ing like an avalanche over the preci-
pice.
AS the log sna:,ped Martin gave the
signal and the rope was hauled tant
by the watchful men on the banks of
the river. The logger swung i'll mid
air and was pulled ashore amid The
welcome plauditS of his comrades"
One of the greatest Jams OF the
Great North Woods was that in the
Raquette River i'll the late seventies.
The logs had been cleared from Lon"
Lake. beyond the outlet OF Cold River
and were fast approaching the Ra-
quette River falls. where there is Il
drop of 100 feet OF more in a short dis
lance. There are rapids for several
hundred feet above the falls. while
below there is II Sudden bend in the
stream as the water sweeps away with
smoother surface. always tearing and
grinding away rhe ledge Of sandstone
one corner of which forms n shelf over
the stream.
In its run TO he top of the falls the
water passes through Il gorge about
fifty feet high. with slopinc walls that
mount rapidly 10 mountainous heights.
Here the logs formed II confused mass.
They Were interviewer and tangled.
and the torrent rushed through and
over them until it seemed as though
the rocky banks must surely be shaken
TO their foundations.
The drivers worked for four days
sharing the dangers alike, aud cleared
The log jam without accident. But the
hatteau loaded with the tents. utensils
and food for the men, which was being
moved down the river i'll the rear of the
n \ e.,
of some experienced watermen. and
the passage of the rough water WAS
always watched with great interest
by the loggers. Ii began 10 run through
The rapid water ut the head of the
falls when the current caught it and
carried il against rock, where il was
|, C~psized.
One of the men In the boat was an
Experienced swimmer. ana he told the
2her to place his arms about his neck.
bthat he could then swim with him
the shore But the water ran too
Pftls for the swimmer. and both
he carried rapidly toward the falls
became necessary for She swimmer
6uisengage himself from his compau-
n. who WAS hugGinc him with a
bath grasp. His effort at first was
asuccessful, and, growing desperate ,
they approached the brink of the
lis. he pulled his companion partly
ound in front of him and struck him
tremendous blow on the head. The
Is relaxed their grasp about the
Tx of the struggling swimmer and
unfortunate man was carried down
e stream while the swimmer by u
2lent effort barely escaped the same
he. He reached the shore in an eX.
hausted condition, where he was
pulled from the water by the losGers
The other logger passed over the falls
and under the jam of logs. His body
was recovered some time afterward
and buried on the banks of the Ra
Iuette.-New York Commercial Adver-
user.