The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-21

I'll - ~ 1-~--S ~ MS ~tA--e 80
labor
.Keriie," went on Thorpe. your
crew can break roilways with the rest
until we get the river fairly flied,
and then you can move on down
stream as fast as you are needed.
Scotty, you win have the rear Tim
I and I viii boss the river"
? At once the signal was given TO FL
lis, the dam watcher. Ellis and his
assistants thereupOn began TO pry
with long iron bars at the ratchets OF
+ the heavy gates The chore boy bent
attentively over the ratchet pin, lift.
irg it delicately 10 permit another inch
( Of raise. dropping it accurately TO en-
able the men at the bars to seize a
fresh purchase. The rivers roar deep
/ ened. Through the wide sideways a
torrent foamed and tumbled. Immedi-
ately IL spread through the
brush on either side to the
! limits OF the freshet banks. and then
/ gathered for its leap against the un-
I easy rollways. Along the edge of the
/ dark channel the face of the logs
/ seemed to crumble away. Farther in
I towards the banks where the weight Of
/ timber still unbalanced the weight of
the food, the tiers grumbled and
/ stirred. restless with the streams call
/ ing Far down the river, where Bryan
] Mcloney and his crew were picking az
J the jam, the water in eager streamlets
! sought the interstices between the logs.
/ gurgling excitedly like a mountains
brook.
/ The jam creaked and groaned in re-
| Spouse to the pressure. From its face
a hundred jets of water spurted into
/ the lower stream Logs appended here
and there. rising from the bristling
surface slowly, like so many arms from
/ lower depths. Above, the water eddied
back fOaming; logs shot down from the
finally hit with a hollow and resound-
ing boom against the tail of the jam.
A moment later they too appended, SO
becoming an integral part Of the che
vaux de frise-
The crew were working desperately
Down in the heap somewhere. two logs
were crossed in such a manner as TO
lock the whole They sought those
logs.
Thirty feet above the bed Of the river
six men clamped their peaveys into the
soft pine; jerking, pulling, lifting, slid
ing the great logs from their places
Thirty feet below, under the threaten
ing face, six other men cOolly picked
out and set adrift, one by one, the tim
bers not inextrica bly, imbedded. From
time TO time the mass creaked, settled,
perhaps even moved a foot or two;
but always the practiced river men,
after a glance, bent more eagerly TO
their work.
Outlined against the sky, big Bryan
NOloney stood directing the work. He
had gone at the job on the bias of in
direction, picking out a passage at
either side that the center might the
more easily pull He knew by the
tenseness of the log he stood on that,
behind the jam, power had gathered
sufficient TO push the whole tangle
down stream. Now he was Offering
ii the chance.
a.
scattered. Four of them, holding their
peaveyS across their bodies jumped
lightly from one floating log to another
in the zigZag to shore. When they
stepped on a small log they reIeaped
Immediately. leaving a swirl of foam
where the little timber had sunk under
them; when they encountered one
larger, they hesitated for a barely per-
ceptible instant Thus their progress
sion was of fascinating and graceful
irregularity. The other two ran the
length of their footing, and. Overleap-
ing an open of water, landed heavily
and firmly on the very ends Of two
small floating logs In this manner
the force of the jump rushed the little
timbers end-on through the water. The
two men, maintaining marvelOusly
their balance, were thus ferried to
within leaping distance of the other
shore.
In the meantime a barely perceptibls
motion was communicating itself from
one particle to another through thu
center of the jam A cool and Observ-
ant spectator might have imagined thai
the broad timber carpet was changing
little its pattern. just as the earth
near the windows OF an arrested rail-
road train seems for a moment to retro
greSS. The crew redOubled its exer-
tons, clamping its peaveys here and
there, apparently at random. but in
reality with the q ost -Sfnite of pur-
poses A sharp crack exploded imnne-
diately underneath There could no
longer exist any doubt as TO the mo-
ton, although it WAS as yet sluggish,
glacial Then in silence a log shifted
in silence and slOWiy-but with ire
sistible force. Jimmy Powers quietly
stepped over it, just as it menaced his
leg Other logs in all directions up
ended The jam crew were forced con-
tinuaIly to alter their positions riding
the changing timbers, bent-kneed, as
circus rider tread his four gallOping
horses.
Then all at once down BY the face
something crashed The entire stream
became alive. It Kissed and roared, it
shrieked, groaned and grumbled. At
first slowly, then more rapidly. the very
forefront of the center melted inward
and forward and downward until it
caught the fierce rush of the freshet
up stream, bristling and formidable,
the tons Of logs, grinding savageIy to-
gether. swept forward.
The six men and Bryan MOloney-
who, IL viii be remem bered, were on
top-worked until the last moment.
When the logs began TO cave under
them so rapidly that even the expert
rivermen found difficulty in staying
on top" the foreman set the example
of hunting safety.
she pulls boys" he yelled
Then in a manner wonderful to be-
hold, through the smother of foam and
spray through the crash and veil OF
timbers protesting the foods hurry
ing. through the leap Of destruction,
the drivers zigzagged calmly and surely
to the shore.
All but Jimmy Powers. He poised
tense and eager on the crumbling face
Of the jam. Almost Immediately he
saw what he wanted. and without
pause sprang boldly and confidently ten
feet straight downward. to alight with
accuracy on a single log floating free
in the current And then in the very
glory and chaos of the jam itself he
was swept down stream.
After a moment the constant aecel-
Grafton in speed checked then COM
menced perceptibly to slacken- At
once the rest Of the crew began to ride.
down stream Each struck the cauIxs
OF his river boots strongly into q log,
and on such unstable vehicles aoated
miles with the current From time 10
time. as Bryan AIoioney indicated one