Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1902-04-25

Drought Bis spirit of Invention 20
Aid In solving n Wreck Problem la
sauth America
ut Is cnsy enough for an engineer 10
show ability In New York or In other
big towns where he can get about all
the tools and conyenlences ever devils
ed. II Is when an engineer lnds him
self IN the wilds OF n jungle or up In
the mountains. hundreds OF miles from
civilization. that his own natural In
genuity and invention count" said n
veteran engineer 10 youngster who
had been admitted to the ranks Of the
Engineers club.
Down In Surlnam Dutch Guiana.
where the arrival Of a sailing schooner
causes sensation. where mail
steamer enters the muddy barbor once
In two weeks 70 tarry two hours 10 get
rid Of It's mail and TO take on n few
passengers. there was once a young
American engineer who showed that
he had the proper spirit Of Invention TO
advance him 20 the front ranks OF the
profession. Like all the best inven-
tions. his was the simplest one. and Il
was one that wss widely talked about
among the profession to the credit os
the inventor.
TO understand the story properly
you need a tr.ains insight Into Suri-
nam and rs habits. Here Indians may
be seen on the streets wearing only n
breechcloth. The white population Is
80 scarce that all are thrown together
as n In one large family. Englishmen.
Americans. Germans. Dutchmen and
Frenchmen all combining together and
forming clubs and society 20 keep
themselves from dying OF sheer lone
someness.
In this primitive town there was n
man who held the splendid monopoly
Of owning a large scow. That. up
there. seems a remarkably small thing
TO be proud OF. but the value OF even a
scow depends entirely upon where the
scow Is and what II win cost 10 replace
H. This particular scow had been built
by American ship carpenters sent Is.
pcclally from the United States at
great expense. There was not another
scow 10 the entire harbor. and about
all OF the heavy river work 20 be done
FOR the city and plantations and min
ing companies was done by this one
vessel Its loss. therefore. would have
been not only n severe one for the own.
er. who had a monopoly OF the busi-
ness in those days. but IL would have
been little short Of national calam-
ity.
zone day. while the scow was an
chored In midstream. 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 hear a man
shouting at your elbow. When the
storm finally abated. the scow was not
TO be seen. and Il was found she had
gone down. deck load and all To most
OF Us there seemed about as much
chance OF raising the vessel as there
would be TO raise an ocean steamer
sunk In the middle Of the Atlantic.
1T was about this time that the
young engineer took hand In the
pr0blep' He asked the dimensions Of
the scow and was told that Il was i2
by co feet. and then be announced that
II the owner would provide him with
-four men he would raise the scow for
a certain sum OF money. The bargain
was made. though the contractor re-
fused 10 say how be would 80 about
the Job.
"Now, you must know that aside
from the ebb and food tide. which al
iernate every six hours. there Is also
what II known as a spring tide. This
comes with the full OF the moon. and II
has the effect OF making higher food
tide than any during the month. The
opposite 10 the spring tide is the neap
Tide. and that happens at the dark OF
The moon. with the effect that NJ no
other tide during the month Is the ebb
Tide 30 low as II Is at that time. The
difference in the height OF water be-
tween the ebb at neap tide and the
id9d at spring tide Is considerable.
''The engineer waited until neap tide.
On that day he towed a number OF logs
lown the river. These be anchored
over the scow and sent men below 10
'asten chains 10 one side OF the scow.
md these be- fastened TO the logs on
he surface. Then be waited patiently.
As the spring tide approached he tow
"a other logs down the river until be
bad enough 10 make quite n raft and
,n the day OF the highest tide all the
ogs were tied together and fastened.
The tide rose steadily. and the more Il
-ose the more the raft went down un-
Ter the strain OF the pull on the chains.
Az last. ,nst as u seemed that the rait
vas unequal TO the occasion. II was
'een 10 bob up Violently. aud momeni
ater there was n commotion In the
water. and the scow appeared. What
iad happened. OF course. was this: The
.hnlns milling inward on one side uf