Mower County transcript., 1904-03-09
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: CHAPTER WI. Il
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i,A~ RADW AL returned 10 camp .Dy Ine
%1R 9Th OF January. He went 81
1N snowshoes over the entire jot
- and then sat silently in the Of
fce smoking. The 4jobber looked older
The lines ftdw good humor about his
eyes had subtly changed to an expires.
sion of pathetic anxiety. He attached
no blame to anybody, hut rose the next
morning at horn. blow, and the men
found that they had "a new master over
them. - H@ea FFfA
Now it became necessary to PUT the
roads in shape for ha uIing. All winter
the blacksmith had occupied his time in
fitting =. the iron work on eight log
sleighs which the carpenter had hewed
from solid sticks OF timber. They were
tremendous s. fairs, with runners ssix
feet apart and hunks mine feetin width
for the reception of logs.v9E' aRt!i BE
The carpenter had also built two i'm
mense tanks on runners, holding each
some seventy barrels OF water and with
holes SO arranged that on the with.
drawal Of plugs the water would food
the entire width. of the road. The
sprinklers were filed by horse power.
A chain running through blocks at
tached to "a solid upper framework,
like the open belfry of an Italian mon
astery, dragged a barrel up a wooden
track from a water hole to an opening
in the sprinkler. When in action this
formidable machine weighed nearly
two tons and resembled a moving
house.. Other men had felled two big
hemlocks, from which they had hewed
beams for plow. , ...- ~
The V plow was now put in action.
Six horses drew it down the road, each
pair superintendent by a, driver. The
machine was weighted down by num-
Der of logs laid across the arms. Men
guided it by levers and by throwing
their weight against the fans of the
plow. It was a gay: animated scene
this, full of the spirit of winter-the
plodding, straining horses, the brilliant
ly dressed, struggling men, the suIlen
yielding snow thrown to either side,
the shouts, warnings and commands.
To right and left grew white banks of
snow. Behind stretched broad white
path in which a scant inch hid the bare
earth. ,5stt '::ha4>sft S
For some distance the way led along
comparatively high ground. Then,
skirting the edge Of a lake, it plunged
into deep creek bottom between hills
Here earlier in the year eleven bridges
had been constructed, and perhaps as
many swampy places had been "cor-
duroyed" by carpeting them with long
parallel poles. Now the first difficulty
began
Some of the bridges had sunk below
the level, and the approaches had to
be "corduroyed' to practicable grade.
Others again were bumped up like tom
cats and had to be pulled apart en-
tirely.
Still that sort of thing was to be ex-
pected. A gang Of men who followed
the plow carried axes and cant hooks
for the purpose of repairing extern
poraneously just such defects which
never would have been discovered 9th.
erwise than by the practical EXPERT
ence. Railway himself accompanied
the plow. Thorpe. who went along as
one of the road monkeys" saw now
why such care had been required of
him in smoothing the way of stubs,
knots and hummocks.
When the road had been partly
cleaned Railway started one of his
sprinklers. Water holes of suitable
size had been blown in the creek bank
by dynamite. There the machines
were filled. Stratton attached his horse
to the chain and drove him back and
forth, hauling the barrel up and down
the slide way. At the bottom it was
capsiZed and filed by means of long
pole shackled to its bottom and manip-
ulated by old man Heath. At the top
it turned over by it's own weight. Thus
seventy odd times. e .-. /,
Then Fred Green hitched his team
on and the four horses drew the creak
ing, cumbrous vehicle spouting down
the road. Water gushed in fans from
the openings on either side and beneath
ana in streams from two holes behind.
Not for an instant as long as the flow
continued dared the teamsters breathe
their horses, for pause would freeze
the runners tight to the ground. Al
tongue at either end obviated the ne
cessity of turning around. =. :.
That night it turned warmer. i$ The
change was heralded by a shift Of
wind. 2. !. iss. e. e
shes goin' to rain" said old Jack:
son. The air is kind o. holler.,,''. !. 81
Hollow" said Thorpe, laughing.
How is that?" ,5..: s>s &.
II dom know" confessed Hines. .sbut
che is She just feels that way, s:555 :3sI h
In the morning the icicles dripped
trom the roof, and the snow became
pockmarked on the surface. Ss n \
Railway was down looking at tie.
road. 5i.l 5E5 ',s:
"she's holdin' her. own, y. said Re, M
''bnt there amt any use putting more, more
water on her. She ain't freezing q
mite. Well 5plow her out. {, Al
So they finished the job and plowe1
Aar out leaving exposed the wet.
marshy surface OF the creek bottom. 81
which ~ NIGHT a Thin nr,ISt fr,.,,, -