The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-17

In the late seventies u. N. Burdick
putt mill at South Muscatihe, which
Is operated by the South Muscatine
Lumber company.
The Musser Lumber compay in 1870
built a mill at South Muscatine, which
mas constantly been in active operation.
IN 1849 Mr.. Howard erected a mill
at Davenport. 1t is now the property
OF Paige, Dixon & Co, and has,
think, discontinued saving.
In l649 Strong Burnett built a saw
ana planning mill at Davenport. In
1865 this mill became the property Of
DeSsant d Schriver and SC remains.
Inc RenWick mill was built there in
1894 and was operated by Renwick &
Son very successfully.
LINDSEY d Phelps erected their mill
at Davenport in 1864 and it has been in
constant operation
In 1858 l.. c. Dessant built a mill
at East Davenport In 1874 the mill
came into the possession of George
W. Gable. In 1879 the Cable Lumber
company was formed and continue to
the present time.
Inc Taber Lumber company, of Keo-
kuk, is largely engaged in cutting st.
Croix logs for it's mills.
The Carson Rand and Burlington
Lumber companies have for many years
depended on the st. Croix market for
and railroad timbers
Zimmerman & Ives, of Gutenberg;
dorchester & Hughey, of Bellevue; the
STANDARD Lumber company, of Du-
buque; the Gem City Mill company,
OF Quincy, Ill; six large concerns at
st. Louis, and many other smaller
| concerns on the Mississippi procured
their stock chiefly from the st. Croix.
Rafting and Running Logs and Lumber
In the early days of numbering on
the St CroiX a raft contained some
100000 feet of logs or lumber. The
first RATS taken out were taken
through Lakes St. Croix and Pepin
by means of small sails, if the wind
proved to be fair, the sails being made
oy standing shanty boards on end and
Tying blankets on poles in such man
ner that they would catch the breeze
In calm weather, along a sandy
beach, all hands went on shore, pulling
the raft by hand line. This method
was called cordelling and two to four
miles a day of sixteen hours was an
average days work. Sometimes when
cordelIlng was impracticable 1000 feet
OF line was laid ahead with an anchor
and warped in by hand. Fearing
storms this work was continued day
and night as long as the men could
stand 1t to work without sleep. Now
ana then some passing boat bound
down stream would take the RATS into
tow.
The raft pilots were willing to paw
any price to hurry through the raft
mans dread, Lake Pepin. The writer
Well remembers seeing the west shore
OF Lake Pepin, from Lake City to
Reeds Landing, white from broken
lumber, when three lumber RATS were
broken to pieces in a storm and rem
dered entirely valueless.
Early in the sos the lumber trade
OF the st. CroiX assumed commercial
importance, sufficient to place tow
boats on Lake st. Croix and Lake
Pepln, to tow RATS through the lakes
mentioned. The Caleb Cape, In 1851.
was the first tow boat so engaged. The
regular charge for taking a raft from
saltwater to Reeds Landing at the
foot Of Lake Pepin was $40 per string.
RATS at that time containing from
eight to ten strings. A string was a
row of lumber in cribs and was 500
feet in length. A string of logs con-
sisted Of row Of logs six to eight logs
wide bound together with poles The
log and lumber strings were the same
length, each being sixteen feet wide.
AT this period the RATS were man
aged by a large oar some forty-five
feet in length, one oar being placed
on each end of string of logs or lum-
Der. With man at each oar the raft
was guided to it's destination. The
older pilots became very expert in the
matter of handling their unwieldly
crafts and became thoroughly CONVEX
SAINT with all the obstacles of navigation
on the great stretch of river 500 miles,
between Saltwater and st. Louis. Dark
nights were no obstacle, only the lack
J of sufficient water to float the craft
interfered with the commerce of the
upper Mississippi.
Good Old Times in the Fifties.
oh, the good old times from 1852 to
the fatal September of 1857. Wages
for raft and steamboat pilots were from
$500 to $500 per month, and pilots
were frequently engaged by contract
for the entire season of navigation.
Those were the days of huge gold
watch chains, of velvet on coat collars
and cuffs. When ladies visited the
pilot house the pilot dOnned kid gloves
The windows of the pilot house were
Ornamented with the signatures and
addresses of many fair visitors. Posi-
bly, reminiscent mood may recall this
part of our early history to the mem
DRY of some of the grandmothers of
the present day.
The costume de rigeur of the raft
pilot was French calf boots, black cassi-
mere trousers, red flannel shirt of extra
fine knitted goods, large flowing black
silk necktie, tied in a square knot with
flowing ends, soft, wide brimmed black
or white hat Owing to the infrequent
visits of ladies the kid gloves were
| dispensed with.
Soon a new order of things began in
| the history Of numbering. In the SOS
Capt. G. G. Bradley undertook and did
make a successful trip by towing a
raft with the steamboat Minnie Wills,
| to Clinton, Iowa. This system of TAX
| ing logs and lumber to market in
creased rapidly and in the space of
| four years the logs heretofore RATED
were put up" as the saying is, in
'brails," not using the former method
of poles, plugs, Iockdowns and oars.
| Logs were placed in boOms 900 feet
| in length or longer, 125 feet In width,
! held together with cross lines. The gain
to the log men was the lessening of ex-
| pense in putting the logs in condition
for the run to market, and to mill men
| the saving In lumber by not having the
auger holes in the logs. Since the first
venture of the Minnie Wills, with the
new method of running logs and lum-
Der, more than $50 steamboats, have
been engaged in taking the lumber
product of the st. CrOiX, upper Mis-
sissippi, Chippewa and Black rivers to
the various distributing points along
the Mississippi river.
The first raft boats cost possibly
$4,000, but since the advent of the
Minnie Wills the large sawmill firms
have placed in the towing business