Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-06-25
unng Tfnes- 3puhra 5arshapu1 anua Saturday

stood OIL that behind the jam powe
had gathered sufficient to push TIL,
whole tangle down stream. Now b,
was offering 1t the chance.
L Suddenly the six men below the jan
scattered. Four of them jumped light
~ from one floating log to another il
the ZigZag to shore. The other two raI
the length of their footing and, over
leaping an open Of water. landed heav
lily and firmly on the very ends Of two
small floating logs. In this manner The
force of the jump rushed the little tim
bers end-on through the water. The
two men, maintaining marvelously
their balance, were thus ferried tc
within leaping distance Of the other
shore.
In the meantime barely perceptible
motion was communicating itself from
one particle to another through the cen
/ ter Of the jam. The men redoubled their
exertions. A sharp crack exploded i'm
mediately underneath. There could nc
| longer exist any doubt as to the motion
1 II.
Then in silence log shifted--in silence
| and slowly, but with irresistible force
/ Jimmy Powers quietly stepped over it
| just as it menaced his leg. Other logs
! in all directions appended. The jam
| crew were forced continually to alter
their positions, riding the changing tim
bers bent kneed as circus rider treads
his four galloping horses.
Then all ut once down by the face
something crashed. The entire stream
became alive. 1t Missed and roared: il
shrieked and grumbled. At first slow
ly. then more rapidly, the very fore
front Of the center melted inward and
forward and downward until it caught
the fierce rush Of the freshet and shot
out from under the jam. Far up
stream, bristling and formidable. the
tons Of logs, grinding savagely to-
gether, swept forward.
The six men and Bryan Moloney.
who. it will be remembered, were on
top. worked until the last moment.
When the logs began to cave under
them so rapidly that even the expert
river men found difficulty in staying
on top the foreman set the example
Of hunting safety.
"She pulls boys.' he yelled.
Then In manner wonderful to be-
hold, through the smother Of foam and
spray, through the crash and yell Of
timbers. through the leap of destruc-
ton, 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 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 moment the constant accel-
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 calks
Of his river boots strongly into a log
and on such unstable vehicles floated
miles with the current From time to
time. as Bryan Moloney indicated one
Of them went ashore There. usually
at bend of the stream where the
likelihood Of jamming was great, they
took their stands. When necessary they
ran out over the face Of the river to
separate congestion likely to cause
trouble. The rest of the time they
smoked their pipes.
All night long the logs slipped down
the moonlit current, silently. swiftly,
yet without haste. From the whole
length Of the river rang the hollow
boom, boom, boom, of timbers striking
one against the other.
The drive was on.
(To Be Continued)