Canyon City news. (Canyon City, Tex.) 1903-1908, 1905-01-27

ly from Que floating log 10 another in
the length Of their footing and. over
leaping IN open CT 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 cnd-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 perceptible
motion was communicating itself from
one particle to another through the cen
ter of the jam. The men redoubled their
pxertions. A sharp crack exploded i'm.
lnediately underneath. There could no
longer exist any doubt as to the motion.
although 1t was rs set sluggish, glacial.
Then in silence a los shifted-in silence
and slowly. but with Irresistible force.
Jimmy Powers quietly stepped over it
just as II 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: It
shrieked and grumbled. At first slow
ly. then more rapidly. the very fore.
front of the center melted inward and
forward and downward until 1t 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 he
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 ncce-
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 log
and on such unstable vehicles f1oated
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