The Redwood gazette., 1905-01-18
6be Bluzed
BY STEWART
TKAS ~ EDWARD
WHITE

coeSsfsSf. 1902. By ~f.ss,' Edssrd u'1".

Ing pOOi UelOW. WO men CrdmpeQ
steadily backward and forward on the
booms. urging the logs forward by
means Of long pike poles to where the
suction could seize them. Below the
dam the push Of the sluice water
forced them several miles down stream,
where the rest of Bryan Molcoey's
crew took them in charge.
Thus through the wide gate nearly
three-Quarters of million feet an
hour could be run, and at length the
last of the logs drifted into the wide
dam pool The rear had arrived at
Dam Two, and Thorpe congratulated
himself that one stage of his journey
had been completed.
CHAPTER XVII.
H|lHE rear had been tenting at the
dam for two days and was
about ready to break camp
when Jimmy Powers swung
across the trail to tell them of the big
jam.
Ten miles along the river bed the
stream dropped over a little half falls
into narrow, rocky gorge. 1t was al
ways an anxious spot for river drivers.
The plunging of the logs head-on over
the fall had so gouged out the soft rock
below that an eddy of great power had
formed in the basin. Here in spite of
all efforts, the jam had formed. The
bed was completely filled. far above
the level of the falls, by a tangle that
defied the jam crews best efforts.
The rear at once took the trail down
the river. Thorpe and Shearer and
Scotty Parsons looked over the ground.
Without delay the entire crew was
set to work. Nearly a hundred men
can pick great many logs in the
course of day. Several times the jam
started, but always plugged before
the motionh had become irresistible
well have to shoot" Shearer re-
luctantly decided
The men were withdrawn. Scotty
Parsons cut a sapling twelve feet long
and trimmed it. Big .Iunko thawed his
dynamite at a little fire, opening the
ends of the packages in order that the
steam generated might escape. When
the powder was warm, Scotty hound
twenty of the cartridges aroGnd the
end of the sapling, adjusted fuse in
one of them and soaped the opening to
exclude water. Then Big Junko thrust
the long javelin down into the depths
smoke behind him as he turned away.
zigzagging awkwardly over the jam.
the long, ridiculous tails of his brown
cutaway coat Topping behind him as
he leaped. A scant moment later the
hoarse dynamite shouted.
Great chunks of timber shot to an in
conceivable height. Entire logs lifted
bodily into the air with the motion of
q fish jumping. A fountain of water
cleaned against the sun and showered
down in fine rain. The jam shrugged
and settled. That was ALL The 'shot"
had failed.
The men ran forward. examining Gu
riously the great hole in the log forma-
ton.
''We'll have to flood her." said Thorpe.
So all the gates of the dam were
raised, and the torrent tried its hand.
1t had no effect Evidently the affair
was not one of violence, but Of pa
tience. The crew went doggedly to
work.
Day after day the clank. clank. clink
of the peaveys sounded with the regu-
larity of machinery 1t was cruel,
hard work. A man who has lifted his
utmost strength into a peavey knows
that. Any but the Fighting Forty
would have grumbled.
Collins. the bookkeeper, came up to
view the tangle. Later photographer
from Marquette took some views, and
by the end of the week a number of
curiosity seekers were driving over ev
cry day to see the big jam. A certain
Chicago journalist in search of balsam
health of lungs even sent to his pa
per little item. This unexpectedly
brought Wallace Carpenter to the spot.
The place was an amphitheater for
such as chose to be spectators. They
could stand or sit on the summit of the
gorge cliffs, overlooking the river. the
fall and the jam.
At last Shearer became angry.
"We've been monkeying long
enough" said he. "Next time we'll
leave center that will go out. Well
shut the dams down tight and dry
pick out two wings that IL start her"
The dams were first run at full
speed and then shut down. Hardly a
drop of water flowed in the bed of the
stream The crews set laboriously to
work to pull and roll the logs out in
such fat fashion that head of water
should send them out.
This was even harder work than the
other, for they had not the floating
power Of water to help them in the
lifting As usual, part of the men
worked below. part above.
Jimmy Powers, curly haired, laugh
ing faced, was irrepressible. He bad
gered the others until they threw bark
at him and menaced him with their
peaveys. Always he had at his tongues
end the proper quip for the occasion,