Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1906-05-03
BREAKING A LOG JAM
THE pERlls AND AARDsHlPs OF THE
HEROES OF THE "DRlve."

Among the occupations which ure
brimful of danger and in which men
take their lives in their hands Is LOG
driving" 1t Is Il work without glory,
yet it is as dangerous rs that of the
fireman and. one is tempted TO say, us
that of the scacoast life savers. Ger
tslinly in the Adirondacks, Maine. Mich.
gan Canada and wherever it Is cur-
ricd on each year large number Of
lives are lost considering the few men
employed. 1t Is nu employment in
which the mans safety depends ON his
| skill, coolncss nnd luickness in per.
ccivng what to do ut the right time.
The chief danger is the breaking OF
log jams in midstream of rocky rapid
The logs always pile up against the
rocks that are not covered by the flood
and form IL long pile two or three rods
wide. anywhere from one to thirty rods
4 long and perhaps six or eight logs deep
Thus jan may contain 5000 or 10000
logs. To break jam of this kind the
= tJOSS SclltlS vi lukcS Oul tllIGC VI lOUx
af the best men in the log driving crew.
tThcsc experts are men known rs
"'ElMte water men, because OF the.i
aldlityA to ride standing up OH log
tlrouglN water that il Splushing and
foaming toyer the rocks. They land at
the upstream end of the jam, where
\ one of theAmen remains with the boat
while the Others 80 to the lower end
Of the jam sto pick away With their
peaveys. or levers. the logs close to the
rock agninst,whic. the jam rests. They
seek for the key log" which when
l pricd out starts the jam moving SO that
H 1t either hangs uit' again or breaks to
\ pieces.
\ When the men see that 1t is breaking
! they run over the heavlng. bounding
tangle Of logs, to the boat ut the head
/ u fall between the grinding and toss
ing logs. The logs may become 80 sep
! :HAted that it is impossible to reach
! The boat. If this happens the white
ayatcr man" must make good his name
BY analilng his way,to the shore with
olt getting wet or maybe killed.
Perhaps the floating timber spreads
apart 10 such an extent that he is com
PEELED to'stick to u single log, and here
it Is thut,he best.shows his ability as u
N log driver He balances himself Oh the
\ upstream end Of the log. steadies him
! self upon 1his spike shoes aud steern
clear Of tho rocks before him. The men
OH shore stop \to watch. He may ride
to safety andlhs may not
Some years ago Oh the West Canada
creek. in the AdilOndacks. Il foreman
of IL log driving crew who would never
send his men wher..the did not dare so
himself went out with two volunteers
to break IL jam III exceedingly swift
and rough water. With some difficulty
they reached tho pllc.of logs and, after
10 time. succeeded III starting them go
l1:, The logs started much fnster than
expected and Mere soon scattered III
such Il manner that the two men could
not get to.thc bo&, ,tmnn and bont ut the
head Of tle jam. They did the best
they could to keep their feet and to
work their way towanl shore.
The foreman was thc.lnore sklllful Of
the two and kept his log, fairly steady.
but the other man was hlving IL hard
time to keep OH top. Hnving come
1 within fifteen or twenty yards Of the
shore, tho foreman brucea his peavey
against the other mans log and then
| ;y;lve ii IL shove which sent it toward
shore With the man. In doing this the
forcmnns log was sent far out into the
Y La I,.,I Jt,tn ,tN t,.
4 work his way back again while he was
\ r,cuning" his log to stop 1t rolling, but
\ Ii ..struck IL rock. He was hurled into
the ,,air and came down headforemost
4 upon&hc bowlder. His body was found
l some Alys later u mile downstream.
/ .Althot. gh the white water man" ~
slilliul M riding log. it is obvious
| that ale cilnnot ride over waterfall or
through a.l extremely rough rapid.
When jan, forms above waterfall
or rough rapi,l. us is often the case, the
danger OF "buNting' is greatly incrcas
ed, since hcrclifis ]olutely necessary
to get to the bout !" to the shore
\ When one considers NAT in breaking
\ jams the drivers are ,..cn compelled
4 to ride to shore Ga Il log. the danger
can readily he seen.
Gene McBcth. one OF the best driv.
ers that ever rode log met his death
OIL Mil creek III just such situation.
A wing junlI" 50 called because ex-
tending from shore iuto the stream,
had hung up" above rnpids that could
not be passed even by boat. With
two other men McBeth went out Oh
the logs and began picking taen loose
ln search for the key log. After
working un hour, all, at once the jam
leaped forward and was In full mo-
ton
The men turned and started up the
lam, AlcBeth In the lead. When they
reached the single place over which
they could pass McBeth stopped to
help his less able companions and to
let them pass ahead OF him. 1t was
n fatal move OH his part. for the other
1.-two men had just time to jump ashore
into the water waist deep. When his
turn came 1t was too late. He bad
saved his friends. but now there was
II ride for his life over the tangled
mass Of groaning and tossing logs
When he saw what 1t all meant he
t,rncd about. held the peavey as bal
n,lce pole tight in both hands and faced
the hopeless fight for life.
The men on shore ran along the
stream, unable to render him aid. and
watched the greatest log riding they
had ever seen. At times he would
t.k I, ,l1vk, tn lfND