The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-04-11
HOW THE RIvERMAN RIDES.
Performs Peculiar Franks Upon His
 Precarious Perch.

Performs Peculiar Franks Upon His
 Precarious Perch.
 Frst and foremost your true river man can ride a log, says Steward Ed ward White in Outing. Tuis does not mean merely that he Is able to stand upright or to Jump from one to an other without splashing in-though even that is no mean feat, as trial will convince you.
 That is only the Kindergarten of 1t. The saw log in the water is the means of transportation of your true river man who. when on drive, almost never steps on land except to eat and sleep.
 A journey down stream is to him an affair of great simplicity. He pushes into the current a stick of timber, jumps lightly atop of 1t, leans against his peavy, and floats away as grace full and motionless as a Grecian sta- tue
 When his unstable craft overtakes other logs, he deserts it, runs forward as far as he ean-the log5 bobbing and awash behind his spring-and so con- tinues on another timber.
 Jack Boyd once, for bet, rode for twelve miles down Grand River on log he could carry to the streams bank across his shoulders. Fully half the time his feet were submerged to the ankles
 Nor does quick water always cause your expert rlverman to disembark. Using his peavy as balancing pole, and treading with squirrellike quick ness as his footing rolls. he will run rapids of considerable force and vol ume.
 When the tail of drive passes | through the chute of a dam there are always half dozen or so of lhe rear men who out of sheer bravado will run through standing upright like circus riders and yelling like tian1s. Few river drives finish without los- | ing man. There are magnificent re- scues narrow escapes. However these men appear to accept whateYef comes as matter of course; pr, perhaps 1 more truly, it is t1eir pride never to show emotion of any sort. One man was dragged out by thc col lar from very dangerous preli2lment between two parts of Q breaking jam. To gain safety hig resuer, hurdened | by the victim of the accident, had fairly to scale the breast of the fall l ing logs.
 For ten seconds 1t looked like sure death to both, but by combination of audacity and sheer luck rll9y reach ed the bank Most people would have paused for congratulations ani to talk it over Not they. The rescuer, still re- taining his grip on the mans collar | twisted him around and delivered ene good kick
 "There, damn youlp said he; and the two fell to work without further 1 comment.
 Just as a cowboy likes to sh,v of horsemanship which can have no prac- tieal application to his trade, 9 does | the riverman do his tricks. A man in Marinette, whose name l have forgot ten, could turn a somersault on a lug; Iinnumerable others like to lie dowr at length while floating with the cur Trent; Jack Boyd could "upend' a railroad tie without falling into tho water and it is very cold water in, deed that can scare off an occasiona Ibirling match.
 The riverman never knows when ht is licked As long as he remains cen. scious he will continue the struggle A big man once had a little man dowr and was punishing him severely Friends of the little man attempted tC interfere.
 Let him alone!" cried the warrior