The Redwood gazette., 1909-12-22
Stewart
Edward White

"Hev We? First of We begin to tear
down my dam, and then when the
river begins a-roarin' and a-ragin
through then you tamper with my i'm
provements furthermore, a-lowerin' the
gate and otherwise a-modifyin' my
structure
Orde stepped forward. Immediately
Reed wheeled, his thumb on the ham
mer.
"All right. old spirit of '76," repli ]
Orde. Don't shoot; I'll come down"
He walked back to the waiting row.
Surely" spoke up Newmark, what
ever the status of the damage suits,
you have the legal right to run your
logs"
Orde rolled a quizzical eye in his di-
rection.
"Per-fect-ly correct, son." he drawl-
ed, 'but we're engaged in the happy
occupation of getting out logs. By thu
time the law was all adjusted and {
head of steam up the water ID be down
In this game you get out logs first and
think about law afterward."
How about legal damages?" insist
ed Newmark.
Legal damages" scoffed Orde. lie
gal damages! Why, we count lega
damages as part of our regular ex
penses, like potatoes"
Orde walked to the edge Of the dan
and stood looking down current. The1
he turned to the grimly silent river
men.
Boys" he commanded briefly, "ge
your peavies and come along"
He led the way past the mill to thu
shadows below.
Bring down two logs fairly big ant
hold them by that old snag," he order
ed. Hold them end on-no, pointin.
upstream. Fix 'em about ten foo
apart. That's it! George, drive cou
pie of stakes each side of them to holt
'em. Correct! Now. run down a cou
pie dozen mere and pile them across
those two side on to the stream, o
course. Roll 'em up. That's the tick
etr'
Orde next braced more logs agains
a convenient bowlder. and an old stul
near shore became the third pier in
line below the mill.
"Now, boys" commanded Orde
"shove off some shore logs and le
them come down."
The stray logs floating down will
the current the rivermen caught an(
jammed about the improvised piers.
So in ten seconds after the shore
logs began drifting the jam formed
low and broad. The weight of tn.
topmost logs sunk those beneath t.
the bed of the stream. This to a Ger
tain extent damned back the water
Below the improvised dam the watel
fell almost to nothing, and above it
swirling in eddies, grumbling fiercely
bubbling, gurgling. searching busily
for an opening, the river turned bacl
on itself
Nothing can stand that pressure,
breathed Newmark, fascinated.
''The bigger the pressure the tighter
she locks" replied Orde, lighting his
pipe.
In order to take full advantage Of
the water power developed by his dan
old man Reed had built his mill nearly
at level with the stream. Now the
river, backing up, rapidly overfowed
this fat. AS the jam tightened by its
own weight the water fairly jumped
from the lowest floor of the mill tt
the one above.
In less than five minutes the ole
man descended on the group.
whats the matter here?" he de
manded
''Matter?'' inquired Orde easily. "Oh
nothing much-just little JAM"
"But it's flooding my MILL"
"I'm not interested"
"Pve lot of grain upstairs It'll be
ruined. You miserable blackguardw
Reed frantically disappeared, return
ing bearing an antiquated pike pole
and single handed attacked the jam.
| Astonishment and delight held the
rivermen breathless for a moment
Then roar of laughter drowned even
noise of the waters.
| Only Orde seemed to see the other
side. With few quick leaps he had
gained the old mans side.
s'You can't break this JAM" he said
kindly. "Come ashore. You'll kill
yourselfr'
"Break itv' pleaded Reed. you're
running me. I've got all my money in
| that mill.''
"Well." said Orde, we've got LOT
of money in our logs too. Come" TAX.
ing Reed gently by the arm, there's
no reason you and l shouldn't gel
along together ali right. Maybe we're
| both little hard headed. Let's talk
| it over
He led the old man ashore. At the
end Of ten minutes Orde cried cheer.
| fully:
"War's over. boys! Break that jamr'
The crew swarmed across the log
barrier to point above the center pier
This they attacked with their peavies
| rolling the top logs of into the current