The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1910-06-15

He threw himself full length against
slanting pile. leisurely filling his
pipe. The men stared n moment and
then followed his example. The hort
zon lay low and black against the
afterglow. Beneath II the river shone
like silver. Over beyond the rise of
land that lay between the river and
Stearn's bayou could be seen the cloud
Of mingled smoke and steam that
marked the activity OF the dredge.
orde was apparently more at ease
than any of the rest. but each instant
he expected TO hear the premonitory
crack that would sound the end Of
everything. Finally he yawned ana
got to his feet
Now" said he, new ring In his
voice. come on and let's get some
thing doner'
They responded TO a man.
By midnight the water had gone
down slightly. Half the crew snatched
a little sleep For several hours more
the issue hung In equilibrium. Then.
with the opening Of the channel into
Stearns bayou. the heaviest pressure
was relieved. For the moment the
acute danger point was passed. Orde
spent the next two days In strengthen
ing the defenses. The men were able
to take their quota of meals and OF
sleep.
The jam had been successfully held
at the iron railroad bridge above Red
ding. but, only by the most strenuous
efforts. Braces Of oak beams had
been slanted where they would do the
most good. Chains strengthened the
weaker spots, and on top OF all ton
after ton OF railroad iron held the
whole immovably. Nolan had all the
help he required. Every device known
was employed to strengthen the JAM.
For only a few hours was the result
In doubt Then. as the Clarion jubi-
lantly expressed It. Its a hundred
dollars TO an old hat she holds!'
Orde received all this with satisfac-
ton, but with slight skeptlcism.
ITS a floating jam. and 1t gets a
push from underneath" he pointed
] out. MS probably safe. but another
| food might send II out"
1.-The floods are going down." said
North.
Good Lord. hope sO!' said Orde.
Newmark sent word that a sudden
fit Of sickness had confined him to the
house.
Now Orde decided to break out a
channel through the jam itself. This
was a necessary preliminary to getting
the logs in shape for distribution. An
opening was made In the piles. and the
riyermen, with pike POLES and peavies.
began cautiously to dig their way
through the tangled timbers. The gov
eminent pile driver which had finally
been sent up from below. began plac-
ing Eve extra booms at intervals down
stream to capture the drift as fast as
1t was turned loose. The troubles APP
peared to be quite over when word
came from Reddlng that the waters
were again rising Ten minutes later
Leopold Lincoln Bum. the local re-
porter. came Tapping In on Randall's
old white horse. like a second Paul Re-
we're, crying that the Iron bridge had
gone and the logs were racing down
river toward the booms.
1T just went outI' be answered tho
eager EXPLANATIONS OF the men who
crowded around him. That's all
know. II went out: And the other
bridges! Sure. All but the Lake Shore!
Don't know why that didn't go out.
No; the logs didn't jam there-just slid
right underr'
THAT settles IT," said welto0.
you won't quitT cried Orde.
Certainly. You're crazyT said Wei
ton. with some asperity. "If they can't
stop a little Jam with iron, what are
your wooden defenses going to amount
to against the whole accpmulation?
When those logs hit the tail Of this
jam she'll 60 out before you can wink.
It's sure death, and I'm not going TO
sacrifice my men,"
Already the news was spreading
among the workers on the Jams. Orde
saw the government driver below cast
Ing loose from her moOrings. mo-
ment later her tug towed her away to
side bayou Of safety out OF the ex.
pected rush to the lake.
But we can hold bert" cried Orde
In desperation.
Its no use. boy" said old Carlin:
Its sure death"
Sure DEATH Orde laughed bitterly.
"All right; sure death. then. Isn't
there man In this crowd that will
tackle this sort of sure death with
me?"
I'm with you" "And me-" said
North and the Rough Red In a breath.
"Good" cried Orde You, too.
Johnny Sims and purdy and Jimmy
Powers? Bully boysr'
81 reckon you'll need the tug" said
Marsh.
dozen more of Orde's personal fol-
lowing volunteered.
We've got to close that opening first
thing" said he. Marsh. tow the pile
driver up there"
The opening was to be closed by
piles driven in groups of sixteen bound
together by chains. The clumps were
connected one to the other by system