The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1910-05-20

The morning OF June 20 dawned
clear. Orde drove rapidly to the dis
tributing booms. After a glance at the
river he entered the tiny office and set
about the examination of the tally
sheets. The foreman Tom North, en-
tered.
1.-THE rivers rising" he said.
you're crazy. muttered Orde.
! "There have been no rains reported"
ITS rising" insisted North.
An hour later Orde walked out over
the booms. The water certainly had
risen. He called boy.
"Here, Jimmy" said he, "mark one
CT these piles and keep track of how
fast the water rises"
The river slowly rose.
81 don't like June foods" Orde told
Tom North. "A fellow can understand
an ordinary spring freshet and knows
about how far it will go. but these
| summer foods are so confounded mys-
ferrous can't figure out what's struck
the Old stream unless they're having
almighty heavy rains up near head
WATERS
BY 8 o'clock in the afternoon Jimmy
Powers reported rise since morning
of six inches.
! "Tom," said Orde to the old river
man. I'm going to send Marsh down
\ for the pile drivers and some cable"
! "What in blaZes do you expect to do
with that:" he inquired.
I'VE may need them" Orde stated.
with conviction. IF those logs ever.
break through they'll go on out to
/ Lake Michigan and wouldn't be worth
the salvage
"Thats Il mighty long chance" North
/ commented.
IF this drive goes out it surely busts
me- replied Orde land I'm not taking
! even long chances"
A cloudburst in the China creek dis
! trict followed by continued heavy
rains was responsible for the increased
water. The evening papers mentioned
this only incidentally. Their columns
were filed with an account of the big
log jam that had formed above the iron
railroad bridge. The planning mills
booms had given way under pressure,
and the contents had piled down
]
| Orde slept that night at the booms.
The water by morning had crept So far
up the piles that there began to be
danger that it would overflow their
tops. In that case. of course, the logs
in the booms would also run out.
Orde set crew of men to raising the
height of the piling by tying logs firm
~ to the bolted timbers atop. This
would take care of an extra two feet
Of water, two feet beyond all previ-
GUS records. Another crew stretched
the fifteen inch manila cables across
the field Of logs in order to segregate
them into several units of mass.
| About two hours later the pile driv-
er moved up. The swing was opened,
and the men began to drive clumps Of
piles in such position as to strength
en- the swing when the latter should
be shut. 1t was slow job. Each pie
had to be taken from the raft at the
stern of the scow, erected in the car
rier," and pounded into place by the
heavy hammer raised and let drop in
the derrick at the bow.
Long before the task vas finished
| tuC iOSc Ill tie UOOulS utu
begun to slide atop one another, to
cross and tangle, until at last the river
bed inside the booms was filed with a
jam of formidable dimensions. From
beneath it the water boiled in eddies.
Orde, looking at it, reused himself to
sudden activity.
Get move on" he advised Cap
tain Aspinwall Of the driver. IF that
jam breaks on us we want to be reaGy,
and if it don't break before you get
this swing strengthened maybe we can
hold her where she is. There's no
earthly doubt that those boom piles
will never stand up when they get the
full pressure of the freshet."
The drivers crew labored desperate
ly, hosting the piles into the carriage,
tripping the heavy hammer, binding
feverishly the clumps of piles together
by means of cables.
Two of the clumps had been placed
and bound when suddenly. with roar,
the upper booms gave way, projecting
their logs upon the opening and the
driver. .F
| ue udll uOZcu ulcluDcIS Vi tue crew
were scattered by the winds of panic.
Two or three flung themselves on their
faces; one leaped into the river. Immi-
nent destruction seemed upon them.
Tom North, ait the winch that oper-
ated the arm of the swing. however.
retained his presence of mind. At the
first sag outward of the boom piles he
set in operation the machinery that
closed the gate. Clumsy and slow as
was his mechanism. he nevertheless
succeeded in getting the long arm
started. The logs, rushing in back of
it, hurried it shut. Immediately they
jammed again and heaped up in for
midable tangle behind the barrier
Tom North. his little black pipe be-
tween his teeth. stood calm. the lever
of his winch in his hand. A short
three feet from the spot on which he
stood the first saw log of the many
| that might have overwhelmed him