Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-07-12
BOAT OWNERS WILL
FIGHT FOR RIGHTS
Logs in River Have Spoiled Navi.
cation This Summer
Committee Appointed to Have LEGAL
Action Brought Against Connecticut
River Lumber Company.

Action Brought Against Connecticut
River Lumber Company.
With thousands of logs in the river.
| making boating almost an impossibility
| the boat owners of Brattleboro have
| been deprived of their usual recre-
| alton the greater part of the summer
| In order to do away with the choking
| of the river in this manner in years to
| come boat owners held a meeting Tues
| day night on the wharf at Island park
| Many were present and others send word
that they could be counted on in any
| step that the meeting though advisable
| to take in order to remedy conditions.
| Nearly every motor boat owner in town
| signed an agreement to help defray the
cost of legal action against the Connec-
| ticut River Lumber company, which
| owns the logs, and a committee consist
| ing of Hayes Bigelow c. p. Spencer and
| H. M. Wood was chosen to consult a
| local attorney and see what steps shall
| be taken to force the lumber company to
| keep the river open to navigation.
| In opening the meeting Hayes Bigelow,
owner of the boathouse on the island
| and several motorboats and the two pas
senger boats, Vermont and New Hamp-
| shire, said that he and c. p. Spencer
had talked with several boat owners in
| town, and acting on their advice had
consulted with a local attorney in order
| to see If the lumber company could not
| be compelled to refrain from stopping
| navigation. The attorney, although not
| having looked deeply into the matter.
had said that in his opinion something
| could be done to make the company
take care of the logs so that the boats
in this locality could use the river while
the logs were being foated down. He
said that the boat owners had rights as
individuals which the lumber company
was bound to respect and that they
ought to take steps to prevent a re-
currence of the conditions that have
prevented boating the past several
weeks.
A. l.. Billings, who owns passenger
boats, said he had lost money by the
river being choked with logs and he
thought the boat owners should see
what they could do to keep the river
clear another year. He said the river
came under the head of federal waters
and that 1t should be kept navigable.
II. NJ. Wood showed photographs of the
log jam above the island. The photo
graphs were taken Tuesday morning and
showed the river so filled with logs that
an attempt to navigate it would result
in failure. Others Joined in the discus
sion and favored taking action and the
committee named was appointed to Sc
cure funds from those who own boats
in order to secure legal advice.
Many boats are owned in Brattleboro
and the large number of logs in the
river has prevented extended enjoyment
of them this summer. Persons who own
cottages on the banks of the river be-
tween here and Putney have been forced
to take teams or automobiles in order
to reach them, and last Saturday three
boys who had been camping at Echo
park came home in a wagon, although
they went up in boats the first of the
week. A boating party who started up
the river Sunday in two boats went as
far as the mouth of the West river and
then while the men poled through the
logs the women in the party walked in
the hot dust in the road The boats
were more than an hour and half get
ting through the logs.
Those. who own motorboats in town
are Hayes Bigelow, c. p. Spencer, C.
II. Fox, A L. Peetee, HIM. Wood, Fred
B. Davis, A. L. Billings, II. L. Locke,
C. C. Fits, Martin Austin, jr John E.
Tasker. Harold l.. Smith, Bert A. Wood,
C. H. Oakes, B. A. Akley, Fred H. Har-
ris, II. NJ. Sweetland, E. j. Fenton, H.
F. Jordan, George Cain, Fred Minis, C.
r. Crosby, W. E. Haskell, ]. H. Estey,
Frank Fl. Brasor, L. Goldsmith, DIR.
w. r. Noyes. William Fish, Roger
Brackett, William Dunlevy and Don
Wilder
Dr. E. S. Bowen, ]. B. Manley and
H. w. Sargent are the owners of
houseboat, run by motor, but they can
not use it, because of the logs. Many
owners of canoes and rowboats have
signified their willingness to subscribe to
the fund for legal action.
1t was suggested at the meeting that
the lumber company, in order to keep
the river clear, might raft the logs from
Putney to the dam at Vernon or that
they might employ larger force of men
to keep the logs from jamming. When
the floodgates are closed at the dam at
Vernon the logs remain almost station
airy, unless there is a wind blowing
from the north or south. With south
wind coming up the river the logs are
blown back and this is what causes
much of the trouble. The expense
which the lumber company would in
cur by rafting would reach large sum.
The public has an interest in the con-
troversy for the reason that Mr.. Bigelow
has established a regular service for the
accommodation of people who wish to go
to the Vernon dam and up the river to
West Chesterfield, Dummerston and Put
ney His boats are advertised to leave
at regular hours, but owing to the con-
gested condition of the river the trips
have been abandoned this season in
large part.