The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1912-04-19

considered the most dangerous rapids
on the river.
At the head of these rapids, the
Entering" rock often caused disas-
ter to the unwary or unskilful nayi-
gator. A little farther on the Hun
bred Barre /" rock, when covered with
water, indicated that Durham boat,
carrying a hundred barrels of -four,
might pass through the channel
safely.
The only rock in the Falls which, at
all times, had grass growing on 1t,
was known as the Grass" rock. At
low water foam produced by one of
the rocks gave 1t the name of the
"Foamer," which was then dangerous
for boats and RATS. Below the
"Foamer," at the foot of the swift
water, upward bound boats stopped
at the Dram" rock, for rest for the
men and an invigorator from the
whiskey jug, which always found
place on board. Very appropriately
this rock has gravel worn cavity
which somewhat resembles a punch
bowl
On the New Jersey side of the chan
mel and below the Dram" rock, are
"Rodmans" rocks, where a raft, con-
Quoted by a Capt. Rodman was
wrecked and Rodman was drowned.
Farther down and only seen at low
water, was the Bake Iron" fiat and
rounded, and since partly removed.
Near "Rodman's" is "Buckwheat
Ledge" The origin of this name is
unknown, but the writer's informant
states that when fishing near the
place he has seen floating about the
Ig - ~,
when this grain was being ground by
the mills on the river.
Below the last named is Fish"
rock, over which falls cascade, pro-
ducing an eddy which is liable to
draw under the fall any small boat
approaching in the unskilled hands of
would be fisherman
A short distance above "Enterin"
rock $50 termed by the waterman)
an iron ring in a rock gives 1t the
name Of Ring" rock, and a little
farther up is "Corneel's' rock. so
named from the habit of fishing there
of one Cornelius Coryell, an old time
resident of the vicinity.
| The rocky character of the river
bed, al Wells Falls, is often very evil
dent at low water.
During the busy season the RATS
would run in Strings" following each
other closely, and if one were stopped
| by rock or shoal, the next would
sometimes attempt to get it off by
striking 1t. If the attempt failed or
If the way were seriously INSTRUCTED
by the stoppage of the first raft. the
| next would often be brought to a
| stand The writer has often seen a
| number thus stranded, at one time.
in Wells Falls,
No record is at hand of the guam
| tity of lumber fioated down the Della
| ware, but, partial data, and the recol-
| lection of many persons still living,
shows tTiat the amount was very
| great
| Hazards Register of Pennsyl-
vania" states that it was estimated
| that in the spring of 1928, as many as
a thousand RATS. containing fifty mil
| lion feet of lumber, descended the
| Delaware during the rafting season.
| In paper read before the Bucks
| County Historical Society, by Mr.. b.
| T.. Fackenthal, Jr., and printed in the
| Records of the Society, Vol. 3, is
found on page $50, the following
statement
In manuscript found among my
fathers papers, the late b. f. Facken-
thai, Esq, of Easton, Pa, (born 1926,
died 1922, he says that rafting on
the Delaware was at it's height in
1910 to 1915, and that it began to de-
crease in 1855. The season was gen
orally about four weeks long, during
the spring freshets For the first two
weeks nearly all the RATS were of
sawed lumber and during the last
two weeks they were mostly of logs.
During the middle, or height, of the
rafting season he frequently stood on
| an elevation back of his residence, in
| Durham township, and could count
often as high as fourteen and occa-
sionally as high as twenty RATS In
| sight at one time. Rats now on the
| Delaware are rare sight. | saw one
during the spring of 1907 and am told
| that there were several others that
| season"
These statements accord entirely
| with the observations of the writer,
| whose knowledge of the river dates
| from 1S43. A statement has been met
with that there were good many log
| RATS on the river in 1908 and one OBJ
| server mentions that in 1908 or 1909
he saw two log RATS passing Lam
| bertville
The life of the raftmen was one of
hard work and exposure and required
hardy men. As a rule, the raft car
ried no shelter from sun and storm.
The need to be constantly on the alert
would have forbidden its use, the fire.
quent riffs and rapids calling for con-
| slant watchfulness.
Night, necessarily. brought rest at
| OF
| which grew up under the stimulus of
the traffic. OF these, on the lower
| part of the river. were Upper Blacks
| Eddy" short distance above Milford
| N. j.; Lower Blacks Eddy" near
Point Pleasant, Pa; the "Old Red
Tavern. at Lambertville, n j.; "Mer-
| shon's" at the foot of Wells Falls,
and another Red Tavern" near
Trenton. AT these and many others,
| convenient landings and rest and re-
Greshment were to be found.
The trip ended, the raftman threw
his pack over his shoulder and
tramped his way homeward or used
| the railroads, when available.
The men who started with the RATS
| did not always complete the trip.
Some We're not acquainted with the
lower river and, at some point,
turned the task over to others. Often
RATS were laid up at some way point
for considerable time. awaiting sale,
| and the men who came with them
would return. Favorite places for
tying up We're the two Blacks Ed
dies Here, at times, the accumula-
ton was such that, for long distances,
the collection of RATS extendedznearly
across the river. At New Hope they
would some times extend for half
mile or more along the river bank
| two or three deep.
Men living along the river made a
business of running these delayed
| RATS to destination or of plotting
RATS through difficult places. A fee
| OF five dollars was often paid for con-
| Quoting raft through Wells Falls
With the exhaustion of the forests
| and the opening of other transporta-
| tion channels, for what the lumber
man might still CLEAN, the raftman
has lost his calling, and raft upon
| the river is now rare sight.