The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1920-03-19

It was tiny mill, judged by present.
day standards, for In fourteen-hOur
working day John Cardigan and his
men could not cut more than twenty
thousand feet Of lumber. Neverthe-
less, when Cardigan looked at his mill.
his great heart would swell with
pride.
Here" said John Cardigan to him
self exultingly when q long-drawn
wall told him his circular saw was
biting into the first redwood log to be
milled since the world began. II shall
build a city and call it SeQuoia. BY
tomorrow I shall have cut sufficient
timber to make start. First l shall
build for my employees better homes
than the rude shacks and lighthouses
they now occupy; then I shall build
myself a fine residence with six
rooms, and the room that faces the
bay shall be the parlor. When l can
afford It, I shall build more houses.
I shall encourage tradesmen to set up
In business in Sequoia and to my city
I shall present a church and a school
house. We shall have a volunteer IRE
department, and II God IL good, I
shall, at a later date, get out some
long-length flr-timber and build q
schooner to freight my lumber to
market. And she shall have three
masts instead Of two, and carry half
a million feet of lumber instead Of
.wo hundred thousand. First, how
ever, / must build steam tugboat to
low my schooner in and out over
humboldt bar. And after that-ah,
we'll! That Is sufficient for the
present"
Thus did John Cardigan dream. and
As he dreamed he worked. The city
Of Seuuoia was born with the Arg0-
oaut's six-room mansion Of rough red
wood boards and a dozen three-room
cabins with lean-to Kitchens; and the
tradespeople came when John Cardi-
gan, with something of the largeness
Of his own redwood trees, gave them
ground and lumber In order to en-
courage the building Of their enter
prises. Also the dream Of the school,
house and the church came true, as
did the steam tugbOat and the schooner
with three masts.
At forty John Cardigan was younger
than most men at thirty, albeit he
worked fourteen hours a day, slept
eight, and consumed the remaining
two at his meals. But through all
those fruitful years Of toll he had
still found time to dream. and the
spell of the redwoods had lost none
Of its potency.
At forty.two Cardigan was the first
mayor Of SeQuoia. At forty-four he
was standing on his dock one day
watching his tug kick into her berth
the first square-rigged ship that had
ever come to Humboldt bay to load q
cargo Of clear redwood for foreign
delivery. She was a big Bath-built
clipper, and her master lusty down
Easter. a widower with one daughter
who had come with him around thu
Horn. John Cardigan saw this CIR
come up on the quarterback and
stand by with a heaving-line In hel
hand; calmly she fixed her glance
upon him. and as the ship was shuntet
in closer to the dock, she made tn
cast to Cardigan. He caught tn
light heaving-line, hauled in tn
heavy Manila stern-line to which
it was attached. and slipped the lool
Of the mooring-cable over the dolphin
at the end Of the dock.
| "Some men wanted aft here to TAX
up the slack Of the stern-line on tn
windlass, sir" he shouted to tn
skipper, who was walking around Of
top of the house. THAT girl can
haul her In alone"
i Cant. I'm short-handed." tn
skipper replied. Jump aboard an
help her."
L Cardigan made long leap from tn
dock to the ships rail, balanced ther
lightly a moment, and sprang to tn
deck. He inserted a belaying-pin 4
the windlass. paused and looked q
the girl. "Raise a chantey." he sul
gested. Instantly she lifted swee
. contralto in that rollicking old balla
Of the sea-"Blow the Men Down"
Round the windlass Cardigan wall
! ed, steadily and easily, and the girl
eyes widened In wonder as he did tn
, work Of three powerful men. Whe
the ship had been warped in and til
D slack Of the line made fast on tn
! bits, she said:
: "Please run ford and help m
r father with the bowlines. Your
s worth three foremost hands. Indee
J. I didn't expect to see q sailor on tn
II dock"
d II had to come around the Hol
d to get here, Miss" he explained. "ar
n when q man hasn't money to pay 4
& his passage. he needs must work II
r I'm the second mate" she explai
e ed. I'VE had a succession Of gal
?. from the Falklands to the Eva
y gelistas, and there the mate got h
e in irons and she took three big on
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