The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 2, 1904, Page 15

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. 15 if you break own- good motto, but a efficient river boss s better. It ruw s out; get them out peace- et them out.” He from headquar- ve up to this ve headquarters. river boss. There- e firm of Mor- found him- 5,000,000 feet and the logs up changeless fluenced °h was rprise, The por- and uni- He looked al- hair, thick and forehead; his s; and his xtended in ne from one Whatever his r body might his and al- at black P ring directly i g regularly on a had ea by arhead tobacco. m sank with- ost primal calm Perhaps something s alm to view forever. t do r explained to his employers. back and forth Jimmy sat bolt up- hat pend between ke charge of the Jimmy,” sald the big ou to drive those logs »om as fast as you- can. bout twenty days. It ne in that. Sanders will and Merrill will get a crew from the ere the drive is just When Daly had quite finished his remarks Jimmy got up and went out without 2 word. Two days later he en were breaking rollways es stream. v as Daly that given him a hard task. brief a time. t was none of his busi- The logs during the winter had been piled in the bed of the stream. G050 50000005555% s Storiette ARGARET was sure that there was something wrong. A sense of the unfitness of ad been growing upon 1 en minutes. Seated in f a big divan on the Albany boas, she had gradually wakened a thai no matter who ces furtive and open her direction. s an unusual atten- t to receive. Glances had followed her ever passed from spindling glorious young woman- ese glances were differ- sion in the eyes of the quite clearly. - “Thank not as you are.” The the eyes of men was bly with pity. hed blindly in the di- The little bend in was squarely above the coil of her neck. Perhaps it too far back. She raised 1d felt of her pompadour. w by touch that there was just gh hair showing in the front. It might be soot on the tip of her nose. She drew forth her hgndkerchief and tip of that member, but no éd on the cambric. Then d her chin and her cheek bones e e -back the w the same result. An odious woman, lolling in a pat- rocker, emiled at her, but it was a pitying smile. Not for the world would Margeret have asked that wo- man what was wrong. And a woman who wore a lace net dress to travel in 22 They extended over three mils of roll- ways. Jimmy and his crew began at the down-stream end to tumble the big piles into the current. Sometimes only two or three of the logs would rattle down: at others the whole deck would bulge outward, hover for a mo- ment and roar into the stream like grain from an elevator. Shortly the narrows below the roll- ways jammed. Twelve men were de- led as the “jam crew.” Their busi- was to keep the stream free in that the constantly increasing from the rollways r ht not 11l up the river. It was not an easy business, nor very safe. order As the “jam” strung out over more re of the river, the jam ¢ antly recruited from the on the rollw Thus some o logs, a very the I drifted into the dam pond at Rapids within a few days; the bulk jammed and broke, and jammed again at a point a few miles below the roll- ways, while a large proportion stranded, plugged, caught and tangled the very rollw the few, days in which to break out of the ro ways. It was done in two. Then the “rear” was L en in the rear crew h to ry last log got into the current and stayed there. When the jam broke the middle of it shot downstream in a most spectac- ular fashion, but along the banks “winged out’ distressingly. Some- times the heavy sticks of timber had been forced right out the dry land. The rear crew lifted them back. When an obstinate log grounded they jumped cheerfully into the water— with the rotten ice swirling around them—and pried the thing off the bot- tom. Between times they stood up- right on single unstable logs and pushed mightily with poles while the ice water sucked in and out of their spiked river boots. As for the compensations, natural- ly there was a good dead of rivalry to whkich wing should advance the and one experiences a certain 1 thrill in venturing under feet of jammed logs for the sole purpose of teasing the whole mass to cascade down on one; or of shooting a rapid while standing upright on a single timber. I believe, too, it is con- sidered a mighty honor to belong to the rear crew. Still, the water is cold and the hours long, and you have to sleep in tents. It readily can be seen that the prog- ress of the rear measures the prog- ress of the drive. Some few logs in the “jam” may run fifty miles a day— and often do—but if the sacking has gone slowly at the rear the drive may not have gained more than a thousand yards. Therefore Jimmy stayed at the rear. Jimmy was a mighty good riverman. Of course he had nerve and could do anything with a log and a peevie and would fight at the drop of the hat— any “bully boy” would qualify there— T A L/ l’ but he also had judgment. He knew how to use the water, how to recog- nize the key log of jams, where to place his men—in short, he could get out the Now Jimmy also knew the river from one end to the other, so he had ar- ranzed in his mind a sort of schedule for the twenty days. Forty-eight hours for the rollways; a day and a half for the upper rapid; three days iInto the dam pond; one day to sluice the drive through the dam; three days to the crossing, and so on. If everything went well he could do it, but there could be no hitches in the programme. Even from this imperfect fragment e schedule the inexperienced might imagine that Jimmy had allowed an altogether disproportionate time to cover the mile or so from the upper rapid to the dam pond. As it turned out, however, he found out he had not allowed enough, for at this point the river was peculiar and very trying. The backwater of the dam extended upstream half a mile; then occurred a rise of five feet to the mile, down the slope of which the water whirled and tumbled, only to spread out over a broad fan of gravel shallows. These challows did the business. When the logs had bumped through the tribula- tions of the rapid, they seemed to in- sist obstinately on resting in the shal- lows, like a lot of wearled cattle. The rear crew had to wade in. They heaved and pried and pushed industri- ously, and at the end of it had the sat- isfaction of seeing a 'single log slide antly into the current. Sometimes a dozen of them would clamp their peevies on either side and by sheer brute force carry the stick to deep water. 'When you reflect that there were ove#40,000 picces in the drive and that a good 50 per cent of them balked below the rapids, you can see that the rear crew had its work cut out for it. Jimmy's allotted three days were al- most gone and his job had not ad- vanced beyond the third of completion. McGann, the sluice boss, did a little figuring. “She’ll hang over thim twinty days,” he confided to Jimmy. Jimmy replied not a w piston-like smoke from his pipe. ugged in Celtic despair. n had been figuring, c rangements were more elaborate and more nearly completed McGann suspected. That very i auntered leisurely out over his hands in his pock- once in a while he stopped low-voiced comments to or another of the men. The per- addressed first looked extremely hed, then shouldered his peevie and started for camp, leaving the di- minished rear crew a prey to curiosity. s the word went about: “Day and work,” they whispered, though it was a little difficult to see the differ- ence in ultimate effectiveness between half a crew working all the time and a whole crew working half the time. Mec- to utter cne About this stage Daly began to worry., He took the train to Grand Rapids, anxlety written deep in his brows. When he saw the little inade- quate crew pecking in a futile fashion at the logs winged out over the shal- lows, J ore fervidly and sought Jimmy appeared calm. “We'll get 'em out all aid he. “Get "em out!” right, Mr, growled Daly. “Sure! But when? We ain't got all summer this ison. Those logs have got to hit o booms in fourteen days or they're no good to us!” ‘em,” assured Jimmy. You'll have Such talk made Daly tired, and he said so. “Why, it'll take you a week to get her over those infernal shallows,” he concluded. fou've got to get more men, Jimmy. ’ tried,” answered the boss. n’'t no more men to be had.” ring Moses!” groaned the owner. “It means the loss of a $50,000 contract to me. You needn’t tell me. TI've been on the river all my life. I know you can’t get them off inside of a week.” “I'll have ’em off to-morrow morn- ing, but it'll cost a little something,” asserted Jimmy calmly. Daly stared to see if the man was not crazy. Then he retired in disgust to the city, where he began to adjust his ideas to a loss on his contract. At sundown the rear crew quit work, and swarmed to the white encampment NGRS G SRR SRR RIVERS of tents on the river bank. There they hung wet clothes over a big skeleton framework bullt around a monster fire, and ate a dozén e, apiece as a side dish to supper and smoked pipes of strong ‘‘Peerless” tobacco and swapped varns and sang songs and asked ques- tions. To the latter they recelved no satisfactory replies. The crew that had been laid off knew nothing. It sup- posed it was to go to work after sup- per. After supper, however, Jimmy told it to turn in and get a little more sleep. It did turn in and speedily for- 8ot to puzzle. A midnight Jimmy entered the big tent quietly with a lantern, touching each of the fresh men on the shoulder. They arose without comment and fol- Jowed him outside. There they were given tools. Then the little band defiled silently down river under the stars. Jimmie led them, his hands deep in his pockets, puffing white steam clouds at regular intervals from his meerschaum pipe. After twenty minutes they struck the water works, then the boardwalk of Canal street. The word passed back for silence. Near the®Oriole factory their leader suddenly dodged in behind the piles of sawed lumber, motioning them in haste. A moment later a fat and dignified officer passed, swinging his club. After the policeman had gone Jimmie again took up his march at the head of a crew of men now thoroughly aroused to the fact that something un- usual was afoot. Soon a faint roar lifted the night si- lence. They crossed Fairbanks street, and a moment after stood at one end of the power dam. The long, smooth water shot over like fluid steel, silent and inevitable, mirroring distorted flashes that were the stars. Below, it broke in white tur- moil, shouting deflance at the calm vel- vet rush above. Ten seconds later the current was broken. A man, his heels caught against the combing, midleg in water, was braced back at the exact angle to withstand the rush. Two other N AN men passed down to him a short, heavy timber. A third, plunging his arms and shoulders into the liquid, nailed it home with heavy, inaudible strokes. As though by magic a second timber braced the first, bolted solidly throfigh sockets already cut for it. The work- ers moved on eight feet, then another eight, then another. More men entered the water to pass the timbers. A row of heavy slanted supports grew out from the shoulder of the dam, dividing the waters into long, arrow-shaped fur- rows of light. At 12:30 o'clock Tom Clute was swept over the dam into the eddy. He swam ashore. Purdy took his place. When the supports had reached out over half of the river's span, and the water s dotted with the shoulders of men gracefully slanted against the cur- rent, Jimmy gave orders to begin plac- ing the flash-boards. Heavy planks were at once slid across the supports, where the weight of the racing water at once clamped them fast. The smooth, quiet river, interrupted at last, murmured and snarled and eddied o AT TIDNIGHT 1 1G TEN'li;'v -IHE D\_' ’ back, only to” rush with Increased vehemence around the end of the rap- idly growing obstruction. The policeman passing back and forth on Canal street heard no sound of the labor going on. If he had been an observant policeman he would have noted an ever-changing tone in the vol- ume of sound roaring up from the eddy below-the dam. After a time even he remarked on a certain obvious phenomenon. “Sure,” said he, “now that's funny.” He listened a moment, then passed on. The vagaries of the river were, o after all, nothing to him. He belonged on Canal street, East Side, apd Canal street, East Side, seémed peaceful. The river had fallen abruptly silent: The last of Jimmy's flashboards was- in place. Back in the sleeping town the clock in Pierce’s tower struck’ two. Jimmy and his men, - having - thus raised the level of the dam a good thres ' feet, emerged dripping from the west side canal, and cheerfully took their way northward to where, in the chilly dawn, their comrades were sleeping. As they passed the riffles they paused, A heavy grumbling issued from. the logs jammed there, a grumbling brut- ish and sullen, as though the reluctant animals were beginnipg to stir. The water had already banked up from the raised dam. Of course the affair, from a river driver’s standpoint, at once became ex- ceedingly simple. The slumbering twenty were aroused to astounded drowsiness. By three, just as the dawn was beginning to streak the east, the regular clink, clank, click of the pesvies proclaimed that due advantage of the high water was being seized. From then until six was a matter of three hours maore. A great deal can be accomplished in three hours with flood water. The last little jam “‘pulled” t about the time the first citizen of West Side dis- covered that his cellar was full of water. When that startled freeman opened up the front door to ses what ' was up he uttered a tremendous ejacu- lation; and , shortly, came to the construction of a raft. < Well, the newspapers got out extras with scare heads about “Outrages” and “High-Handed Lawlessness”; and fac~ tory owners by the canals raised up their voices in bitterness over. flooded firerooms; and property owners of per- ishable cellar goods howled of damage suits; and the ordinary citizen took: to. bailing out the hollow places of -his domain. Toward 9 o’clock—after the first excitement had died and the flash- boards had been indignanfly. yanked from their illegal places—a squad: of police went out to hunt up tha male- . factor. The latter they discovered on a boom pole directing the slulcing. From this position he declined to stir. One fat policeman ventured a toppling yard or so on the floating timber, threw his shaky hands aloft and with a mighty effort regained the shore, whére- he sat down panting. 3 To the appeals of the squad fo comw and be arrested Jimmy paid not .the slightest attention. He puffed periodi- cally on his ‘“meerschaum,” and. di-- rected the slulcing. Phrough the twea- ty-four foot gate about a million an. hour passed. Thus it came about that a little after noon Jimmy stepped peaceably ashore and delivered himself up. “You won't have no more troubls" below,” he observed to McGann, . lis. lieutenant, watching reflectively -the. last log as it shot through the gate: “Just tle right into her and keep heér a-hustling.” Then he refilled his pipe, lit it and approached the expectant squad. At the station-house he was inter- viewed by reporters. That 1Is, they asked questions. To only one of them did they elicit a reply. “Didn’t you know you were breaking the law?”’ inquired the Eagls man, “Didn’t you know you'd be arrested?” “Sure!” replied Jimmy with obvious contempt. The next morning the courtroom was: crowded. Jimmy pleaded gailty, and. was sentenced to a fine of $500° or ninety days in jail. To the surprise of everybody he flshed out a tremendous roll and paid the fine. The spectators considered it remarkable that a. river’ boss should carry such an. amount. They had not been present at the in- terview on the boom poles between Jimmy and his principal the day befere, The latter stood near the door as the little man came out. : “Jimmy,” said Mr. Daly distinctly & that everybody could hear, “I am ®x- tremely sorry to see you in trouble, but- perhaps it may prove a lesson to you. Next time you must understand that you are not supposed to exceed your: instructions.” Thus did the astute Daly publicly dis- claim liability. “Yes, sir,” said Jimmy meekly. *“Do you think you will get ths logs in-time, Mr. Daly?” 3 They looked at each other steadily. Then for the first and only time the black and white mask of Jimmy’s .in- scrutability melted away. In his left eye appeared a faint glimmer. Then- the left eyelld slowly descended. SORREGGRRR SRR RRINRRGIRG000 N 2 AS IT HAPPENED ON THE DAY BOAT . 5> tucyBame would not have sense enough to tell another woman what had happened. By the time Margaret had reached this conclusion she was actually per- spiring with nervousness. She was not a girl whose thoughts ran entire- ly on dress and appearance, but she viewed with scorn the wungroomed woman. And at this moment she was morally certain that her grooming had slipped a cog. She reviled the man- agement of the boat line which did not panel its salon with mirrors, but not for worlds would she have walked the length of that salon to a dressing- room. She preferred to sit in the lime- light of the restless passengers to run- ning the gauntlet of the lounging pas- sengers. ¥ She was ready to call herself names for having declined, with thanks, the vanity bag her brother Dick had want- ed to give her on her birthday. She had taken a new collar for Pedro. Poor Pedro, grieving in the baggage-room in the hold at this moment. What wouldn't she give mow for the tiny mirror re- posing in the rejected vanity bag? Just then a young man loomed up on her gloomy mental horizon. The boat bhad made a landing at one of those small towns from which tourists reached the Catskills. The young man looked exceedingly cheerful and harm- less. Margaret decided on this the in- stant her troubled glance met his. His eyes were the sort to create a feeling of trust. He was good-looking, but Mar- saret instantly decided that he couldn’t be blamed for that. Anyhow, he was looking for somebody, and she became DS0500500 reckless. She met his look of inquiry with a nod of invitation and deliber- ately drew her skirts to one side as if to make room for him on the divan. The young mang accepted the un- spoken invitation with alacrity. He stood before her, hat in hand. “Awfully good of you,” he said, look- ing down at her frankly. “I didn’t rec- ognize you at. first. You've changed quite. a bit since you had that last picture taken.” Margaret gasped. She had thought her own impertinence quite impossible, once the die was cast, but this young man’s nerve was monumental. She lowered her voice so that the woman in lace net could not hear what she sald. “Sit down, please, and I'll explain. Of course, you were not looking for me, I know that. But you—er—play the part much better than I could. I was in such trouble and I just had to speak to you.” Just for an instant a puzzled expres- sion passed over the man’s face; then he pulled himself together and sat down beside her. “I am tremendously glad to be of ser- vice to any lady in distress. What par- ticular form of distress has overtaken you?” Margaret looked straight into his trust-inspiring eyes, and her own danced. “I am a victim of woman’s ‘inhu- ‘womanity’ to woman. Don't you dare to laugh when I tell you this, but every woman who was passed me for the last half hour has looked at me-as if my hat was crooked or I had soot on my nose or my skirt and blouse had parted company. WIill you please tell me what is the matter?" The young man tried not to give way to the mirth which was welling up within him, and looked over her critically. “Well,” he said judiciously, “I can’t see anything wrong except that the thing you wear for a collar seems to have slid around. Does the bow be- long under your left ear?” Margaret clutched at the offending bit of ribbon. “My stock! that.” She pulled the bit of embroidered linen till the bow was poised, with outspread, saucy wings, directly under her chin. “Now, is that right?” she asked, looking up into her human mirror. “Correct and trim as you please,” he said reassuringly, and watched her while she fastened the unruly stock with a tiny pearl-headed pin. “You wouldn’t believe what a mis- erable half hour I have put in. I know now that odious old cat in the patent rocker had grinned afresh each time my stock sprung a fresh notch. Isn't it funny that women can’t show a little Christian courtesy to each other?” “Well,” said the young chap thoughtfully, “I'm sorry I didn't get here half an hour sooner. I might have saved you some—er— trifling discomfort.” But that wasn’t what his eves said I never thought of at all, and Margaret awoke with a start to a realization that, after hav- ing made use of the young man, it was not going to be as easy to get rid of him. But what annoyed her the worst of all was the fact ‘nat she felt that she was not particularly anxious to get rid of him. He had put down his bags and settled himself in a way that suggested that he meant to stay until New York was reached. “Do you belleve in signs and omens?” she asked. “Sure! Something tells me this is going to be an awfully jolly trip. I usually dread the ride into town, but then—" “Well, when I go home I shall say unpleasant things to the friends who advised me to take the boat trip down the Hudson. Oh, I didn’t mean to be personal. I beg your pardon. I was merely referring to the babies and the lunch. I can’t sit on deck because the sight of lunch boxes and perpetual eating makes me positively {IL.” “We’ll remedy that. I know a little corner where they don't admit either bables or lunch boxes. If you'll just wait a2 minute I'll fix the matter up. I have a little stand-in with the cap- tain of this boat.” He rose, but she laid a detainin, hand on his arm. “You really mustn’ a “Now, see here,” he sald frankly, “you’re calling yourself all sorts of things because we haven’t been in- troduced. It's all nonsense, don’t you know. We were bound to meet after the conventional fashion some day. Something—er—tells me so.” It may ‘have been that Margaret wanted to get out in the fresh alr, or it may have been because she felt it her duty to change the expression in his eyes, which were looking at her so eagerly. He strode down to the purser’s room and paid the price of the best stateroom on the boat, which gave them access to a tiny patch of "deck room shut in on the other side by a lifeboat, a stack of life preserv- ers and a most uncompromising rafl- ing. From this point Margaret view- ed the beautiful panorama of the Palisades and the young man, loyal New Yorker that he was, insisted that it was purely his duty to make his State show up at its best. The last ten or fifteen minutes of the trip were uncomfortable ones for Marghret. Mrs. Grundy whispered in one ear that she had already been in- discreet and it was her duty to drop the young man forever. Her sense of fairness whispered in the other ear that she owed him something for his courtesy. As they gathered up their traps to difembark it was quite evident that the young man was not giving him- self any anxiety over the situation. He took her checks. He even accepted Pedro as a matter of course. He led the way to a hansom without asking her s0 much as where she was going. ‘When she and Pedro were settled in the vehicle the young man stood with one foot on the step. “Will you tell him to take me to the Grand Central?” she asked. SOBONICSISNICLE0GE000T0000000000000) | “I have already done so,” sald the young man placidly, and without hesi- tation he sprang into the hansom and sat down beside her. Margaret was speechless, not -sure whether she was glad or sorry. Was, the young man trying to kidnap her, or was he a mind reader? She was cer-’ tain she had dropped no hint as to her destination. ‘“You see, I knew you all the time. You are Margaret Trenton, aad you are on your way to visit Htta Wilson at Rye Beach. I saw your name o your luggage. Margaret looked at him in wonder. “Yes, but Httal How do you know Etta?" P “Oh, she’'s my cousin. It was you I was looking for all the time. She had asked me to meet you on the boat if 1 happened to be coming down at ° the same time from the 'Merriam house party. I very nearly missed you, because—because—well—that ple- ture doesn’t do you justice.” “Oh!” sald Margaret, feeling some- how that there was mothing else to. bey said. 9 “I was golng on to Newport for a week, but I think I'll stop off at Rye.” Margaret’s glance fell and a slight flush spread over her face. The young man's lips twitched. “I think you need me there—to let you know whether your hat is on straight.” Then they both looked at each other and laughed, and Pedro, In sympathy, pounded the floor of the hansom with Ids tail. It is so good to be young!