MY FIRST YEAR RAFTING 69 



could wood at Trenton, Diamond Blufif, or Smith's, 

 and we could get good, coarse, dry slabs at Glenmont in 

 Lake Saint Croix. 



We thought our expenses were high then, when we 

 were only paying two dollars a ton for good coal, two 

 dollars and fifty cents a cord for dry oak. wood, and one 

 dollar and tvventy-five cents to one dollar and fifty cents 

 a cord for slabs, piled on the bank, at a few mills that 

 catered to this trade. 



We were paying men on deck twenty-five dollars a 

 month, thirty-five dollars to firemen, ninety dollars to 

 chief engineers, and sixty dollars to assistants, sixty dol- 

 lars to the cook, and fifteen dollars for his helper, on 

 boats that only carried their own crews. 



On some boats that carried families and friends of 

 the owners, they paid ten or fifteen dollars more to the 

 cook, and carried an extra boy in the cabin. 



Living was good, for supplies were plentiful, and 

 very cheap compared with present prices. Ice was two 

 dollars per ton, eggs ten to fifteen cents a dozen, meat 

 six to ten cents a pound, with liver and bones for the 

 dog thrown in, potatoes twenty to fifty cents a bushel, 

 cat fish ten cents, buffalo fish eight cents, crappies and 

 sun fish also eight cents, and frogs' legs seventy-five 

 cents a dozen. Pancakes and "jambolaye" were our 

 standbys for breakfast, and our strong suits in desserts 

 were "Sally Lunn" and "Dead man's leg." 



Going down stream with a raft, at the rate of three 

 and one-half to four miles an hour, I frequently had to 

 take one of the skiffs and two linesmen to row it, and 

 pull ahead of the tow, to get ice, meat, milk, and fresh 

 vegetables. Going ahead to Fountain City, we could 

 get our skifif loaded, and easily catch the boat while she 

 was backing the bend in Betsey Slough. At Winona, I 



