WHAT BECAME OF THE RAFT-BOATS 187 



Mitchell for $7000.00. She lay all winter at Clinton, 

 Iowa. I got Mr. Black, who had built her cabin when 

 new, to extend it aft and make some other changes. We 

 cleaned, painted her up and moved her down to Le- 

 Claire on March 9, 1892. A storm set in from the west 

 that raised such swells, we had to tie up at Camanche. 

 The storm developed into the worst blizzard of the win- 

 ter and the temperature fell to six degrees by ten o'clock 

 that evening. 



New ice in large fields was running the next morning 

 but the west wind held it ofif the Iowa shore. The sun 

 came out about eleven A.M. We got ready and keeping 

 close to the Iowa side and clear of the ice, were ap- 

 proaching LeClaire, when at Mrs. Young's the ice 

 crowded us close inshore and she slid lengthwise over 

 the rock that sank the "Mollie Mohler" twenty years 

 before. But the "Crescent" was tough and strong and 

 light enough that we scraped over without injury. 



When one-fourth of a mile from our yard, the large 

 blow-ofT valve to the mud-drum bursted, having frozen 

 up under way. She had just enough headway to reach 

 the shore where a man caught our head line and took 

 turns around a post, and kept us from going on over the 

 rapids in our helpless condition. 



The next morning she caught fire while the watch- 

 man was at breakfast, but a passer-by saw the blaze in 

 time to put it out. 



The second morning a large, heavy field of ice swung 

 and caught her, parted one head line and pulled out 

 the post the other one was fast to, but it held long 

 enough to crowd her on shore and the other lines held 

 her. 



When I got to her I heard water running in her hull. 

 Quickly investigating, I found the ice had broken in 



