THE LARGEST RAFTS 207 



and then floated under man-power control to the mills. 



There were many disappointments and failures in 

 the early days but study and hard work, guided by ex- 

 perience, soon won the game and got the prize. 



When Chancy Lamb of Clinton invented the "Nig- 

 ger" for controlling the position of the towboat behind 

 the raft he did a great thing for the business. He did 

 not patent it. It was built and sold at a very low price. 

 Any one who could was free to add any improvement, 

 but no one ever did so. 



It completely filled the bill, just what was needed, 

 and it has never been changed. I never could learn who 

 invented the "three-link iron boom chain" first used in 

 rafting at Beef Slough and later everywhere. It was a 

 great improvement over the old rope booming and 

 much cheaper, because the chains were taken off at the 

 mill where the logs were sawed and sent back to the 

 rafting works. Our boats made no charge for carrying 

 back these chains which were often a burden in low 

 water. A few of these chains were lost in break-ups, but 

 ninety-five per cent of them were used over and over 

 again - there was no wear out to them. 



