WATER TRANSPORTATION 



31 



A gridiron or sieve, filtering the river 

 at a waterfall and retaining the wood on the 

 gridiron, has been used in the Tyrol by the 

 Bavarian Government for many decades. 



(b) The loo boom consists of two sec- 

 tions, an upper shear boom extending diago- 

 nally across the stream and a lower storage 

 boom stretching for miles along the river bank, 

 where the water is quiet and the current slow. 

 Both booms are floating booms consisting of 

 one or two strings of prime logs, the logs 

 joined by anchor chain. The booms are kept 

 in place either by wire cables -^4 inch to 1 

 inch thick, by piles driven into the river bot- 

 tom, or by stone filled cribs. It is advisable 



Log boom and piers in the St. John's River, 



Maine, 

 empties one 



to have the storage boom consist of independent sections so that a break of the boom 

 section only. 



Frequently several inill concerns form "boom companies." 



The logs are lifted out of the booms by "jack works" or "log hoists." 



VIII. Driving and splashing must be considered a backwoods method, applicable to cheap stumpage. 

 It is rarely practiced on the Pacific Coast, owing to the size of the logs and to poor water facilities. Where 

 there are plenty of natural lakes, in the coniferous forests of the Adirondacks, Maine, Quebec, and 

 Minnesota, the method continues to be practiced. 



Splashing is the more advisable: — 



(a) The smaller the specific gravity of timber; 



(b) The shorter the logs; 



(c ) The lower the stumpage price; 



(d) The more reliable the rainy season and the gauge of the river; 



(e) The better the natural conditions are at the dam sites, in the creek bed and at the boom site; 



(f) The poorer the natural conditions are for railroad building and waggon road building; 



(g) The less land owned by other parties is traversed by splashed logs; 



(h) The more the saw timber improves while being bathed in running water; 

 (i) The longer the distance; 

 (j) The more inclined the 



log owner is toward 



taking risks and the less 



affected he is by reduced 



fertility along the river 



bank. 



Remarks: - In the pine woods 

 of the South in olden times ditches 

 were dug about three feet wide, 

 connecting stumpage with swamps 

 and rivers. 



The outlay per 1,000 board 

 feet in splashing and driving is, 

 at Biltmore, from 50c to xl (for 

 manual labor only). 



Log boom and Iujj i.ui.i iii the St. Juhii't. River, Maine. 



