1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



SLUICEWAYS OF A SPLASH DAM (MINNESOTA). 



which operate on the same principle as 

 the locks of a canal, by backing the 

 water up on rapids and other shallow 

 parts of the river, and thus aiding in 

 floating the logs down from the upper 

 levels and sending them on with a rush 

 when the gates are opened. 



Above the dams long booms converge 

 from the shores to the entrance of the 

 sloping sluiceway, through which the 

 water and logs must pass. When the 

 gate is open a smooth, black body of 

 water rushes down the sluiceway, dash- 

 ing itself into foam in the rapids below. 

 Four or five men work along the booms, 

 directing the logs into the current as 

 fast as they come down the stream. 



They will mount a log at the upper 

 end of the boom and ride with the ut- 

 most sang froid down the quickening 

 current, changing to another log or step- 

 ping nonchalantly to safety on the boom 

 again, just as the unwieldy craft tips up 

 in the slope of the sluiceway. The log 

 darts ahead in the grip of the current, 

 and three seconds later above the roar of 

 the water you hear the jarring shock of 

 its impact upon the rocks in the bed of 

 the stream. Later you see it reappear, 

 buoyant as cork, in the swirl of the rap- 

 ids far downstream. The wanigan like- 



wise must run the gauntlet of the sluice- 

 ways. 



The life of the river driver is full of 

 strain and exposure, and the only thing 

 that guards him is his own brawn and 

 brain, well coordinated and backed by 

 steady courage. At any time he may be 

 called upon to risk limb or life to save 

 his employer's property or the life of a 

 comrade in peril. 



The time of greatest danger is in 

 working on the jams, which will form in 

 spite of the skill and faithful work of the 

 crews. Shutting off too much of the flow 

 from a dam at a time when the stream is 

 full of logs will crowd the logs together, 

 upending some on the shallows and 

 delaying progress until the pressure of 

 the constantly accumulating timbers in 

 the rear locks the whole mass like a tan- 

 gle of Titanic jackstraws. (See frontis- 

 piece. ) The narrow, rock}- channels of 

 a rapid, or a crook in a gorge may have 

 the same effect, and the pent-up force of 

 the water behind piles the logs high in 

 air. 



Frequently the whole situation de- 

 pends upon one or two ' ' key-logs, ' ' 

 which control all the rest. The men run 

 nimbly over the big brown sticks and 

 under the very face of the jam, which 



