Stewart Edward White

Name: The River Boss
Author: Stewart Edward White

The River Boss (1902)

Summary

“The River Boss”, published in 1902, is a work by Stewart Edward White. It explores elements such as Jimmy, logs and rollways.

Quotes from The River Boss (Stewart Edward White)

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ They extended over three miles of rollways. Jimmy and his crew began at the down-stream end to tumble the big piles into the current. Sometimes only two or three of the logs would rattle down; at others the whole deck would bulge outwards, hover for a moment, and roar into the stream like grain from an elevator. Shortly the narrows below the rollways jammed. Twelve men were detailed as the “jam crew.” Their business was to keep the stream free in order that the constantly increasing supply from the rollways might not fill up the river. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ Generally he sat clasping one knee, staring directly in front of him, and puffing regularly on a “meerschaum” pipe he had earned by saving the tags of Spearhead tobacco. Whatever you said to him sank without splash into this almost primal calm, and was lost to view forever. Perhaps after a time he might do something about it, but always without explanation, calmly, with the lofty inevitability of fate. In fact, he never explained himself, even to his employers.
Daly swung his bulk back and forth in the office chair. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ Jimmy sat bolt upright, his black hat pendent between his knees.
“I want you to take charge of the driving crew, Jimmy,” said the big man. “I want you to drive those logs down to our boom as fast as you can. I give you about twenty days. It ought to be done in that. Sanders will keep time for you, and Merrill will cook. You can get a crew from the East Branch, where the drive is just over.”
When Daly had quite finished his remarks, Jimmy got up and went out without a word. Two days later he and sixty men were breaking rollways forty-five miles up-stream. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ Naturally there was a good deal of rivalry as to which wing should advance fastest; and one experiences a certain physical thrill in venturing under thirty feet of jammed logs for the sole purpose of teasing the whole mass to cascade down on one; or of shooting a rapid while standing upright on a single timber. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ I believe, too, it is considered a mighty honor to belong to the rear crew. Still, the water is cold, and the hours long, and you have to sleep in tents.
It can readily be seen that the progress of the rear measures the progress of the drive. Some few logs in the “jam” may run fifty miles a day--and often do--but if the sacking has gone slowly at the rear, the drive may not have gained more than a thousand yards. Therefore Jimmy stayed at the rear. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ Well, the newspapers got out extras with scare heads about “Outrages” and “High-Handed Lawlessness”; and factory owners by the canals raised up their voices in bitterness over flooded fire-rooms; and property owners of perishable cellar goods howled of damage suits; and the ordinary citizen took to bailing out the hollow places of his domain. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ Jimmy appeared calm.
“We’ll get ’em out all right, Mr. Daly,” said he.
“Get ’em out!” growled Daly. “Sure! but when? We ain’t got all summer this season. Those logs have got to hit our booms in fourteen days or they’re no good to us!”
“You’ll have ’em,” assured Jimmy.
Such talk made Daly tired, and he said so.
“Why, it’ll take you a week to get her over those infernal shallows,” he concluded. “You got to get more men, Jimmy.”
“I’ve tried,” answered the boss. “They ain’t no more men to be had.” ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Stewart Edward White, The River Boss (1902)

“ Jimmy had permitted himself two days in which to break out the rollways. It was done in two. Then the “rear” was started. Men in the rear crew had to see that every last log got into the current, and stayed there. When a jam broke, the middle of it shot down-stream in a most spectacular fashion, but along the banks “winged out” distressingly. Sometimes the heavy sticks of timber had been forced right out on the dry land. The rear crew lifted them back. ”

Stewart Edward White

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Quotes from The River Boss (Stewart Edward White)

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