LA CROSSE COUNTY HISTORICAL SKETCHES


a poor draft, the steam dropped, the
siphons stopped working and the
Linehan settled back onto the river
bed.
  That night the "Quickstep," an-
other McDonald boat, went to Ful-
ton, Ill., and brought back a sand
pump having an eight inch rotary
pump and an eight inch rubber hose
for a suction line. The outfit ar-
rived at the place of operations
about 5:30 a. m. Steam was already
up in the sand pump's boiler.
  The suction hose was stuck down
the Linehan's forward hatchway,
the pump started, and in one hour
and a half the boat was afloat.
  The time spent in raising and re-
pairing the hull was thirteen and
one-half days.
         Picture of Craft
  The museum of the state histor-
ical society at Madison has a good
picture of the Linehan taken while
work was underway raising it. Lu-
bey, the old fireman that blocked
the stairway, is shown plainly.
  The Linehan was back in com-
mission in time to make a trip from


Prescott, Wis., to Quincy, Ill., and
then back to La Crosse where she
was laid up for the winter on No-
vember 7, 1897.
   The crew of the Linehan at the
time of the sinking was as follows:
Captain William Dobler, Pilot John
Schmidt, Chief Engineer Robert
Shannon, Second Engineer Fred
Graham, Clerk Herman Lawson,
Steward Si Barnes, Cook Fred Bur-
rows, Watchmen William Lawson
and Isaac Deschman, Mate Louise
Frommel, Firemen Newton Nesbitt
and Ed Lubey, Linesmen      Harry
Dyer and John Cronin, Raftsmen
Ed Frazier, Dennis Cronin, Arthur
Hultz, and Peter La Duke.
  Captain Dobler, Pilot Schmidt,
Clerk Lawson, Chief Engineer Shan-
non, and   Fireman   Lubey   have
passed away. Mr. Dyer knows of
location of only one of the crew,
Fred Burrows, who is now living in
La Crosse.
  Captain Dobler was rated as one
of the best raft boat pilots on the
Mississippi. His home was at Sum-
mer, Washington.


The Quick Trip of the "Menomonie"


OLD-TIMERS on the upper Missis-
   sippi river may recall the fast
trip of the steamer "Menomonie" in
1884. In writing this story of its
remarkable trip one must of neces-
sity take his mind back to the old
rafting days. When    the rafting
business was at its  height there
were about 65 boats in the trade.
  The rafts that were sent down
the Mississippi averaged between
500 and 600 feet long, and from
225 to 250 feet in width. Each
raft was made in two sections so
that it could be split lengthwise, a
thing made necessary by the large
number of bridges over the river.
The draw-spans of the bridges aver-
age 160 feet.
            Star Pilots
  There were many "stars" among
the raft boat pilots, and an intense
rivalry was had at all times as to
who could get up and down the
river in the fastest possible time.
This was where the raft pilot bit
off his own head, as it was the man
who could do the quickest work at


the bridges that got down the river
first.
  Now, to describe the various ways
in which the   rafts were   taken
through the bridges, old-timers will
recall several different manners in
which the long rafts were escorted
through the obstructions.
  One way was to double trip. One-
half of raft was "switched off" or
landed above the bridge, while the
boat went on with the other half.
This was landed below the bridge,
and the boat went back to pick up
the other half. The two sections
were then coupled   together, and
the craft steamed on its way.
  Another way was to "double
head." One-half of the raft was
placed ahead of the other and se-
curely lashed, thus making it two
rafts long and a half a raft wide.
In this way the raft was generally
dropped through the span, and not
taken through the draw. Another
way was to "make a fly." In this
method half of the raft was cut
loose and left to float a mile or so
above the bridge, while the boat


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