The picturesque StLawrence . mountof work that was to be had, and when a man losta job it took him about three months to findanother. So it was a common habit with theyoung men to go to the United States to seekwork. But after staying long enough to accumu-late a snug sum they were apt to return and buya little farm. The St. Francis River is here rather broaderthan one can throw a stone across, and alternateswith swift shallows and smooth depths. Thehouses and factories of the town along the shoreare not very prepossessing, but above and belowis pleasant farming country close at hand. Thatthe
The picturesque StLawrence . mountof work that was to be had, and when a man losta job it took him about three months to findanother. So it was a common habit with theyoung men to go to the United States to seekwork. But after staying long enough to accumu-late a snug sum they were apt to return and buya little farm. The St. Francis River is here rather broaderthan one can throw a stone across, and alternateswith swift shallows and smooth depths. Thehouses and factories of the town along the shoreare not very prepossessing, but above and belowis pleasant farming country close at hand. Thatthe river was sometimes a furious flood wasevident from scars along the banks, and I ques-tioned a young fellow paddling about in a boatas to whether the dwellers in those houses soclose to the raging waters did not sometimesfurnish victims to the river. Yes, he replied,theres one or two drownedevery spring. Theyre usually young ones playinaround the water, and they over-balance, and inthey go. I came near getting drowned myself. c^ »>. :^ The Historic St. Francis 153 once. I was quite a boy at the time, but I hadntlearned to swim. Another fellow was with was used to being around the river and hewasnt a bit afraid of it. He could stand on alog out in the current just the same as if he wason dry land; and he was showing off what hecould do. It looked so easy to ride on a log thatI tried it, but the thing went from under me andI got plumped into the water. I couldnt grip itafterward because it kept rolling over and had gone down twice when the other fellowpushed out in a leaky old boat to where I wasand grabbed me. On the banks were numerous piles of logsamong the little houses. These had come downin the floods and were much battered by ice androcks with which they had come in of the logs had been sawed and split enoughso that the fragments could be easily bank dwellers were sure of two or threefloods a year, but these do not furnish as bount
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnsonc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
