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AUTOBIOGRAPHY
raft crew, this man was on the watch and wanted to hire two
or three of us, and said he wauld pay $1.50 a day. I and two
of the men hired out to him, and after talking the matter over
I told him I guessed I would not take his job. Before leaving
him I told him who I was. I don't remember what he said,
but I think he decided he wanted better men. Some men run-
ning from Chippewa Falls to Reeds walked from there to Chip-
pewa Falls and carried pieces of line to aid them in tieing their
rafts. If men were now required to do what we did then, at
the wages paid then, I think they would rebel or strike.
                    THE EDDY MILL
   Before we got the dam built at the Dells we bought a mill
at the "big eddy," from Mr. Sherman and his two sons, who
had little room for booming logs. We took the mill down and
rebuilt it at the head of the rapids, half a mile above the pres-
ent dam, where we could have more booming room. When we
bought the mill it had a circular saw and did not cut much
lumber, as it could be only run a short part of the season. Af-
ter moving and rebuilding it we put in a circular and a gang.
We ran it only one year before the dam was built, and to
give the dam the height it required we raised the mill eight
feet. We did that by putting a solid frame under it after rais-
ing it that high, and we had to do that before the dam was
closed. That cost us a good deal of money; but the fact of
being able to hold logs in slack water above the mill justified
us, as it paid well.
                    THE DELLS DAM
   In getting the charter for the dam we were required to put
in a lock, to lock boats through, and a slide for running rafts
through, which added a good deal to the cost of it; but we were
willing to concede almost anything the legislature demanded,
to get the dam. I was elected president of the Dells Improve-
ment Company and the city made a lease of the dam to the
company, requiring the company to put in the necessary water-
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