]
Our aerial railway didn't last long. We soon tired of it, and instead
utilized the materials for a rope suspension bridge. We procured from
Lumberville half a dozen old barrels and used the staves as a flooring for
the bridge. The staves were linked together by a pair of ropes at each end
woven over and under, as indicated in the drawing Fig. 97. Notches were
cut in the staves to hold the ropes from slipping off. The flexible
flooring thus constructed was stretched across the river and secured to
stakes driven firmly in the ground. A pair of parallel ropes were extended
across the stream about three feet above the flooring, with which they
were connected at intervals of five feet. The bridge was 25 feet long, and
while rather shaky, owing to the fact that there were no braces to prevent
it from swaying sidewise, still it was very strong and did excellent
service.
[Illustration: Fig. 98. The Suspension Bridge.]
Pontoon Bridge.
[Illustration: Fig. 99. The Pontoon Bridge.]
At the head of the mill-race, where the channel was fifty feet wide, we
built a pontoon bridge. We were fortunate in securing six good cider
barrels at low cost, also a quantity of "slabs" from one of the sawmills
of Lumberville.
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