Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 16, 2023     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 8     (8 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 8     (8 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
February 16, 2023
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




Page 8 — Shelton—Mason County Journal Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 ' Water tanks are pictured at an unidentified Simpson Logging Co. camp. Photo courtesy of Mason County Historical Musuem. Oxbow rain he following story is Tfrom the Feb. 2, edition of the Shelton~ Mason County Journal. 0x- bow is in the Wynoochee River drainage ,At Simpson Logging Com- pany’s Camp 5, about as far from the famous Wynoochee Oxbow as a big scowling rain Cloud can blow in two min- utes, twin tanks perch beside the railroad track. Ofihand, you’d say they were water tanks, but log- gers up in that neck of the woods will chuckle and tell you you’re wrong they’re “rain gauges” Oxbow rain gauges. And after squinting over records of Oxbow rain- fall, heaviest in the nation, it is understandable. They need tanks for gauges up there. . Move—In Special! 50% off one unit for ’- two months for NEW mover-ins. ‘ Belfair, WA 98528 (360) 275-2257 www.BelfairSelfStorage.com 23270 NE State R. 3 JAN PARKER HISTORY AT A GLANCE The loggers say the compa- ny didn’t even bother to hook up a Water line to the tanks. It just lets them fill of their own accord from the heavens, which weep, drizzle, shower and storm incessantly. Back in 1933, it rained 185 inches on the Oxbow, more than 15 feet of water, and any year you care to name has shown upward of 125 or 130 inches. Each of the “gauges” has an overflow pipe, which V drains into a sort of sump. To measure the rainfall, you don’t bother with the tanks you know they’re always full so you lower a peavey on a string into the sump. When the peavey hits bottom, you measure the string, add the height of the tanks, and then estimate the amount of water Simpson and Schafer locomo- tives have used, and you have the Oxbow total. (Note: A peavey is a long wooden pole with a metal spike on the end and a hook attached to the pole above the spike, used for separating logs.) But again, that figure isn’t quite accurate, for often a lo- comotive fireman Will lift the lid of the tank on the engine tender and let the container fill with rain. It has been known, the loggers say, for a fireman to stick an intake pipe out of the cab'window and inject water into the boil- er right out of the air. Other regions can’t hold a candle to the Oxbow country even during some of that re- gion’s “light” showers. Train- men, especially Irwin Jones, the trainmaster, tell of one “shower” when the train left camp with a 22—car string of logs. By the time the train hit the mainline, water on the hillsides was up to the brake rods, and before they’d left the Oxbow country all that was showing of the train was the locomotiverstack. Joyce says they always carry life preservers and figure they We carry kerosene. "Em—mas.» might lose every other train of logs if it happens to be raining very heavy. The logs float right off the cars, so they have to dog ’em together and tow them down out of the hills. It’s a strange country, and so damp that the camp cook never puts water in his cof- fee pot. Just tosses in a can of coffee, heats it and starts pouring. I Jan Parker is a re- searcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at parkerj@hctc. com. Membership in the Ma— son County Historical Society is per year. For a limited time, new members will re- ceive a free copy of the “Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten.” LUBRICANTS COMPANY WedenverHEATlNG OIL COMPARE OUR |.OW PRICES! Located at Sanderson Industrial Park 427-8084 3 . wa‘aIWo Mg. .3 w v a Whammy .. g. ‘M’ a...“ “menu, , “new, 3*”;