[From Thompson & West's History of Nevada 1881, With Illustrations And Biographical Sketches Of Its Prominent Men And Pioneers, pp. 188-191]

188      HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Early Methods in California—Difficulties of Inventors--The V Flume—Capacity of the V Flume—Flume Companies in Nevada.

            THE V flume is a Nevada institution. Transportation by artificial water-courses is nearly as old as civilization. Artificial channels were dug by the ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Hindoo nations, though the lock, or elevation, from a lower to a higher level, is a modern improvement. In the canal system of California and Nevada, for the carrying of water to remote mining places, the project of transporting lumber and other materials was early considered. Many of the early residents had seen the "Clinton Ditch," as Thomas Jefferson had termed the Erie Canal, also the great crops of grain moved to the sea-board by means thereof, and had early thought of utilizing the streams in the transportation of lumber and wood. But a canal along a comparatively level country like New York, and on the dizzy heights of some of our mountain cañons, were two different things. In our mountain cañons sharp turns had to be made where the lodging of a stick of floating timber would cause an overflow which in an hour would sweep away the earth where repair would be next to impossible. Again the ditch, or flume, would be set up on the side of a steep hill on one leg in such a careless manner that no man with his life uninsured would have a right to travel over it, and it is not strange that most of them were failures. Captain J. C. Ham, of Amador County, California, as early as 1854 undertook the construction of a flume which was hoped to be useful for transportation both ways. The flume was four feet wide on the bottom, five at the top, and thirty-two inches in depth. The lumber was floated from the mill, and the aqueduct built some fifteen miles to the place where the water was to be distributed, the fall being about five feet to the mile. The flume was completed and considerable timber floated down, but it did not answer expectations. The lumber often lodged, causing overflows that would wash out considerable distances. The passage "up the flume" was still more problematical. This was to be accomplished by a boat of peculiar construction. There was to be a railway, or gunwale, on each side of the flume, on which traveled wheels turned by a water-wheel on the same axle in the rear of the boat. The model worked well enough but when the working-model was put in it proved a failure, and no passengers or other freight "went up the flume." A flume in Calaveras County, in California, was also built on the plan to float lumber, and a great quantity was floated to Mokelumne Hill and other mountain towns. But most of the first attempts were failures in consequence of the washouts which more than offset any profits from cheap transportation, and the bull-whacker still flourished and dragged his loads through the rough cañons or over the hot sands of the plains. Not until recent years was the discovery made that revolutionized the transportation of lumber.

            This was the V flume. Like all inventions of importance this is claimed by several persons, but was really a growth resulting from the wisdom and experience of many. Several men are still living who first suggested the building of the Erie Canal, yet posterity has agreed in giving the greatest credit to De Witt Clinton, who was able to carry through the undertaking. Though Whitney, as early as 1840, proposed building an overland railroad to Oregon, and thousands after him planned how it might be done, the country is disposed to give the chief credit of the great enterprise to the projectors of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, who brought the theories together and out of the discordant elements wove, matured and executed this great trans-continental enterprise. So, also, posterity will give the honor of the discovery of the V flume, not to him who first suggested it, but to him who had the energy to build one and make it a tangible and operative fact. Timber slides are old affairs. A hundred years ago a German, by the name of Rapp, constructed, from an inaccessible mountain top, a timber-slide to a lake three miles away. This was so much like a V flume that it ought to have suggested it, but it did not, or anything else of importance. This trough was about three miles long and was wholly constructed of timber. The trees were divested of their bark when put in, and were usually some minutes in making the transit, though in rainy weather, when the trough was slippery, trees had been known to go through in one minute and a half. A hundred years later the principle was developed on the opposite side of the globe by men who probably never heard of the name Rapp. Anything pertaining to the development of this form of transportation not only has a present interest but is likely to be of importance hereafter. In the Douglas County Banner, November 29, 1865, was the following notice:----

            A surveying party composed of R. W. Norris, Civil Engineer, and others passed through Genoa last week engaged in surveying the route for a flume from Cary's Mill (better known as Wade's Mill), on the West Carson River, in Alpine County, California, to Empire City. From Colonel Norris we learn that the distance from the initial point to the terminus is thirty-two and a half miles ; that the fall in that distance is 976 feet ; the estimated cost, 8150,000.

TRANSPORTATION OF LUMBER BY WATER.   189

Governor H. G. Blasdel, J. W. Haines and J. F. Schulter, are named as interested parties.

            The following April another project was inaugurated by Goff, Elliott, Pray, and Spencer, who proposed to take the water from Clear Creek and carry it to Empire, a distance of about thirteen miles, the cost being estimated at $20,000. This was also intended for the transportation of wood and lumber.

            The first-named company filed their articles of incorporation about the first of May, 1866, with J. W. Haines, J. B. Winters, Frederick Schulter, Thomas Wade, and George F. Jones, as Trustees; the principal place of business being Carson City; John B. Winters, President; Thomas Wells, Secretary; George F. Jones, Treasurer.

            May 5th, "Lake Tahoe and Empire Flume Company," filed articles of incorporation, electing as officers, A. W. Pray, J. H. F. Goff, and R. M. Clark. The first being President, the second Superintendent of Construction, and the last Secretary. The company designed beginning work at once, and to complete the flume the following September. This company proposed beginning one mile and a half east of Lake Tahoe, at a point near the head-waters of Clear Lake, and carry the works to within a mile of Empire City. The Surveyor General for 1869-70 speaks of an increased interest in the method of transporting lumber from the sources of supply in the mountains to the mills. The old method by wagons involved the construction of costly roads, which were of little use after the timber was exhausted. The best of roads were soon cut up with the pressure of the enormous loads, and the winter rains completed the ruin. The transportation at best was slow and expensive, while that by flume was rapid and cheap.

            He reports, altogether, in the State at that time, about twenty-five miles of lumber flume, and recommends that the flumes be extended. Three of these were in Ormsby County. One belongs to H. H. Yerrington & Co., and commences at the end of the railroad, about two miles west of Carson City, and extends up the mountain sides about four miles.

            The second, owned by Chamberlain & Co., commences near the last, and also extends four miles to near the summit.

            The third, belonging to the "Summit Fluming Company," commences in the mountains near the head-waters of Clear Creek, following down Clear Creek to the base of the mountains; thence along the base of the mountains towards Carson City. This, when completed, was about twelve miles long. The oldest enterprise in the State was said to have been that of J. W. Haines, and C. A. Van Gorder, in Douglas County, which was completed in 1869. No mention is made of the fact that there were V flumes, by the Surveyor General in his report, probably because the advantage of this kind of flume had not as yet attracted much attention.

            These remarks have been with reference to the subsequent claims for the invention of the V, and the names above mentioned will appear again in this connection.

            The Summit Fluming Company had filed articles of incorporation the fifteenth of June previously, and had during the summer, or up to the time of making the report, constructed four miles, connecting Elliott's Mill with Carson City, showing a vigorous working capacity. Somewhere in these years it was discovered that the V shaped flume was the most efficient in carrying wood and lumber, and in 1859 one was first adopted for such use without lapping the boards.

            The principle involved, or rather, evolved, in the V flume, or slanting sides, was that when the lumber or wood lodged from any cause, the water accumulating would, in raising it up from the slanting sides, free it, a result not accomplished when the flume was with perpendicular sides, which in contradistinction might be called a U flume.

            The question is still unsettled as to who first invented the V flume, and although the Court decided adverse to the claim of patented privileges by J. W. Haines, it did not appear that he was or was not the originator of this peculiar form of transportation, but it did appear that be was the first in Nevada to use it as a wood and lumber carrier.

            Litigation of this character involving the right of an individual to the benefits of a valuable improvement that is of importance, and advantageous for general use, often brings to the surface a flood of truth and its opposite, and not unfrequently results in injustice to the inventor.

            So it was with Whitney's cotton-gin, which made cotton-raising profitable. Though fifty machines were running at the time within hearing of the Court, he could not prove that his machines were in general use. The invention was worth millions to the cotton States, but Whitney died poor notwithstanding. The invention was of too much value to be enjoyed by one man. So it was with the shuttle of the sewing machine, the horizontal sickle of the reaper, the revolving cylinder of the rifle. Even such a little thing as an improved saw-tooth became the subject of costly and vexatious suits, and not until a fortune was expended was Spaulding, the inventor, allowed to enjoy the benefit of the invention. It was sworn that the same form of tooth had been in common use for years, but the Supreme Court held otherwise, and he eventually obtained a recognition of his rights. It is not always the case, however. Smart lawyers and hard swearing will sometimes carry the day.

            In August, 1872, J. W. Haines brought a suit at Carson City, in the United States District Court, against William Sharon and others, to determine his right to benefits as an inventor of the V flume, be having obtained a patent as such, September 20, 1870.

190      HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA.

            The following facts are compiled from the notes of the testimony taken by the Judge presiding:

            The value of the V flume as a means of transportation is shown by the following: Yerrington & Co.'s flume was constructed in 1869, and has been running since December, 1870. It is used for running wood. The owners passed 30,000 cords through it between December 1, 1870, and January 17, 1872. The cost, including repairs and attendance of men, would not exceed one dollar per cord. The cost by the old method of transportation would have been several times as much. The following, on the structure of the flume, is from the testimony of W. N. Leete: The flume is constructed of planks nailed together in the shape of the letter V, with the ends of the section butted together, so as to form a smooth channel. It has been in existence since December, 1870.

            On the part of the defense (Sharon et al.) it was denied that the plaintiff (J. W. Haines) was the original inventor, or that he maintained a continuous use of it. He was brought on the stand and testified that he conceived the idea in 1868, and made a model in July, and constructed a working flume in October of the same year, above Genoa.

            G. W. White, carpenter, testified that he knew of a V flume in Simmon's Cañon in 1868; that it was owned by A. C. Cleveland; that it was made of inch and a half lumber, one board sixteen inches, the other seventeen and a half inches wide, nailed together at the edges, so as to form a V; that it was commenced in June, and finished the following July; that it was 6,700 feet long, and was used for floating wood. From the diary kept by himself he found that the flume was commenced June 22d, and finished July 21st; that when forty or fifty lengths were finished that it was tried and found to work well, "not clogging more than any floom." From this it would appear that the V form was used because it was cheapest; and that it was found to run about as well as any other shaped flume. It would run about twenty-five cords a day.

            A. C. Cleveland, the proprietor, was put on the stand, and confirmed the statements of the previous witness. Some particulars as to the connection of the boxes were elicited. The ends were not butted together, except in a few instances, but lapped. In the bends of the line of flaming the jogs would sometimes make the sticks of wood jump out. To remedy this, wedge-shaped pieces, three or four feet long, were nailed in, which produced a smoother current, and made it do better work. They ran several hundred cords of wood through the flume, and then sold it to the Overman Silver Mining Company. He also testified that he saw Haines' flume in May previous; that he got his idea of a V flume from Haines. An older V flume still was hunted up.

            J. R. Knox testified that he had a V flume in 1864, at Musgrove Canon, which was about 600 feet long, the boards being from fourteen to eighteen inches in width. It was used to run off saw-dust bark, and other waste material. Sometimes slabs of considerable size would fall in and go through, though it was not intended to put lumber in it. Some of the joints were lapped and some butted together. This was in full view of the public, and was not considered a thing to conceal.

            Another man, Lonkey, testified to having used a V flume in 1864, in Washoe County, twelve miles northwest of Carson. This was also used to carry waste away from the mill, though occasionally considerable pieces would fall into it and go through. A second flume was built of larger dimensions, the planks being twenty-two and twenty-four inches, and was two and a half miles long, extending from Little Valley to Franktown, and cost about $2,000 per mile. The ends of the sections were butted together, and altogether the flume was a good piece of work. Cord-wood, sawed lumber, and almost everything went through; one piece recollected was twelve by sixteen inches, and twenty-four feet long. This would seem to fix the early date of V flumes; but this last was not constructed until July, 1870. The lapse of time from the building of the first to the building of the second flume was as much as was required for Napoleon to change the map of Europe, and does not show any connection of the two events.

            The reader will readily discover that the first persons who used the V had no idea of its being an improvement on the box flame; that it was made of that shape because it was cheaper. The statements of other parties will be given, and the reader will draw his own conclusions.

            Charles Gillis, of Genoa, states that he, in connection with J. H. F. Goff, built some 200 feet of V flume, at Glenbrook, in 1865, for the purpose of testing its carrying advantages over the box flume, which choked badly; that it worked admirably, but they could not get capitalists to recognize its merit, and the project was abandoned.

            Mr. Cleveland, who operated a V flume in 1868 on Simmons Creek, thinks that Haines' flume was in operation a few weeks previous to his. General Marlette, also, is of the opinion that Haines had the first V flume in the State. Colonel A. C. Ellis says that several flumes of the shape in question were in operation at the time that Haines applied for a patent, which should and must invalidate the patent. Ellis was attorney for the defendant in the case of Haines and others versus Elliott Brothers, and may be prejudiced; though if the flumes had got into general use before a patent was applied for it would certainly militate against his claims as an inventor. Application for the patent was made in the spring of 1869. Mr. Haines' story is that he first conceived the idea of fluming wood in 1866; that he constructed a box flume for that purpose in Kingsbury Cañon, one mile in length, which proved

THE CHURCHES OF NEVADA.     191

unsuccessful. In 1866 he tried a lap-over V flume, placing it in the old box flume; that it proved eminently successful; that he extended it into the mountains during the next four years some twelve miles. During the time, or about 1868, he changed it at the section from a lap-over to an abutting joint. There may be a saving claim in the matter. The witnesses who saw his flume at the time speak of it as a square box; did not see the diamond-shaped bottom.

            Judge Field, of the Supreme Court, decided that the fact of the flumes having been in common use previous to the application would invalidate the patent, and a verdict was rendered for the defendants.

            It will be seen that few, if any, of the persons using the V had, at first, any idea of the value of the improvement; that, when it became known, numbers claimed the honor, so that it is uncertain who did originate the change.

            However much doubt may rest on the author of it the utility cannot be questioned. By means of it the forests in the remote and almost inaccessible cañons may now be utilized. It admits of almost any grade; may be run on a slight or down a steep incline with full assurance of success. Millions of dollars have been spent in California to work out the problem of lumber transportation. The V was known to all. They had passed over it, used it in one way and another, getting now and then a glimpse of its utility, only to abandon it for something else. Within the last few years an entire revolution of lumber transportation has taken place. Instead of costly wagon-roads, and toiling mules or oxen, the wood and lumber is put into a box, and is hurried by its own weight to its place of destination. One of the largest of these is owned by the Pacific Wood and Lumber Flume Company, the principal owners being John Mackey, J. G. Fair, and J. C. Flood. It was built in 1875 at a cost of $250,000, is fifteen miles in length, standing most of the way on trestle work, and contains 2,000,000 feet of lumber, having a carrying capacity of 500 cords of wood, or 500,000 feet of lumber per day; or, to make the matter plainer, it would take 2,000 horses to do the work of this flume. It was projected and built by John B. Hereford in ten weeks. The company owns 12,000 acres of timber land in the vicinity of Huffaker's Mill, north of Lake Tahoe, where this flume begins, its termination being near the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in Washoe Valley.

            The Surveyor General for 1879-80, Andrew J. Hatch, reports the wood and lumber flumes as follows:                              

COUNTY.      No.      Miles in length.           Wood flumed.             Lumber fumed.

Douglas           2                      _ _                   30,000 cords                16,000,000 feet.

Ormsby           2                      25                    88,000 "                       17,000,000 "

Washoe           6                      55                    53,000 "                       300,000 "

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Total                10                    80                    171,000                       33,300,000