Frank Grayson wrote in Thrills Of The Historic Ohio River: “That narrow strip [Fulton and Pendleton] was probably the noisiest spot in the entire United States when all the shipbuilding plants were in full operation. The impact of the countless mauls against heavy timbers, the chig-chag of the fletch saws (from 4-6 in number and set parallel) which operated up and down as they tore their way through the immense logs of oak, poplar, black locust, and Allegheny pine, the “he-ho-heave!” of the foremen as the men bent their backs under the toil of lifting heavy beams and planks into position, the chop-chop of the broadax and mournful bellowing of the oxen which snaked the lumber to the mills through the yards over piles of debris, the whining of band saws, the rat-a-tat-tat of hammers driving home the spikes, the clatter of steel against steel, the whistles of passing boats so numerous they were almost in review, and the peculiarly penetrating sound of the caulking tool as the oakum and cotton were buried in the seams of the docks…”
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 00:09:41 +0000