Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1881-12-14
THE scALER,s STORY.

aAANtA NAA INV A'AANA t"NNrr Wv ~ AAltN
the north branch of the 81 Marguerite.
This shoot, as they called il, was lum-
Der slide kind Of inclined trough,
leading from the table-land back Of the
"Stoss, down IS the river; the side Ol
the mountain here being quite TOO
ledgy and precipiJous 10 admit OF using
ordinary logging sleds and cattle upon
il. Our company owned q large tract
Of spruce and pine In the back country
above, and the shoot wa, built % run
the saw-logs down from the hraNuf the
mountain 70 the water. where -hey
could be RATED to the mills. II had
cost upwards Of ten thousand dollars,
and was rather more than half mile
in length, being carried iu "a straight.
line downward q, an angle 81 uu, far
from thirty degrees The bed Of the
shoot was of hcwu logs. matched and
tree-nailed together, forming 6 smooth.
inclined plane FIVE feet IN width with
shores, or sides, IF the same squared
timber, TWO feet in height. 4 kind 81
huge spout was ;hu= mad, down which
the logs could Be discharged upon the
ice in the branch. This vas as L -.--l
and was used through the rr-- winter:
but during storms. The snow troubled
Us = great deal. drifting over E. and
ioulinc the slide. and. before e.uu5Ec-
ing work the second winter. plank
boxing or shed. was huill lvyg @ Crea:
part Of IL. u keen out The ,ncw. Jo.s.s
were spiked 10 the shore a1 The
outside. and TO these the p.auks were
nailed. thus converting the shoe, into q
long box. Ave feet iu width bv abcu.
six I'm height. high enough. ia fact. for
2 man 10 stand cree, in. From the
top Of the shoot slej-roads led Of into
the forest in all directions. A. fast o,
the loads OF lo-s came III. lh-y were
uumbled upon the inclined brow, or
apron. and thence SCI iu motion.
with pike-polls. into the throa. q the
great spout. Once SCI sliding. DO far
Their care for them was needed Down
they would GO. gathering leaiway
rapidly on the steep, smooth slide, and
would come OUT at the "tol" With ire
meudou, force and spiteiu.Ee>>-plow-
iug into the frozen earth, or g.auc.ug
along the Ice across The river IL fact,
the logs "broomed' and split 20 badly
that a slow" was riccedt6 catch them
on Ihis latter c5atriyauca being q con-
tiuuation Of the timber spout, carried
for q hundred ward or more across the
stream, on q level ~iace Three men
were kept NJ the toe, o. see thar the
logs did not tou. there From the
brow a, the top, g strong wire ran
down the foot. where there wa g bell.
A lever @. The Top worked 90. vic.
When load Of logs bad come % ,la
brow and va, ready 10 Dc cent down,
the men 40 the top mrs. gave iAa lever
q wrench, 70 notify the men below O.
stand clear. 4 big pine log thirty feet
in length, weighing at least two tons.
and coming on, on the slow with the
velocity of q cannon bell, Was no play
thing. Sometimes the log would 20
end over end, clean across the river.
& log plunging down made a peculiar.
roaring noise. The whole .hoot trem-
blel and seemed TO hum under il. It.
wa, something as when. In q sav-miIl.
9 erea. circular" goes tearing through
g long log.
Week after week the wooded ...u-
.aiu--ide acres. The branch echoed %
thar deep. prolonged vh.r--r-r We
had thirty teams drawing iu logs G.
the brow. AZ least thousand .--,
we're sent down every 5a7. O-Iv one
-- wa. Le. - 81, s. tiu5. Bur each
passed down the -La.- l...a1-. If
.bou. three thousand feet. iu less than
la-i @ minute. particularly ir the
-crLi1g when tic slide wac Ter. Be-
sies the men a. thc brow ana the toe.
We kept O boy On tile -l..-. halfway
Up. u tend The vi.e and b r.u11. Il
any trouble occurred Tha, winter we
had hired for thi, purpose % l1l whom
.hey called Tor. Guii,6t. VIVA, Tort
vas . nickname for a.a sure 7 tluo.
know. Ills father. Clam Gu;-la.. %
French Canadian, worked for us and
kept Tort stimulated TO mi. work bv an
occasional "birchinC. The b0v had
drivers 'corks in his boots, and used
10 walk up and down on the plank box