Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-04-19
The Lumberman's Story.
From the Detroit Free Press. !


It ali happened in supply store, one
rainy day, way up in the lumber woods
of Michigan. The neighboring settlers
had gathered in to trade, and have
quiet, social chat. AS usual, the con-
versation soon drifted to the extraordin-
airy pulling done by different Jokes of
oxen. ALI had told their little story on
this subject but the man on the tea
chest. He did not as much as utter a
comment. This being noticed, he was
asked to chip in his yarn. He bashfully
declined, and being pressed, he lift
ed one leg over the other and remarked:
'When I was small boy in York
State"
"Quiet, there" remarked the red
whiskered man, ''until.. we hear this
small boy in York State" con-
tinued the man on the tea-chest. 'sabout
the year 1920, lived with my grad Their.
He owned one of the wickedest steer
teams to pull that ever stood on hoofs.
There was a new railroad being built by
the farm that spring, and the steers
were comm 3. The old gentleman and
/ had been across the new railroad one
day Alleging. Coming home about 5
o'clock we crossed the track where the
railroad men were putting in bridge.
The steam engine was trying to haul a
big stick of timber to the place. They
had it on rollers. 1t was hitched to the
tender by six-inch cable. Every time
the engineer would let on steam to pull.
the drive-wheels would spin around and
around on the rails. She would not
bulge an inch. Then they sanded the
rails and tried again and again, but it
was no use, they couldn't move it. !"
How large was the stick ?" queried
the red whiskered man.
"Well, it was about four feet square
and SO long that it took man and a
small boy to see the other end of it, ;"
modestly resumed the narrator. sThe
engineer got mad finally and iammed
the fre-box full of wood, and got up a
power of steam. Then he directed the
men to leave their work and come with
hand-spikes and levers to lift on the big
beam when he gave the word. When
all was ready he opened the throttle full
length and shouted to the men. Every
one of them broke their hand spikes a
lifting. The stick didn't move. The
engine went through: it snapped that
cable like a thread, and went ahead a
SOOO hlduJ 4OuS UCIOIO III COuIO NC
stopped. The boss was just going to
telephone to the superintendent for an
other engine, when my grandfather
stepped up. Said he: esquire, I can
draw that stick with my steers They
all laughed at him. BE got his dander
up and backing Buck and Bright up to
the end of it, took rolling hitch. Start
ed them little on the haw. Great
Caesar! but you should have seen them
pull When grandfather shouted:
Come do-o-wn on it, boys, they walked
off with that big timber as thoug gin it had
been clothespin.' x
A small boy in the corner tried to break
the silence by a feeble attempt to whis-
tie. He did not get half through before
big red-shirted lumberman slowly
arose and, reaching out softly, ex-
claimed, "You old moss back [ can
prove to you in five minutes that there
wasn't foot Of railway in the United
States in 1920"
Then the man on the tea chest got so
mad that his seat caved in with him.
He was rescued from grave of Young
Hyson by the spasmodic efforts of the
store-keeper and red-wniskered man.
Although pressed to stay he wouldn't.
and when he left the store was in such an
absent-minded mood that he took his
own umbrella.