Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1885-09-18
AMONG THE LOG DRIVERS.
HOW THE HARDY FELLOWS woRk
AND EN- OF THE ADELyEs.
The PerlIOus Positions in which
They Place Themselves when
HreakIng a s'Jam.o

The PerlIOus Positions in which
They Place Themselves When
Breaking "Jam.''
A Bangor Me- letter to the New
York World describes the life of those
hardy, daring, red shirted fellows who
drive the logs cut by the woodsmen
through the tuDbling, rushing streams
and the swift waters of the Penobscot tC
the booms, whence they are distributed
! by their various owners to the mills
The principal drives are from the east
and west branches of the Penobscot,
the Mattawamkeag, the Piscataquis,
Pleasant and Passadumkeag rivers, all
tributaries of the one great watercourse.
Driving logs is laborious and often
| dangerous occupation. When the win.
ter work of cutting the logs is over and
the icy brooks and streams are full OF
the great spruce, pine and hemlock
| trunks, the axe-swingers AK come out and
the lumbermen engage their driving
crews. To be driver one must be ac.
tive, fearless and equally indifferent to
cold water and hard work. The drivers
are generally Tarratine Indians, liberal
sprinkling of that much detested class
known as the "P. Z. I.'s'-
Prince Edwards Islanders. The
crews, with their bosses, go to where
the logs are stocked, part of the way by
rail and then by team, batteau or on
foot.
Arriving at their destination they start
the logs in the quick water and follow
them down along the shore. If there
were no falls, no edges or other obstruc.
lions the work would be easy, but if a
single log of the rushing mass sticks on
the brink of a dam, or is caught against
rock, thousands of others are stopped
thereby and Il jam ensues. This must be
broken up at all hazards and some one
must go out upon the logs at the risk OF
his life and, with what is known as a
''Cant-dog," set the mass in motion
again. If he makes q msstep, or the OBJ.
structing log yields at an unlucky mo.
ment, the driver disappears in the whirI
Of waters and goes down to his death,
and if his manglel remains be found it
will not be until weeks afterward, many
miles below.
One of the drivers met to day. He
was of muscular build, with that hearty
manner peculiar to Penobscot rivermen.
He had just "come down" and was quite
communicative, talking intelligently, il
lnduly loud, as he punched the floor oil
The clearinghouse bar-room full of
noles with the steel calks in the soles of
MS shoes. He wore the conventional
drivers dress-heavy trousers. red shirt,
woolen socks and ponderous boots or
shoes. l asked him why his boots were
cut in several places at the toes. "Oh."
said he, 'that is to let the water which
pours over me out and keep my feet from
;calding." He said that driving was
nard work until one became use to it
then there was a fascination about il
which always kept one at the work. The
driver, he said, is out day and night, as
circumstances demand. Sometimes two
or three men are sent ahead of the main
body to keep the logs running free past
point where a jam is likely to occur.
They are given junk of salt pork, a
trying pan, dry Goldfish and a quantity
of hard bread, as the task may require
! days. At night this advance guard
bull DIS big fire and sleeps on the ground.
"Once," said the driver, con the. west
branch of the Penobscot, | aud com.
panion were delegated to look out for a
jam below and ahead of the main body
Of logs. We had no boat, and when a
.og stuck out in the stream we had to
paddle out on big spruce trunk to clear
It away. In returning we landed in four
feet of water, the big log grounded, and
We had to wade ashore waist deep in the
ICY water. A fierce storm was In progress,
and the walk back to camp was anything
out pleasant. At another time | was
with crew trying to get
some logs out of small brook in which
;he water was low. 1t looked as though
the logs would stay there all summer
when we turned in one night at little
sabin on the shore. My friend had an
upper bunk, in which he slept soundly
lntil early morning, when he jumped
out of his bunk. He landed in two feet
Of water, in which the cabin furniture
was floating. There had been heavy
rain and the little brook had overhowed
is banks.
The drivers work begins in the latter
part of April and lasts until July 10 or a
month later. Agreen hand is paid SLIP
ger day; fairly good men $1.75 to $3.50;
IN experienced man $2.75, and boat
nan SO, beside food, which is princi.
oally of beans. Woodmen have beans
'hree times day, drivers four times,
Ti h molasses for sweetness and dried
lpples as an anti-scorbutic. The woods.
men and drivers receive their money on
arriving here and it generally amounts
% from 5000 to $780, The red shutters
spread red paint at high cost for week
,r two, the cheap bars and boarding
houses reap a harvest, the police station
crowded and then all is quiet on tho
Penobscot.