Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-02-13
MICHIGAN LOGGERS.
THE REGULAR WORK OF A LOGGING
CAMP AMONG THE PINES.
Choppers, Sawyers. ''Swampers' aud skid
ders"-The ''Sprinkler'' at Work-A
Monster Sleigh-"A Tight
Place"-LOss of Live.
[Charles Ellis in The Current. ]


First, the roads are located and graded,
for this is a business that utterly refuses tn
move on bad roads. Next, the SKI iways."
or raised bottoms upon which the logs are to
be piled preparatory to loading them upon
the sleighs later in the season. are prepared.
Then, the work Of logging begins. Crews or
gangs of men, three in eaen; one chopper,
who selects and notches the trees that are to
be felled, and measures and trims them up
when they are down, and two sawyers, who
fell the trees and cut the logs off, take the
lead. These are followed by the
"swampers," who, with well-trained
horses, drag the logs to the skidways, where
the .skidders" take charge If them, and,
with the aid of the horses, pile them in great
roof-shaped piles sometimes thirty feet high.
At the same time gang of men is at work
on the road from camp to river, whittier the
logs are to be transported in winter. This
is very important part of the labor, as the
success of the winters work depends upon
the ability to do . great deal Of hauling in a
short time Hills must be avoided, AMI con-
sequently the road will follow the low land,
and this must run through swamps that are
sometimes very difficult to get over. When
the cold weather sets in men are put into
suCu s"dulpS W uuup Vuo llpO
mirs, as in that state it freezes mora readily
than when covered with grass, roots aud
water.
As soon as the road will bear a team, a
gang Of men is sent out at night to work
upon it with "she sprinkler" This is box
built upon logging sleighs for the purpose of
hauling water over the roads and sprink-
ling the track at each side in which the
sleigh runners move. The water soon
freezes, and thus road of ice is formed lit
tie by little that will last for weeks after
snow roads have entirely disappeared. l
have seen . sprinkler at work that weighed,
when loaded, thirteen tons, and that was
drawn by one pair of horses; and l have
heard luInbermen say that for an all-winter
work of cutting and hauling, they would
rather have no snow at all, preferring to
make their roads in this way, entirely of ice.
Hauling begins with the freezing of the
swamps, generally about the middle of De-
cember. Then the piles of logs
by the roadside are broken down,
This work is often full of danger to limb and
life of those engaged in it, and only the
strongest and most skillful cant-hook men
are selected for leaders. Snow and rain
have frozen upon the logs, and they stick y
The logs are not taken down from the top of
the pile, but broken out from the bottom.
Where they are frozen together you will
sometimes see them worked out until sheer
front of twenty Or thirty feet is presented,
at the bottom Of which the men must expose
themselves to break out the bottom log and
bring the whole pile down. have seen such
a pile come down with leap that sent great
logs flying like sticks clear out over the
sleigh, filling the road full
The sleigh is in itself a curiosity to one
whose mental image of sleigh is the light
dashaway cutter of the fashionable drive
This monster of the woods has four
runners, measures about thirty feet
over all, is from eight to nine feet
beam, weighs, when fully equipped
$500 pounds, and has a carrying capacity
Of all you can pils on-amounting some
times to twelve and fourteen tons-a load
that pair of these great horses, trained to
camp work, will walk away with easily In
our camp the logs are skidded along a road
that has light down-grade that finally
reaches bottom with somewhat abrupt
pitch that rises to about an equal height on
the opposite side. Ii a team were t. hold
back its load coming down this hill. and
were to stop and take breath at til, bottom
before taking the uphill 1t world never
get its load to the top The load mn { 90 up
by virtue Of the law of gravit;. alIed;
the team and load are pendulum; The mo-
H:entum which it takes ON coming lown to
the centre will carry it up on the other side
Old campers know all about the trick Of
getting over such . grade; and 1t is a pretty
sight to see one of them perched on the top
of a huge load sometimes siX feet above his
team, come down that hill with the horses
gradually increasing their spsed, until BY
the time they srs croaalng ths bottom >aey