Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1885-01-28
LIFE AMONG THE L0GGERS
Winter Scenes in q Maine
Lumber Camp.
Hard Work by Day and Jolly Times at
Night in the Forests

Despite the Improbable past year in
the lumber business, the woodsmen
have gone in swarms from Bangor, as
usual, this winter, to cut spruce and
pine on the upper Penobscot. One
inducement to the lumbermen to oper-
ate, is the low cost Of provisions it
being possible to board a crew of men
90 to 25 per cent cheaper than year
ago. Labor also is low, as the Prince
Edward Island boys have poured into
Bangor by the hundreds this season,
looking for employment, and they have
put wages down and kept them there
Think of stout young man swinging
an axe all winter for $40 to SIS and
his board. These are the wages ac-
copied by many of the Prince Edward
Island loggers. There was a time in
the days Of big pines, near by, when a
woodsman was looked upon as man
who had learned a trade.
Many people have queer ideas of
how loggers live in the woods. They
build camp Immediately, if there is
not one already near the scene Of their
work, and are seldom more than a day
abeGt I. The camp is simply log
house, with low sides and steep pitched
roof. The chinks of the walls are
filled in with mud, moss, and leaves,
and high banking of earth or snow
reaches almost to the caves outside
The entrance is in enc end, and the
only window is in the opposite end.
The cook and his assistant have a sort
Of pantry partitioned off at the win
dow end, and there are wood and
provision storeroUm on either side of
the entrance. The remainder of the
building forms one room. On one side
is long couch made of boughs, hay
or straw, covered with heavy quilts
or blankets. on which the men sleep in
row. On the opposite side is a long
table, made Of small logs, hewn smooth
on top, on which the food is served.
In front Of it is big log hewn out for
a settee, and called the deacon seat.
The men, when done eating, have only
to turn around in their seat to toast
their shins at big fire of logs, which
glows like a small volcano in the midst
of all, and sends its smoke and sparks
through a hole in the roof, six feet
square, the draft being aided by a
roof-tree.
The fare is plain and monotonous,
but wholesome and substantial. Pork
and beans, bread and molasses, and
pork fat, the latter used for butter,
make up a breakfast at sunrise. Then
the crew 90 to work, and if near by the
camp, they come back at Il o'clock for
dinner, which is beans and pork, with
pork scraps and doughnuts. The men
work until it is too dark to tell hem
lock from spruce, and then come
back to eat supper Of the same
viands, varied with dried apple-sauce.
Fish is served once or twice week,
The beverage is cheap tea.
Evenings and Sundays are spent in
telling wonderful yarns, singing ear
splitting songs, and smoking. In some
camps the men play cards, and gamble
for tobacco, clothing, and even the
wages.
The woods beans are the best of all
baked beans, and put Boston ent rely
in the shade. They are cooked in an
iron pot placed in a pit surrounded by
live Goals, and covered tightly with
earth over night. In the morning they
are done to turn. No range can COM
pete with the bean-hole of the logging
swamp.
The woodsmen range in age from 16
to Is, dress in heavy wooden or knit
underwear, cheap ready-made clothes,
cloth or knitted caps, moccasins, and
many socks and mittens. They work
on an average four months, come out
as fat as bears, and with from $50 to
$3.50 due them. They spend the mon
ey, and then are ready to work On the
river or 60 driving.--NeW York Sun.