The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-04-08
IN A LOGGING CAMP.
A THRILLING INCIDENT WHILE DRIV.
ING THE 'eoBs."
On a Mad GaIIop Down an MISUNDERSTOOD
on into the Air How the Log
gers Work and live
"a Awful Days.
.IChicngo Tribune :

tChicago Tribune
"For young man have done some
pretty tough scrapping in theiRockies and
mining regions of New Mexico and Ari-
iona, but few days ago [ had the worst
scare of my life in the humber districts of
northern Michigan The speaker was a
young man of some q years, dressed In
rough-and ready style and wearing friz.
ely tow beard. He shifted the position of
of his broad shoulders as he lounged back
in an easy chair in the Sherman house
Office, pulled his cigar vigorously, and
then continued. g w. 80 3 3
1T was one of those bitter cold DAYS
we've just been having, and | had got up
at o'clock to rouse the men and get the
sprinkler out The air seemed full of blue
steel and cut TO my marrow like
razor. Ono OF the teamSterS got scared
out and played off sick, so | had to take
his place. When we had got a good, big
load took the reins and sat down on the
butts of the logs, leaving the two loggers
on behind. Of course about twenty feet
of the load hung off the last bob. The
road was sheet Of ice, for the sprinkler
ran over it every morning. and the
horses were sharp-shod, SO we slid along
smoothly till we got to the slide-a pretty
steep incline ending in a turn which was
mighty sharp for road sixty feet wide.
AS soon as we started down my hair be.
gan to stand on end, for the horses gal
Topped like fury to keep ahead of tho
hobs which were Slowing all over the
road.
81 got so paralyzed and nervous that
when we approached the turn refined in
too suddenly. / felt the front bobs Jump
one way and the back hobs the other
The hind ends of the logs whistled
through the air like willow switches, and
heard the loggers yell: For Gods
sake, --.' The next thing was a
loud snapl snap! snap!-like three tre-
mendous paper crackers-as the big log
chains broke like so many cotton threads.
Did you ever use a switch sling? Whirl
it round and round your head, you know,
till sudden twist sends the apple off the
end and spinning into the air2 Well, that
Is the way / felt and that is just what |
thought of as 1 was shot off into the air,
over, and over, and over, till / struck in q
snOwdrift some 100 or more feet
from the road. When l had struggled
back through the snow | found the horses
trying to kick loose from the few bits of
harness that dangled about them, the
hobs tangled about the trunk of Il small
pine tree. and the logs scattered to the
four winds. One logger crawled back to
the road with a fractured leg, and the
other soon followed with a dislOcated
shoulder. One had struck tree, and the
second had landed against a stump. They
afterwards told me in camp that those
things were not al all unusual and as l
had some pretty heavy bruises myself,
concluded that ] was not made to boss u
lumber camp so | was driven TO town
next day to telegraph the management
that the head teamstcr was filling my
place. and that / was on my way TO Chi
cago; and you bet your life | am glad I
did it.
"If you have never passed winter in
the Michigan lumber districts you don't
know what trouble is. In the first place
a man has to work from 8 in the morning
till and sometimes II at night My
daily life while was fool enough to stay
there was something like this: / kept
store for twenty teamsters and bOssed
them at their work L slept and ate in
the only approximately clean place in the
whole ranch-a little box built out into
the big room and all lined with strong to-
bacco, curry combs, socks. pins, buttons,
buckwheat, kerosene, and bad molasses.
The box had no cover, so as
lay on the only quilt between
me and the floor l could see the stars
through the frosty cracks in the
roof The onions, beans, cabbages, and q
small key of sauerkraut were stored just
outside my door in the big room, which
was heated red hot by an immense open
fireplace. At night the men would take
off their soaking wet rubber boots and
stand them up by the fire.
"Those were awful old days for me.
had almost sleepless nights, and then had
to get up before aybreak, with the Their.
mometer 20 or 80 degrees below zero. and
go about my work with splitting head.
ache, contracted in the foul air in which
had to pass the night am glad l am
out of it. 1t is an unhealthy, dirty, dan
gerous business and unless a man is in
with the management there is no money
in it.