The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1886-04-29

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they have worked up tho second
growth, and | am told that At one
or two places they have even eu,
of the third growth Of timber
Before The war tho men We're
paid 10 cents per cord for chop
ping wood. Then when the war
come Oh Il run up 10 n 90, but
has dropped back 10 40 cents. AT
20 cents per cord l, kept a man
scratching 10 make both ends
meet. II was only for some kinds
Of work that Y man got any mon.
ev. If he had night work al The
furnace or a eoaling job, he re-
ceived part money and part trade,
but if no was ginning no done
we'll Il he got enough corn meal
aud bacon 10 keep his family
One If the best wood choppers l
ever knew was Tom Gall. Give
him good timbar aud for one day
hc could cut ton cords Of wood
aud do It easy. Ten cords Ia lots
ot wood, but the country used to
DO full Of good choppers"
What was the average OUTPUT
Of tho charcoal furnOccsi
II would say about 8 tons 4;
soMo run over that but not many.
II was iron In those days and no
discount. Il 10 my opinion that
tho Baird Furnace, though using
stone coal, comes nearer making
a grade Of iron that would com
pare with Il better than any !
hNvo struck since the good old
days."
How did they get tho iron to
the market from The inland fur.
naces
ut was hauled across the hil
IN wagons, from some points
The wagons were very heavy and
were drawn by from tour to six
woke of cattle, Occasionally YOU
would find a furnace on a stream
Of some size. If there was no
special demand or hurry Tor iron,
the furnace owners would build
boats and load them, and then
when q flood came, run them out
to the Ohio river. This was hard
and dangerous work, aud was
usually given over to the stro ng.
est and most trusted men about
the works. Once in q while a
boat would be lost, but il was not
often. The bulk Of the iron was
hauled .on wagons, however,
From four 10 six tons Yeie con.
sidered a load, and il took some
fancy driving to get over the
roads they had in that coun try"
Who were some Of the crack
drivers in the early davss
They had 80 many that it is
hard 10 tell. The best ! think
that were ever up in this county
was Jim Call aud Jim Coon
Coon used to work at Baird's fur.
mace and died there several years
ago He could make a team pull
every pound that il was able to
pull. Ok drivers had their tricks
as we'll as other people. You
could see a team pull onto the
stock yard, and at a single word
from the driver would nearly 60
wild. Well, they were drilled to
that thing. When a driver got
out OF sight of everything and
.person with his team, he just
burned them up. 1t didn't take
many lessons Of this kind to
learn them what they were to
do"
How were wages then compar.
ed with the presents
"They were some lower. FIJI.
lers and iron guttermen were
paid nbout $50 a month, and
keepers about s3s. The keepers
and helpers about a charcoal fur
mace had to work. Talk about a
stone.coal furnace being hard 10
keep. They're not a patchen 10
the charcoal plants. There is
just as much difference between
the two as there is between the
little creek ager and big Scioto
shakes"
How were times before the war
in Southern Ohioa
"Not much worse than they
have been IN the Hooking Valley
for the last two years. 1t was
tough as the devil sometimes, but
we pulled through. 1t has been
a hard matter for the laboring
man to do that here"
How were The old furnaces
builti
"Right against the hill. The
stock yards were on the bluff. A
bridge or bridge house, as it Is
called, run from the bank to the
top of the furnace and over this
the stock used IN the furnace was
taken. Sometimes you would
find a plant like the old Logan
furnace, where the stock was ta-
ken to the top on an inclire.'
Has there been many changes
in men and customs since you
furnacings
swell, l should think so.-|
There was old Andy Mitchell rails
ed twenty-five children. Ifpeo-