Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-07-08
NORTHWEST LOGGERS.

NORTHWEST LoGGERs.
How the Pine Logs Are Brought to Market
From Northern Forests.
The logger's harvest and means of
getting his crop from the pineries to
market is. perhaps, as little understood
as any other great industry of the land.
Even those residing in the logging dis
tricts who are not engaged in the bust
ness generally have little idea of how
the pine logs they see floating down the
Missississippi, ST. Croix, Chippewa and
other rivers leading from the pineries
are gathered and RATED. The pineries
of the Northwest are located on and
about the great watershed where the
Mississippi, its tributaries, and the trib-
utaries of Lake Superior find their
source. The main shed, which divides
st. Louis, Little Black and the other
siippi, St. Croix, Chippewa and the other
extending between the streams flowing
south down to their confluence, and be-
tween the streams on the north side
down to Lake Superior. The shed and
branches are high enough to furnish
head for strong current, and from
the head, leading down to the main
streams, are multitude of creeks,
brooks and mere ravines. These last
are all utilized by the loggers. A series
of sluice dams are constructed along
each creek, brook and ravine, and each
dam is put in shape in the fall of the
year to collect water for use in the
spring. After the dams are repaired
and in shape the crews of men are set
to work cutting pines and piling the
logs in convenient localities. When
the snow comes the work of hauling the
logs from the piles in the pineries to the
damned ravines begins. For this pur-
pose immense sleds, hauled by four or
six very heavy horses or as many oxen,
are used. These sleds are from twelve
to fourteen feet wide, and sometimes as
many as one hundred logs are hauled at
load. The piles of logs are seldom
more than three miles from the ravine,
so that many loads are hauled by each
teamster in day. The logs are dumped
from the sleds on the ice and
scaled. Scaling is a logger's term for
measuring a log to ascertain how many
feet of lumber it contains. The scaling
is done by skilled men, and with scaling
clippers or log rules. The logs come
from the pineries all cut in uniform
lengths-12, Is, 20, "a and % feet The
caliper takes the diameter of thalog and
indicates on the rule the number of feet
of lumber according to the length. In
the spring the accumulation of water
from the fall and winter rains and SHOWS
is sufficient to carry the logs away which
have been piled on the ice.
The sluice-damS are accordingly
opened, and the work of driving begins.
The driving process is accomplished by
crews of men who follow the logs as
they float down to the main streams and
prevent or break log jams or gorges.
The next place of interest in the transit
of the log is the boom. 1t is at the boom
that the logs are put into brails to be
1oated down to the rafting grounds,
placed in RATS, and pushed by
steamers down the Mississippi.
A brief description of the St.
Croix boom will give an idea of all
the large booms of the Northwest. The
St. CrOix boom commences four miles
and half below Marine, is five miles
long, terminates two miles and a half
above Saltwater, and is on the west side
of the main channel of the st. Croix
river. 1t is practically an inclosure into
which the logs are driven, made into
brails, let out at the foot. and delivered
to the owners. The Enclosure is made
in this way: A row of piles, extending
above medium water about seven feet,
line the west shore, and another row of
piles line the west edge of the main
channel. Attached to the row of piles
are continuous floating walks, made of
heavy, long planks. Across the foot of
the boom is stretched a row of logs.
fastened end to end, for the purpose of
retaining all the logs in the boom until
the workmen are through with them.
The logs, as they come down the river,
are driven into the Enclosure
by crew of men stationed at the head
of, the boom. All along the floating
plank walk on the shore side are men
at work tieing with ropes the logs to-
gether into brails. Every logger has
certain recorded marks, which are
placed on his logs in the pineries. The
men on the plank walk are nearly all
divided into squads each of which places
all the marks of a certain logger in the
brazil. A few rods apart are ropes
from the piles along the shore
to the piles along the channel. Hang
ing with their hands to one of these
ropes and stepping on the floating logs
are two or three men engaged in sorting
out the particular marks wanted by the
squads nearest to them on the walks
brails. The marks not wanted
are permitted to float by to the ropes
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