Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-05-17
MICHIGAN PINERIES.
THE HARD AND DANGEROUS WORK
DONE Bv THE LocoERs.

the ''Cant Hook" sIen-"skidway" and
-Esankins Ground"7Dynamite. -
Nowhere on the glohofls the relation OF
horse and man In the accomplishment OF
great labor and the production Of enor
nous results so clearly seen as In the
numbering operations Of the northwestern
pineries From the time when the first
log Is cut from the first fallen pine In
September. until the last log Is delivered
at the banking ground, not later than the
ides Of March, horse and man handle tho
logs together This Is how the work Is
done
Camp established and the main roads
lined out through the timber to be cut,
gangs OF men go TO work. One man
moves ahead. selects trees. chops deep
notch or that side OF the tree toward
which wants 1t TO fall Two men fol
low hi1 with axes and q cross cut saw
The axes are for the incidental occasion
which may arise for their use The saw
sawyers begin on the standing tree op-
posite the aforesaid notch. and saw to-
ward that II the tree leans that way 1t
wip sometimes break through six inches
OF solid wood. and swoop down with q
screech OF the sundering fbefs that cen
be heard long distance.
The tree once down. the leader of the
gang that .fell" 1t measures off the logs
and tops" IL; that is. be trims up the
limbs where necessary. and goes on to
notch another tree while the sawyers arc
cutting the first into logs Then come
the 'swampers, gang OF men and
horses, who cut away the brush. roll one
end OF the log upon drag" and haul 1t
off to the ''skidway." where It is piled to
await being taken to the banking ground
The skidway Is itself rollway. as the
banking ground Is II the logs are to be
loaded upon cars the skidway must be
built as high as the platform of theecar.
II upon sleighs. then only high enough to
admit of rolling them upon the hunks. or
bed" of the sleigh But In either case
the piles Of logs so gathered may be large.
and yet largest where they are completed
and left to be moved by sleighs have
seen them piled In huge roof shaped
thus. snow collects in the interstices,
melts and freezes until the pile has be
come solidi6ed In that condition 1t Is
often found when the leaders approach 1t
TO break down the pile and load it upon
the sleighs
The work Is often dangerous. because
the logs are not taken from the top of the
pile. but from its bottom Only the most
skillful, as well as powerful. cant hook
men" make up the loading gangs have
seen gang break out the bottom log Of a
skidway that showed perpendicular
front of thirty feet. At its base In the
roadway stands the sleigh strong enough
to Withstand the shock Of mountains
fall; the horses are unhitched and moved
away and only the me7 are in danger a
foreman stands watchful over all; men
pry andspull and strain together. moving
the resisting log only hairs breadth. as
1t seems. 80 cautious are they As they
pull they watch the mass above them. and
when at last It starts those men bound
away as II shot out of catapults. and
down come the icy logs bounding with o
roar. The sleigh Is covered with them;
and once in such fall saw huge log
caught and held on end on top of q half
loaded sleigh.
Then comes the haul The roads are
wide, level and smooth. and q pair of the
kingly horses trained TO the work will
haul load of fourteen tons in q day when
the sleigh shoes do not stick to the snow.
Such load. peaked up into the air six feet
above the horses,s with the. teamster
astride OF the top log talking famiIiarly
70 his ..Nig" and "Joe," or some equally
domestic names, by which his horses are
Eno{vd las, they walk easily away with
the, huge mass. is sight that would
make the boys and girls Of the world wild
with delighted astonishment. But there
is danger here. too slight lurch sice-
ways will sometimes break q chain
.sbinder" and the load goes down.
At the banking ground. on clear cold
winter day. with the mercury 20 deCs.
below Zero, the scene is unique. This is
the only part of the work In which the
horses cannot help The logs are rolled
out from the sIeighs by the men It Is
often hard work green pine log that
scales from 500 TO 800 feet Is q heavy
thing to handle.
Rollways or banking grounds are al
ways CHOSEN AZ buAA pUiHe Oa 0tAc1n ~
lake where the height OF the bank and the
depthsof water will best facilitate piling
logs IN winter. and doating them in spring
| High bank and deep water are best. but
the majority Of rollways are on low banks
| and shallow streams. not from choice, but
from necessity The logs are dropped
from sisighs or cars npon the bank and
rolled OF until the river is iilled some
! times almost across the channel. Having
| only slticeway This dams the water
| and gives greater force. that i utilized in
/ breaking the rolIways in when the drive
begins The logs. piled often q dozen
| deep or more. weigh the Ice down TO the
| bottoms the water rises among the bot
| tom tiers Of logs and they freeze together
| There = danger In breaking in rollway.
4 -. .I<.~9@ nnI~I