The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-03-02
IN A LOGGING CAMP.
How the Rough WOodsmen Of the North
west Spend Their Time.

west Spend Their Time.
Of the hundreds of logging camps
scattered through the pine forests Of
Northern Michigan, Wisconsin and
Minnesota, the ordinary Eastern man
has little idea A camp is 4 little vii.
lagc of perhaps half dozen log cabins
situated in the woods. often from ten
to twenty miles from the nearest town
or settlement. 1t has population, or.
more properly speaking. crew. OF
from twenty to one hundred men. ac-
cording to the size of the operations,
and two or three women who do the
cooking and washing. In general
appearance the logging camp of to-day
doubtless varies little from those of
fifty years ago. Of the half-dozen
buildings of which the camp is COM
posed, one. the ''mcn's shanty," serves
as dwelling-house for the whole crew.
one for the boarding-house. or ''cooks'
shanty," in which the cooks live, an
other for an office and store, and the
others for barns, blacksmith shop. etc.
The mems shanty is large, square
log cabin with no partitions inside.
there being simply one room. with
doors and windows at the ends. and
hunks built along the sides. one above
the other, after the fashion of berths in
a steamboat Each bunk has n straw
tick and heavy WOODEN blankets for
bedding. In the center of the room is
an open space. in the middle of which
stands large sheet-iron heater or
stove, with the furniture, consisting of
few wooden benches, scattered
around near by. The crew of a camp
is made up with men of many nation
alties. Besides Americans. there are
many Canadians and quite a sprinkling
of Swedes Norwegians. Danes and
Finlanders The woodsmen are
rough, hardy class of men. who live a
rough life, work hard, and endure
many privations. They are
usually single men, and their
worst enemy is whisky. They encounter
this luxury at short range about semi
annually. with unvarying degrees of
success in mastering it. Their dress is
rather picturesque, their winter CO.'S
tune consisting usually of red knit
cap, red or blue Mackinaw shirt (worn
in place of coat. gray pants, long
red stockings drawn over the pants to
the knee. heavy low rubbers on the
feet, wooden mittens. and perhaps red
sash tied around the waist Their
wages range from eighteen to twenty-six
dollars per month, and board. The
latter is plain but wholesome, consist
ing of salt meats. bread, potatoes and
plenty of beans and like articles that
are easy to transport and preserve.
The food is usually we'll cooked, and
no matter if it could be improved a
trifle. the man who swings an axe ten
or eleven hours a day in the bracing
pine air is apt to call it "good grub"
The men spend their leisure time
evenings and Sundays in camp. and
the inside of the mems shanty in the
evening presents an interesting ap-
pearancc. They scatter themselves
around, resting after their day work.
and amuse themselves in various ways.
Some are lying in thoir hunks reading.
some writing letters to distant friends.
or perhaps the girl they left behind
them in Canada or far-away Norway or
Sweden, while cards, checkers or
singing takes up the attention of tho
remainder. Nearly all are smoking,
and the conversation is carefully inter-
larded with profanity of the most fluent
variety. Swearing is one Of the ac-
complishments of the regular woods
man, and he could teach a cowboy
new cuss words. All are in bed before
nine o'clock, for they must be up at
half-past four in the morning. break
fast at five. and be out in the woods at
six ready for work. The adage ''early
to bed and early to rise" is very strict
ly observed in logging camp.-Har-
per's Weekly.