The Somerset reporter., 1888-04-26
MICHIGAN PTNERiEy!
THE HARD AND DANGEROUS WORK
DONE BY THE lOGGERS.

DONE BY ThE lOGGEHS.
LAUNDERING Operations In the Pine For
eats Of the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Done by
the "Cant Hook" Msn-"skidway" and
"nanking Ground'-Dynamite.
Nowhere on the globe Is 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 nom the first fallen pine in
September. until the last log is delivered
at he banking ground. not later than the
ides of March horse and man handle the
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 OH that side of the tree toward
which he wants 1t to fall Two men fol
low him with axes and cross cut saw.
The axes are for the incidental occasion
which may arise for their use. The saw
Is the real g,lillotine of the forest The
sawyers begin on the standing tree OPP
poste the aforesaid notch. and saw to.
ward that If the tree leans that way it
viii sometimes break through six inches
OF solid wood. and swoop down with q
screech of the sundering tbers that can
be heard long distance.
The tree once down. the leader Of the
gang that fell" it measures off the logs
and tops" it. that Is. he trims up the
limbs where necessary. and goes on to
notch another tree while the sawyers are
cutting the first into logs Then come
the ''swampers, a 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 ths banking ground
The skidway is itself rollway as the
banking ground is If tho logs are to be
loaded upon cars the skidway must be
built as high as the platform Of the car,
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 arc completed
and left to be moved by sleighs have
seen them piled in huge roof shaped
masses thirty and forty feet high Lying
thus. snow collects in the interstices.
melts and freezes until the pile has be-
come solidifed In that condition it is
often found when the leaders approach it
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 TIE
pile but from it's bottom. Only the most
skillful. as well as powerful. "cant hook
men" make up the loading gangs have
seen a 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 q mountains
fall the horses are unhitched and moved
away and only the men are in danger. A
foreman stands watchful over all; men
pry and pull and strain together, moving
the resisting log only hairs breadth, as
ii seems. so cautious are they AS they
pull they watch the mass above them and
when at last it starts those men bound
away as if shot out of catapults, and
down come the icy logs bounding with
roar The sleigh is covered with them;
and once in such fall saw hugo log
caught and held on end ON top of half
loaded sleigh
Then comes the haul The roads are
wide, level and smooth, and pair of the
kingly horses trained to the work will
haul load of fourteen tons in day when
the sleigh shoes do not stick to the snow
Such load peaked up into the air six feet
above the horses. with tho teamster
astride of the top log talking Familiarity
to his Mig" and Joe" or some equally
domestic names, by which his horses are
known. as they walk easily away with
the huge mass is sight that would
make the boys and girls of the world wild
with delighted establishment. But there
is danger hero, too A slight lurch side
ways will sometimes break chain
"binder" and the load goes down.
At the banking ground. on clear cold
winter day, with the mercury 20 degs.
below zero. the scene is unique This is
tho only part of the work in which the
horses cannot help The logs are rolled
out from the sleighs by the men. 1t is
often hard work. A green pine log that
scales from 500 to 800 feet is heavy
thing to handle.
Rolways or banking grounds are al
ways chosen at that point on stream or
lake where the height of tho bank and tho
depth of water will best facilitate piling
logs in winter and floating 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 seighs or cars upon the bank and
rolled off until the river is filled some
times almost across the channel. leaving
only suiceway This dams the water
and gives greater force, that is utilized in
breaking the rollways in when the drive
begins The logs. piled often a dozen
deep or more, weigh the ice down to the
bottom. the water rises among the bot
tom tiers of logs and they freeze together.
There is danger in breaking In rollway,
just as there is in breaking down skid
way In both cases the work is done from
tho front and bottom of the pile. In the
moving of frozen logs dynamite is often
used Cartridges are fastened to long
poles. the waterproof fuse is ignited and
the foreman thrusts the cartridge down
through the water as well under the logs
as his limited time will permit. Bay
City (Mich. Cor Chicago Herald.
stocked with Chinese Pheasants.
Several years ago the Rod and Gun