The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-07-05
WITH THE wooDsMEN.
The uemlock Peelers, What They Do ant
How They Do It

How They DO It.
Inc men were at work some distance
up the side of the mountain, which
was spur of great Peazamoose, and
was guided up by man who was taking
them some addition to their dinners.
The road ceased altogether soon after
we left the shanty, and it was not long
before even the path disappeared, so
that we had to force our way through
the thick woods up the steep slope,
guided only by the sounds of chOpping
and the crash of falling trees which
came to our ears.
Most of the men were young fellows,
with tall, strong, active frames and
frank, honest face. One or two of
them wore red fannel-shirts which
looked very picturesque among the
green trees, and all of them made so
merry over their hard work that the
telling Of huge trees and Topping of
stout branches seemed rather play
than labor.
When bark-peelers go into the woods
they divide themselves into parties of
four or five who work together. Each
one OF these parties contains choppers,
tiXers and spudders.
The beginning Of the operations be-
longs to the first class. The chopper
chooses the first 'good-sized hemlock
that is seen, and it is attacked near the
root with sharp and slxillful axe until
it tumbles headlong in just the desired
direction. The fall of one ofthese trees.
especially if it be a large one, is an
impressive sight. The chopper cuts a
broad opening on one side fully half
through the great trunk, yet the tree
stands firm and pays no attention to
the blows, nor to the heavy
chips that continually fly away
from its dark. red heart.
wood Then the chopper goes around
on the other side, and cuts new cash.
little lower than the first one, since
he intends the tree to fall to that side.
Here, too, he cuts deep in before there
arc any signs of conquest. As the axe
begins TO touch the center, however,
the topmOst limbs are seen to tremble.
then to sway, and cracking sound
follows the repeated blows which warn
the poor tree that its time has come.
Then there is tottering, "a little lean
ing toward the weaker side, which has
the lower cut, and the woodman, keep
ing his eye upward and his feet ready
to jump, hurls one last powerful stroke
into the overstrained fbers. They
fly apart with a loud noise, the great
crown bows toward the earth, gains
swifter motion as it descends, and
comes crashing down upon the weak
and rcsistless brushwOOd with a noise
like the mutllod roar of a whole bat
terry and a force which shakes the
earth.
Now comes the work of the ''fixers."
They leap upon the butt of the fallen
giant, and, striking at the lowest limbs,
first cut of every branch until all are
Topped away to where the trunk grows
too narrow to be worth trimming. As
fast as u little space of the trunk is
cleared one of the men cuts a notch
the bark and around the trunk
rings it, as he would say. -Four
feet further on he cuts another ring,
and then Sits the bark lengthwise from
one ring to the other on three or four
sides of the tree. This goes on every
four feet, as fast as the tree is trimmed,
until the whole length has been thus
fixed"
Last OF all comes the "spudder,n |
whose duty it is to pry off the great |
flakes Of bark which have been nOtched |
and split for him. He takes his name
from the tool he uses, which is n sort |
of small, heavy. sharp-edged spade. |
with short handle; perhaps to call it |
a rOund-bladed chisel would describe |
it more nearly. To pry of the bark in |
this way seems very casy, but they told |
me IL was the hardest work of all. and |
that it required considerable skill tc |
do it properly.
When the bark has been removed il |
must be made up into regular piles 81 |
as TO be measured, for il is estimated /
and sold by the cord. This is hard /
work, for the green and juicy bark Is
very heavy and rough TO handle. |
Sometimes a tree will be found SO /
large rs TO furnish cord, or even
more alone; but 5ho average rate OF
yield is mnch less, so that experts cal.
oulate that four trees must be cut
down to obtain cord of bark.
1t is only when the new wood is
forming just underneath, and the cells
arc soft and fun of sap, that the bark
Fan be stripped from the log in large
pieces. Pooling, therefore, can be car,
-ied on only during May aud June.
The cords of bark piled then are left to
Try all the summer and fall, and are
hauled out in winter by ox-teams with
,lcds, whom the deep snow makes
smooth track over even so terribly
'ough a road Us the one have men.
toned.
The bark-peelers were a very jolly
OF of fellows, singing and joking as
hey worked, and at dinner there was
me incessaut rattle of stories and run.
They work hard, eat heartily. 60 to
led as soon as it is dark. and rise al
lawn.
It is interesting workout it leaves
ruined forest Ernest niger.
oil, i'm ST. Nicholas.
Wear on His Conscience.
MIR. Hobbs. said the detected
Z