Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-04-25
L0GGERS AT WORK.
HOW LUMBER IS CUT AND,THTsN
RAFpED TO THE SAW-MILL.
The Metis-Composition of the Log
Sing Gangs-Thc Brow-Aaoat in
the Strcam-Thc Agile Rats
man-At the Boom.

Ottawa and on the Quebec streams in
canada are Metis. That is to say, their
FRENCH ancestors, rowing the northern
part Of the continent from the great lakes
to the shores of Hudson Bay, and NOT
finding white women enough among the
habitants, often married squaws. The
Aietis IS heavy faced and is luller than
pure Frenchnan, but he is skilful in
the woods.
a gang of lumbcrmen consists of forty
to fifty men as a rule, and about four
men Il q allowed to each team of horses.
One OF these is the driver, another chops
down the trees, another is ''sled tender j."
that IS to say, he rolls the log out of the
snow to where the team can reach it. and
helps the driver TO put il on the s!cds
the fourth is the "swampcr, or man
who makes. the roads for the team. He
is obliged to fill dangerous holes and cut
trees out of the way. At an ordinary
haul' OF say mile, one axe can keep a
span OF horses going. Twenty logs of
from thirteen to fourteen inches in dia-
meter at the butt and from ten to thirteen
inches 1T the top would be Il heavy DAVIS
work for one chopper.
All numbering operations are conducted
near the banks Of stream. These
streams are feeders of some large river
like the Ottawa, the st. John, the Rcsti-
Souchc or the Mramichi. As the logs
are cut they are hauled on bobslcds to the
size of the river, or, as it is called. the
brow, where they are heaped up to await
the opening of the stream in spring. One
man called a Gland tender" is employed
ut the brow. The trees cut and hauled
to this brow comprise spruce and pine.
but il the gang is engaged mt square
timber it will also embrace maple. birc,,
and beech. No unsound logs are en-,
and none Of an under size. Bynot de-
stroying the small trees, which hardly
pay to cut, the ground can be again cut
over in from eight to ten years. In some
oil the lumber regions there is strict law
against destroying the shanties when the
men arc leaving them in the spring, for
to many hintsman or trapper has a
coscy old shanty been n godsend on bit
ter nights
As soon rs the snow begins 10 melt in
the woods and you can hear the merry
dripping of every tree open spaces be-
gin to appear in the streams. Sometimes
heavy rain storm comes, CARRYING the
ice out OF the rivers and streams, MEX
ing the way clear for the drivers. Then
every man except those who have to take
home the teams scizes his "pecvy,"
pole with an iron pike in the end, and a
Cant dog" arrangement.
The first duty is to ret the logs into
the stream, which is done by freeing
them at the brow, when they go, thou
sands of them, with tremendous
plunge into The foaming stream. In
short space of time there is not loo that
is not in the stream, 'lunging, rolling and
mmbling onward over level stretches and
hcadlong down roaring falls. There is
little difficulty in stream driving if there
is plenty of water. Now and again a
log will get ashore, but the ..sacker"
comes along with his ''peevy" and sets it
adrift again.
There may he two or three operators
along the Same stream, so the logs of
each bear Il mark by which they can be
assorted when they reach the boom. But
the flow OF water is not always sufficient,
and the logs ground in hundreds in the
shallow parts of the stream. This is the
most laborious time fer the drivers
They must he kept floating while it is
possible to float them, else the winters
work will have been all for nanrht.
When the waters fall very low the lons
stop and are then said to be chung up.n
If the weather should become very warm
and bring much water from the melting
snow III the woods off they float again.
or another rainstorm sets them Jog
ging.
The distance to be driven is sometimes
not less than hundred miles, and for
days aud weeks the drivers may not know
what it is to have roof over them. A
boat follows them with food Their skill
is at the highest when "rdinc" the logs
One man can manage large number by
jumping from one to the other with his
plke pole in his hand. He has iron spikes
in his boots, which are necessary in order
to stand on the log. Sometimes the lo.r
strikes rock and begins to turn. Here
the unskilled driver will go into the
stream, but the expert will spring up from
the log, again strike it with his feet and
so on TILL the stick stops turning
have often seen IL man cross Il stream.
where to fall in would be exceedingly
dangerous, on y log, and have never
seen him lose his balance. Should he get
into the water he must come to the end
OF the los to get on again, for scizing it
by the middle it turns round and round,
and he can never get upon it.
When the logs reach the main rivers
like the st. John, the Miramichi or the
Ottawa, they can care for themselves and
float lcisurely down till Intercepted by
the booms placed at some desirable spot.
Here are some hundreds of thousands of
logs, contributed by half hundred
streams and capable of yielding millions
upon millions of boards, scanting and
deals. TO these booms come hundreds
of men, each with peevy or pike pole,
picking out and putting together all the
logs of like marking. After this is done
rafting commences, and in due time the
logs are taken away TO their respective