The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-09-26
THE LoooERs OF THE NORTH.
Observations Among tho Rough Men OF
the Lumber woods.


Observations Among tho Rough Men of
the Lumber woods.
Early in the spring the first thaw
breaks up the winter camps and drives
the lumbcrnien into the towns for
"hurrah" time.
These men pass three or four months
of the winter in camp, telling and haul
ing timber. During all that time they
are remote from the temptations OF
effete civilization, with no opportunities
of spending money. Picture two thou
sand or three thousand of these men
streaming into a town with their winter
savings. The widest kind of revelry
runs riot Saloons and mblng-houses
are in full blast night and day, while
Sunday has merely n calendar signih-
cance no longer Synonymous with "the
Sabbath" Pandemonium! Why, n band
of bowling dervishes would be Bible
class compared to gang of lumber
boys just let loose A brawny, hardy
set of men they are, too; seasoned by
vigorous work in the open air-that
clear, dry atmosphere of the northern
woods, redolent with the fragrance Of
the pines.
And what lusty-lunged fellowsl
After three or four drinks of ''pine top"
whisky their sole aim is to display this
startling power. At lumberman's
whoop Comanche would seek shady
glade, while the singing of crowd of
the "boys" would turn a steam calliope
II sickly green.
Still, boisterous as they are, their
fun is of harmless kinda good
natured, whole-souled lot of men
as class - manly and courageous,
always ready to help q comrade
and generous without stint Rows
are of infrequent occurrence and
then confined to fisticuffs. Shooting and
stabbing affrays are rarely heard of.
1t doesn't take long for the men to
get rid of their money after striking IA
town. When that's gone, they wait to
"go down on the drive''--that is, driving
the logs downstream, work that starts
in. as soon as the spring thaws and
heavy rains have swollen the streams
and rivers.
All sorts and conditions of men are to
be found in their ranks from the un-
lettered semi-savages who sign the pay
roll with crosses to the college gradu-
ates who have the right to tack two or
three capitals to the end of their
names. | have met men among them
who could quote the English poets from
Chaucer to Browning and who could
learnedly discuss the political history of
Europe and argue on the authorship of
the Junius letters
One night in a barroom in Marinette
l heard half-drunken lumberman de-
liver, on the spur of the moment, a SER
mon on intemperance that would hold
the finest congregation in Chicago spell
bound. How did that sort of man get
there? Ran away, maybe, from sor-
row or crime. Who can tell? The
pine woods are hiding many a man with
stain or a grief on his past. There
| isn't safer refuge in the United States.
OF the foreign element, the Scaudina-
vians are the most important factor, re-
cruited mostly by emigrants from the
lumber regions of Sweden and Nor
way.
Many an hour have put in with
Scandinavian lumbermen, observing
their quaint dialect and odd traits of
character. Their most distinctive points
are stolidity, plodding perseverance and
answering honesty. 1t is u byword
among drummers in the northwest that
they never fear to trust Scandinavian
merchant for goods. These northern
people have none of the volatile, mer-
curial temperament of the Latin races;
their passions are not easily swayed,
but once aroused, either in anger or Joy
they burn white heat-it is then that
the old Viking spirit flashes for awhile
the fierce tempestuous spirit of those
brave, warlike natures that dreamt Of
heaven as a never-endinG tableau of
wars and victory and glory. C. Huge,
in Chicago News.