The Arizona champion., 1891-01-17
MICHIGAN PiNERIES.
The Dangerous Work Done by
 the LoggerS.
WORK g9aE BY TIE "GaAT RulG" MEN.
Lumbering Operations in the Pine For
 ests of the Northwest.

horse and man in the accomplishment Of great labor and the production of enor nous results so clearly seen as in the iumbering operations of the northwestern nIneries From the time when the first log Is cut from the first fallen pine in September until the lasi log IS delivered al tue banking gp2gRi, not RiRS Illa1ll i.hss' 1 ides ot March. horse and man handle the logs together This is how the work is done
 Camp established and the main roads 1 lined out through the timber to be cut, ' gangs of men go to work. One man moves ahead. selects trees. chops deep notch on that side of the tree toward which be wants it to fall Two men fol low tnm with axes and a cross cut saw ] The axes are for the incidental occasion winch may arise for their use. Tue saw Is The real guliotine of the forest. The sawyers begn on the standing tree op puSite the aforesaid notch. and saw to ward that If the tree leans that way it wIr sometimes break through six inches ot solid wood and swoop down with screech of the sundering dberS that can be heard long distance
 The tree once down. the leader of the gang that fell" 1t 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 ibe 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 it 1 of to the ''skidway." where il is piled to await being taken to the banking ground. ] The skidway is itself rollway as the banking ground is If the logs are to be loaded upon cars the skidway must be ! built us hIgh as the platfOrm of the car l if upon seghs then only high enough to admit of rolling them upon tEe hunks. or ! bed" of the sleigh But in either case the piles of logs So gathered may be large, and yet largest where they are completed and left 10 Je moved by sleighs have seen them piled in huge roof shaped masses thirty and forty feet high Lying thus SHOW collects in the nterstces. mets and freezes until the pile has be come solIdiGed In that condition it is oflen found when the leaders approach it to break down the pile and load it upon the sleigls
 i The work Is often dangerous. because | the logs are not taken from the top of the i pile but from it's bottom Only the most skillful as well as powerful. cant hook l uen" make up the loading gangs. have seen gang break out the bottom log of 1 .,I,, ,lor | front of thirty feet Al it's base in the roadway stands the sleigh strong enough i to withstand the shock of q mountain's s 1 fall. the horses are unhitched and moved away and only the men are in danger. 4 1 foreman stands watchful over all. men pry and pull and strain together. moving 1 the resisting log only hairs breadth, as | il seems. so cautious are they As they 1 pull they watch the mass above them, and wien 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 a fall saw a huge log caught and held on eud on top of half loaded sleigh
 Then comes the haul The roads are wide. Ievei and smooth. and pair of the kingly horses trained to the work will haul a 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 the 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 wlth delighted astonishment But there is danger here. too A slight lurch side ways will sometimes break a chain binder and the load goes down.
 At the banking ground, on clear cold winter day. with tue mercury 20 degs. below zerO the scene is unique. This is the only part of the work in which the horses cannot help The logs are rolled out from the sleighs by the men. It is often hard work A green pine log that scales from 500 to S00 feet is a heavy thing to handle
 lsollways or banking grounds are al ways chosen at that point on stream or lake where the height of the bank and the 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 rolways are on low banks and shallow streams not from choice. but from necessity The logs are dropped from sleighs or cars upon the bank and rolled of until the river is filled some times almost across the channel. leaving only sluiceway 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 a rollway. just as there is in breaking down a skid
 way In both cases the work is done from . the front and bottom of the pile In the , poviug of frozen logs dynamite Is often used Cartridges are fastened to long r poles the waterproof fuse is ignited and the foreman thrIsts the cartridge down through the water as well under the logs as his limited time will permit Bay , City lMich Cor Chicago Herald
 All cigarettes contain, according to Professor Lafin, Q competent scientist and chemist, five distinct poisons Three of these are the most deadly oils, one ill the paper wrapper, one in the nicotine, and the third, and the worst, in the favoring. The other poisons are salt peter and opium,