Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-03-24
WITH CHARCOAL BURNERS
PECULIAR coMMUSITIE SCAT
TERED OVER NEW JERSEY.
Cutting Wood and Burning it EN-
pIoys Humid reds of Men Who Live
I'm Primitive SIMPLICITY

DlOIS Va -tAth " -N
In Primitive simplicity.
= TITLE colonies of men, peculiar
r. communities, are scattered up
and down New JERSEY like
bumps on a log. They live
remote from the centres OF civilization
they have little or no interest in the al
fairs OF the outside world, while their
wants are very few and Of the simplest
kind. These are the charcoal burners oil
the Jersey pines.
All told, there are not more than nifty
Of them in the State. Their earnings are
scanty, averaging the year round about
dollar a day, fact in itself which pre-
cludes the ENJOYMENT of much that Others
enjoy, even the poorer classes IN great
cities.
Dag in and day out, in winters cold
and summers heat, the ring OF the char
coal burners axe may be heard in the
pine forests of the State beyond the Del
aware. On days when the mercury IN
the thermometer hugs the zero marx
these fellows begin their labor IN toe
woods at daybreak. Their first act is to
light fire with such dry branches as
they can scrape together, over which
shey hold their kcen-edge1 axes to draw
the frost out of their gltterlng blades.
"Ef we didn't, why, the fust llc< 'Id
break 'em right in two," said one of the
fraternity who took enough OF his time
to tell something about their way o.
life.
ASTON is the nearest settlement to the
charcoal pits, and ASTON is mediaeVal
dream. 1t is the wreck OF a once con-
siderable village. II Its implanted and
decayiug houses were OF stone instead OF
old fashioned clayboard., it would be a
fac-simile reproduction OF a Yorkshire
hamlet gone to seed.
This part of the country has been
pretty well chawcI up By casrc pal burn
ers," said the driver, as the decreplt
buggy rolled noiselessly along. "ThGy
clear out patches here and there, and
then move of to another piece to begin
work. The man who owns this track
wont let them cut it up the way the other
owner did. He keeps them pretty much
IN one place"
In the expressive Jersey vernacuar,
the soil in spots did present "chewed.
up appearance. There were side clear
ings covered with a thick growth Of
shrub5ery aud long grass, through which
peeped the black stumps OF trees which
had been felled years before. After an
hours ride there came, off TO the right,
the sound OF axes at regular intervals,
and the forms OF men were seen moving
to and fro. In a clearing near by we're a
lot Of smoking tumuli-heaps OF earth
ten or a dozen feet in height, around
whose SUBMITS light vapor were curing
in fantastic wreaths aud shapes.
By strange perversion OF English
these heaps OF earth were called pits.
In them were burned the charcoal Of
commerce aud manufacture.
There was a light snow on the ground,
but the workers did not seem TO mind it.
Most oil them were in their shirt sleeves
heavy WOODEN shirts-snd the exertioI
OF swinging their axes kept them in
perspiration, despite the cutting wind
which whistIed to itself rs it played hide
and seek with the clumps Of decAyed
leaves. Out in the clearing detected
looking horse was hauling load OF cord
wood on sled, while near one OF the
pits sturdy man was wheeling bar
rowful of logs that would have made a
city nod carrier groan. There were old
men and young; some were boys at
work in the wood land. Trees OF all
sizes, from the sapling four inches in di-
ameter to the giant five feet In circum-
ference, were crashing here aud there,
aud the steady stroke OF axes was never
silent.
The burning OF charcoal is done 10 the
same primitive condition here that it has
been carried on for centuries IN Eastern
lands. The wood is heaped up, covered
with earth and fired. But a peculiar
nomenclature expresses the various
processes of the work. Thus after the
wood is cut and "ranked' 1t is wheeled
or sledded to the spot where the pit IS to
be ''set'-thst Is, where the wood is set
up on end-"two banks" or . yhty feet
in height, with space in the centre for
the fire, or, as it is called, the "chim-
ney." The average to each pit is about
seven cords of wood.
After the pit has been set then comes
the "bIacking" and FLOATING" For a
space of three feet around the pile Of
wood the earth, or turf, or "blackin','
is dug up and thrown on the pile OF
wood. Upon this is thrown more sand,
and the whole is covered compactly with
sod and soil. The fire is then kindled
from the top, and the wood is left to be
charred. 1t has to be tended night and
day, however, and this process is called
"dressing" it.
There were ten or twelve pits in the
field where the ASTON workers were cut.
ting fuel. Some of them had about
burned out, had sunken to half their
original size, while Others were just be-
ginning to smoke ike mimic volcanoes.
The average product OF a pit is about
2J0 bushels of charcoal. In tending a
Fit the Waterman has to climb to the top
of the mound by rude ladder made out
of log Of wood, with inches or steps
cut in it and set up on end against the
smoking pile.
Sometimes the pits begin to "mull;"
that is, it burns too fast and the fire eats
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