The Red Cloud chief., 1893-08-25
Keystone Watch Case Co.,
PHILADELPHIA.
Writtrn Tor THK CHIEF.
Biography or q Pine Board.

Writtrn for THE CHIEF,
Biography or q Pine Board.
How many Of us when VIC look a
common pine board over stop to think
Of how many different hands it passes
through from the time it, with many
others, form one Of the towering pine
trees Of the northwest or the sunny
south, until it is finally nailed on
somo building to. be warped by the
Nebraska sun or torn FROM its support
by an Iowa cyclone. How many Of
our readers have cver seen or worked
in . lumber camp in the pincries Of
MICHIGAN, Wisconsin or Minnesota?
To thoss that hsyo extended a hearty
greeting and will try to revive their
memories, Of bygone days, and to those
that have never had the opportunity.
! will endcavor to describe the life of
pinery boy Of the cold north west.
The numbering In the northwest at
tho present day is not much rs our
fore.fathcrs had it thirty years ago;
for thcre is as much improvement in
tho numbering nearly as in any other
branch Of industry in our country
today. Instead Of the old logging
sleigh 8 feet between the runners
with 8 foot holsters, now sleighs are
used z feet wide with 16 foot holsters.
And instead Of choppiug tho trees
the crosscut saw has taken the place
OF the Ak. There il also q vast differ
encc in the ,amps past and present.
Instead Of salt pork and beans, corn
bread and muddy coffee without sugar
the board in a lumber camp Of today
is such as few hotels in this country
can equal. or lumbcrmen there are
three classes the cruisers, loggers and
the drivers, aud as the cruisers come
first ! will describe their work as l
saw it myself. W. will say that a
company is buying a tract of pine.
they send their experienced cruisers
OF land hunters to look it over and es-
innate the distance from the rivers
and If their report is satisfactory they
buy. A good cruiser always CON-.
mands good wages for the company
has to rely on his judgment, it is
nothing for q cruiser to get $500 q
day and even more but then it does
not any more than pay for the hard
ships and long years Of experience
that a cruiser has to go through; there
are also cruisers who 20 in on their
own hook and look over state land and
buy 1t themselves and sell 1t to the
company. When they start out ION a
cruise generally two 80 together and
their outfit consists Of a good compass
an AK and generally a gun to kill small
game with. Their blankets and pro-
visions OF which some times they have
to have enough 10 last a month; all
OF which they carry on their back
while fording rivers, climbing noun
tains, wading through swamps, clam.
bering over brush, following old lines
or blazes on the trees which are made
thirty years before and are therefore
very dim. Counting their steps to
tell how far to 90 to get across a forty
acre field. And at night laying down
on the camp ground under some
friendly tree and there sleep the sleep
OF the just, and so on from day to d4y
until their work is done. When they
return and make their report and like
enough start on a single journey the
next morning. AS ! have mentioned
before, If the report Is satisfactory
from the cruisers the company will
buy the land and lot the contract TO
cut, skid and haul the logs TO the riv-
or and sometimes drive them to the
saw mills away down the rver. GEN
orally in the month Of August or Sep.
tember the contractors or loggers make
their preparations togo up the river to
begin the winters work; for they have
camps 10 build and roads to make.
For q great deal Of pains is taken with