Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1895-03-23
MAKING A "BEAN HOLE"
A Tenderfoots Amusing Experience In i
Washington Logging Camp.

A Tenderfoot's Amusing Experience In u
Washington Logging Camp.
My first experience at numbering" said
a certain prominent citizen the other night
was in making bean hole. Of course you
don't know what n bean hole is. No more
did | when went up on Rum river in 1868
and applied for work in one of Washburne's
camps. | neglected to tell the boss that |
didn't know the difference between a gee
haw and n cross haul and maybe he took me
for an all rOunder at the business Anyhow
] was hired offhand, and the next morning
the foreman said to me, WRESTLING, you
take Joe and Charlie here and go over
to the new camp and chink up and build a
bean hole All right. | said, rs cheerful
as could he, and OFF WE started
"As soon ns we'd got into the timber |
halted the boys and asked, What's this
chink up the old man wants. Joe looked
at me pretty hard and told me about tight
ening up between the cabin and logs with
clay. And what's II bean hole?' inquired
But the boys seemed to be getting pretty
tired about something. You see, they didn't
like the idea of being put under such a
greenhorn, aud both claimed they didn't
know what bean hole was. So told them
to wait there minute, and ran back to
the foreman and said, Look here, Mr. Cole,
how big do You want that bean hole?' oh,
i by orS by s. he said. And how deep
do YOU want it, Three or four feet, he
answered.
well, when we got the new camp we
chinked the cabin all right, and thei:
measured off II space feet square, aad we
started to dig & feet deep. | was going
to carry out the boss biggest figures to
show what good man was. We dug all
that day and it was hard work, for the soil
was loose, and the sides of the hole kept
tumbling in on us. When we got back to
camp that evening the foreman asked me
if I'd finished the bean hole, and told him
not quite, but we'll finish her up tomorrow.
Toward noon next day we were pretty near
through and we were smoothing the bot
tom of the sepulcher when the foreman
showed up to examine progress. didn't
notice him till | heard him roar, What
the are you fellows doing?' looked up,
and there stood the old man with mixture
of establishment and Indignation on his
face Then knew something was wrong
I'd had my misgivings all along-but
answered rs coolly as | could that was
making a bean hole.
"A bean hole?' he shouted, "a bean hole?
w
you BANKED bean hole idiotn And then lie
began to laugh, and never heard man
laugh like that before nor since. 1t seemed
as if he never would get through, and of
course it sounded very unpleasant to me
soon learned what bean hole is.
You see they build a log Enclosure about
feet high and 5 or feet square and fill it
with clay. In the middle they sink a deep
hole and start II fire of maple sticks in it.
When there is n good bed of Goals, they put
in a pot of beans and cover it over with
ashes and clay and the beans steam in
there till they are done and make the best
eating you ever got in the woods. But the
bean hole wound me up in that camp. The
story went all through the woods and from
the head waters Of Rum river to Anoka,
and there was so much snckering wherever
| went that couldn't stand it. Why, men
came 10 and 10 miles from other camps to get
squint at the chap that built the bean hole.
So, though didn't make any more special
" bad breaks there pretty soon called for
my time and got out of the country
South Bend Wash Journal.