The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-01
OF THE wOoDMEN.
FhTALIT1ES FREQUENT IN NAME
LUMBER CAMPS.

ere osteatoh-bumber husiness THRIVING.
BANGOR, Oct. 29.-Penobscot lumbormon arc
preparing for tho largest crop Of logs since
1879, and there 10 rejoicing at the promised re-
turn to something like the palmy days of old,
when the annual survey ran over 200, 900, 900
feet. Last year the cut was about 100000
600 feet, and this year 1t is likely to be nearer
21b,ooo,o00 feet, for the general estimate is
about 20 per cent. in excess Of 1896.
Many things have contributed to the decline
of the Penobscot lumber trade, although 10 is
still . big business. There was tho develop
mont Of Canada, and the keen competition Of
her mills. whose product. while not so good as
ours, could DO sold at prices that gave them
tho market, and to a large extent shut tho
Yankees out. Then there was the change from
wood to iron and steel construction, with the
increase In the use of hard pine. yellow pine.
and spruce from West Virginia and pine from
Michigan. Finally the abolition Of the duty
on lumber came. When tho duty Of So a
thousand on Canadian spruce was taken or
the condition OF the Maine mill man was made
almost miserable. To mako IL even worse for
tho manufacturer, the ono who owned no
timber land and had to buy his logs, the prices
Of stumpage, or permits to cut, have been
steadily advancing in recent years. so that tho
operators have been obliged to put up the price
OF logs to q point that has precluded the posi-.
bility Of profit for the man who saws them.
In some cases the manufacturer have actually
lost money, and are still losing money, but
they say it is cheaper to keep their mills going
than It is to shut down, as tho property would
deteriorate rapidly II not used, while the in
surance and taxes must DO paid, anyway-run
or stop.
But now tho duty on lumber has been re-
stored, and all Is bright In tho lumberman's
skies again. There will be q big cut of new
logs, and q great stock Of the old logs now on
bard will be saved for early saving next spring,
by which time, 1t Is expected, the stocks of i'm
ported lumber now on hand win have been
nearly or quito exhausted. and tho demand will
be good for the home product.
Several thousand men have already left
Bangor for tho scene of the logging opera
tions, and for weeks to come the trains for the
north and east, as we'll as for New Hampshire,
Will be crowded with axemen, teasmters, and
all tho others who work In tho log harvest
fields. In Canada the cut will be much smaller
than for some years past, and that is a good
thing for the American who has money in
vested in the business, although not 80 very
advantageous for the laborer, because many
OF the Canadian unemployed will flock in here
and thus keep wages down.
There have been many changes in numbering
methods since the days of tho giant pines, and
IQ0 Olu-llulo IOkBOT WOulu 10 IdILl6U DY bOm6
OF the recent innovations.
Even the season has changed. It begins
son Of changed conditions 1"" While fhiiIle'ii IN t X f old
shout the middle Of November, When the first
snow was expected, the advance guard of tho
a1emen now departs for the woods in Septem-
Der, sometimes as early as the latter part of
Until aHfrt the /" first Of December A The e ssrT1t crews %s
arc generally engaged in operations that do
p ppSse ssRSna T TRsis s so9w CONSISTS 5os 5 asei Of s mSsetain
lumbering,and can be more easily done upon bare
ground than upon snow. There are many sec
level land has been stripped Of its timber
growth, but where much, valuable lumber still
slopes, inaccessible at times and not TO be 30.
cured in the ordinary way,
comes nas the ss'i Slw loyse difi t e s and o efsss h nna does
work of hauling. the trunks over the slope or
.ram-down' to the yarding places at the noun
sIsds called Smo}oes, drawn By a pair Of horses.
ourvins 80 Upward and NESTING at a point in
front, and Joined at the rear by a bunk or cross
S istter siIy A.E ts Six whole Oh eix :atuS idgs ar sef io sseP0 UPON Of a
the sled. one end on tho cross bar, the other
dragging on the Ground behind. and thus, firmly
down the mountain side to the yarding places
on the level, whence. later in the season, tho
places on the banks Of the streams.
This mountain hauling is not easy work, even
Wnen tne ground ID Dare, ana the neaVy lOaQS
descend at a moderate pace, but when there is
snow. and the steep road is like a great tobog-
gan slide. It is an exciting and dangerous occu-
Al, ordinary sled is used, the logs being placed
with one end on, as in the case Of the 2ojoe,
is used to check the speed Of the load as 1t slips
down the steep incline, Occasionally a snub-
lire parts under II sudden strain, or the men
tending it fail 10 get enough turns around the
tree or stump used for the purpose, and then
frequently an accident happens: A runaway
Ia, OmOtiyp or n mad hull on the rnmDnRn Ia
mild compared with a load of spruce logs sliding
down u mountainside behind u pair of terrified
horses driven by q frightened teamstcr. The
load gains speed at every foot; the horses, II
they manage to keep. in the road at all, are
ahead CT the rushing mass; the driver some
times jumps to save his neck, sometimes holos
but as a rule the whole outfit shoots off into the
woods, with varying results. The team may
bring up against a tree and the horses be killed.
or it may stop in the deep snow of an open
place and the load, from its momentum, may
shoot over the animals backs and crush them
injury they are spoiled for further mountain
hauling, and it is a brave teamster who will 20
through one of those experiences and be will
One Of the most prolific sources of danger
to to- the he w S"t mani is found Limits. in the insigsniinSSanit t.
2 dead tree trunk bereft Of most of its
branches. An axeman generally. knows in what
as saft 90 those 'T who Nc work Or ffI srRa""nd HIM Cls so that ta So
far as that particular tree is concerned there
ID NJ great udHBcr. but IL btuU may 10 btuiu-
ing in the way unnot:ced. The falling tree
may strike 1t, and the dead trunk, crashing
down in another direction, may crush some
unwary woodsman to death. A fatality Of this
kind happened last winter on the east branch
OF tho Pcnobscot. An uncle and his nephew
were working at a short distance from each
other on q mountain side. They were on oppo-
site sides of the road. and the nephew rightly
Judged that a treo which he was about TO fell
would come down on his side. 1t did so. but
in falling the big spruce caught a heavy stub
with its branches. and the dead trunk hurled
Off to the lett. struck the uncle. broakilR his
neck.
Several hundred river drivers leave Bangor
every spring for the headwauers of the Penob-
scot. Androscoggin Kennebec, and Connecti-
cut rivers, and there are always among them
some who never come back. These fatalities
excite no particular comment outside of the
circle Of relatives and friends of the deceased.
The crows are sorry. and their sympathy takes
the substantial form of subscriptions to pay the
funeral expenses, or, perhaps, to assist a widow
or o mother dependent upon the lost mans
EARNINGS. One, OF the saddest features of these
accidents Is that tho bodies of the drowned
river drivers are seldom recovered. or, when
they are found, are 30 shockingly mutilated as
AN hA .1@~.