Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-01-11
MMye LOGGING DAYS.
Splendid Type Of tic Men Of The Lumber
Camps Years Age.


Onawa Lake region In Maine ! came o,o
day upon AN old logging camp, on inc
bank of the Ship Pond stream. sac ~
New YORK business man VINO WAS no' ~
ana bred in the Pine Tree state 70
New York Sun reporter. 1T was ing
typical camp Of the lumberman. thousH
somewhat gone to ruin-;t iog nouae
with low sides and a high-pitched roof
of spiints. for the men and the long
howell. partitioned into rough stalls. ioI
the teams. In the little clearing AROUND
the buildings the chips from winters OF
iirewood chopping lay thick, and IN
number of places lunches of grain ana
corn were growing and fipenitg. having
sprung from kernels scattered IN reed
o half-barrel sticking up from the ROOF !;
inside the house. at one end. was me
great stone fireplace, with the newi1
four-legged deac1n's seat stu standing
Of hemlock bouehs laid down thatchwlse
here the men had slept.
My guide. who had made a detour
from the stream, came up and we ate
our luncheon at the old camp, He had
We. ked in the logging camps Tor riuch
of his life, and We talked of old days
~ A're the sixties, when the Maine lum-
.erman was in his glory. They were the
cred in the forest ana l,Inbrrmen
thought that no other timber was worth
the cutting; One must go far and hunt
long to find such trees now. The small
Ter pine and spruce and hemloek are
counted good timber in these times. and
the poplar and white birch that were
be armed into paper pulp and spooi-.
I'm. those days the cutting and haul
, ing OF timber began with the first SNOW
faii, and lasted until the snow was
sonnet ines haprened. the snow in the
:" '-oda got too detD 70 get the sleds
, through. In the villages along the skirts
or the timber region II was sure sign
4 h..t hs.tt hon h.. H.
lar stages came daily through the town
with three or four extra teams ana
wagons behind. al crowded with RED
shirted lumbermcn going into the woods
Nearly all the woodsmen then were
| Americans. big of frame. hardy, 1oViai >.
and young. full III pluck and high spirits;
and they looked upon the winter toll
and exposure to which they were gong
almost as Ifastime. They whooped ana
yelled like COW boys. and light now and
then on the why. or scuffie as rough
as lighting. only helped their nilarits.
Once in the camps they settled down
! like good fellows to business. Let II
| freeze or thaw. snow or blow. the Work
went ON through every weekday ana
| down. and trimmed the big trees, the
| sksripers cleared and levelled ANA
riilged the roads and the teamsters with
oxen or horses. irauied the logs to the
! streams: where they left them piled
up conveniently for rolling into the WA
ter when the time should come FOR driN.
! tfls them GbNH u Tic bbpIlH az ltl'
| towns In the spring. Pork and beans.
| baked in the beanhoie under the open
| fire that burned all winter in the great
/ stone fireplace in camp. hot bread. mo-
l iaSSss and tca-this was the stapi" lar.
! in all lumber camps. and the men kept
| healthy and fat on 1t. There was little
grumbling among The men unless the
| cooks got cranky and the cooking went
| wrong. but they hankered for ri"i-'""
and apples-anythns sour. to Offset the
sameness of the beans anu h,,an a.-
/ moiasSes,
| 1T was luck when in splitting Il tree
| trunk they came upon IA nest of pig
| black wood ants in its heart. These ants,
| frozen crisp. and sharply acid To the
taste. they scooped up by handouts and
| eagerly ate. Late in the winter. when
| the snow had crusted SO that moose and
| chance Of fresh meat for the crew. and,
| when the camp was by Il lakeside of fish.
| Sunday afternoon was holiday for the
/ mon. when they mcnded their clothes or
! went out for game or fish or gum.
/ IN some camps dried apples were pro-
! vidod Potatoes were seldom brought
! into the woods being almost certain TO
| freeze on the way. There was the same
| objection to vinegar. which might have
gone well with the pork and beans but,
strange as il may seem. the iumbermen
! ianCied molasses with their baked beans
/ not merely cooked with the beans, after
1 the approved New England fashion M,
| poured literally upon them in their
! plates at table. The cook in large
/
! the cookie. who chopped iirewood ana
! brought it in. fetched water. washed the
| dishes. and fed the stock in the morning
! before the men were called The cook
| il he were a crack one and willing, could
| help out the camp fare greatly by con-
I COG ting various dishes ont of flour, mo-
laSseS- and pork fat. Gingerbread minus
! the ginger. shortcake. flour pudding or
! duff. and iiapjacks from flour batter
raised by bea ting it up with dry snow IN
! the of made dishes He had
| pride in his profession. and could airily
| 20 through The test performance OF 4
smart eook-this was in turning a flap
Jack to toss it up through the chimney
| and run outside in time to catch il in the
| frNing pan as it fell.
AT night sitting upnn the deacon's
seat before "A roaring fire or lounging
| upon the bed of boughs behind. the men
! exchanged Jokes. told stories and SAM
the songs which are as characteristic of
the pine woods as the sailors chante.s
are of the sea. The camp. with its log
walls ohinked with moss. banked about
with deep snow and with its greo' to
temperature of the frosty arr outsuc
might be far down in the minus forties
and tifties. The Maine lumbermen
brought into the woods little impede
menta in the shape of personal luggage
None OF them had coats. and their fan-
hel shlrts We're worn one over the other
three or four deep. To change one $
shirt meant to substitute an outer for
an inner layer. but the same shirts
stayed on throughout the winter Boo,
packs. which We're legged moososkjn
moccaSlnS. pulled on over three pairs of
Wooilen socks. strong homespun trolls-
efs, ana a cap or felt hat. completed
the Woodsmans costume. Often th,,
ZIMMERMAN went into the woods for Tho
winter with only the clothes he stood in
ana the limit of his luggage was the
Nennebecker. the oilskin handbag IN
winch he slowed his tobacco extra socks
ana mlttens sewing gear. and it might
pe a spare shlrt or some reading matter
1t was quite "A matter of course for ii
Young man wishing to pay for his farm.
or IN any other way to get a start III
life. TO go into the woods winters 10
work in the logging camps. Many an
ambitious youngster was enabled 10 mt
himself for college through money
over there are men of eminence in every
profession. in business ana in politics
whose career began in the logging
camps. Taken as a class. there have
been no workingmen in the worlds he
tory the superior in courage, hardihood.
falthfulness to duty ana magnIncenL
physique to the old-tmc lumbermen of
Maine. They figured greatly in the
thirty-siX regiments that Maine sent
into the Civil War and kept recruited.
and so generally they responded 10 INC
call of patriotic duty that in the last
years OF the war the logging camps were
fllled with new men. Thousands of me
lumbermen fell in battle and more Died
OF disease in tine South. while more Stiil
returned to Maine crippled bv wounds
or too much enfeebled by disease TO
swing the axe or WELD the pickpoIc.
in A1..t., ..ttt