Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-30
LOGGING ON THE ST. CROIx
Dangers and destinations Of Drive in
swif-Flowing Waters.
How the Government Has Been Rob-
bed in a Most Shameful and
Barefaced Manner.
From the st. Paul Dispatch.

| From the st. Paul Dispatch.
| The ST. Croix river, with its numerous
tributaries, has been the scene of an i'm
| mense lumber industry for more than
| quarter of century. and is justly classed
as one of the most notable lumber streams
| in the world. But this huge industry will
| soon cease to exist, owing to the supply of
| timber being nearly exhausted. 1t Is
gratifying fact to know that the lands
| stripped of these large forests are being
| settled and developed to a degree far great
| er than the expectations of the most san
guine.
Undoubtedly the most fascinating work
| in the lumber business is the drive"
When a drive containing a million logs
starts down the river it is accompanied
| usually by thirty or forty and sometimes
| by not fewer than 100 men, who take sepa-
| rate stations along the shore-generaly
| bends in the river-and break the jams
often little rock causes jam that even
makes a Chippewa Indian driver swear, but
| numerous in the st. Croix, mainly cause
this difficulty. When a jam begins to form
| great efforts are put forth to dislodge the
| foremost logs, and this is an exciting and
| goes to the center of the St. Croix, and,
| with the aid of his peevie, dislodges a jam.
4 starting thousands of logs down a very
| swift current, takes his life in his hands.
l
| BY constant practice the log walker
| reaches a degree of proficiency that is
| amazing. He rides logs that will just sup
port him; he runs and makes hairbreadth
| Jumps; he spins long, slim tamaracks at
| the rate of sixty revolutions a minute in
| midstream-fn fact. he seems to have A
! .aculty OF staying on top. regardless of
the circumstances
II must not be supposed, however that
| the most proficient log walker does not oc-
| casionally receive a ducking. These "driv-
| efs' some of whom are Indians, will risk
any any adventure, and occasionally of
| thelr number is drowned In early spring
| or late fall, to miss his footing or to have
| log roll, as the saying goes, and plunge
INTO ten feet of ice water, or in rapid cur
| rent, with logs shooting past, is not a de-
| slrabie experience, but one which the req
ular driver must be prepared to meet.
| Cramplng In such a bath is the main dan
| ger, ana II one can avoid this he is COM
! paratlVely safe, as he can grab a passing
log ana eventually get on his feet
| "A Wanagan and a half dozen or more ha-
teaux follow each drive. The former, a
stoutiy built craft, carries the drivers nro
visions and tools. and is good moving
| MOTEL. A first-class cook and one or fwo
| ASSISTANTS accompany the wagon and ad-
munster 10 the needs of the hungry. The
%anasan cooks have their share of work
| curing the trip; in fact, it requires more
| hours of hard labor to accomplish their
task than 1T does to break jams Their
| teen hours, while eighteen hours is not nm
| common while time is spent in making and
| BAKING bread. cookies and pies cooking
| meats vegetables and sauces and washing
| dlShes. Excellent meals are served
| OF course, the river is a free driveway for
ALL except at dams. where a nominal fee
| Is charged for passing the logs through the
| fumes. Although the price charged is
| small. the owners of the dams have good
reason to consider themselves fortunate
when a 100 OOO-foot drive passes.
In the PaImy Days.
Any one can place dozen logs in drive
| at point seventy-five miles north of Still
| water, where most of the timber has been
sawed, and if he has his registered brand
on them they will arrive at their destina-
| ton and be punched" like drove of cat
| tie on the western plains, ready for his dis
posal, though he must pay so much thou
sand Tor driving them to mll-a price which
| Is small as compared with the value of the
| logs.
In the palmy days. said an experienced
driver, who has since become a retired
| farmer I'VE fellows made scads of money
| in the business. At numerous places the St
Croix bluffs were covered by fine specimens
OF Norway pine, and when work on the
drive was a trifle slack we Just went log
| ging on our own scale. In fact at times
| this is between you and me and the gate
positive let the jams take care of them
selves. People of phi anthropic turn of
mind might suppose that We did this log
| g;ng for the benefit of our company IL
| they do they are laboring under delusion
Nearly every driver had a registered
| brand and when We felled a tree and sawed
| 1t into logs the ones who did the work
branded their logs and rolled them into the
river. Upon reaching Saltwater our logs
We're sorted and We received the market
| price for them, less the amount charged
| for driving. In this manner | received a
| little more than $500 during one cruise in
addition to my regular salary, which was
small as compared with the former Some
received more and others less. But it's no
| joke to say that those were palmy times"
However, these "palmy' deals as related
by the old driver were petty affairs as
compared with other logging "transac-
tons that took place in the carrier DAYS
Large tracts of government land We're
stripped of nearly every tree valuable for
| lumber
Who did it?" the question is asked and
the answer echoes. "Who?" Suspicious can
be formed, but they do not go in court
Those who know will not tell, and those
who would make 1t Interesting" for the
guilty parties cannot get evidence to con-
Wet That is how the matter rests today.
Robbins Uncle Sam.
1t cannot be denied however that ma rites
| have infringed on Uncle Sans rights in
very unjust manner. One striking instance
to Illustrate this fact is as follows: A
| lumberman purchased forty acres of timber
to survey it. and the consequence was that.
through this forgetfulness, his workmen
stripped piece of timber seven miles long
by one mile wide. OF course, this wasn't
his fault
Stripping section of land when one buvs
only forty-acre tract has been common
occurrence and Is tolerated to a greater
or less extent. But such colossal steals
BRING forth murmurs from the citizens gen
orally. 1t must be stated, though. That
tneSe cases We're executions 70 the rana..,
rule-and it can truthfully be said that
nearly all OF the lumbermen have dealt in
Ialr and legitimate manner
In the early days it was an easy task 70
amass small fortune in the lumber busi
ness II one had a little capital and under
$1,000 ms business Owing to that fact a
large number of men took ADVANTAGE Of ~
opportunity and are today financially in
Close Estimate.
From the Financial Review
Speaking about close estimates 10, yL