The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-22
sHAyrY BOYS OF THE NORTH WOODS.
Some Features Of the Logging Business in the
Adirondack wilderness.
From the Ooden,buro Journal,

From the Ooden,buro Journal.
The heavy snowfall, which filed the Adirondack
woods with six footdhfts, ~insuring good Shedding"
In the forest until the May flowers bloom In the
clearings, broughtjoy and contentmen, not only TO
the counting rooms OF the lumber kings OF this
northern country, but to hundreds OF humble
cabins in the backwoods neighborhoods and mill
settlements, whose rugged owners win a living
Tor their large and hearty families in lumber
camp, sawmill, or timber yard, for plenty o snow
for hauling the winters cut Of logs 10 the Adiron-
dack rivers and for furnishing freshets later on
To float them down TO the great sawn,ills, waiting
their coming. means plenty and prosperity, alike
TO the mill owners and their men.
Owing to the prevailing high prices for building
materials. numbering operations were conducted
the past fall and winter In the Adirondack country
on an uncommonly large scale, and by Christmas
time. when most Of the "shanty boys" go out 10
settlements to renew their acquaintance with CIV
ilizcd life, the sideways around the hundreds
| oflumber camps were piled high with great spruce
and hemlock logs, waiting for ~sleighing to rer.
| nit Of their being hauled to roll banks" and dump
ed into the headw a,ers of the Black, the Oswe
| gatchie. the GraSs, or the Raque,te River TO await
the spring break up
After a short run Of sleighing" along In January
which did not permit the great sleds TO haul one
quarter Of the logs to their destinations. the big
,haw came and the warm rains melted the snow
even In the spruce ,hicke,s Of the deep forest and
brought all NUMBERING operations 10 an end.
just as the lumbcrmen were on the verge OF dcs
pair, the late blizzard came, and now thousands
II teams are busy hauling loads Of logs, each as
big as n country SchOolhouSe, 10 the roll banks
By April most Of the logs will have been hauled,
after which the majority Of the "shanty, boys
will come ont TO the settlements 10 wait for The
! starting up Of the mills, leaving only the gangs
that bring down the great log drives will
be from one to three months before the log drives
tha, start from the headw Of the various
streams reach the mills, but preceding these big
drives will be- smaller ones, OF old logs, Irt stranded
along the banks last year by the lowering waters
The lumber taken annually, from the spruce
forest Of the tdlrondacks exceeds 100000, 900 feet,
while an equal amour, OF hemlock for PLANK and
square timber, and poplar and elm Tor pulp wood,
Is cut each year
While many thousands Of acres Of the Adiron-
dack forest country have been Withdrawn from
the lenuding axe II the chopper by the oct setting
aside the State PARK and by the purchase OF great
tracts 10 h- maintained as game preserves by
enough outside tho limits Of the reservations TO
keep the saws busy for years L. come
The lumber camps, where the "shantv boys
vino hew out the annual supply Of logs live dur.
ing the long winter months, are large, low cabins,
built Of round unhewn logs, notched a, the ends
and laid together cob house style. " one end
Is a door hung on hinges cut from an old harness
tug, AT the opposite end, n small "ihdo" In
this mems shanty" the choppers, Sawyers, skid
ders and ,eamsters. lounge and sleep Nearby
il the cook camp" another log cabin, with a
long, rough table IN the, centre. around which
the men sit on wooden legged benches To- eat
their grub" as they call four hearty meals II
"bcan swagCer,' saleratus biscuit, fried pork,
and potatoes, served Ia them at daylight, at 10
y NJ, at3p VI, and again after the day work
is ended, about 4 o'clock IN the evening, In
the end Of this cook camp the cook and his
"a ,elli,r, the cookie sweat over n huge range,
PREPARING the rauons for the hungry army OF
french Canadians In a large log. barn, AT the
| 1pplgItp Side of the men : SnnnlN, me logging
teams are kept, baled hay being stored in a loft
overhead Then there are a granary, a black.
smith shop. and an Office, where the foreman
and scGIer sleep. with an extra bed for the boss OF
proprietor. when he visits tho camp, the whole
forming quite a hackwoods village
For an average camp OF some sixty hands,
the mems shanty' and the COOK camp" are each
| abou, sixty by twenty feet in seize The men
| Sheep in rough wooden hunks, ranged in double
tiers along the sides In olden times they lay
| on spruce boughs, with q single blanket spread
over them, but in these ,i'Fenerate days they have
thin bed ticks, luNuriously stuffed with hay,
though they have not yet STAINED pillows and
sheets
kept roaring with four foot sticks Of beech and
maple, no one suffers from cold. Among the
lower row Of hunks runs n wide seat. made 81 a
pine slab, upheld by wooden legs and called
/. deacon seat Ranged along these seats the
iowa, rev sit for on hour or So after supper snnk
ing their o..ort "duhdeenS' filled with cu, plug
of the str9nges; variety, and glbr and Jest 60
musician 81 the camp brings out ms. nddle, ~
Gordon, or mouth organ, and the liS dancer cuts
pigeon wings or the bOistorous stag quadrlle.'
or spirited French four" brings all hands out on
the punCheon l!por, hueing IL down IN muCcasins,
shoe packs, or 'larrigans, the latter an otlshOot
~ the mOcCasin with n boot top
Besides these lumber camps there are many
other little cabins scattered throughout the
woods, whose inmates, the gum pickcrs o. the
North Woods, make a livelihood from the Adiron-
dack spruce. \ large percentage ~ all spruce
trees are made almost yalueleSS for lumber by
cracks, which extend up the trunks from the hAse
10 the lower branches Of the crown, in most cases
penetrating 10 the heart ui the tree, This seam
nls with resin. which eNudeS and hArdens, form.
ing the spruce gum uf miner