Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-01
NAMES LOG DRIVE OVER.

Ihe season Enda With August
Changes Among the Drivers.
Bangor Me-, Correspondents New York Tribune
The last drive Of logs, that from the West
Branch Is in, the river drivers have all
been paid and now the streets Of Bangor
are fuil OF those hardy. daring fellows who
navigate the lumber crop from the far
away headwaters through the rushing,
tumbling torrents to the Penobscot boom.
whence the logs are distributed to the mills.
The principal drives on this river are from
the East and West branches, the Malta
wamkeag. Piscataquis, Passadumkeas and
Pleasant rivers.
Driving logs Is a laborious and often dam
gerous occupation. When the winters work
OF cutting the logs Is over and the ice
bound streams and brooks are full of the
Ere slea. spruce. pine and hemlock tree trunks.
tne AK swingers come out and the lumber
men engage the driving crews To be a
uriVec one must be active. fearless and not
AFRAID OF cold water and hard work. The
drivers are generally young men, largely
OF Irish descent from Bangor and Oldtown:
Iarratine. Indians. Canadian French and
Prince Edward Islanders. The best drivers
IN the world. 1t Is generally admitted are
those from Bangor In the spEtng as soon
as the ice in the streams begins to bresk
up tne crews. with their bosses 20 to the
heaowaters. part Of the way by rail- then
by team. in batteaux or on foot
Arriving at their destination the man start
the logs in the quick water. and follow
tnem down stream. II there were no falls
ledges or other distractions the work would
De easy. but II single log Of the rushing
mass sticks on the edge Of dam or ia
caught against rock thousands of others
are thereby stopped. and what Ia known as
jam ensues. The jam must be broken az
al hazards, and some one must. as a rule,
go out upon the logs at the risk of his life.
ana, with an implement known as a can't
uog, set the mass again In motion II the
dr1Ver makes a misstep or the obstructtng
log yields suddenly and unexpacredIy the
drlver frequently goes down IN the rush of
waters under the whirling mass and is seen
alive no more II his body Is recovered n
IS not until many weeks afterward man
Sled beyond recognition.
When the driver starts from Bangor he is
equipped with the best pair of boots that
money can buy, with the soles thickly stud
ded with steel calks. sharp as brads, to en-
able him to stand on the slippery and often
Icy logs. When he comes bacs the boota
are generally full of little Sits at the toes
Wnich he has cut to allow the water to
escape, and thus prevent mis- feet from
scalding From the day the logs are started
to the day they reach the boom the driver
Is seldom or never dry Sut he seldom or
never catches cold. His work begins In the
latter part Of April and lasts until the mil
die Of August. if he is on the West branch.
the longest drive. Wages in former times
were high, compared to what is now paid
good men often receiving as much as s. Der
day. Now the best men get about s.. 80 or
81. 20 a day, and others as low as S1.15.
Woodsmen eat beans three times a day;
drivers, four times. for the drivers day Is
longer than the ak swingers'
In old times 1t was the fashion for all or
nearly all Of the drivers to have great
spree when they returned to Bangor and
got their pay. anywhere from $50 to 800
all in lump; but now 1t Is different
Twenty years ago the arrival of the West
Branch drive was the signal for a general
and noisy celebration in Bangor and all
along the river but this week there is
scarcely a ripple of excitement. There Is
some drinking, but most of the men find q
better use for their money being fopder of
good clothes and other comforts than were
the old-timers. Formerly every driver wore
a flaming red shirt; now they wear any
kind that suits them, and red Is not popular
Up to a few years ago the driver came to
town wearing his calked boots, and every
saloon and hotel floor where they trod and
all the floors and cushioned seats of the
railroad cars were punched full of little
holes. Then the legislature passed a law
drivers from wearing their ar
mored footgear into the confines Of civiliza-
tion and they have to change boots I'd
river or come into Bangor in their stocking
feet.