The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-10-14
sOUTHWEsTKRN LOO DRIVERS.
A PerIlous Vocation. but Never a scarcity of
Men to Take the Risks.
From thc Nor Orleans Timcs-Dcmocrnt


From The Ncr Orleans Timcs-DCmocrdt
THE life Of the men who bring the great
log drives down to the mills In the winter aud
spring is full of peril and hardship, said apromi-
nent Pearl River lu~mberman, yet there must
be a certain fascination about II for there
Is never any lack Of hands for the work. The
way the timber l. noated down Is rather inter-
eSting u a stranger, continued the lumber
man. Most Of il comes from points ranging
from 1926 to 100 miles above the principal mills
and convenient to the banks of the river About
Christmas time the gangs begin to move H.
They are principally white natives who nave
'roughed IT, all their lives, and Il tougher, harder
crowd 1t would be impossible To lind anywhere
The fact is that. unless a man has IA constitution
OF iron, he cannot possibly endure The terrlno
strain and exposure Of the work. Many a big
fellow who would pass for an athlete has been
killed by il, and 1t is only the exceptionally
rugged that can follow it a. a vocation,
The average gang contains from twelve
to fifteen men. the lumOerman went on. and
the first thing they do is to build RATS, 10y float
ing seven or eight logs sid" lay side and sccur-
INK them with binders. Ten or twelve Of these
small RATS are then arranged IN "a rough square
and held together by laying Il short log from
one to another and Fastening the ends with
wooden pins. That leaves u little space be-
tween. sections, aud, AZ, tho ,Couphngs have
considerable play, the big raft retains a GER
tain amount Of 0eNibtlity, which IL a most
important point. aud enables II TO swing around
dangerous bars and INSTRUCTIONS. There IL
a great deal Of rude art about building these
RATS. and the craft secrets hay" been hihded
down among The natives from time out Of mind
II the couplings, are too short or too long or
too stif the mas viii be- wholly manageable
and the expert builders seem to arrive AZ the
right proportions by Il sort Of Instinct which
they cannot themselves explain. Each al
ternate log In the structure Is pine, which ia
necessary 10 secure buuyanCy. About a dozen
big RATS constitute what Is termed n drive.
aud on the last Of the lot the camp outfit. pro-
visions. tent. blankets and so on are carried.
II is usually made heavier than the others
and sometimes hoored over the top. When the
work Is completed the RATS are turned adriit
soLlrGi"lv ond W" tourney d""n I!'cr h"I,nI'
the OUTFIT raft, or cook raft asit Is called.
always brings M the tail Of the procession,
and several Of the. gang remain on board
10 look after the things The rest Of the men
are scattered along the others, hut no effort
whatever l. made at Steering IN" logs are
simply left 70 the current and are sometimes
In nidstrrau and sometimes clos" 10 IN" shore
When one Of the outfits gets stuck on a sand
bank or stalled against some stump, a rONe II
thrown over from The heavy coos ralt and, IN.
impetus from the latter rarely fails tp Jerk II
loose At dl-k every dav the drive ties M for
the night, and then the real work begins FaCh
raft IL ruped and swung over TO shore and when
all are at las made secure the tired men gather
around a camp FIRE and eat their supper The
rations are cut down To- the lowest possible limit
on account OF lNf lItllbtt 81 'tiIAlIE lu'iIl.
They consist ~ bacon. corn bread ana cone"
rarely ANYTHING else 4 the first peep ~ dawn
ne[t morning the RATS are turned adritt again.
and the same programme l. repeated until the
mill is reached Their progrc-s will average
anywhere from twenty 70 thirty miles a day
That. brtefv.i- lhewav a drive Is handled.
hut q book could be- written on the dangers
and hard~hips ~ the journey. The highest
water il usually 70 be rad when the weather
is still bitterly cold. and. n the men are in
varinblv soaked through every. dav, IL i no un-
common thing Tor their clothing to freeze on
them as hard a. sheet, iron. ~ such times
the roues VIII freeze also, and, when drawn
suddenly taut by a heavy raft viii snap apart
like icicleS. was with a drive last winter.
and one evening the front RATS were fully
Two lorgcrs went after thom in q small boat.
The men were tired ont when they started,
and. after inuumerable difficulties with broken
ropr~ and CroS~-curren's they made them
secure. They knew II. would be death T." lie
In the open in their exhausted condition with
out food or FIRE. - there was nothing Tor II but
70 try TO pull back to camp will never forget
the pictures Of abIeCt misery they presented
when they finally arrived. They were covered
with Slcct, unable to speak, and, although
they were giants physically, they both, tainted
while trying 10 crawl M tho bank Loggcrs
who arc cut Of from the main party frequently
die Of cold and fatigue in The woods over night
There L. probably no other vocation i'm tho
world that makes such tremendous demands
upon n mans strength aud vitality, and af
tho end ~ n hard DAYS work. the majority AZ
tho crew are IN n state ~ absolute collapse
Post and warm food are then impor1iIy"lv
necessary, and without such rp~turaiIyoe the
best Of mon are APT 10 ~lcCumb
"Another great source - peril 10 the logger
is the guide rope. When the raft~ are being
swung into shore a. night tho rou"s by which
they are manipulated are often brought taut
with terrific force, and If a man happens 10 loo
struck nv one Of them, or caught I'm q loop, it
Is generally all over with him. Last year a
logger coming down on ono 81 the river drives
CHANGED 10 stop into a loop I'm a slack cable
attached 10 "a very heavy raft which vas then
drifting inshore. Before hc could AXE another
At.t, fl, Tgft II rIIfE IN atlAN fla tul'N AIIllsnlNs
stretched taut and the closing loop took on his
foot rs clcanly a. If II had been don" with an
ave. 4 stout roIe. if IL las sufficient tension.
will cut liz" % knife, rud tho victim u such an
accident rarely survives Two or three men
generally lose their lives that wnv every season.
bat ~" chief danger Of all in taking down drives
T. from what l. known a~ deck scraIcr~ \
deck sCrnUor J. nm OvCrhauglug limb, or q tree
that has sunk through caviuC Of the bank until
II stretches out directly over tho ~uTfac" Of the
water. Thero are scores Of such distractions
along the margin 81 every river, and frequently
the current sill carry a log drive directly into
thor path. In DAYTIME INC men. can usually
push their way clear. but NJ dusk, when the bank
l. yelled I'm clustering shadows u deck sCr1rcr
Is liable al anv moment 10 Leap out of ambush
and plav havoc hcfor" ANYBODY has timn 20
raise n finger The greatest disaster Is when
T. rakos the cook raft aud sweeps Il clear #
usually Just preparing to tie M for the night
and looking forward with joyful ANTICIPATION
10 a hot supper and a good rest by tho FIRE.
when suddenly all hand- are knocked headlong
into the water, and when they scramble ashore,
n they escape being stunned and drowned,
they find themselves without food, bedding.
blankets or tent, and, IH all probability, forty
or nftv miles from no" nearest settlement
That l. what il mcan~ to run tOul Of "a deck
sCrlpcr, and IL j. difficult to imagine a more
crcwsomc and desperate situation Some
times such accidents result IN wholesale loss
81 life. and there H. AZ least on" ease ON record
where an entire crow 81 negroes WIS swept
on n raft and not on" escaped The greatest
Efforts are always made to tie mp % drive
before dusk. especially 10 avoid GItd-trophcs
Of this nature
What have roughly outlined may hc taken
nS n fair picture Of the lfo of the average South
ern logger, and | think YOU VIII agfr" with me
that II l. strange 80 many men are willing TO
follow n calling that has 50 many hard~hiuS
aud SO few conversations The nav j. only
81 % "A dtv, which i about half that received
by oNpcrt timbrrmcu in the Northwest. and
the WORKING season rarely lasts longer than four
months. Vet there Ar" always more applicants
Than Jobs The men ~1v they like the excite
mont II l. very seldom they are found in
other emploVmcnt