The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-09-28


made to level mere Inequalities OF
the ground. They were called travoy
roads (French travois). Down them
the logs would be dragged and
hauled, either by means of heavy
steel tongs or short sledge on
which one end Of the timber would
be chained.
Meantime the sawyers we're busy.
Each pair OF men selected a tree.
the first they encountered over the
blazed line of their forty" After de-
ternlintng in which direction 1t was
to fall, they set to work to chop a
deep cash in that side of the trunk.
Tom Broadhead and Henry Paul
picked out a tremendous pine which
they determined to throw across lit
tie open space in proximity to the
travoy road One stood to right, the
other left, and alternately their axes
bit deep. Tom glanced up as sail
or looks aloft.
She'll do. Hank" he said.
The two then with a dozen half
clips Of the axe removed the inequan
ties Of the bark from the saws path.
The long flexible ribbon of steel be-
gan to sing. bending so adaptably to
inc stiiO llloLlpiiS VI tiiS Aii'-i''
manipulating. that it did not seem
possible so mobile an instrument
could cut the rough pine. In a mo-
ment the song changed tin1bre. With
out word the men Strengthened
their Jacks. Tom firted along the
blade a thin stream of kerosine oil
from a bottle in his hip pocket, and
the sawyers again bent to their work
-, -,,io
". their muscles ripping under the
texture of their woolens like those of
=. panther under its skin. The outer
edge of the saw-blade disappeared.
Better wedge her. Tom advised
Hank.
They paused. while, with a heavy
sledge. Tom drove a triangle of steel
into the crack made by the saving.
This prevented the weight of the tree
from pinching the saw. Then the
rhyth1nical ZEE, z-z-z-z! again took
up its song.
When the trunk was nearly severed,
Tom drove another and thicker wedge
Timber hallooed Hank in a
long-drawn melodious call that melt
ed through the woods into the dis
lance The swanpers ceased work
and withdrew to safety.
Crack called the tree.
Hank coolly unlocked his saw han
die. and Tom drew the blade through
and out The other side.
The tree shivered. then leant ever
so slightly from the perpendicular.
then fell, at first gently, afterwards
with a cre6cendo rush. tearing through
the branches of other trees. bending
-, -, He-.,1 111 =
est. and at last hitting with q. ire
r,andous crash and bang which filed
the air with a fog of small twigs.
reedles, and the powder of snow.
Then the swanpers. who have by
now finished the travoy road. trimmed
the PROSTATE trunk clear of all pro-
turcrances. 1t required fairly skilliul
axe work. The branches had TO be
shaved close and clear. and at the
same time the trunk must not be
aashed and often a man was to"cci
to WELD his instrument from con-
strained position.
The chopped branches and limbs had
now to he dragged clear and piled.
While this was being finished Tom and
Hank marked off and sawed the log
lengths. paying due attention to the
necessity Of avoiding knots, forks and
rotten places. Thus some of the logs
were eighteen. some sixteen. CT four
teen, and some only twelve feet in
length.
Next appeared The teamsters with
their little wooden sledges. their steel
chains and their tongs. They had
been helping the skidders to place the
parallel and level beams, OF skids, on
which the logs were to be piled by the
~ f~nn WI, ir1, To
and Hank had just felled. lay up
gentle slope from the new travoy road.
50 little Fabian Laveque. the team
ste,. clamped the bite of his tongs to
the end of the largest. or butt, log.
..allez, MollyI'' he cried. -.
a horse huge. elephantine, her head
down. nose close to her chest. intel
iigently spying her steps, moved The
leg half rolled over. and slid three
:cct, and menaced stump.
'Geel" cried Laveque-
Molly stepped twice directly sidewise..
planted her fore foot on n root she
had seen. and pulled sharply. The
end Of the log slid around the stump.
''Allezr commanded Laveque.
And Molly startnd gingcrly down the
hill She pulled the timber heavy
as an iron safe, here and there
through the brush, missing no steps.
making no false moves. backing and
finally getting out Of the way OF an
unexpected roll with the ease and intel
l,gence of Laveaue himself In five
minutes the burden lay by the ira
yoy road. In two minutes more one
end of it had been rolled on the lit
tie flat wooden sledge and the other
end dragging, 1t was winding majes-
ticslly down through the ancienr for
est
When Molly and Fabian had travoy-
ed the log TO the ski6way, they drew
ii With bump across the two parallel
skids. and left it there to be rolled
to the top of the pile
Then Mike McGovern and Bob Srat-
ton and Jim Gladys took charge of it
Mike and Bob were running the can't
hooks. while Jim stood on top OF the
great pile Of logs already decked A
slender, pliable, steel chain, like a gray
snake. ran over the top of the pile
and disappeared through pulley to an
invisible horse-Jenny. the mate of
Molly. Jim threw the end of this
chain down. Bob passed it over and
under the log and returned 1t to Jim.
who reached down after 1t with the
hook of his implement. Thus the
stick of timber rested in long loop.
one end of which led to the invisible
horse. and the other Jim nnde fast
to the top of the pile He did SO nv
tanning into another log The steel
swamp-hook with which the chain
was armed. When all was r,ade fast
the horse started