Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-04-07
IN MAINE WOODS.
Hundreds Of Men Who Live
Lonely Lives There.
Winter Work Keeps Them for Months
From the World.
Gum Picking, Hoop-PoIe Catherine
and Trapping.

ter months in the Maine woods. in adj
dluon to those In the camps of lum-
| bermen. Ihere are hundreds of them
| They are little known or heard of by
/ people in the outside world, although
their products all get to market.
Among them are the gum picker, the
! hoop-pole gatherer, the axe-handle
man. the shipknee gatherer the hem
lock bark peclers, the Indian and the
| trappCr.
The gum pickers go into the woods
in The fall and remain there till spring.
working as industriously every day as
The men III the lumber camps. They
are a very quiet and busy lot Of men
and their zig-Zag snowshoe tracks may
be seen through the woods of northern
Maine and their camp fires glow in
many Il lonely glen far to the north.
| Gum picking is anything but an ex-
citing business and affords lots Of time
tor thought. There is no rush or
worry about it. yet it is as speculative
as trading in Wall Street.
Spruce gum is always marketable
and brings good price, 81 a pound be-
ing standard quotation, yet an extra
fine article frequently brings as much
as $l.50 and has sold at 81. But this
| last price is only obtained for the par
ticularly large and clear nuggets.
The gum pickers always go in pairs.
| Two chums who enjoy each others
companionship, whose likes and dis
| likesare similar, go together to the GEN.
| tire of good gum country, far away
from everybody else; sometimes build
ing for themselves a rough log cabin.
and at others occupying u deserted
logging camp, which they can make
comfortable by little work.
Beds Of spruce bOughs are made and
| any person who has ever slept on one
can realize the comfort they take. The
| fireplace is repaired and the two
cronies are ready for their business of
the winter. If man is fond of woods
life there is no way Of passing the win
ter months more pleasantly than at
gum picking.
The outfit of the gum picker consists
of warm clothing and a suitable num-
| Der Of changes of underwear, a pair Of
snOwShoes, a pair of climbers such as
telegraph line men use, V-shaped
chisel, made especially for this BUSH
ness. with the handle so made that 1t
| can be fastened to reach high up on
the trees; a large jackknife. a gun,
fishing tackle, and last. but by no
| means least, a liberal supply of pipes
and plug tobacco.
Outside of his tobacco the gum pick
er is most frugal in the way of sup
plies, for he has to haul everything
many miles on moose sled, and any
one who has ever labored on a pair of
snowshoes with one of these will I'M
derstand that the gum picker will not
load it more heavily than is necessary.
He takes plenty Of pork. beans, flour.
coffee and molasses. and If he has good
luck with his gun and rod he can live
in woods luxury for the sum of rs cents
a week.
He has a steaming breakfast of
beans, baked in the ground, and has
his morning smoke while the dishes are
being washed and the homework done.
He is then ready for the work of the
day.
He straps his gun to his back, his
gum bag is thrown over his shoulder.
with his lunch of biscuit and pork in
it, his snOwshoes are strapped on, and,
with his gum chisel in his hand, away
he goes for the work of the day, leav-
ing a trail of smoke from his pipe.
He sees a tall spruce, from which the
gum has been Oozing for many years
until, clarified by the sun. it is rounded
out in rich nuggets that wait his COM
ing. OF course the snowshoes and the
climbers are put on. The picker climbs
the tree and chips and taps and nib
bles like a gigantic woodpecker.
1t is no uncommon thing for the gum
as,I x,.o<, all p-o Sol ~r,;% ~
gum that he cuts it down. 1t is not an
unusual thing for an expert gum picker
to take 10 pounds of gum of good quail
ty from a single tree. This is not an
everyday occurrence, but the average
yield gives the industrious picker good
wages, and more.
Some of the older men in the bust
ness plant their gum. That is. they go
around through the forests with an axe
and wound the trees. which allows the
gum to ooZe out, and in few years it
is clarified and ready to be picked. The
round, amber-hued nuggets are what
the gunpicker hunts for especially.
The State of Maine gum is always in
demand, for although the New York
gum is often more inviting to the eye.
the confirmed gum chewer declares
that there is nothing in the whole
resinous domain for flavor and true
yanking qualities" that can equal a
hunk with the center like the red of
a dying coal, severed from the seam
of a gigantic live Maine spruce.
The Maine hoop-pOle man has to
work much harder, yet his life is just
as unconventional and he has just as
good time as his friend the gum
gatherer. He follows along in the
wake of the lumberman and cuts from
the hllsides the small growth that no
one wants. He has a horse along with
him. az it is necessary to haul home
the cut of the day at night.
The place selected by the hoop-pole
man for his winters work is some de-
serted chopping, on which small birch
and ash have grown up where once
S: God the towering pine and spruce.
These saplings are cut on the hillsides
and in swamps and hauled to the camp.
The hoop-pole man passes his evenings
fashioning the hoops from the rough
saplings with a draw shave, and piling
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