The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-02-28
IN THE LOGGING CAMPS.
Descriptive Letter From the Pineries of
Of the North.

Descriptive Letter From the Pineries of
Of the North.
GLEN, MINI. Feb. 90 1902. Mr.. and
Mrs. S. Horn, Deloit, Ia; Having
promised to send you written de-
scription of the logging business as
carried on in the large pineries of the
north, will do so although expect it
will be very lame effort in explaining
the business. The work is divided up
i ITO departments as follows,
| First, camp constructors and force:
Second, road and skidway con-
structors:
Third, woodsmen:
Fourth, transportation;
Fifth. log handlers:
Sixth, rafters or drivers:
The first named are the first on the
ground for action and construct build
ings for the camp, which includes
bunk hoases, cook house and eating
house, commissary, stables or novels as
they are called. Blacksmith shop and
dwelling houses for the formers families
altogether making quite village. The
material used for such purpose, is Pine
logs, and for hunks and kitchen shacks
logs are cut as long as can be COW
veniently handled being as much as SO
it. long and 10 in. diameter so you see
it makes pretty solid house. The
roofing consists of ridge pole or log
with boards and roofing paper. And
for light sky lights are used. The
camp nea here has one bunk house
40x50 it. with hunks for fifty men two
men to each bunk and hunks around
the wall double decked. The kitchen
is same size and joins the former. The
camp force consists of head cook and
one or more helps which are called
cookies. Then that man whose busl-
IS is to get wood and water and keep
the novels cleaned out and etc. The
commissary clerk and blacksmith com
pletes the force. Everything is kept
in the commissary that the camp needs
for both man and beast. 8a.
The second department or road and
skedw cutter or swampers, aa they
are termed, are the ones that construct
the log roads and skidway, the former
being quite anexpensivea and necessary
article, built from the timber to be car
rled to some river and it is to haul the
logs over and as they have TO be per
fectly smooth it takes lots of hard
work and money to construct same. A
track is cleared about 20 it. wide with
two cutters SIT apart the entire length
OF the road. These are for the logsleds
to run in, as soon as it is cold enough
they begin hauling water and icing
the track and is continued day and
night until it is solid sheet of ice 10
IT, wide and at least inches thick.
Large logsleds with tanks holding
from 70 to 100 barrels are used for haul.
ing water which they get out of a
lake or creek and water is loaded by a
team and derrick which is attached to
tank and dips up barrel full at a
time. 1t is then let out on road
something similar TO street sprinkler.
The sled runners keeping a gutter
made in the ice all the time so it forms
a track almost as good as a railroad.
The log road here is about 10 miles
long and goes. to Mile Laos lake. The
skldways are tracks leading out from
log road in all directions through the
timber and. are to slid the logs up to
the log road where they are piled up
In piles as high as they can make
them so as to be easily loaded on to
log sleds. A skid is U shaped piece of
timber with apiece bolted across for
one end of the log to lay on and is
dragged by team of horses or yoke of
oxen. The company near here have
yokes OF oxen weighing 1000 lbs. per
yoke; they are used for decking and
loading the logs and are so we'll trained
mat they know exactly what to do
from the motion made with the OK goad
in the hands of the driver, and morn
ings they will go right to the spot they
left the day before, whether anyone is
there or not. It is quite curiosity to
see them work.
Third or woodsmeu, are the men in
the woods that get the logs ready to
skid and includes undercutters which
cut notch in one side of the tree to be
cut down also the ones to clean place
for the logs to be dragged to the near
est skidway, and then the ones that
trim Off what few limbs may be on the
trees. The sawyers includes the ones
that saws the trees down and the ones
that saws them up into logs.
Number four or transportation in.
l0r Ao,