The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-22
IN THE FOREST
jams in Streams stopped and Movement
OF Logs Facilitated.
From the Elsctrirol Reri'~.


Throughout the forests. from the st Johns
to Vancouver. lumber camps belonging TO
the same interests are connected together
and thence to the saw nails or wood pulp
works at frontier towns from which commnnl-
cation can be held even TO the metropolis.
1t was formerly the custom OF each lumber
interest to ma intai Il force OF courers.
like the voyagers of the Hudson Bay Com
pany, and these hardy men. with knapsack,
would travel twenty-five miles a day through
the wilderness. over rough forest paths.
Now the m i'll calls each camp in turn AZ stated
hours and receives reports and gives in
structions to the foreman. and it is not neces-
sary to dwell on the commercial advantages
of maintaining such close touch between
headquarters and outposts in any enterprise.
: Letters are read to men showed in the forest
dictated by the lumberRen TO n steno Erapher r..
who transcribes them to the once and then
mails them to their homes.
The relative contentment among the men
which il established by this frequent COM
munication is highly advantageous to the
working force and therefore to their EN-
ployers
The applications of the telephone TO the
operations of logging are alike novel ana
useful The lines are run upon forest trees
along the banks of rivers and telephones
which are connected in sheltering boxes are
attached to trees and connected TO the line
The bet. roir of logging is the collecting
of the logs together AZ some narrow place
in a turbulent stream and pilng upon each
other in a jam" to which contributions are
made by every log floating down the river 10
this spot.
The formation of iam results from some
obstacle. and generally occurs without warn
ing and il requires great labor fraught
with peril to remove the logs from their
CONSTRUCTED position. 1t - frequently neces-
sary 10 Use dynamite. and mnch lumber is
destroyed by such explosions.
With the lis. of the telephone warning
of the initial formation of a Jam can be given
bv one 81 the men pntrolling the banks, who
telephones to the men up the river to stop
III. further flow of logs AT calm places termed
trips, and it is an easy matter to break the
small JAM for which further assistance can
he had by summonng men from points lower
down the stream
As soon as the small jam is removed the
men above are told through the telephone
to release the logs held at the trip. and the
stream Of logs is resumed.
Under former conditions "A larger num-
Der of men were employed. and when II jam
WAS begun it was necessary,to stnd meg
sengers from one TO three miles through the
forest in various directions to direct the
gangs to stop the flow OF logs. and others Ia
summon help who are down the stream 10
come up and break the jam, which had, mean
while time to ampfy. and then, after the
lam had been broken. second messan gers
must be- sent M the stream to release tn"
logs al the "trip.
BY tn" promp'ness OF telephone COM
munication the rat" of sending logs down
the stream il increased by the avoidance
of delays,
Beyond this. the use of the telephone rem
dcrs log driving feasible on the smaller rapid
rough streams. where il was formerly ont Of
the question.