The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-06-02

conuucung one OF his great pyramid
1cal loads over the little inequalities of
the road, in the ticklish places stand
Ing atop with the bent knee Of the Ro-
man charioteer, spying and forestall-
ing the chances of the way with fixed
eye and an intense concentration that
relaxed not one inch in the miles of
the haul. Thorpe had become full
hedged cant hook man.
He liked the work. There is about it
a skill that fascinates. A man grips
suddenly with the hook of his strong
instrument, stopping one end that the
other may slide. He thrusts the short,
strong stock between the log and the
skid, allowing it to be overrun. He
stops the roll with a sudden sure grasp
applied at just the right moment to be
effective. Sometimes he allows himself
to be carried up bodily, clinging to the
cant hook like an acrobat to bar. I'M
til the log has rolled once, when. his
weapon loosened, he drops lightly, cas-
lily to the ground. And it is exciting to
pile the logs on the sleigh, first layer
Of five, say; then one of four smaller, of
but three, Of two, until at the very
apex the last is dragged slowly up the
skids, poised and just as it is about to
plunge down the other side is gripped
and held inexorably by the little men
in blue flannel shirts.
Chains bind the loads. And if ever
during the loading or afterward when
the sleigh is in motion the weight Of
the logs causes the pyramid to break
down and squash out, then woe to the
driver or whoever happens to be near.
For this reason the leaders are picked
and careful men.
At the banking grounds, which lie in
and about the bed of the river, the logs
are piled into a gigantic skidway to
await the spring freshets, which will
carry them down stream to the "boom.' -
In that Enclosure they remain until
sawed in the mill.
Thorpe, in common with the other
men, had thought Railways vacation
at Christmas time a mistake. He could
not but admire the feverish animation
that now characterized the jobber. Ev-
cry mischance was as quickly repaired
as aroused expedient could do the
work.
Esprit de corps awoke. The men
sprang to their tasks with alacrity,
gave more than an hours exertion to
each of the twenty-four, took a pride
In repulsing assaults of the great en-
envy whom they personified under the
generic "She."
One morning in February Thorpe
was helping load big butt log. He
was one of the two men who stand at
either end of the skids to help the as
cending log keep straight and true to
its bed on the pile. His assistants
end caught on silver, ground for a
second and slipped back. Then the
log ran slanting across the skids in
stead Of perpendicular to them. To
rectify the fault Thorpe dug his cant
hook into the timber and threw his
weight on the stock. He hoped in this
manner to check correspondingly the
ascent of his end. In other words, he
took the place on his side OF the pre-
'NASAAAS h'AAfSi, ~ SNuO11AluSo Tic PITS
sure and forcing the timber to it's prop
er position. Instead of rolling the log
slid. The stock of the cant hook was
jerked from his hands. He fell back,
and the cant hook, after clinging for
moment to the rough bark, snapped
down and hit him a crushing blow on
the top of the head.
They took Thorpe up and carried him
in, just as they had carried Hank Paul
before. Men who had not spoken a
dozen words to him il as many days
gathered his few belongings and stuff
ed them awkwardly into his satchel.
Jackson Hines prepared the bed of
straw and warm blankets in the bot
tom of the sleigh that was to take him
out.
'He would have made good boss,''
said the old fellow. Hes a hard man
to nick"