The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-02-12

best to guide his steeds. He lie COM.
paratively safe. for he can jump at
any time without much danger or in
jury. in the deep snow.
I Not so with the horses, however.
The great load Of logs goes swaying
after them almost as fast as they can
run. even though they are not shar-
messed to the sled. All the frightened
animals can do Is keep their feet, and
do their best to keep the load from
running onto their heels, or leaving
the road. to crash into the trees and
take them with It. II one of the horses
falls or anything about the sled
breaks. 1t is all up, with the poor
brutes. Sometimes the swaying of the
load will break q chain which holds
the logs on the sled and let the great
sticks go shooting out over the heads
Of the horses. perhaps catching the
teamster unawares, also, and crush
ing him.
The breaking of snubline does not
always have a tragic result. It is the
miraculous escapes of the men and
horses that the men like to tell about
afterward. It often happens that the
teamster guides his flying steeds and
their swaying load down over the
steep hill and brings them to stop
after a mad rush Of a quarter of a
mile covered with lather and with
their sides heaving and nostrils dis
tended, but victors in the race with
death.
In the above method Of using the
snubline one end OF the line passes
back up the hill while the end at
/ tached to the load is going down. BY
this method one end of the line is al
ways at the top OF the hill. and the
teams are saved the trouble of carry
ing the line back up the hill. This
method is practicable on most hills,
but there are places in the woods
where the grade is SO long and steep
that another method has to be adopt
ed This other method, while seeming
safer, Is as q matter of fact, fraught
with more danger to men and horses
than the first. The big line is made
fast about the load as 1t was in the
first instance. and two or three turns
are taken around the stump. The rest
Of the line is coiled up a few yards
away. The teamster starts his horses
down the hill, and two men take the
slack end of the line and pay it out
gradually as the load descends, al
ways keeping the line taut and rum
ming around the stump as smoothly as
possible. These men wear mfttens
with thick leather palms SO they can
grip. the line without having their
hands torn and blistered by the line.
passing through them. If the,line gets
the better Of them they have way of
checking it by taking cantdog and
using 1t as a lever to throw the line
harder against the stump, increasing
the friction and checking the load.
Sometimes the snubline gets the bet
ter Of the men handling it, and in
stead Of paying out smoothly goes by
jerks, getting from four inches to a
foot of slack at every jerk. When this
happens there is trouble in store for
somebody unless the men can stop the
line with their lever. Every slip of
the line sends thrill through the
whole length and sets 1t to Topping
and swaying and vibrating just as the
violin string vibrates when the bow is
drawn across it. This makes a great
strain on the line, and If there is the
slightest imperfection in it it is likely
to snap. or In It's gyrations it may get
the better Of the men and run through
their hands SO fast that the leather
palms of their mittens smoke and they
have to drop 1t to save themselves
They send q shout of warning down to
the teamster and another race ensues,
with life and death tossing coin to
see which wins.
There are times when it is not
necessary to use shubline at all; yet
the sled has to be kept from running
on to the horses. This is done by
using log chain. on the runners of
the sled. The heavy log chain is
wound around the sled runners SO that
as soon as the load starts the chain
is drawn under the iron shoes of the
runners, cutting into the road 80 that
1t impedes the progress of the sled.
Many Transfers consider the log chain
the best thing to be used under most
circumstances, but the use of the
chains makes havoc with the roads by
the way they cut in and make great
ruts. Then, again. there 10 the pos
sibility Of there being flaw In the.
chain, and 1t breaks when It strikes
a rock and jeopardizes the lives Of
men and horses.
There are many places In the Maine
woods where the logs cannot be haul
ed at all, but have to be rolled down an
incline. In some places great chutes
are constructed Of logs. and the logs
are sluiced down to the landing place
below. A notable example Of this Is
to be found not many miles from Ban,
gor. Up on Squaw mountain. about
six miles from Greenville, the Shaw
Lumber company has maintained q log
sluice nearly q mile in length and,
sluiced thousands OF feet Of logs down
the mountain md into Moosehead lake.
I&up on Mount Kathadin this winter
John Ross - Son are rolling logs
down, the side Of the mountain and
,y ,3 - ~, o,,a m a l0vv 10 ~ r. "a q