The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-02
"LOGGED OFF LANDERS."
They Follow the Timber Men In In
NOrthwe est.

Northwest.
When one Of the huge trees in the North
western forests Ia to he felled the boss Of
the timber gang looks over the ground in
the vicinity and finds the best place for
the fall. If there is a marshy spot near the
tree. 40 much the better, as it will strike
/, the mud and water with less danger OF
7, splitting or being broken.
IT the ground is hard and stony the
men gather branches Of different sizes
and make an artificial bed. The branches
are piled at intervals Of ten or fifteen feet
apart to a height Of three or four feet
above the ground, says 81. Nicholas. Any
small trees which might throw the falling
Tree out Of the course marked for it are
cut down.
When the direction for falling Is decided
upon and the trees bed made up the
expert axemen get to work, one pair on
each side. Sometimes a whole day Is re-
ouired to cut a cash" In the side of a fir
tree fifteen feet in diameter. but the axe
handlers cut away steadily. usually fol.
lowing lines which have been marked
around the trunk. showing the length Of
the cut. also the width OF the notch which
is allowed.
When the axemen have cut through
from four 10 five feet OF the fifteen foot
tree. il Is ready for the saw gang. The
big crosscut saw. welve or fifteen feet in
length. lie brought up, and its teeth COW
cred with a coating of oil, They vary from
length, and every tooth has been sharpened
to an edge which is as keen as a file can
make 1t.
This is one Of the hardest tasks Of the
lumberman's ~work-sawing through the
tree trunk. 1t must be done in a straight
Nine, for If the saw should run crooked
1t may buckle and break, and in that a
a new fssure must be cut.
The time to pull out the saw il gen
orally indicated when II has gone through
the heart Of the trunk and is half way
TO the other side. The enormous pres
sure of the trunk causes it to sag a little
intothk hole made by the axes. A crack
ing sound is heard and this means the
beginning Of the end. The say is pulled
out and two mon begin cutting away
on each side of the assure.
In an hour or two after the chips have
commenced falling enough has been
cut away TO start the forest giant, and
il comes down with a crash, which may
woods. The piles Of limbs are crushed
10 the earth and pieces fly in every direc-
ton. The top branches frequently dig
a hole several feet deep.
The gaps which are thus made in the
forest by the lumbermen are called by
the people Of the Northwest the logged
Of lands" so in the footsteps Of the axe
man and sawman follows the logged
of lander--the man who would make
his home in the heart Of the wilderness.
II YOU were TO travel through the coun
try where the logged off landers live
you would see novel ways in which they
have used the great stumps, for some
of them have actually been made into
temporary homes. After the tree has
been cut down exposure to the weather
rapidly decays it's heart, so that in a few
years IL may become merely a shell with
the outside,
Then il is an easy matter TO cut a hole
in one end for a door and two or three
small holes for windows. to clean out
the inside, TO tut down an adjacent cedar
and split il into shingles for a o. and
the house IL ready for occupation when
the stove. dishes and furniture are put
in. If the stump is sc sound that it would
be too big a task to cut away the inside
Of il the settler sometimes uses n end
for a wall OF his house. placing logs or
planks against it and making a sort OF
| lean-tD.