The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1910-05-12

AS each pole is cut it is marked
with the cutters number and checked
up by a man whose task it is to keep
tab on the work.
Sometimes at the railroad landing
place, but usually in the assembling
yards, the poles are sorted according
to size and decked, which means
piled up. The greatest activity fol-
lows the Christmas season, when
each crew is working at top speed to
keep ahead Of the next crew that
handles the poles.
This top speed Is again reached as
breaking up time comes, when thaws
arrive. The melting ice turns its
streams into the ruts during the day
and the tank wagons are kept going
all night to furnish ice in place Of
that which the sun has melted. When
the weather gets too warm the road
soon disappears and that puts an end
to the hauling and likewise to the
cutting. When this happens earlier
than usual the first indications of a
breakup cause a general hustle and a
pretty race ensues to get out the tim
Der before the roads become useless
Notwithstanding the good pay it is
difficult to keep the men at work all
winter. From the cedar savage down
to the road monkey, the man whose
duty it is to keep the ruts free from
all rubbish, there are among the log
gers many nomads who drink heavily,
chew snuff and smoke strong pipes
and unconcernedly throw up one job,
knowing they can get another just as
good at the next camp. These roam
ers are known as camp inspectors
from their making the rounds during
the winter
AS the renewals are estimated to
require nearly 100000 poles a year,
not counting the new poles put up,
the end of the cedar supply is in
sight. The forestry department figures
that 1t will not last longer than fifteen
years and the most optimistic supply
men don't think there is more than a
I twenty years supply ahead.
Considerable damage is being done
to telephone, telegraph and electric
light poles by members of the wood.
pecker family. These birds originally
built their homes in the dead or dying
trunks or limbs of trees, but for some
reason best known to themselves have
come to the conclusion that the
peeled pole offers better conditions for
home.
They have become so ravenous of
late that their depredations are at
tracing considerable attention among
those who are compelled to use guam
| titles of wooden poles. Their activi
ties spread over wide portion of the
United States, notably in the south
southwest and central west. Cedar
poles seem to be the ones most fre
quently attacked. The birds bore into
them at any height from the ground
and the holes which they make are
| often two or three inches in diameter
and four or five inches deep.
1t would, of course, not be a diff
| cult matter to exterminate these
birds. However, this is not desirable
as they are among the most beneficial
forms of bird life native to this coun
try, because they destroy large NUN
bers of insects which seriously dam
age forest and food crops. 1t seems
therefore, that methods should be un
dertaken to compel the birds to re
vert to their former habit of borins
rather than to exterminate them.
Frequent inquiries have been made
by the forest service In this connec
tion, but the only information to date
which the government has been able
to obtain Is that on a casual inspec
tion of treated and untreated pole
lines in louisiana In that region il
was found that poles which had beer
impregnated with creosote oil were
not attacked by the birds, whereas
untreated poles under the same con
ditions were very severely injured.
| Whether or not creosote will pre-
vent such attack is not definitely
known, but the service is investiga
ting this problem, and should this OF
prove preventive it will fulfil {
two-fold purpose: 1t will protect thu
poles from decay and destruction from
animal life.