Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1920-12-17


year when operations in the woods
get in full swing to enable the plant
to run double shifts the crew will be
doubled. AS we have stated, we pre-
fer to wait until then before
giving complete write-up of the
mill, but at this time it is not out OF
place to say something in regard to
the
Camp Operations
The company is now the owner of
approximately 10000 acres of land
all situated in Gogebic county, Michi-
gan, just across the state line and
directly north of Lac Vieux Desert,
and nearly every acre of this vast
tract is heavily covered with every
variety of timber, hardwood OF
course predominating
crew of men has been in this
timber for the past four months,
building camps, cutting roads, build
ing sideways and in fact, doing ev-
cry thing necessary to bring to the
main point, that of getting out logs,
which they are now doing. Thirty
days ago a. crew was started getting
out the logs, and no person not IA
miliar with woods operations has
clear idea of what this means to ev-
cry man from the owners down to
the chore boy. All work before
this is preparation work which the
men from the main boss, down, do
with don 't-give-a-care, do it only
because it has to be done, but when
it comes to cutting logs every man
is on his tip toes, going to work
with a shout and song and a good
natured rivalry as to who can pro-
duce the most. While on the sub
ject of log production, mention must
be made of the two men who are
chiefly responsible to the company
for furnishing the mill with logs,
VIM. Mallard, head foreman or
walking boss, and Chas Smith, the
logging boss, are men who have
spent the greater part of their lives
in the woods in every position that
logging camps furnish, from chore boy
to bull cook, swamper and sawyer,
and for many years in the positions
they now hold with this company,
III ;f opu y,orcoy, will tolYn tho finn
and trouble to make a trip to the
camps and see these two men in act
ion they will agree with us that the
company will have no cause to
worry about the log production end.
They now have from three TO four
hundred thousand feet on skids
which are being hauled and banked
at the landing on the north shore OF
Grass Lake which has been built to
hold eight million feet of logs. The
railroad is now completed from State
Line to this landing, distance of
five and one half miles, the locomo-
tive, one of the low rod type has been
there for the past thirty days and
actual hauling of logs will soon be-
gin. Another thing that would be
worth seeing by any one who cared
to make the trip, is the different
methods now used in logging COM
pared with twenty or twenty-five
years ago. In addition to the steam
locomotive the company has a steam
loader which loads the logs on cars
and will load more and do it better
with less chance of accident than
ten crews of perhaps thirty men and
teams using the old method of block
and tackle Then all logs are hauled
with a lotion Holt Tractor which is
able to haul seven sleigh loads of
logs coupled together like train of
cars and doing more work with less
danger and cost than seven teams.
Practically the only work to be done
with teams will be that of skidding
and there are now fourteen teams at
this work, it being figured that it will
take this number to keep the ma
chinery all moving.
Now a few words about the camp:
In past years, a logging camp was
considered and spoken of as place
where the men who were doing the
actual work went in to eat and sleep
and get out of extremely bad weather,
built cheaply out of logs and for the
time being only, no particular thought
or care being given to the comfort or
safety of the men. The modern log
ging camp is as different from this
as day is different from night Again
it would be worth your while to take
a trip to the Wisconsin, Michigan
Lumber Company's main camp, or
Camp No. 1, as they call it, and see
the modern logging camp in full op-
Grafton, and, incidentally, get one of
its square meals. Built of frame con-
struction of A No. l timber, admira-
bly, located on high ground with good