Evening star., 1942-12-20
Loeeers and Lumberjoeks
Do Their Port
Bu Frederic J. HaSktn.

In the forests of Oregon, Idaho, Wash.
ington and British Columbia there are
thousands of workers, who are to some
degree cut off from the frills Of modern
civilization, but whose labors help to
make possible the construction OF mil
| lions of homes, thousands of ships and
! airplanes and an unlimited number OF
other things. These men are the loggers
and lumberjacks who pioneer and do
dangerous jobs so as to keep steady
stream of lumber going to almost every
nook and corner of the United States
to supplement the supply from regions
not heavily forested.
These burly, weather-tanned men who
convert trees into lumber at the out
pests of civilization recently have come
in for new recognition because Of the
Importance of their work in meeting the
unprecedented demand for lumber. es-
pecially fir and other hardwoods used
! in the construction of ships and planes.
These sturdy woodsmen carry on one Of
/ this country's big businesses and almost
the very oldest.
On the slopes of the Cascades, the
! Cceur d'Alenes, the Bitterroots, the
! O.ympics and the Rockies are vast stands
CT timber that cover ridges and uplands
/ fer Thousands Of miles. From the peaks
, of these ranges, an argonaut might
/ ir.a CINE himself riding the bowsprit Of
an immense ship ploughing through a
sea Of green. Only in occasional spots Is
this stretch Of timber broken by clear
ings. small patches from which pillars Of
smoke rise upward in the air. This smoke
is from Gathering donkey engines or
compact cookhouses where logging
| crews are at work.
In this setting the loggers and lumber
jacks transform trees as tall as q l5-
story building into all types of timber
ranging from material for pencils to
huge beams. From these forested areas
come timbers that help to make ships
that sail the seas of the world. and
planes that fly over every continent. 1t
is this ship and airplane building,
among other demands, that has given
the vast lumber industry of the North
west new meaning and has brought the
loggers and lumberjacks into their true
place as important wartime workers.
Frequently these brawny men hack
through wlndfalls and groves never in
vaded by human beings. The timber in
dustry penetrates farther into the will
derness Of the Northwest than any other
occupation. Surveyors and advance par
ties select the site of operations, gen.
orally in regions already approved by
United States foresters and rangers, but
the lumberjacks bring their civilization
with them, Many times they push on
past the end Of existing rails and build
twisting tracks through passes and cam
yons to the scene of lumber cutting.
These men could well be called the last
pioneers of the country, for they hew
trails and roads and plant logging camps
in the remote and completely wild and
desolate reaches Of the countrys last re-
manning huge forests.
Logging railroads are like scenic Alpine
railways, for they span gullles and can
yons on trestles that look like lattice
work. They wind around mountain RAM
parts and corkscrew through gorges and
ravines Buudlng them is difficult and
dangerous. and operating them is more
So 1t is by no means the safest job on
earth.
From some camps the logging trains
coast down to civilization, guided only
by men who leap from car to car setting
the handbrakes. At other camps the
trains clatter through the wilderness
behind Snorting amel-backed locomo-
tives. And here, as everywhere else, mo-
tor trucks compete with cars on rails, for
motor roads are less difficult to con-
struct than railways.
The transportation problem Of the
logging industry Illustrates its difference
from other American businesses. Many
enterprises build up hustling villages and
thriving cities, but the logging industry
goes deeper and deeper into the forests.
1t must take its rails and roads along
with it, for when one stretch Of timber
is cut, the loggers go on in search of an
other slope of virgin trees. Behind them
they leave ghost towns like the ghost
towns that worked-out mines have left
behind them.
Traditionally associated with the tim
ber industry is the third means of getting
logs out Of the woods This is the proc
ess of floating them through the rapids
other occupation thrusts its raw material
on the white waters Of the Columbia,
Cowlitz and Willamette Rivers. Dumped
down through long chutes into streams,
the logs float downward until they are
stopped at sawmill many miles below.
Occasionally log jams occur, and then
the men risk their lives to break them
with axes and dynamite
For loggers, the day is filled with
action and splashed with color. They
are reused by the beating OF crovbar
on huge circular saw. and from then
until the sun goes down behind the
ranges. they match their skill and
strength and tools against trees that
were standing when Columbus discov-
cred the New World Their strength is
not only built on muscle development by
work, but by three hearty meals each
day. They do not eat veal chops or beef
stew. They eat veal chops and beef stew.
Like other workers. these men are Of
various origins. No particular nation
ality predominates in the Northwest as
the Scandinavians do in the woods Of
Minnesota. Most OF them were born in
the United States, some come from Cam
ada but they differ from other workers,
especially miners, in one notable respect.
LAUNDERING is a migratory business, and
lumber crews change continually Many
recruits come from farms and villages
near new locations