818 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



this cannot be successfully accomplished 

 when there is a material depth of snow 

 on the ground. 



A large company operates a mill of 

 250,000 feet daily output at Stirhng 

 City, in the vSierras of Butte County. 

 This company, not unlike several others 



They Could Hear the Thud of the Great 

 AND THE Sing of the Sucker's Saw. 



in the State, depends upon the opera- 

 tion of many miles of logging railroad; 

 it maintains about sixty miles of such 

 roads leading further into the mountains 

 from Stirling City. The construction 

 and maintenance of a logging railroad 

 through mountainous country are im- 

 mense items of expense and tend to 

 increase the cost of logging, perhaps, 

 to a maximimi. 



During the early Spring of 1913 it 

 was my opportunity to become familiar 

 with the difficulties encountered when 

 an attempt is made to "begin early" in 

 a Sierra logging camp. Seven camps 

 supplied the Stirling City mill with logs 

 and all these camps were buried in 

 snow and at a great distance 

 from the mill. The winter had 

 been severe and heavy snow 

 storms continued until about 

 the first of April. Clear 

 weather in the valleys below 

 prior to this date had turned 

 the toes of many a waiting 

 hmiberjack toward the hills. 

 In their hearts they could hear 

 the thud of the great pines, 

 the sing of the bucker's saw, 

 the familiar shrill whistle from 

 the donkey engines, the tri- 

 angle gong which rings to the 

 beat of the "chink's" flunky; 

 and the vision of a table loaded 

 with real things to eat came 

 before them — all this recollec- 

 tion awakened a longing to 

 return, and the man without 

 a job came back. 



On April first there were 

 several hundred idle men on 

 the sidewalks of the little lum- 

 ber town of Stirling City. 

 Credit was given practically 

 everywhere in town and the 

 men were comfortable. But 

 still there was nothing for them 

 to do. On the third a few of 

 the men were detailed to shov- 

 eling snow and the first real 

 work was begun. Attention 

 was immediately directed to- 

 ward excavating the round- 

 house which was buried in 

 from eight to ten feet of snow. 

 This accomplished, the little 

 narrow-gauge locomotives 

 were pressed into service. With a steel 

 nose to act as a snow-plow, arranged in 

 front, the "One Spot" started the stren- 

 uous work of "breaking through"; work 

 that continued for several weeks. 



The average depth of snow on the 

 tracks was five feet; although, in many 

 places, the "One Spot" backed up three 

 hundred yards or so and, at fvdl speed 

 ahead, rammed into nine feet of level 



Pine 



