HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



It isn't often that a magazine^'gives the public illumination 

 on the why's and wherefore's of the orthodox tenets of a big 

 business afifeeting the public in a thousand ways, like fire insur- 

 ance; and when a publication like Collier's really exposes the 

 facts and demonstrates that lumber has been used as a target and 



a blind to distract attention from more important factors, it 

 earns the thanks of the entire community. Lumbermen at least 

 ought to feel much indebted to Mr. Collier and Mr. McFarlane, 

 and see to it that the public at large is given the essential points 

 of the story of "The Business of Arson." 



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Although four-fifths of the standing timber in the United States 

 is coniferous, nevertheless the hardwoods occupy a place which 

 conifers cannot fill. The woods of the pines, the spruces and the 

 firs, for example, are of simple structure, comparatively easy to 

 work and to season, and well suited for construction purposes 

 generally. They are, however, lacking in combined hardness, 

 strength and toughness which make such species as the oak and 

 hickory so valuable. The growth of hardwoods is usually slower 

 and their soil requirements more exacting than those of the conifers, 

 but there are many uses of timber for which only the hardwoods 

 are suited and no solution of the future timber supply can be 

 reached which does not take them into full consideration. 



The logger in coniferous forests is daily acknowledging a debt 

 to hardwoods in the many uses he makes of them. Take, for 

 instance, the question of tools and equipment. An indispensable 

 tool is the ax, and a most essential feature is that it should have 

 a good handle. The choice wood for this purpose is second-growth 

 hickory, though sugar maple, hornbeam and occasionally other 

 woods are employed when hickory is not readily obtainable. The 

 handles for single-bitted axes are either curved or straight, being 

 largely a matter of individual preference. In the eastern part of 

 the country loggers prefer a thirty-six-inch handle, while on the 

 Pacific coast, where large timber is handled, the lengths vary from 

 thirty-eight or forty inches for the average-sized timber to forty- 

 four inches for redwoods. Handles for double-bitted axes are 

 necessarily straight in order that either bit may be used, and are 

 made in the same lengths as those for single-bitted axes. Handles 

 for broadaxes are from twenty-six to thirty-six inches long and 

 have a slight upward curve immediately behind the eye of the ax 

 to enable the workman to assume a more uprighl position and still 

 retain a correct cutting angle for the blade. The handle for a 

 turpentine ax is straight and usually thirty-six inches in length. 



The handles on cross-cut saws are made of sugar maple, beech 

 or other good quality hardwood. They are always round, about 

 II2 inches in diameter and frora twelve to eighteen inches long. 

 Handsaw handles are mostly of beech, except for the highest 

 priced, which are of apple wood. 



An essential part of every feller's and log-maker's equipment is 

 the wedge which is used to assist in directing the fall of trees 

 and to prevent the saw pinching in the cut. They, are made of 

 hardwood or of metal. In the former case they are of hickory, 

 sugar maple, beech, hornbeam, dogwood and persimmon, depending 

 upon which kind is accessible. They have the advantages over 

 metal wedges of being inexpensive and holding better. They are 

 made by the sawyers as needed or by contract at about two'cents 

 each. They are ordinarily from six to eight inches long, 2% to 3^2 

 inches wide and about one inch thick at the head. From thirty 

 to forty of these wedges are used up by a saw crew every month. 

 A verv large wedge, commonly known as a "glut," is often used 

 in splitting posts and rails, being driven in after the cleft is 

 started with an iron wedge. 



Iron wedges are generally driven by means of a wooden maul 

 made by the camp blacksmith from sugar maple, yellow birch, 

 hornbeam or other hard and tough wood. A common form used in 

 Maine is made from a round tree section, six inches in diameter 

 and from twenty-six to thirty inches long. A head eight inches 

 long is left on one end of the section and the remainder is trimmed 

 down to a diameter of two inches to form a handle. Sometimes 



the head is bound with iron hoops to prevent splitting. Mauls 

 are also made from large oak burrs which are hewed out and fitted 

 with a handle through the center. Such a maul can be made very 

 heavy for splitting bolts, rails, posts and fiiewood and will last 

 a long time. 



The peavy is an indispensable part of the logger 's equipment. 

 The standard handle is 5, 5% or 6 feet long, but may be made in 

 special lengths as desired. The original handles of hickory or ash 

 are often replaced by the camp blacksmith with maple, hornbeam, 

 white oak or such suitable wood as is at hand. Handspikes are 

 wooden levers from five to seven feet long. Only hardwoods such 

 as hickory, oak, sugar maple, black birch, hornbeam and a few 

 others have the required strength for this purpose. 



Laborers engaged in bringing crossties, stave bolts and other 

 timber down steep slopes often use a tool known as a "pick-a- 

 roon." On a hickory, ash or oak handle is attached a head with 

 a recurved pike for sticking into the bolt or tie to drag it. Fre- 

 quently pick-a-roons are made from worn-out axes by removing 

 a portion of the cutting edge. There are various other logging 

 tools which require hardwood handles, a common example being 

 the pike pole. The scale stick for determining the contents of 

 logs is almost invariably of hickory, for few other species possess 

 its suppleness and wear-resisting properties. 



In the transportation of logs and lumber hardwoods play an 

 important part not only in the regular wagons, trucks and sleds 

 but also in various contrivances of local manufacture. A crude 

 form of sled sometimes used in the pine forests of the South 

 when the ground is too soft for wheels is called a "lizard." It 

 is made from the natural fork of an oak or other hardwood of the 

 requisite shape and strength, hewed flat on the upper and lower 

 sides and with an upward sweep on the forward end so that it can 

 readily slide over obstructions when in use. Across the two prongs 

 is bolted a bunk for the log to rest on. The log is held in place 

 by a chain which is finally passed through the upturned nose of 

 the lizard. With this contrivance logs can be snaked out without 

 diflSculty unless the bottom is extremely soft and miry. 



A higher type of sled used for the same purpose is known as 

 a "go-devil." In this case two unshod hardwood runners, often 

 yellow birch, are selected from timbers having natural crooks. 

 The usual type is from 6 to 7% feet long, 6 inches wide and from 

 3 to 5 inches thick. About 2 feet or so from the rear end of the 

 runners is bolted a bunk, 6x6 inches square and from 4 to 5 feet 

 long, bearing at the center a ring used in binding on the logs. 

 The curved forward ends of the runners are connected by a roller. 

 The sled is drawn by means of chains fastened to either side of 

 the bunk or to the runners, and since it has no tongue a go-devil 

 can be turned around within a narrow compass. Sometimes two 

 go-devils are fastened together into a "jumbo" for hauling on 

 snow for distances less than a half mile. 



In the Northeast go-devils are replaced in some cases by yarding 

 sleds or drays. A yarding sled is made by the camp blacksmith 

 and consists of a pair of yellow birch or maple runners, 7 feet 

 long, 3 inches wide, and shod with %-inch steel. The runners are 

 held together by a bunk 8 inches square and 4 or 5 feet long, 

 placed about 3 feet from the rear ends. In order to facilitate 

 handling the sled in the woods the bunk is made in two parts — a 

 lower stationary bar firmly bolted and braced to the runners, and 

 an upper piece which is temporarily removed when the sled is 



