News and Notes. 115 



near, or if far away from it they are paired off in convenient 

 places and are later taken to the skid by a big two-wheeled skid- 

 ding cart. These carts with their wheels seven feet in diame- 

 ter are one of the most distinctive features of the lumbering of this 

 region. Two logging irons are suspended from an eccentric 

 drum above the main axle of the cart worked by a heavy beam 

 lever attached by a chain to the skidding tongue. When the 

 wagon is backed by the mules over the logs the irons lower auto- 

 matically, are fastened to the logs about eight or ten feet from the 

 front end, and, as the team starts, the tongue moves forward 

 several feet and the logs are raised, their rear ends barely drag- 

 ging. In this way logs can be carried to the skidway, even over 

 •obstacles such as other logs with quickness and comparative ease. 

 Three such carts with teams can attend to the cutting of six or 

 seven gangs of sawyers. 



Each skidway holds a carload of logs. A car is left at each 

 one and as the skidways are filled the cars are loaded. This is 

 done ordinarily by a crew of seven men using four oxen. Five 

 men roll the logs, one at a time with canthooks to two small logs 

 forming an incline from the end of the skid to the top of the car ; 

 a chain, one end of which is fastened to the further side of the 

 car and the other to the ox team, is passed around it and the 

 team pulls it up the incline. At the proper moment the top load- 

 er gives the driver the signal, the chain is unhooked, and the log 

 rests in its proper place ; the chain is returned over the car and 

 the crew is ready for the next log. The engine backs the loaded 

 car up to the next empty, the loading crew moving up at the 

 same time, and the whole operation is repeated until all the cars 

 are filled. The sawyers, scaler and loader stop work at 5 P. M., 

 but the skidding teams and carts usually continue to bring in logs 

 until 5:30. The mules are then driven to the " corral " just out- 

 side of the works where they are cared for by the resident feeder. 

 They are fed but once a day. The price for mules is now about 

 $160 apiece, this is much higher than before the Spanish and 

 Boer wars when many were exported. 



J. M. K., Jr. 



