Crossties in Northern New Mexico 187 



Hauling Ties to River. The contractor is relieved of the side 

 lumber at the mill, but is required to deliver the ties in the yard, 

 at the river. For this he receives $0.05 per tie. He sublets 

 the contract to two men at $0.04, making a profit of $0.01 per 

 tie or $0.25 per M. feet, B. M. The haul is all down hill a 

 distance of two miles. The haulers average about three trips 

 per day and haul about 30 ties at each trip. At this rate their 

 wages average $3.60 per day. The men hauling sawn ties each 

 earn smaller wages than those hauling hewn ties, but have 

 steady employment. 



Hewn and Sawn Ties — Yards to Cars. 



Placing in River. The ties are placed in the river when the 

 spring freshet is at its height. About 200 men were employed 

 for common labor at $1.50 per day without board, while 30 Mexi- 

 can patrons received from $1.75 to $2.50 per day without board, 

 and 10 Americans received from $2.50 to $3.00 per day with 

 board. The head foreman received $4.50 per day with board. 



Forty men with a payroll of $70.00 placed 22,000 ties in 

 the river in one day. This gives an average of $0,003 per tie. 

 However, when all things are considered, such as isolated yards, 

 distance of piles from river, depth of water, and current at 

 point where thrown in, it is believed that on the average this 

 cost will be approximately $0,005 P^'" tie. 



Driving. About $4,000.00 is spent annually in clearing out 

 the rivers in preparation for the season's drive. Some piles 

 were so placed that the spring freshet carried them away before 

 the drive started. Many of these ties became water-logged and 

 interfered with the driving, causing trouble enough to more than 

 offset what the cost of placing them in the river would have 

 been. The drive proper is quite similar to a log drive in the 

 northeast. On the smaller streams the camp or wongan is moved 

 every few days with a wagon, but on the larger river it follows 

 the men in the boats. A few men were put on the drive as 

 soon as the ties were started. The drive proper started with 

 about 150 men and ended with about 15 men, with an average 

 of approximately 65 men, most of whom received their board. 

 About 80 days were required, from the time the ties were first 

 placed in the river until the rear of the drive reached the boom. 



