Crossties in Northern New Mexico. 419 



at $1.50 per day without board, while 30 Mexican patrons re- 

 ceived from $1.75 to $2.50 per day without board, and 10 Ameri- 

 cans 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 P^^ tie. How- 

 ever, when all things are considered, such as isolated yards, dis- 

 tance 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. 



Driznng. 



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 

 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 re- 

 quired, from the time the ties were first placed in the river until 

 the rear of the drive reached the boom, covered a distance of 

 about 90 miles. This time was required to break jams, keep the 

 ties moving, place stranded ties in the stream, take out dead 

 heads and remove boulders loosened by the ties. 



About 6,000 ties became stranded and water-logged but will 

 be picked up next year. A like number of last year's ties were 

 picked up in their place. The following data is based on a 

 drive of 300,000 ties, as the company considers this an average 

 economical drive. Approximately 3,000 ties were broken in the 

 jams and by dynamiting. It is believed that these ties cost the 

 company $0.28 each at the time they were broken, making a 

 total cost of about $840.00. During the drive damages caused 

 to ditches and land adjacent to the rivers, for which the com- 

 pany is held responsible, amount to about $600.00. 



