130 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



This was the life of the drive, but the day of the 

 " white water boys" is passing with the increasing use 

 of railroads in lumbering. Hard work, long hours of 

 toil, clothes continually soaked, with a big celebration in 

 the mill town to mark the end of the drive this was 

 the life of the typical river driver. Tricks may be 

 played upon the "drive," as well as in the camp, and 

 woe betide the "jumper" for he will more than likely 

 wear soaked clothes most of the time. 1 



When the logs have reached their destination, their 

 course is checked by a huge boom, or string of logs 

 stretched across the river. From the sorting boom, 

 the logs are allowed to escape one at a time, and they 

 are grouped according to the marks which they bear. 

 All of the logs containing the same mark are stored in 

 the same boom or pocket to await the need of the mill 

 for which they are intended. 



Cypress Logging. In the cypress swamps of the South 

 a different kind of logging is practiced. Cypress, for 

 the most part, grows upon land which is submerged for 

 a large portion of the year. This ground makes poor 

 footing and hence horses or oxen can rarely be used, as 

 the ground is too soft. Consequently a type of logging 

 known as the "pull-boat system" has been devised. 

 Canals are cut through the swamp at strategic points. 

 A pull-boat, a large flat-bottom scow, equipped with a 

 huge engine and drum for winding up a long steel cable, 

 is towed to the point where logging is to commence. The 



iA "jumper," a nervous fellow who jumps or obeys any 

 sharp command shouted unexpectedly in his ear. A story is told 

 of a jumping French Canadian who was proudly carrying his 

 baby home from the christening. One of his friends, knowing 

 Baptiste's failing, stole up behind him, slapped him sharply on 

 the back and shouted in his ear, ' ' Throw it ! ' ' Without an 

 instant's hesitation he threw the baby into the snowbank. 



