374 



LOGGING 



Labor employed on log drives is chiefly recruited from the 

 logging camps which have ceased operations by the time the 

 streams are in condition to float timber. Although the work is 

 hard, the hours are long and the men are often exposed to many 

 hardships in the pursuit of their work, there is a certain glamour 

 and fascination about it which attracts forest workers and in nor- 

 mal times loggers seldom have difficulty in securing a sufficient 

 number of men. 



The labor in the Northeastern part of the United States is 

 largely composed of French Canadians who make admirable 

 river drivers. 



Log driving on small streams is done largely from the banks, 

 except where log jams occur, while on large streams the work 

 must often be done from boats called bateaux ^ or from the logs 

 themselves. The river drivers are often subject to great per- 

 sonal danger in freeing lodged logs and in breaking up jams 

 which form at narrow points in the stream, or in places where 

 the channel is obstructed by rocks. A "key log" around which 

 a jam is formed must be freed before the mass can be started, 

 and this may be done either with tools or by a charge of dyna- 

 mite. Only the most skillful men are allowed to perform this 

 work, because great presence of mind is required on the part of 



1 These are strongly built boats with a sharp prow and are fitted with two pairs 

 of oars and guided by a single oar used as a rudder. They have a capacity of 

 from six to ten men. 



