FLOATING AND RAFTING 375 



the driver when the logs start to move. Log drivers, espe- 

 cially on rough water, are among the highest paid men in the 

 woods. ^ On small streams log drivers are housed in log camps 

 or in tents, while on river drives the men frequently live in a 

 house boat or a tent called a ''wanigan," which is mounted on 

 a scow or raft and floated down the stream as the work proceeds. 

 Tents on shore are also frequently used where facilities can be 

 provided for moving them in wagons or in boats. 



D. CONDUCT OF THE DRIVE 



The Drive on Small Streams. — Drives usually start on the 

 upper courses of some small stream where the logs have been 

 "banked" in the stream bed, and parallel with it, or else scat- 

 tered over the surface of some lake or pond near its mouth. 

 The "banking ground" is often above a splash dam which 

 furnishes sufficient water to carry the logs down to the rear of 

 another dam or to the main stream on which they are floated 

 to the mill. 



As soon as the ice has gone out sufficiently to clear the stream, 

 booms are placed in essential spots along the channel and the 

 dams and other equipment placed in good repair after the 

 winter season. A head of water is accumulated on the banking 

 ground and a crew is set to work to "break down" the "land- 

 ing" or "bank."- This consists in setting the logs afloat in the 

 current so they can proceed downstream. The sluice gates of 

 the dams are opened a short while before the logs are started 

 through and should not be closed until several minutes after 

 the logs have ceased coming, otherwise jams will form at points 

 along the channel. The work starts on the pile farthest down- 

 stream and in the center of the channel, the logs from the top 

 of the pile being thrown into the water by means of peavies and 



1 Log drivers in Maine receive from s$2.25 to $3 per day and board, which 

 includes four meals per day. Drivers on the large streams in the West receive 

 50 cents per hour, exclusive of board, which costs approximately $5 per week. 



2 In the Appalachian region, logs frequently are not banked but are scattered in 

 the beds of the streams where they await a freshet to carry them down the stream. 

 In such cases a crew to break landing is not required. Dependence is placed on the 

 current to start the logs. 



