THE LUMBER INDUSTRY Lo 
formation of jams which cause delays and waste of 
timber, especially when dynamite is necessary for its 
extrication. A single log may get twisted and cause 
a tangled mass. The skilful river-driver scampers 
like a squirrel from log to log, and in spite of danger 
releases the key log which causes the trouble, and the 
whole moves on again toward the sawmill. 
In this way the logs are floated, or rather driven, 
to the mill. They move from the water to the saw 
and pass out in the form of lumber to the yards or 
ears, and are then transported to the lumber dealers 
in many parts of the world. 
The history of a tree from the time it starts in 
the forest until the boards which it yields are used, 
would form an interesting and, in many instances, 
an exciting story. 
Very often, as in Canada, these logs, when they 
reach larger streams, are tied together and rafted long 
distances. The common raft consists of a few logs 
side by side. On this the rafters with their families 
often live in rudely constructed shanties. These 
float, sometimes sail, long distances down rivers. 
Often several such rafts are bound together and 
towed by tugs. The visitor to Germany will see 
many such rafts of long straight tree-stems from the 
Black Forest bound down the Rhine to the Low 
Countries at its mouth. 
