was split into three detachments with the company 

 headquarters to remain in Chatinois. The other two 

 detachments went to Hortes, and La Marche in the 

 Department of Houte Marne, near the city of Langres. 

 As conditions were very similar in all three detach- 

 ments this article will be confined to the Chatinois 

 operation, it being the only one with which I had 

 personal contact. 



The woods operation which supplied our logs at 

 Chatinois was located on the outskirts of the city of 

 \eiif chateau, some seven or eight miles distant from 

 the saw mill. This forest, known as the Forest of 

 NYnfcys, is one of the largest in that part of the 

 country. I did not determine to whom it belonged, 

 1m t was always of the impression that it was a Nation- 

 al Forest as it was under the direct supervision of a 

 corps of French foresters. To us this forest was al- 

 ways known as "The Beech." This name having 

 jirly been applied because of the preponderance of 

 beech timber, and for want of a better name. 



The topography of much of the surrounding country 

 was rather rough, being on the outskirts of the Vosges 

 foothills. However, the forest itself was not suffi- 

 ciently rough to give any trouble in logging. Nothing 

 approaching the conditions at La Brest (where the 

 much talked of 72 per cent logging railway was locat- 

 ed) had to be met.' If anything the forest was less 

 rough than the surrounding country. Drainage, how- 

 ever, was very poor. The soil was residual clay with 

 an underlying limestone often not more than six inch- 

 es below the surface of the ground. This combination 

 of clay and limestone made very poor drainage con- 



5 



