1096 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



MILL OF 20* ENGINEERS IN MOUNTAINS OF HAg^^^C^I^E^MBE^ BEING LOADED ON TRACERS READV FOR 



called for to win these results. Nor is it possible to 

 describe the pressure upon all of us during the summer 

 and fall of 1918 when every lumberjack in the regiment 

 felt the tenseness of the 

 final grapple and put every- 

 thing he had into it. I will 

 never forget the big mill at 

 Eclaron as I saw it one 

 October night sparks 

 streaming from its stacks, 

 its two carriages flashing 

 back and forth, loads of 

 oak logs creaking up to the 



mill deck, cars being shunt- 

 ed about, ties loaded into 



them hot from the saws, 



and the sober, earnest faces 



of the men as they worked 



under the electric lights. 



They were shipping 5,000 



ties daily to the Argonne 



offensive. That scene was 



typical of the eighty or 



more forestry operations in 



France during the great 



drive. It is doubtful if 



American resourcefulness 



was ever put to a harder 



test than during the first 



months of the forestry work 



in France. One company of the 4th Battalion began skid- 

 ding ties with harness made out of ropes and old sacks, 

 and bridles fashioned from twenty-penny nails and 



wire. This "hay-wire" camp 

 speedily made off with the 

 monthly records of the sec- 

 tion for tie production. 

 During the long, anxious 

 wait for the arrival of the 

 American sawmills, French 

 mills of various antique de- 

 signs were utilized at many 

 points. " On his introduc- 

 tion to one of these, a mill- 

 wright from the northwest 

 offered to eat its daily cut. 

 The French mills were ag- 

 gravations of the flesh and 

 promoters of profanity. 

 They all had to be bolstered 

 up, more or less rebuilt, 

 have carriages devised out 

 of any odd lots of machin- 

 ery at hand, and new saws 

 added. Poor as they were, 

 they served to tide the 

 army over its first few 

 months in France, and 

 their production under 

 the "ancient regime" was 



AN AMFRICA\ T FORF.STRY ENGINEER AT THE WATER BAG 

 WHICH CONTAINS THE CAMP'S SUPPLY OF DRINKING WATER 

 THE ROOF OVERHEAD KEEPS THE SUN OFF THE BAG, AND A 

 DITCH CARRIES AWAY THE LEAKAGE 



