Canadian Forcslrij Journal, October, 1917 



1301 



Earlp Daps in the Lumber Camps 



4. — 



Bij Capt. Robert Dollar 



Ed. Note: — Captain Robert Dollar 

 began life as a camp boy on the Upper 

 Ottawa in the employ of Mr. Hiram 

 Robinson of Ottawa, a Director of the 

 Canadian Forestry Association. He 

 rose to a commanding position as a 

 lumber exporter and ship owner. 



In passing through Western On- 

 tario in a comfortable Pullman with 

 dining car attached and in crossing 

 to Spanish and Serpent Rivers, it 

 brought back very vividly to my 

 recollection the tremendous changes 

 that have taken place in this part 

 of the country in the last 35 years 

 when there was hardly a white man 

 on the shore of Lake Huron at Kil- 

 larney and Spanish River Mills. 



At this time I was lumbering on 

 the Serpent River some 30 miles from 

 Lake Huro'n. We sent in the men 

 and supplies in a steamer in the fall 

 of 1881 and built a warehouse at the 

 mouth of the river to hold our year's 

 supplies. We boated supplies up the 

 river to where the camp was to be 

 built, sufficient to last until the snow 

 and ice made it possible to haul with 

 teams. The men were then cut off 

 from all communication with the 

 outer world. On February 21, 1882, 

 I started with a team of horses to visit 

 the camp. The entire distance of 

 250 miles was made on the trackless 

 ice from Parry Sound, Ont. The 

 time occupied was eight days. We 



slept out every night. The weather 

 was intensely cold, being below zero 

 the first three days, while on the 

 last day it rained. Not being pre- 

 pared for such a change in the wea- 

 ther, we had a miserable time of it. 

 Sleeping out in winter in a heavy rain 

 storm is anything but comfortable 

 to say the least. 



A Sd-MHc Tramp. 



The weather was so bad, I left the 

 team and teamster at our warehouse 

 at the mouth of the river and m.ade 

 the last thirty-five miles on foot in 

 the soft, slushy snow. It was hard 

 walking and I was glad to get to the 

 camp, and the men were delighted to 

 get news from the outside world. I 

 found the work had gone on success- 

 fully, and we had a lot of fine tim- 

 ber on the ice ready to be floated to 

 Lake Huron, where it was to be load- 

 ed on vessels and taken to Kingston 

 at the foot of Lake Ontario. There 

 it was rafted and run down the rapids 

 of the St. Lawrence, then towed to 

 Quebec to be again loaded into ocean 

 going ships for Liverpool where it 

 was again formed into small rafts 

 and taken up the canal to Manchester. 

 Here it was sawn up into sizes for 

 making cotton spinning machinery. 



I spent three weeks looking over 

 various tracts of timber, but could not 

 find the sized timber recjuired for this 

 trade, namely, 20 inches average dia- 

 meter. On this account I decided 



BOVRIL 



Saves Kitchen Waste 



There will be no more throwing away of good food if you keep a bottle 

 of Bovril in the kitchen. Bovril helps you to make delicious dishes out of 

 cold food. Better soup, better stews — less expense. 



