DESTROYING THE REDWOOD. 25 
axeman and the mill were hid from view—buried com- 
pletely by the trees.” 
LOGGING IN CALIFORNIA. 
The following account of the manner of handling the 
redwood logs is condensed from the Scientific American 
of recent date, and may be found interesting. The 
manner of preparing the tree, and treating the road on 
which the logs are snaked out, is the same in detail as 
is already given in the commencement of this chapter, 
with the exception that the trees are now felled with 
saws instead of axes, as hitherto; it being found that 
the trees jump better from their stumps, and cause less 
waste by breakage, than when the axe was used. 
No wagons are used in the woods, the logs being sim- 
ply snaked along the ground, and in this manner the 
loads hauled are sometimes enormous. One train of 
seven logs, drawn on Humboldt Bay by five yoke of 
oxen, scaled collectively 22,500 feet, board measure, of 
mercantile lumber. 
- Until within the past year all the labor of handling 
these logs was done with cattle, but now steam is used 
in many places for this purpose. The machine consists 
of an upright boiler and engine, somewhat similar to a 
portable hoisting-engine, except that, instead of a reel 
to wind the rope on, it has two “ gypsy-heads” on each 
end of the reel shaft. To move this machine around in 
the woods, they run a line ahead, make it fast to a tree 
or stump, take two or three turns around the gypsy, 
and start up the engine. In this way it hauls itself 
wherever wanted. By the use of this machine heavy 
logs are brought out of ravines and bad places, where it 
would be impossible to get them with oxen or horses. 
A wooden tramway is used for transporting the logs 
from the woods to the mills or streams; but, as the more 
accessible timber is being cut off, this way of convey- 
ance is supplanted by iron and steel rails or locomotives. 
2 
