FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 27 1 



Sticks and moss to keep out the wind and cold. A " tote " road in the meanwhile is 

 cut through the woods, over which are hauled loads of boards for use in the con- 

 struction of buildings, and the making of the necessary partitions, doors, floors, 

 bunks, and the long tables at which the men eat. In old times no floors were 

 laid, the earth being leveled off to serve the purpose ; but now most of the 

 camps have floors made of boards or flattened logs. Shingles and window sashes 

 are also hauled in, and the camps are made ready for their occupants. On the 

 larger jobs they are built to accommodate from eighty to one hundred men. 



There is generally one large low building, with an attic fitted up with tiers of 

 bunks for a sleeping room, the ground floor containing a large room filled with long 

 rough tables on which the meals are served. The front end of this room is parti- 

 tioned off for a " men's room," where the crew sit evenings, smoking, reading, 

 singing or card playing, preparatory to climbing the ladder to their night's rest in 

 the attic. Of late years women are often employed in the lumber camps as cooks. 

 Hence the name " men's room ; " for the crew are not allowed in the eating room or 

 kitchen except at meal time. A violation of this rule is apt to evoke the displeas- 

 ure of the cooks, and a dipperful of hot water as a penalty for " snoopin' " around 

 the kitchen and talking to the women folks. In most of the Adirondack camps, 

 however, a French Canadian officiates as cook, with another man for an assistant 

 who is known in some camps as the " cookee." 



Another log building, one story only, is built for a barn, in which the numerous 

 teams of horses employed on the job are warmly and comfortably cared for, and 

 where a stock of hay and oats is stored for their maintenance. The blacksmith 

 being an indispensable man in a logging camp, a log building of suitable size is put 

 up for his use, in which there is a forge and all the tools for shoeing horses, mending 

 chains and repairing sleds. In the larger camps, where a big job is being carried 

 on, an additional building, known as the ofHce, is erected for the convenience of the 

 boss, the log scaler, and the timekeeper, who have their rude desks there at which 

 they work evenings. Sometimes, also, there is kept on hand a small stock of 

 necessary articles for sale to the men, such as shoes, stockings, mittens, tobacco, etc. 



The "tote" road having been put in a fairly passable condition, the jobber hauls 

 in his stock of provisions, tools, and feed for his teams, followed by straggling 

 groups of hardy looking men, most of whom, having spent their previous earnings 

 in some metropolis of the wilderness, have no alternative from another long sojourn 

 in the lumber camps. 



If the contract of the jobber includes hemlock and bark peeling, work opens 

 in the early summer, for the bark will peel only from May 20th to August 20th, or 



