FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 273 



road, which in turn leads to the lake or river bank where the logs are to be 

 unloaded. A diagram of the log roads on a big lumber job would resemble a tree 

 with subdividing branches, although a somewhat crooked one owing to the curves 

 and windings of the ravines or depressions down which the roads must go. This 

 laying out of the roads is an important part of the work, for upon the skill and 

 judgment exercised in it much of the profit in the job depends. All necessary 

 roads must be built, but unnecessary ones must be avoided. The jobber must 

 exercise no little engineering skill in selecting a line that will reach all his skidways, 

 and at the same time preserve a practicable grade. It must be down hill all the 

 way from the starting point, so that large loads can be hauled, and yet not so steep 

 as to shove a team over the bank. Skill and experience are also called for in the 

 construction of side hill or dugway roads, in bridge building, and in corduroying 

 swamps. 



The camps have been built, the bark peeled and ranked, the skidways piled high 

 with logs, and on the first deep snow the hauling commences. The roads, having 

 been scraped smooth, are sprinkled each night from a large water tank, drawn on a 

 sleigh, until a good ice bottom is formed. Brush, straw, or sawdust has been 

 strewn on the . steep grades to retard the speed of the loaded sleighs, and the 

 banking or rolling ground soon becomes a scene of activity as the teams drive up 

 in quick succession to be unloaded. The binding chains are quickly unfastened 

 by ready hands, and the huge pile rolls off the sleigh with a bumping, thumping 

 noise as the logs rebound from the frozen earth. 



The teamsters vie with each other in the size of their loads ; and, with the 

 wide "bunks" now in use, iced roads, and heavy teams, a pyramid of logs is rolled 

 up on the sleigh at the skidways until the driver, astride of the top log, is 

 perched ten feet or more above the ground. Some of the " champion " loads 

 contain from five to six thousand feet, although much smaller ones are the gen- 

 eral rule. A teamster is expected to make a specified number of trips each day, 

 according to the length of the haul, which varies in most jobs from one to four 

 miles. He needs go to sleep early, for he must be up long before daylight, feed 

 his team, get his breakfast, and be off on the road while the stars are still shining 

 clear in the cold winter sky. 



The wages paid in the lumber camps of Northern New York run about $28 

 per month, including board, with a distinction in favor of first class men, to whom 

 higher wages are paid. The jobbers are quick to recognize a good hand, and a 

 man is paid what he can earn. 

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