FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 2/5 



wielded by the hero as, coolly and undaunted, he proceeds with his work. The 

 critical moment is close at hand. There is some more prying with the handspike, 

 a few more blows with the axe, and the huge threatening mass begins to move. 

 Above the sound of the foaming waters a loud shout of warning comes from the 

 men below, and then, leaping from log to log as the jam breaks, the brave fellow 

 reaches the shore in safety amid the applauding cheers of his comrades ; or, as a 

 cr\' of horror breaks from the watching crew, he loses his footing and disappears 

 beneath the terrible grinding mass. Crushed and torn, a mere semblance of 

 humanity, a man's body is found in the river later on, and in the camps next 

 winter another chapter is added to the unwritten story of heroism as the men relate 

 in quiet tones the story of the man who lost his life on the company's drive that 

 spring. And so, amid scenes of toil and danger the work is done, the drive is safely 

 inclosed in the big boom at the mills, and the job is completed. 



There is probably no industry which involves so many varied details as the 

 business of lumbering; none which requires so close attention at every stage of the 

 work, and in which intelligence, strict economy, and, above all, thorough experi- 

 ence, are so necessary to profitable results. The failures in it have been so many 

 that no one should undertake it who has not within him these specified requisites 

 to success. 



Alodern Improvements. 



It may be interesting to note here some of the more important changes that 

 have taken place in the methods of lumbering since the Dutchman first set up his 

 sawmill on Manhattan Island, most of which have occurred within the last century. 



The chopper no longer uses a single bitted axe. In cutting down the tree a 

 crosscut saw is used instead of an axe. The trunk of the fallen tree is sawed, not 

 chopped, into logs of the required length. The forester in charge of a job insists 

 that all trees shall be cut as close to the ground as possible, to save the timber 

 which is lost in a high stump. On some of the jobs logs are skidded by wire 

 ropes and steam power. Iced roads, easy grades, wide bunks and attention to 

 details enable a team to haul a much larger load of logs. In some places water 

 slides, miles in length, render log hauling unnecessary. Logs are placed on cars 

 by steam loaders, lifted from the lake or stream by steam jack-works, and taken to 

 the mill on a railroad instead of driving them down the river. The introduction 

 of the planing mill ^ built up a new and distinct branch of the lumber business. In 

 modern sawmills we find the oscillating gang, circular saws with inserted teeth, 



* The Woodworth planing machine was patented in 1828, and the patent was extended twice. 



