LUMBEEING. 29 



plateau by a wire cablfi, wound around a drum or cylinder that stands 

 close to the escarpment. The drum, however, is upright instead of 

 horizontal, and is made to revolve by a team of mules or horses hitched 

 to a long pole that serves as a lever. (PI. VIII, fig. 1.) Attached by 

 one end to the lever, with the other end trailing on the ground, is a 

 short, stout pole, which acts as a brake when the team stops. The 

 longest cable used bv a single team is about 2,000 feet long. 



In operating the cable it is fastened by grab hooks to the log in 

 the cove below. When all is ready, the man at the drum is signaled 

 to start his team, and the log is slowly drawn up the slope. The 

 course is seldom straight. The log is directed this way and that to 

 escape obstructions, and it must generally be helped over the bowlders 

 strewn along the way. Arrived at the escarpment which separates 

 cove from plateau, it is drawn up a rough, inclined chute of logs, as 

 shown in PL VIII, 'fig. 2. 



"Drumming," though simple and effective, is a leisurely method of 

 logging. The cable winds slowly, and stops whenever the log meets 

 an obstruction. Besides, the most is not made out of the method. A 

 set of leads through the timber, suitable to the location of the trees 

 and the contour of the ground and equipped with snatch blocks and 

 spools at the corners, is seldom planned out. " Drumming" often 

 causes damage to large standing trees, whose bark is torn by the 

 friction of the cables, and to young growth which the logs crush in 

 their passage. 



KOADS AT SEWANEE. 



On the plateau the principal public roads lead to Cowan, Sherwood, 

 Alto, Monteagle, and Jasper. Besides, there are old wood roads and 

 roads to the mines and to the different "views." Though numerous, 

 these are neither well graded nor well drained, and washouts are fre- 

 quent. In the coves roads are not so easily built or maintained. The 

 Cowan road in Hawkins Cove is the onl} T cove road likely to be used 

 in lumbering The University Domain. The upper part of this road, 

 while steep, is kept in fine condition; farther down, where the grade 

 slackens, the drainage is poor, but from the foot of the mountain 

 until Cowan is reached the road improves. 



The University desires better roads on its domain and is improving 

 them as fast as its funds allow. 



THE LOG MARKET IS EXCELLENT. 



The market for Sewanee timber is excellent. All qualities are in 

 demand. Lumber manufacturers at Tullahoma, about 25 miles north 

 of Sewanee, on the main line of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. 

 Louis Railroad, can use the entire output of the Sewanee forest. The 

 freight rate to Tullahoma is §8.50 for a car of 30,000 pounds. A good 



