POWER SKIDDING 237 
then gives the order to go ahead, which the whistle boy trans- 
mits to the skidder and the logs start down the road. 
During the early periods of modern pullboating a device called 
the Baptist cone was placed over the ends of logs to enable them 
to slip over and under obstructions. These cones were made 
of steel but were too heavy to handle, when made strong enough 
to withstand the rough treatment and they were abandoned, 
in favor of sniping. Tongs are not satisfactory because they 
lose their jrip as soon as the draft on the cable is lessened. When 
a tow that is being dragged down a main road is stopped, as it 
frequently must be, the tongs drop off and a man must be sent 
to readjust them. For this reason, plugs or puppies are preferred. 
The crew of a pullboat is divided into two sections, one of 
which attaches the logs to the main cable and the other operates 
the machinery and rafts the logs. 
The woods crew of seven men consists chiefly of negroes as 
follows : 
1 foreman 3 side-line men 
1 plug setter 1 whistle boy 
1 head hooker 
The plug setter adjusts the plugs or puppies. The side-line 
men carry the skidding lines from the main run to the logs and 
connect them with the puppies. The head hooker's duty is to 
attach the logs to the main cable by short chains. The whistle 
boy transmits the orders of the boss to the engineer by means of 
a code of whistle blasts. 
The crew at the pullboat consists of five men, as follows: 
1 engineer 1 wood-passer 
1 fireman 1 deck man 
1 rafter 
The engineer and the fireman perform the usual duties. The 
deck man uncouples the logs as they are brought up to the pull- 
boat, removes the plugs and chains, and poles the logs around to 
the rafter at the rear. He also attaches the removed chains and 
plugs to the main cable by which they are returned to the woods 
crew. The rafter makes the logs up into cigar-shaped raft units 
about 125 feet long. The wood-passer supplies the pullboat 
with fuel wood which has been previously cut and piled along 
the banks of the bayou. A flat boat is used for this purpose. 
About three cords daily are required for a single boiler. 
