FLOATING AND RAFTING 415 
booms are placed in essential spots along the channel. A head 
of water is accumulated on the banking ground and a crew is 
set to work to "break down" the "landing"' or "bank;"^ 
that is, to set the logs afloat in the current so they can pro- 
ceed downstream. The sluice gates of the dams are opened 
a short time before the logs are started through and are not 
closed until several minutes after the logs have ceased coming, 
otherwise jams will form at points along the channel. The 
work starts on the pile farthest downstream and in the center 
of the channel, the logs from the top of the pile being thrown 
into the water by means of peavies and timber grapples. This 
continues until the drivers have cleaned a channel wide enough 
to enable them to roll the remaining logs from the pile into the 
stream. After having cleaned up one section they proceed to 
loosen the next section above, and are sometimes obliged to ex- 
plode a small charge of dynamite to free logs which are frozen 
together. When logs are piled on one side of the stream, only, 
the drivers roll the logs into the stream, beginning at the water's 
edge. The loose logs float down to the splash dam where they 
are converged toward the sluiceway by bracket booms. Drivers 
stationed on the latter keep the logs parallel to the current and 
prevent them from jamming when they pass through the sluice. 
Workmen armed with peavies and pike poles- are stationed at 
strategic points along the stream to prevent logs from becoming 
stranded on sand bars, and from forming jams on rocks and in 
narrow places in the channel. 
Jams and stranded logs often can be moved bj^ the use of a 
dog-warp which has two strong hooks attached near the center 
of a rope stretched across the stream. A crew of three or four 
men is stationed on either bank and by catching one or the 
other of the hooks into logs the men are able to pull them in 
either direction. The use of dynamite is resorted to when other 
means fail. 
1 In the Appalachian region, logs frequentlj^ are not banked but are scattered 
in the beds of the streams where they await a freshet to carr>' them dowTi the 
stream. In such cases a crew to break landing is not required. Dependence 
is placed on the current to start the logs. 
2 This is an ash or hickory pole, from 12 to 20 feet long, with a screw pike 
and hook on one end. It is very serviceable in controlling logs in water. 
The screw pike when forced into a log has a tenacious grip which enables 
the workman to exert a strong puU without losing his hold on the log. 
