The Lumberjack Sky Pilot

mp life will add to the interest of the reader

a grade scarcely enough to be noticed in ordinary traffic also adds danger and uncertainty to the haul. If there is a grade, its descent must be towards the landing, hence the need of skilled road-makers. It is in the early fall of the year that these logging roads are made. Trees are felled, every stump is removed and the little hills are leveled until there appears in the forest a broad, level, often winding avenue that suggests a city speedway. When the cold binding wind of the north has frozen hill and glen and the swamp lands have become resistant to the tread, the ru

amp consist of a cookshed made large enough for cooking and dining-room purposes, a bunkhouse to house the men, a black

er. The rest of the space is reserved for the dining-room, and the tables present the appearance of a sea of oilcloth. The table dishes are of tin, but in a few camps enamelware has very acceptably been introduced. Substantial iron knives and forks, and unsubstantial tin spoons are instruments of adornment and utility. The condiments or relishes are in boxes of large capacity or in bottles tha

," says a large placard adorning the walls, and the writer has never doubted the statement; in fact, he is willing to make a

OAD OF LOGS EVER HAULED

table. But the food is generally better than the outsider would expect. It is strong, substantial, abundant, and of good quality, to which is added variety. The fastidious would hardly be satisfied with the service, but it is not intended for t

he vermin. Fortunately, some of the camps are better kept and the men escape this additional irritation. A large cylindrical wood-stove is installed in the center of the room, and above it is built a rack for drying the clothes of the men. Since every lumberjack wears several pairs of socks to keep out the cold, this rack in the e

s the small camp store is called. Here the workers buy clothing, shoes, tobacco and the few articles needed in the camp. The stock is not exten

e solitudes are passing away. In Minnesota, two billion board feet of lumber represent the cut of the winter months, and in the camps and mill

ge carrying provisions for man and beast. These teams are the

"push" is another who goes by the name of the "straw push." The camps have their own nomenclature, and some of the names are interesting and humorous. The carpenter is the "wood butcher;" the clerk is the "ink splasher," or the "bloat that makes the stroke;" the man who tends the logging roads and keeps them free from anything that would interfere with the heavy sleds is called the "road monkey;" the wor

lear the trunk of its branches and make the openings through which the logs are drawn to the skidways. After the tree has fall

ota, which scaled over twenty thousand feet. One of the camps situated near Shell Lake, Wisconsin, is said to have hauled the largest load of logs ever drawn out of a camp by four horses. The load contained thirty-one thousand four hundred and eighty feet. A thousand

to go into isolation and hardship?" you ask. We can only answer, "Why does the sailor go down to th

to the callin

e brimmin' cup

ife is sweet to my

to the callin'

ho had spent forty-four winters in the woods and his brother almost as many. It

because the causes of their depravity are absent. These big, hearty fellows may be strong in vices, but they are by no means lacking in virtues. They have their code of honor, and the man who

ome; her purity is her protection and his respect goes out to her. The Sisters of Charity go through the camps soliciting for the hospitals and schools. Between the camps they are often miles from any habitation and when night overtakes them they sleep in the camps. I have never heard of one of them being molested in

all drank, the foreman included. As the bottle went the rounds it was offered to the foreman's wife, but scarcely had the bottle been extended to her when the

camps an ex-convict worked and for some unknown reason made life unbearable to a pleasant, easy-going Irishman. The ex-convict was ever trying for a fight, but the Irishman's blood was more sluggish than that of the average son of Erin. At last the attacks were more than the peace-loving fellow could stand. (How does the proverb read? "Beware of the wrath of the silent man.") He went to his bunk and put on his spike bo

s not apt to complain when things go wrong, but rather to walk into the office and demand his wages, after which he will proceed to another camp. Sometimes a whole camp will suddenly leave because of some imposition or provocation that may in itself seem slight. One o

due him, but the clerk was a surly bully and in reply tossed the little Norwegian out of the office. Against such phys

give you your stak

e out of the off

ed as he thought of the splendid opening the action of

by the waist and leading him to the office. "Come on and watc

ffice, bunky ente

eserved seat while I raise the c

unkmate shook his monstrous fist under the n

quick. Sprinkle out Olson's, too, and if you don't hurry this little shack will loo

ed out in record time. Bunky and Olson left the office with the air of victorious ge

playing with the greasy cardboards. Some of the proprietors do not allow card playing and they say the prohibition has caused a more peaceful s

ckingly contrasted with the subject, for so habituated are they to profa

gotten book fell into the hands of a lumberjack who could read music and who possessed a g

nger enthusiastically, "the show don'

on closing, for the sentiment

t I ever heard." This was said admiringly, and with the intention of expressing appreciation, but the

steam jammer. The sky-hooker, or top-loader, who was exceptionally profane, was at his post on the top of the car. One of the logs did not come up in the way that suited him and he b

n minutes afterwards the hook broke, and an enormous log weighing several tons crushed the body of the hooker to pulp

arge-hearted, touched with generous impulse and responsive in his desire to ameliorate suffering. Often he will impoverish himself to give to the causes that help humanity. Money is of little v

y when he next visited them. Happening to be in the city shortly afterwards the missionary mentioned the fact of the coming baptism and the ladies of the church in which he was speaking thought they would co

called the baby, and when they saw that the articles sent to the child were second-

hat do the city folks mean by insu

ve the best glad rags.

y generous soul cast in his two bits so that

e dependent on his labors. Death visited the home and took one of the children, adding to the financial burden. The news of the family's needs came to Wils

ind a corner in the potter's field, the boys see that he is decently interred; the sick do not often fall on the community, for they are help

the hours in the pure air and the hard, active lives of the workers seem to counteract the disease-breeding conditions. Most of the cases that go to the hospitals are due to accidents rather than to disease. Accidents are all too common in the camps. Felling the large trees is never without hazard and the loading of the logs is more dangerous still. The heavy hauling adds

f men among them. Many of them have been well educated, have come from homes of refinement and ease, but through adversity have gone to lower plains of life. Others have followed the wo

power to the railroader was the restraint that their homes cast about them, and through their homes the gospel and other adjuncts of civilization were possible, but these are men who are separated from their homes or unblessed with home ties. When Christian indifference was supplanted with Christian activity a change was soon noted among the workers on the railroad and they became a respectable class of men, of whom the natio

R OF BU