[Illustration: The men calmly withdrew the long ribbon
of steel
louis vuitton outlet and stood to
one side]
After the dust had subsided, and the last reverberations of
that mighty crash had ceased to reecho through the forest, the fellers stepped
forward to examine their work. They took all things into consideration, such as
old wind shakes, new decay, twist of grain and location of the limbs. Then they
measured off the prostrate trunk into logs of twelve, fourteen, sixteen,
eighteen, or even twenty feet, according to the best expediency. The division
points between logs they notched plainly, and,
louis vuitton
outlet shouldering their axes and their sledge and their long,
limber saw, pocketing their wedges and their bottle of coal oil, they moved on
to where the next mighty pine had through all the centuries been awaiting their
coming.
Now arrived on the scene the "swampers" and cross-cut men,
swarming over the prostrate tree like ants over a piece of sugar. Some of them
cut off limbs; others, with axes and crowbars, began to pry away great slabs of
bark; still others, with much precaution of shovel,
chanel bags
sale wedge and axe against jamming, commenced the slow and
laborious undertaking of sawing apart the logs.
But most interesting and
complicated of all were the further processes of handling the great logs after
they had been peeled and sawed.
The ends of steel cables were dragged by
a horse to the prostrate tree, where they were made fast by means of chains and
hooks. Then the puffing and snorting donkey engine near the chute tightened the
cable. The log stirred, moved, plunged its great blunt nose forward,
chanel
bags ploughing up the soil. Small trees and bushes it overrode. But
sooner or later it collided head on, with a large tree, a stump, or a boulder.
The cable strained. Men shouted or waved their arms in signal. The donkey engine
ceased coughing. Then the horse pulled the end of the log free. Behind it was
left a deep trough, a half cylinder scooped from the soil.
At the chutes
the logs were laid end to end, like a train of cars. A more powerful
cable,
chanel
bags endless, running to the mill and back again, here took up the
burden. At a certain point it was broken by two great hooks. One of these, the
one in advance, the men imbedded in the rear log of the train. The other was
dragged behind. Away from the chutes ten feet the returning cable snapped
through rude pulleys. The train of logs moved forward slowly and steadily,
sliding on the greased ways.