USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
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Watson & O'Brien,
5,000,000
Sage, McGraw & Co., Wenona. 7,540,000
John Arnold & Co.,
HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
42
HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
as little sawdust and as much lumber as possible. A large propor- tion of the mills run gangs, in which the waste of saw-kerf is re- duced to a minimum, and the old idea of a circular saw having hard work to hold its own in slabbing for gang, the two combined being thought to do good work if averaging 50,000 feet per day, is exploded in the realization that a circular is no great shakes which does not make a daily average of 50,000 feet, and help the gang along beside. The change in this respect is notable. In 1853, a manufacturer at Saginaw City invited me to visit his mill on a cer- tain afternoon, as he had wagered a bottle of champagne with some of his friends that his circular saw would average 1,500 feet per hour the whole afternoon. He was not certain that he could win, but he knew that his saw had cut as high as 2,000 feet for one single hour, and he believed he could do nearly as well for half a day. Contrast this with the work now so common in circular mills which cut from 4,000 feet to as high as 9,000 feet per hour. Of course the old style mill did not have steam feed, nor yet wire-rope feed, and the rapid motion of the carriage made possible by their use could not be thought of with the old rack and pinion. When my friend won his wager, his edging table had to run half the night to clear up the sidings which so extraordinary a cut had buried it under, for the double edger of to-day was unknown. I am not sure but my friend's wager and success was what led inventive genius to study some means by which an edger could keep up with the main saw, and thus the wonderfully effective machine, which not only takes care of all that comes to it, but whistles for more in its insatiable greed, was added to the catalogue. I have spoken of the improved blooded cattle and horses of Bay County. When the circular found its true gait, there arose an imperative necessity for a new breed of dogs, and no saw mill to-day would try to reach its limit of speed and capacity by the use of the mangy cur which formerly required its back to be broken with a heavy mallet before it would take hold and bite into the timber. Those were not days of railroad transportation, and extra weight did not count for much if it was dry lumber. Such a thing as a trimmer was unknown. I might mention many other adjuncts to modern mills, of which the ancients of 1860 were ignorant, all of which have done so much to enable the mills of the Saginaw Valley to make their record of a billion feet in one season.
MANUFACTURERS OF BAY COUNTY AND PRODUCT OF 1872.
The following table shows the lumber manufacturers and pro- duct of each for the year 1872:
KAWKAWLIN.
FEET.
O. A. Ballou & Co. 8,700,000
BANGOR.
Moore, Smith & Co
8,141,000
Taylor, Moutlhrop & Co
10,200,000
Keystone Salt and Lumber Co
13,000,000
WENONA.
E. C. Litchfield
3,605,200
H. W. Sage & Co
15,000,000
SALZBURGH.
Charles M. Smith & Co
4,500,000
Brooks & Adams
10,000,000
Laderach Bros ..
500,000
Malone & Gardner
1,500,000
BAY CITY.
Chapin & Barber.
14,650,000
John Carrier & Co
12,250,000
Gates & Fay.
5,420,611
H. M. Bradley & Co
7,300,000
William Peter
10,919,765
N. B. Bradley. .
11,000,000
Hay, Butman & Co
8,459,918
Eddy, Avery & Co
8,509,764
S. H. Webster
8,250,000
Archibald & Bradley 4,000,000
James Shearer & Co
10,251,310
Pitts & Cranage
9,300,000
J. McEwan
9,000,000
Dolsen & Tanner.
8,250,000
Folsom & Arnold
12,000,000
A. Rust & Co
9,700,000
Ames Bros.
5,000,000
J. M. Rouse
1,100,000
PORTSMOUTH.
M. Watrous & Son ..
4,318,000
Watrous Bros. & Co ..
3,500,000
Albert Miller
13,200,000
Hitchcock & Ingraham. 4,500,000
William Peter
4,614,115
Richards, Miller & Co.
10,190,000
John McGraw & Co
6,500,000
F. F. Gardner & Son
3,200,000
Whipple & Parmely
4,000,000
Stevens & Shailer.
4,500,000
Total.
289,029,683
LUMBER PRODUCT OF BAY COUNTY FOR 1875-'76-'77.
O. A. Ballou & Co., Kawkawlin not run.
10,000.000
10,000,000
Moore, Smith & Co., West Bay City ..... 11,000.000 Taylor & Moulthrop, 7.500,000
11,700,000
10,300,000
Keystone Salt & Lum. Co., W. Bay City. 12,000,000
16,000,000
E. O. Litchfield,
2.300,000
23.688,606
22,223,944
L. L. Hotchkiss & Co.,
.. 13,000,000
3.500,000
3.500,000
W. H Malone & Co.,
.. 10,065,900
8,000,000
6,750,000
J. M. Rouse, Bay City
4,000,000
1,500,000
1,800,000
John Carrier & Co.,
John McEwan,
.10.500,000
6,000,000
5,700,000
Chapin & Barber,
..
.11,250,000
8,000.000
11.250,000
Folsom & Arnold,
..
. 15,600,000
14,718.860
13,611.591
Pitts & Cranage,
15.000 000
12.000,000
13,850,00 0
Gates & Fay,
..
17,500,000
16.500.000
15,000,00 0
William Peter,
..
15,123,017
14.200,000
11,862,000
N. B. Bradley & Co.,
..
10,078,951
9,000,000
9.587,060
A. Rust & Co.,
S. H. Webster.
..
12,915,000
11,271,755
10,501,014
Albert Miller,
10,000,000
10,000,000
12,000.000
Watrous Bros. & Co.,
4,000.000
4,550.000
3.500,0 00
John McGraw & Co,
38,000.000
40,256,000
30,123,472
Watrous & Sons,
Not run.
Not run.
2,250,000
Totals.
315,341,183
293,585,221
269,047,835
MANUFACTURERS AND PRODUCT FOR 1879.
WEST BAY CITY.
FEET.
R. J. Briscoe
7,000,000 .
E. J. Hargrave
12,650,000
L. L. Hotchkiss
12,500,000
Murphy & Dorr
11,500,000
Laderach Bros.
4,000,000
W. H. Malone.
12,000,727
H. W. Sage & Co
29,388,976
B. W. Merrick. .
1,000,000
Keystone Salt and Lumber Co.
14,000,000
Moulthrop.
10,000,000
Smith & Son.
12,500,000
Total.
126,539,703
ESSEXVILLE.
Carrier & Co
13,175,000
Rouse Bros
7,000,000
John McEwan 11,500,000
Total.
31,675,000
BAY CITY.
Dolsen, Chapin & Co.
17,500,000
Chapin & Barber
13,000,000
Folsom & Arnold. 18,000,000
R. J. Briscoe (Detroit Mill).
4,250,000
Pitts & Cranage
20,000,000
..
12,000,000
ยท 8,000,000
Laderach Bros.,
Dolsen, Chapin & Co., Bay City
.. 13.000,000
11,700.000
14.035,643
8 909.725
13,350 000
14,000.000
13.063,111
Hav, Butman & Co.,
11,000,000
11.900,000
11,000,000
9,000,000
8 000,000
9,000,000
S. McLean & Son,
..
.11,000.000
12,000.000
10,000,000
Eddy, Avery & Co.,
.. .. 25,248.590
H. W. Sage & Co ..
.. 4,000,000
4,000,000
10,140,000
1877.
1876. 1875.
2
HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
43
Gates & Fay.
13,500,000
F. E. Bradley
8,700,000
Eddy, Avery & Eddy
18,000,000
William Peter.
19,250,000
N. B. Bradley (Trustee)
20,500,000
Hay, Butman & Co
12,404,269
A. Rust & Co
11,500,000
S. H. Webster.
9,000,000
S. McLean & Son
13,250,000
Miller & Lewis.
17,500,000
J. R. Hitchcock
6,260,000
Watrous Bros
3,500,000
A. Chesbrough .
4,500,000
T. H. McGraw & Co.
33,954,169
Total.
264,568,438
Grand Total.
422,783,141
AT THE CLOSE OF 1882.
The following comprehensive review of the season of 1882 was made by the Lumberman's Gazette, and it covers the ground so thoroughly that we use it in this connection:
" It has been a year of successful and satisfactory prosperity in all its departments, and better still, the outlook foreshadows the fact and is brilliant and abundant with hope that this prosperity will continue through the season of 1883. This unequaled pros- perity has been expansive, and to a gratifying degree has affected all the other branches of trade and industry, which have been to a greater or less extent dependent thereon; and considering this fact, it is especially satisfactory to note that Bay City with the other valley cities have expanded and advanced by leaps and bounds of industrial and commercial activity and importance and general prosperity which is surpassed by few sections on the continent.
"The season of 1882 commenced at the opening of navigation with the prices of lumber materially enhanced above what had been asked or even expected during the preceding Winter months, and this advance has been fully and steadily maintained up to the close. A reference to our table will disclose the fact also that the lumber cut of the Saginaw River is greater than that of any year since the commencement of the business. As the shipments by water have also been the largest in the history of the movement of forest products from the river, it will be readily observed that to the manufacturer it has been a year of unrivalled prosperity. Taken in connection with this the fact that the salt production of the year is the largest since the inception of the business in 1860, we are warranted in congratulating the mill men on the Saginaw River on the abundant prosperity which has crowned their efforts. It has been to them a year prolific of glorious results. It was entered upon with plethoric purses, the fruits of the preceding sea- son's labor, which enabled them virtually to control the market, and resist any effort from whatever direction to force sales at a re- duction. Indeed, this was hardly required, as the demand for their product has been steady and persistent during the entire season. It appeared to be not so much a question as to the price demanded as the ability to supply the demand, especially in the finer grades of lumber. The season opened with a good supply of logs in the booms, which with the new crop were amply sufficient to keep the mills in constant operations, and the boom companies have exhib- ited unusual enterprise in pushing them forward to their destina- tion. The mills in the aggregate have been constantly employed. No labor disturbances have interfered with the successful prosecu- tion of business, and taken as a whole, employer and employe alike have just cause for congratulation. Of course, as is invariably the rule, there are individual cases to which general results are not ap- plicable, but such cases are very marked exceptions. In fact, so universal has been the prosperity, that it would be almost unreason-
able to expect a repetition. The grave fears expressed by some very cautious operators at the commencement of the season, that the success of the preceding year, added to the unusual activity which had characterized operations in the woods, and the great activity with which the season opened, would result in overproduction, and hasten an era of stagnation, have failed of realization. Business has been prosecuted with unusual vigor and energy, mills generally have been operated to the extent of their capacity, and the lumber cut has aggregated more than that of any previous year, but the de- mand and the facilities for moving the product have been equal to the emergency, and nothing has intervened to mar the general prosperity. True, we have over 300,000,000 feet of lumber on the docks, the greatest amount ever left over, a large portion of which is unsold, but it must not be forgotten in this connection that the Tittabawassee boom has only about 60,000,000 feet of logs left over against about 300,000,000 the year preceding. The lumber, therefore, on the docks is simply the usual surplus of the Tittaba- wassee boom converted into lumber, which at the opening of navi- gation will be ready for the market in at least a partially seasoned condition. While the facilities for production and production itself have been increased, it must be remembered that the demand has fully kept pace. The natural increase of population in the territory to which our lumber is tributary and the opening up of new industries demanding the Saginaw River product are constantly increasing. This is the eastern limit of lumber production among the Western States, and the Eastern demand cannot fail to be continuous and persistent so long as the production continues, and the pine timber is sufficient for the drafts made upon it. In con- nection with the fact that we have a large amount of lumber cross- piled on the docks it will be well to consider that other fact that shipments by rail the past season have been heavy, and are still continued, and it may therefore be reasonably expected that large inroads will be made in the stock on hand before the first lumber- laden vessel leaves the river next Spring.
"In our last year's review we predicted that the lumber business proper would be less fluctuating in the future than in the past, and the reasons adduced at that time are equally pertinent at present,- a continually increasing demand, with a positive and certain reduc- tion of the commodity. Of course the lumber industry is not beyond the reach of a great financial disaster, which might send consterna- tion and ruin into the ranks of operators, but, barring such a calam- ity, the outlook is of the most gratifying and assuring character.
"The past year has been one of prosperity not alone to the man- ufacturer of lumber; the artisan, the mechanic, the laborer, the merchant, and the agriculturist all have felt its beneficent influ- ence. The business of the merchant has been extensive and remu- nerative, and the mechanic and laborer have found ample employ- ment generally at remunerative wages. Of course labor troubles in other sections have to a certain extent marred the year's prosper- ity, but it is recognized that this might with judicious management have been avoided, and has been more the result of demagoguery than real grievances. On the Saginaw River and tributary territory, the most harmonious feeling has existed between employer and em- ploye, nothing having intervened to mar these pleasant relations. The mill operatives generally at the close of the milling season have hied themselves away to the pineries, for the same employers, and the reciprocal feeling of consideration still remains uninterrupted. To the agriculturist nature has been grandly prolific in bestow- ment. Abundant crops have crowned his labors and blessed his store. This is an important fact for consideration in connection with the lumber trade, and must necessarily have an important bear- ing thereon, at least during the season of 1883. The effects of the past season's prolific crops have not yet reached the lumber indus-
6
44
HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
try to any appreciable extent. The decline in the price of cereals induced the farmer to hold back his crop and defer intended build- ing improvements, which will possibly be commenced as soon as the weather permits in the Spring. This will give an impetus to all
other industries, but it will have an especially important bearing on the lumber trade, which warrants the belief that the demand for lumber thus produced will have a strong tendency to maintain pres- ent satisfactory prices."
PRODUCT OF 1881-'82
NAME AND LOCATION.
Lumber ent 1881.
Lumber ent 1882.
Lath Manufact'd 1882.
Lumber on Dock at close.
Lumber on Dock Sold.
Lumber on Dock Unsold.
Logs in Mill Boom.
BAY CITY AND WEST BAY CITY.
FEET.
FEET.
PIECES.
FEET.
FEET.
FEET.
FEET.
Birdsall & Barker
55,260,722
40,597,119
7,016,700
13.418,635
11,536,000
6,892,535
George C. Myers
5,200,000
6,250,000
1,250,000
2,268,000
818,000
1,450,000
1,000,000 400,000
J. R Hitchcock.
7.500,000
3,500,000
900,000
400,000
500,000
Miller & Lewis
19,219,000
19,750,000
9,000,000
9,000,000
750,000
S. McLean, Son & Co
15.547,984
14 000,000
5,423,000
5,423,000
300,000
Hamilton & McGregor
12,280,000
15,000,000
4,500,000
4,500,000
A. Rust & Bro
14.500 000
17,000,000
3,478,000
3,300,000
1,900,000
1,400,000
300,000
Hay, Butman & Co.
13,547,470
14,075,000
4,168,350
3,000,000
600,000
2,400,000
N. B. Bradley & Sons.
21,000,000
20,500,000 16,500,000
4,200,000
6,500,000
500,000 750,000
3.200,000
5,500,000
S. G. M. Gates
14,000 000
15,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
4 000,000
1,000,000
R. J. Briscoe ...
20,000,000
16,500 000
5,300,000
7.400,000
1,400,000
6,000,000
4,200,000
Folsom & Arnold
18,000,000
19,000,000
1,700,000
5,000,000
5,000,000
5,000,000
Eddy Bros. & Co.
15,500.000
17,750,000
1,500.000
4.225,000
125,000
4,100,000
2,500,000
Dolsen, Chapin & Co
25,000,000
22,500,000
1,000,000
5.350,000
5,350,000
1,500,000
McEwan Bros.
17,000,000
16,500,000
7,000,000
800,000
6,200,000
600,000
Rouse Bros.
10,000,000
10,000,000
5,000,000
Slater & Woodworth.
1,200,000
8,000 000
300,000 3,700,000
4,500,000
4,500,000
4,500,000
14.000,000
2,000,000
5,000.000
4,000,000
1,000,600
500,000
Murphy & Dorr.
17,500,000
19,200,000
6,277,00?
4.535,000
3,355,000
1,180,000
3,000,000
Laderach Bros
7,160,000
6,500,000
2,265,000
2,265,000
200,000
W. H. Malone & Co.
17,591,302
19,200,000
500,000
7,500,000
7,500,000
700,000
H. W. Sage & Co
30.121,264
31,500,000
5,000,000
9,000,000
7,000,000
2,000.000
3 000,000
John Welch ..
4,000,000
12,000,000
4.000,000
4,000,000
200,000
Keystone Salt & Lumber Company.
20,153 840
16,000,000
2,500,000
1,000,000
1 000,000
Charles E. Lewis
11,192,209
12,500,000
3,000,000
3,000,000
Smith Bros.
15.500,000| 15,000,000|
441,650
5,000,000
5,000,000
In addition to the above are inland mills which manufacture about 20,000,000 feet of lumber a year.
SHINGLES.
1882. Shingles Manufactured.
1882. Shingles on Dock Unsold.
H. H. & A. N. Culver
6,000,000
Rorison & Co
7,000,000
1,900,000
J. R. Hall
51,500,000
1,000,000
S. A. Hall.
5,200,000
H. M. Bradley & Co
9,890,000
2,088,000
Watrous Bros.
4,000,000
624,250
R. J. Briscoe.
1,870,000
1,400,000
HARDWOOD LUMBER.
1882. Hardwood
Lumber.
George C. Myers
400,000
J. R. Hitchcock
4,000,000
Eddy Bros. & Co.
150,000
Rouse Bros.
400,000
Murphy & Dorr.
75,000
John Welch
450,000
Keystone Salt & Lumber Co.
60,000
16,000
Charles E. Lewis.
1,000,000
Smith Bros.
1,250,000
James Davison
1,500,000
Carrier & Co.
250,000
STAVES AND HEADING.
Staves.
Heading
Birdsall & Barker
2,506,610
174,766
Geo. C. Myers
200,000
90,000
Miller & Lewis.
1,850,000
125,000
S. McLean, Son & Co.
1,000,000
60,000
Hamilton & McGregor
1,200,000
50,000
William Peter.
750,000
125,000
Eddy, Avery & Eddy
1,300,000
40,000
F. E. Bradley & Co.
1,500,000
50,000
Pitts & Cranage
825,000
54,500
Folsom & Arnold .
650,000
20,000
Eddy Bros. & Co.
500,000
100,000
Dolsen, Chapin & Co
1,500,000
80,000
M&Ewan Bros.
1,625,000
40,000
Rouse Bros.
300,000
10,000
L. L. Hotchkiss & Co.
1,000,000
300,000
Murphy & Dorr,
18,333
Laderach Bros.
300,000
17,215
W. H. Malone & Co.
1,100,000
27,000
H. W. Sage & Co.
1,500,000
65,000
Keystone Salt & Lumber Co.
200,000
Chas. E. Lewis
400,000
50,000
Smith Bros.
652,696
22,593
R. M. Bradley & Co.
72,000
Total.
20,719,306
1,607,407
0
Carrier & Co.
15,000,000
15,000,000
5,000,000
2,500,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
E. J. Hargrave & Son
13,000,000
20,000,000
700,000
2,750,000
750,000
2,000,000
Miller & Bros
12,200,000
14,000,000
4,000,000
4 500,000
1,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
William Peter.
18,600,000
Eddy, Avery & Eddy
21,500,000
26,800,000
F. E. Bradley & Co.
14,500,000
13,250,000
Pitts & Cranage
21,300,000
23,000,000
2,000,000
6,300,000
6,300,000
2,250,000
Green & Stevens.
10,480,960
13,000,000
Watrous Bros. (mill burned 1881)
16,250,000
L. L. Hotchkiss & Co
4,500,000
4,500,000
500,000
6 000,000
10,000,000
3,950,000
5,000,000
200,000
5,000,000
4,500,000
sett.
Birdsall & Barker
6,187,500
200,300
5,000,000
G
HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
45
SEASON SHIPMENTS.
The movement of forest products from Bay City by water dur- ing the season of 1882, was as follows:
Destination.
Lumber ft.
Shingles.
Lath p'es.
Ashtabula
1,957,000
1,700,000
47,000
Buffalo
119,717,000 19,685,000
145,000
Black River
1,056,000
278,000
587,000
Cleveland .
80,251,000 51,748,000 9,452,000
Chicago
16,180,000
Erie
8,144,000
500,000
Duluth
500,000
Dunkirk
5,933,000
395,000
150,000
Detroit
21,343,000
600,000
Fremont ..
1,546,000
985,000
404,000
Gibraltar
170,000
50,000
Huron
920,000
90,000
30,000
Milwaukee
850,000
1,910,000
Mt. Clemens.
1,825,000
900,000
Marblehead
160,000
Monroe. .
100,000
New Baltimore.
200,000
Racine
480,000
Toledo
61,844,000
1,060,000
9,515,000
Tonawanda
246,411,000 30,380,000
875,000
Sandusky
8,869,000
1,200,000
Pt. Clinton.
1,110,000
400,000
190,000
Lorain
260,000
Ogdensburg
1,780,000
Vermillion
271,000
Total.
581,877,000 111,281,000 21,995,000
SEASON SHIPMENTS FOR A SERIES OF YEARS FROM THE RIVER.
The following statement shows the aggregate shipments of lumber and shingles from the opening of navigation to the close of the years named:
Lumber, ft.
Shingles.
1868
430,128,100
74,141,105
1869
474,912,425
86,878,500
1870
487,489,268
130,448,490
1871.
516,629,474
142,661,500
1872
492,834,990
87,204,500
1873
452,768,562
38,521,500
1874.
448,707,652
82,164,500
1875
445,149,155
117,832,500
1876
455,227,252
105,743,050
1877
539,886,047
162,594,250
1878.
525,282,098
187,699,380
1879
678,298,866
222,602,731
1880
769,573,000
168,145,400
1881
832,055,939
149,816,000
1882
858,344,000
176,376,500
It will be observed from the foregoing that the lumber ship- ments for 1882 were the largest in the history of the commerce of the river.
COMPARISONS BETWEEN 1857 AND 1882.
The following comparisons between work done in 1857 and that done by some of the mills in 1882, furnish some idea of the progress of twenty-five years:
The largest cut of any one mill in 1857, at East Saginaw, was 4,500,000 feet, that of Cushing & Co. Here are a few of the others :- J. Hill, 2,500,000 feet; L. B. Curtis, 3,000,000; D. G. Holland, 1,500,000; Whiting & Garrison, 3,000,000; Copeland & Co., 1,500,-
000; Atwater Mill, 3,500,000; Gallagher Mill, 2,000,000; G. D. Williams & Son, 2,500,000; Curtis & King, 3,500,000. At Carroll- ton the mill of J. A. Westervelt cut in that year 4,000,000; the Johnson Mill and Fisher Mill at Zilwaukee, 4,000,000 and 1,500,- 000, respectively. At Portsmouth, the McCormick Mill cut 1,500,- 000; tlie James Fraser Mill 3,000,000; and three others from 1,- 200,000 to 2,000,000 each. There were fourteen mills at Bay City and Kawkawlin cutting from 1,500,000 to 4,000,000 each. Of the seventy odd saw mills now on the Saginaw River, the smallest cut of any is about 7,000,000 feet, and the average will probably reach 16,000,000. The mill of Birdsall & Barker, (formerly McGraw) cut in 1882 a fraction over 40,000,000 feet; that of H. W. Sage about 32,000,000 feet; and the Whitney & Batchelor Mill 31,500,000 feet. In 1881, running some nights, the McGraw Mill cut 55,260,722 feet. In 1857 there were 10,000,000 shingles manufactured on the river, and the past year the quantity will considerably exceed 300,- 000,000. Thus do we progress.
LOGGING OPERATIONS.
The wonderful results that have been accomplished in the man- ufacture of lumber are due, not alone to improved machinery, but to improved systems of labor, as . In no other busi- ness are the systems and methods of labor more thoroughly or- ganized and adhered to. From the time the towering pine in the forest is noted in the minutes of the land hunter, until in the form of lumber, lath and shingles, it is piled upon the vessel or car, there is no deviation from carefully devised plans of action.
The logging operations form a distinct business by themselves, and during the Winter months create a new world which drains the manufacturing centres of quite a considerable part of their popula- tion. Thousands of people observe saw mills in operation, devour- ing logs with marvelous rapidity, without having any conception of the methods employed to obtain the logs. The logging camp, and the process of converting the tree into logs and placing them in the streams, are interesting factors of the lumber business. The follow- ing description has already been published, but it covers the ground so well that we give it in this connection. The writer says:
"In the first place, in starting a 'camp' a foreman who has en- tire control of it is hired, and, with as many men as are required to 'run it,' builds the camp by notching the ends of logs together and building them the same as a log house is built, only the camps are usually one story, just high enough to admit a person, and the roof made of boards covered with tarred paper. A camp consists of the 'men's' shanty, cook shanty, barns, blacksmith shop and one or two other shanties to live in. As soon as these are erected the 'boys' begin chopping the timber down, while the sawyers saw the balance of it. The swampers are cutting the brush out of the way and logs, etc., for the skidders, who, with teams, as fast as the sawyers get out of the way, throw the logs on the skidways, two logs laid on the ground parallel with each other, and about six or eight feet apart, and pile the logs up till they look like a hay stack. When the logs get so high the men can't roll them up with cant hooks, the skidder, with team, 'decks' them by drawing or rolling them up with a long chain or rope. In the meantime a certain number of men are set to work building roads from the camps to their banking ground, by clearing a place about twelve feet wide of all stumps, roots, etc., so that when the snow comes there will be no obstruc- tions whatever to the sleiglis. Branchi roads are built leading to the main roads in all directions. Trees are cut up according to the number of logs they will cut. Some trees will make three sixteen-foot
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
logs and a twelve-foot log; some more. It is calculated that a chop- per will trim, measure and get timber ready for the sawyer. The 'tote' team is kept on the road between the campand the place where sup- plies are got, drawing supplies into the camp. As soon as snow comes in sufficient quantities, sleighs are got out and most of the teams go to hauling. The most of the sleighs have eight or nine feet bunks, and they hold immense loads of logs, loads being drawn scaling all the way from 3,000 to 6,000 and 7,000 feet, making so many trips each day. Teamsters have to get up about 3 o'clock A. M., to get their trips in. In skidding, a pair of tongs are used now instead of a chain, resembling a pair of ice tongs, which are hooked into an end of a log in a second and the log is under way. When the men are a half a mile or a mile away at work a long tin horn about five feet long is used to call them to dinner. When the roads are being packed to haul on, and when they have begun hauling, a 'sprinkler' is run all night every night during cold weather, which is a huge box, water-tight, holding forty or fifty barrels, set on sleighs, the same as a wagon box. A slide in the rear lets the water run out on to the road, and freezing as fast as it touches the road, soon forms a road of solid ice, which lasts until warm weather in the Spring."
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