The New England loggers and river drivers were a
unique breed of men. Working with their axes and peaveys
through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, they
contributed mightily to the development of the United
States. The daily life of the loggers was hard working
in deep icy water fourteen hours a day, sleeping in wet
blankets, eating coarse food, and constantly risking
their lives. Their pay was very low, yet they were proud
to call themselves loggers. When they came out of the
woods after the spring drives, they ebulliently spent
their pay carousing in the staid New England towns.
Robert E. Pike, who as a youth worked in the woods and
on the rivers, writes affectionately and knowingly, with
humorous anecdotes, of every detail of lumbering. He
describes the daily life of the logging camps, giving a
picture of the different specialist jobs: the camp boss,
the choppers, the sawyers and filers, the scaler, the
teamsters, the river men, the railroaders, and the
lumber kings. His descriptions bring the reader vividly
into the woods, smelling the tangy, newly cut timber,
hearing the boom of the falling trees. ''The author's
lively prose matches the temper of his subject. . . .
This is basic history, geography, psychology, economics,
and folklore all rolled into one top-quality volume.''
R. S. Monahan, New York Times Book Review |
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