Framingham State University - Dial Yearbook (Framingham, MA)

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23 All that I can recall of the furnishing of the house is that it was very simple. The old fashioned box stove was a prominent feature. The table service has completely faded from my memory. I have a very distinct image of the back door, because the house was built on a steep side hill making this door very high from the ground. A few rods away was a well constructed barn in which they kept horses, oxen, hay and g'rain. Several rods beyond this was a large sawmillg and this completed the settlement. As mother and I were strangers we had to be introduced to our new surroundings, a duty all were anxious to perform. By the time I had taken in the details I have just described, it was supper time. Soon it was dark and the play was about to begin. One of the men stepped just out of doors and gave a most agoniz- ing shriek. I thought it was about time to get frightened and began to prepare, but, instead, I was taken to the door to hear the result of the apparent distress. Soon in the distance came an answer in about the same tone. This continued until the answering object came comparatively near. Much to my surprise I was informed that this was a bear. From then on I used to hear them quite often, see their tracks, and find the remains of rabbits which they had killed. One of the best games I had was to go out in the morning and see how many of these I could find. Before very late we were glad to go to bed and get a chance to rest. During the night we were awakened by a loud, gnawing and lighting on the roof. In the midst of the excitement the lady of the house called to us saying: Do you hear that noise? Don't be alarmed, it is only hedgehogs. They come every night. I intended to tell you before you went to bed but I forgot it. Her duty was done so she returned to slumberland. I recall a slight trembling, a chill I suppose, but sleepiness soon overcame it. As time went on I found our visitors were very constant. We were often awakened in the morning by the tapping of the wood- peckers. Although there were nearly all kinds of the common trees to be found on the mountain, the forest was chiefly composed of spruce. I remember well the large pieces of the gum which the men used to chop off of the trees and bring to the house. I will now attempt to give you an idea of how they conducted the lumbering business there. Of course on my arrival the build- ings were up, the roads made, and the work in progress, so I can not explain the beginning. Several horses were used about the mill but oxen did the work in the woods. To be definite, we will choose one tree in the woods and follow its different stages. Early in the morning a man, sometimes two men, approached

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22 At this time I began my study of trees. My first lesson as to their great weight and the power of the wind was well learned when an immense Balm of Gilead was blown across the house I lived in, nearly crushing it. This only intensified my wonder. In a few years I had a chance to add to my knowledge of the production of lumber. Perhaps it was an unusual experience so I will give you a brief sketch of it. In the early summer of '92 mother and I were invited to go to Sherburne, Vermont, to stay a few weeks. This was a lumbering town twelve miles northeast of Rutland. Several mills were scattered about, one of which was on the summit of Sherburne mountain. It was there we were going. The woman in charge of the boarding house was ill, and, as she was acquainted with mother, asked her to oversee the work for a few weeks until she got rested. VVe went by train from our home, twelve miles northwest of Bellows Falls, to Rutland. The trip was continued by coach to Sherburne Hollow where we changed our capacious vehicle for a single team. Alternately riding and walking we at last reached our destination nearly four miles up the mountain. Some of the time I rode at an angle of forty-five degrees although the idea of angles was quite remote from me then. All I remember of the first part of the journey was my excitement. This was followed by a feeling of bewilderment and weariness as I took my drive through a rather wild country. The roads were rough and the brooks and swampy places were corduroyedg that is, small logs were laid flat across the driveway, a great many of them, until horses and vehicles could pass with nothing worse than a shaking up. If you could have seen our destination as it was the night we arrived I fear you would have said, How lonely P' But why should it be? Our nearest neighbor was only three miles away and such an expanse of forest! Why I felt like a bird! It was at this time that I really began my nature study. I must confess however that my love for rocks and bugs came at a later date. Trees, flowers, and larger animals were my specialty then. The boarding house was quite a large building but not burdened with paint within or without. The walls were made of single, unmatched boards, the roof, shingleless, and I can even now see the irregular eaves. As I recall the interior, the second floor was composed of sleeping rooms which were reached by an open flight of stairs leading from the side of a large room below. On the first floor was a dining room and kitchen combinedg a room for the men to sit in, which I think they called the bar room, a large pantry, and two or three sleeping rooms.

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24: and chopped down the tree. Then they limbed it outg that is, cut OH' the branches. After this, oxen were hitched to the tree and, if it was a large one, it was drawn directly, to the millg otherwise it was left until they could get three or four and then they were drawn to the lumber yard by fastening one end of the trees to a sled and permitting the other end to drag. After this they waited their turn to be rolled in on the carriage on which they were run into the mill to be sawed by the large circular saw. If it was an average sized log a slab was removed and then two or three boards were sawed off. Then the log was turned over and a slab was taken from the other side. Then boards were sawed out until the log was used up. The slab or bark pieces were taken to a small circular saw and there sawed into short lengths. As each board was sawed olf a man placed it on a series of rollers and gave it a push sending it to a man outside. Here was a sled on which the boards were piled and drawn away to be piled or stacked. This was an interesting piece of work. First two poles were laid on the ground about ten or twelve feet apart. Across these the first layer of boards was placed. On this, about a foot and a half from the end, small strips or narrow boards were placed, running in the same direction as the poles and so on' until the pile was several feet high. All this care is taken to let the air have a chance to circulate through to dry the boards and season them. , Later these boards were drawn down the mountain and sent away for building purposes. Large derricks were also con- structed there. Now all this sawing, the running of the carriage, and so on, required power, which was furnished by an engine run by steam power. The water in the boiler was heated by the fire in the fire box underneathg this caused steam which went through a large pipe to the steam chest. This pressure caused the engine to work, turning large wheels over which were run large leather belts con- necting with other wheels, until all the machinery was in motion. The power is gauged by a brake. VVhen wood is sawed there is always sawdust. This could not remain beneath the saw as in hand sawing because it would soon be in the way. To prevent this it fell into a trough-like receiver called a blower. In this was an arrangement called a fan which was run by a belt causing a rush of air strong enough to blowl the sawdust far out from the mill. A point of especial interest to me was a regular track built for the dump car. This car was really a three-foot square on wheels. Child fashion I soon began to get acquainted with it.