Late each Sunday afternoon all the workmen would make their way back to the temporarily deserted mill in the mountains. Monday morning the alarm would go off at six o’clock, always too early for us. After some hesitation we would bounce out of bed, pour the mountain-cold water into a wash basin and freshen our faces ready for our self-prepared breakfast and the day’s work. There was nothing monotonous about work on the mill or in the bush. It was adventure with trees, timber, log haulers or bench work. There was plenty of variety and interest in the movement of big timber. At seven o’clock the forest was awakened by the ear-piercing siren of the mill whistle. The steam was blowing off at the boiler like a locomotive impatient for action. Someone had been up early to stir the fire that had been banked up all night with its damper closed. Oiling up of all bearings had been complete; belts, saws and spindles had been checked. Men at the benches would put on their leather aprons. The steam was released into the engine, which would hiss and fuss like a locomotive at a siding. Then, gathering speed, the machinery would hum and the saws would sing their familiar tune that echoed down the valley. The mill music still rings in my ears; I loved it.
Beyond the mill some distance away could be heard the roar of the engine of the steam-driven log-hauler. It was turning a large steel drum gathering to itself a thousand yards of stout steel cable. It had its own vertical boiler fed with wood by the driver. The other end of the cable was dragged out into the forest to where a fallen tree was lying, cut into lengths, of 10, 12, 13, or 16 feet. Each log was barked so that it was smooth and more slippery to drag over the rough terrain. A shoe of steel about 3 or 4 feet square would be placed under the end of the log. The front of this shoe was bent up in front so that the end of the log would not dig into the ground but ride over rocks and small logs or low stumps. Two stout steel cables led through a front hole in the shoe and were attached to the hauler cable. These two six foot cables had a steel dog, or stout hook that was driven into each side of the log, taking all the weight of the hauling. The cable and the shoe were dragged out into the forest by a strong horse. Also a signal wire extended way out to the logs so that by signals we could communicate with the engine driver when all was in place.
