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 It started with the
Tornado, the one that lifted a boxcar off the railway at Minden, leaving a
swath of destruction as it headed east. It touched down at Eels Lake,
where it flattened everything that was in its path. The late Willard Budd,
remembered that he and his uncle Gil were bass fishing on little Eels,
when suddenly they sensed everything going quite, then a deep roar and
dirty black funnel approaching from the west. They pulled their punt up on
the tea-brush and lay flat on the ground. Soon full grown trees where
flying by them as if they were blades of grass. The path of the storm took
it to the Coe Hill area, where it destroyed farmsteads and killed a young
girl. So much for a little background of the story.
The forest, a mixture of
hardwoods and pine, was a twisted and broken mass of trunks and branches.
That winter, the snow was held up on this canopy, and the deer did not go
to their winter yards, but lived under this blanket in relative comfort.
Come spring, the
Department of Lands & Forests now M.N.R. wanted to salvage whatever timber
was still of value. With no forest access roads and the only market for
hardwood was for pinewood. Pine was the target for salvage.
Keith and his brother
Gerald applied for a cutting permit at Eels Lake in the Evans Bay area.
The young brothers (Keith 20 and Gerald 16) were successful in their
application and were ready to make their fortune, as loggers. They hired
one of the Windsor boys to round out their crew, and then headed for the
bush.
In 1948 there were no
chain saws (chain saws were in their infancy and mostly in B.C.); no
timber jaks (skidders) or Muskol (bug repellent). The boys went to work
with cross-cut saws, limbings axes, cant hooks, and coal oil (to clean the
pine gum off the saw blades. Another important piece of equipment that
they had was their Tea Pail, made the traditional, made the traditional
way from a 5 lb. Jam pail, fitted with a wire bail for hanging over an
open fire. The boys got to appreciate a cup of tea at tea breaks and
dinner time at noon hour, made with a hand full of loose tea leaves thrown
into lake water, boiled over an open fire. They were working at the height
of the ‘Bug Season’ (black flies, mosquitoes and deer flies. When the bugs
got too bad, they would go over to the fire, throw some damp leaves on it
to create a smoke smudge and stand in the smoke to get a few minutes
reprieve from the suckers.
The cut for about a month;
then it was time to get the cut to market. To get the logs to the nearest
road, the plan was to boom them across the lake. To skid the logs out of
the bush and to the waters edge, they rented a horse named King from Andy
Young. To transport King to where the worksite, the commandeered a
floating cedar log dock, built a stable pen on it, and using a punt and
outboard, they took their horsepower across the lake. They weren’t sure
how King would take to boating, but he actually seemed to enjoy his
cruise.
The lads cut boom sticks,
joined into a necklace with sections of chain and soon had their boom in
the water, ready to receive their logs. With King skidding the logs to
water’s edge, the lads, using cant hooks and sweat, got their cut into the
boom and ready to drive; actually tow, since drives where on rivers with
water current as power. They watched the weather until it looked like it
would be a calm day for their three-mile tow. Rough weather could break up
the boom with logs scattered throughout the lake. They fired up their 7-½
hp Scott-Atwater outboard mounted on a classic wooden punt that was built
by their uncle Ross Reynolds, hooked on the towlines and the show was on!
Gerald says, “It was a slow tow. You had to hold up your thumb towards
shore to see if we were moving!”
After towing for the
better part of the day, they anchored the boom at the dam landing.
They sold the logs to the
Reid Bros. Mill of Bobcageon. The mill set up a jamme loader (poles,
pulleys and cables) that plucked the logs out of the water and on to
waiting trucks.
The final tally was about
25,000 board feet of logs, roughly 6 truckloads, for which they received
about $20 per 1000 and priceless experience.
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Watch for ‘Pre-School
Story Time’ on Thursdays in May from 10-10:45 AM. For ages 3 - 6. May
10th, 17th, 24th and 31st. Drop into the Library to register or call
Debbie Hall for more details.
NEW! High Speed
Internet Access at the Library is FREE for everyone!
There will be a
“Managing Digital Photographs” workshop on Thursday April 26th 1-3 PM.
Please drop in or call Susan Suhr to register. $15 per person.
April 15th to 21st is
National Volunteer Week. We will be honouring our volunteers during the
week.
Watch for our Woodview
Branch to re-open on Thursday May 3rd for the 2007 season. Hours are
Thursdays 1- 4 and 7- 9 PM.
Library Hours Main
Branch - 175 Burleigh Street, Apsley
Tues. 10 - 4,
Wed. 12 - 8,
Fri. 10 - 4,
Sat. 10 - 2
Phone: 656-4333 Fax: 656-2538
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Picture
taken for fund raiser luncheon at the Canoe Museum on Feb 25th. Joe Mc
Nabb, Sandy Zimmerman, Kirk Whipper, Elizabeth & William Johnston
pictured.
