Ballater & crathie Community magazine - Ballater Community

was asked to establish his men in camps scatteredabout the Scottish Mountains where the greatpines grow. Ballater became his headquarters,and out in the surrounding pine forests ninety menprepared to make a road.Timber merchants from all parts of GreatBritain came to see whether there was enoughtimber in Scotland to make the lumber businessthere a commercial proposition. What they sawimpressed them, but the visitors were puzzledmost by the Newfoundland methods of making aroad up the mountainside to reach the tall timber.The lumberjacks began by cutting timber rightaway, and stacking it in piles along each side ofthe proposed road.“When it comes the snow will make the road,”the lumberjacks said confidently, and went onbuilding log huts and cutting trees in their ownexpert manner.Those piles of timber grew in number, and atfirst no attempt was made to move them.There was no road until the snow came, andthen fourteen Garron ponies --- especially suitedto work in mountainous country --- arrived at thecamp and were installed in the comfortable stablesthe lumbermen had already prepared from Scotchpine logs. They harnessed the ponies to strongsleds, and after a few days the rough groundbetween the piles of timber became a firm, smoothroad leading to where the Caterpillar tractorswaited to take over the hauling operations.And today, a traveller out of Ballater,rounding the wide curve of this road, will comesuddenly upon a scene he might well mistake fora typical Canadian lumber camp.There are log huts built by the Newfoundlanders,set in a forest clearing and exposed tothe bitter weather on mountain sides, which forwarmth and comfort surpass anything suburbanbuilders have produced. Moss gathered from theforest is used to stuff between the rough hewn logsand keep the huts draught proof, and spending afew minutes inside them from the bitter weather onerealizes that English and Scots alike have not yetlearned how to keep themselves warm.Food is of the best, and well cooked, butdifferent from what the lumberjacks are accustomedto at home. The pickled beef and pork they get athome are preferred to even fresh Scotch beef. InNewfoundland forests, too, the camp cooks makeall the bread, pies, cakes, and pastry needed, andthe lumberjacks are apt to suspect anything whichcomes from a baker’s shop. “The food’s good,” theysay “but we like it best when we cook it ourselves.”“You can’t have everything,” one lumberjackpointed out, “but we’re happy here because lookwhere we will around these forests we find sceneswhich remind us of home. It’s a bit warmish inthese parts, but as far as scenery is concerned theplace might be a little bit of Newfoundland itself.What we have really missed here in the last twelvemonths is our fishing season.”“Most of us are fishermen as well aslumbermen. Logging at home doesn’t beginuntil October, when we get the snow to makeroads, and it ends with the spring. We go out onthe Grand Banks fishing all through spring andsummer. Others among us are seal fishermenand trappers.”“But we are glad to be here and doingsomething to beat the enemy,” the manager, Mr.Edgar Baird, said earnestly.“The men are working well, but we getsoldiers, sailors and airmen on leave up here fromthe village --- and uniforms look good to the boys.Several of them have waited until their contractexpired, then joined the Forces.”“Every lumberjack here signs a six months’contract, after which he is free to go back home, orstay here and do what he likes. The basic rate ofpay for lumberjacks in Newfoundland is two dollarsa day with free board, and they get the same here--- which amounts to nine shillings a day. It is a greatmistake for an experienced lumberjack to think hecan do more for the Empire by joining the Forces.They are needed here on work of nationalimportance, and cannot be replaced. Moreover,it is not easy to train a man, however strong andfit he may be, to be a good lumberjack.”“The felling of trees is only a small part of thework in producing logs. Trimming a tree quickly, forexample, is a much more difficult operation. But thebiggest problem is the transportation of trees fromthe spot they are felled to where they are needed,