Life in the Woods Camp!! Part I The first pulp wood to be processed at the Corner Brook Mill was salvaged from what was expected to be flooded land. The land was being flooded as a result of the Main Dam and this would was cut in early 1924. Getting wood in the early days was quite easy because everything was virgin forests. The mill started operating in August 1925. The most distant wood was being cut around Sandy Lake and 150,000 cords of wood were required annually to keep the mill in full operation. Logging was difficult and often dangerous work during the early days of the industry, yet workers received some of the lowest wages in Newfoundland and Labrador. From sunrise until sunset, loggers felled trees, hauled logs, and helped bring the wood to the mill site. In the evenings, they returned to dirty, drafty, and overcrowded bunkhouses. The early tools of the trade were axes and crosscut saws. Horses and sometimes oxen were the hauling power in the woods. Many men spent between five and nine months in these camps, separated from their families. Although the food was plentiful, it was monotonous and many loggers became malnourished. Most people from all around Newfoundland would arrive in Howley by train. They were usually met by the contractor and would sign on to the various camps around the lake. They would usually stay at the company bunkhouse and their meals would be provided while they were waiting to be transported to the various camps around the lake. Max Simms worked at the cook house and later opened the Station View Hotel. My Aunt Bride and her husband Bill Fitzpatrick also worked there and on occasion she was called upon to help those experienced sickness. Fred Cassell was one and with the doctors help she nursed him back to health and provided assistance to many others through medical ordeals. Before starting work, a physical examination was required and done by the company doctor. Getting a job would depend on the outcome of this examination. Work-related injuries were also not uncommon because of the physical nature of logging work. This is why the company employed their own doctor at Howley. Dr. Ken Parsons and several other company doctors lived in Howley at various times. After the crosscut, early loggers manually harvested lumber with axes and bucksaws, and hauled heavy logs out of the woods with horse-drawn sleds. Although logging was much more physically demanding than most other jobs, woods workers did not earn wages for any time off due to injury or exhaustion. The age requirement was set at eighteen but often young men like Fred Packwood lied about their age to get employment. He is reported to have said that he was eighteen for two years before he actually attained that age. Work in the woods was highly labor intensive and far from easy. Most were seasonal workers who cut wood in the fall and winter before returning home to fish in the summer. They would stay in the camps for up to a month at a time. The winters were extremely cold and often the only source of heat was an old oil drum that was converted into a wood stove for heat. The men slept in a big open room with rows of beds separated only by a lunger (wooden rail). The bunkhouse would have up to forty bunks with nearly 50 men and sometimes two were in the one bunk. A bunk like the one used sometimes had boughs for a mattress and you can see one on display at the museum in Deer Lake. This often resulted in poor working conditions. Bunkhouses were dirty and drafty, the roofs often leaked, and there were only a handful of washbasins and outdoor toilets for dozens of men. If a logger wanted a mattress for his bed, he had to rent one from the company for 25 cents a month. These, however, were often dirty and that is why many men preferred to make their own bedding out of tree boughs. To generate extra warmth on cold winter nights, some loggers also slept two to a bed. Ernest Mills is quoted in a book entitled, When I was Young and stated, “ You had to bring your own clothes and there was two to a bunk. You’d share your blankets, but you weren’t allowed to sleep with the other fellow unless you were lousy; because if you weren’t then you would be.” Although the cook and his assistants prepared plenty of food for loggers, there was not much variety. Beans, for example, were often served at both breakfast and lunch. Other staples included bread, fish, salt beef or pork, pea soup, porridge, and tea. Aside from apples, potatoes, and turnips, fruit and vegetables were scarce. Desserts were also rare, although the cook sometimes baked dark cake or apple pie. Loggers who did obtain employment worked for contractors, who in turn worked for paper companies. Each season, the companies paid the contractor a fixed sum of money to harvest a specified amount of wood on company land. From this, the contractor had to pay himself, run the camps, feed the loggers, and provide them with shelter. Often, the company did not pay the contractor enough money to both earn a profit and adequately provide for all of the loggers’ needs. As a result, many contractors tried to increase their own earnings by spending as little as possible on the loggers’ food and housing. The Western Star on November 27th, 1935 did a report from some of the camps on the Poppy Day Campaign. I recognize some of the names of the men mentioned as being camp foreman. This could possibly mean that all the names are those of the camp foreman or walking boss for that camp at that particular year. Josh Lane reported from camp 20 and his camp collected $3.60 and Max Wiseman reported receiving $4.40 from camp 46. Other camps reporting included my great grandfather Edward Kelly (camp 47-$2.25), John Mitchell (camp 47A-$3.10), Ezekial Martin (camp 55-$2.23), Frank Powell (camp 56-$5.30), Herb Hicks (camp 57-$2.20), George Wiseman (camp 60-$4.15) and Alec Woolridge (camp 61-$6.70). Dorm Rideout was at camp 62 and reported collecting $2.40, Carl Elliott (camp 63-$2.90), Harry Ball (camp 64-$7.00), P. Taylor (camp 65-$6.00), Ernest Turner (camp 66-$6.66), Ford Perry (camp 67-$3.00), and Baxter Taylor reported collecting $5.95 from camp 68. The total amount collected from these camps was $69.46 which is remarkable sum when you consider this is during the Great Depression and the very low wages that were paid then.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 19:49:11 +0000
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