Mel come out and she was- I didn't know whether I was going to get her on the scow or-not.

You-know, like, walking from frigging east coast to Kingston to get into a scrap with the Americans, I-mean, that is unheard of- in the wintertime.

Yeah so ah that was a place they went in those days. I kind-of believe that maybe in the very beginning that some of those old fellows, not in our gang but probably the Middleville gang, probably were up there in the shanty. I have a feeling that they might have worked for McGinnis up there 'cause that was McGinnis limits.

Speaker: Well, I- I'm pretty sure there was a shanty at, ah, Burnstown. Interviewer: Really? Speaker: And, I- Interviewer: That close to us. Speaker: Yes, but I- I'm not a hundred percent certain on that and that's one thing I should have- should have checked, ah, maybe before my dad had died, but, ah, but, ah- and then I th-- I think there was...

I'm- I'm not sure if they shantied back there or not. I kind of think he'd might have.

Speaker: Right on that bridge, they met a- a chap that lived in Pakenham, he was just walking but dad has shantied with him. Interviewer 2: He did what? Speaker: He had- he had shantied with him in- in- in their young days. Interviewer 1: Edith, explain that. Interviewer 2: What does that mean? Interviewer 1: shanty. Speaker: Oh, well, they- the man in general were- were- they- if they didn't live up here for another reason, ah, they generally, the men could get ten dollars a month from the- from the people who bought up the lumber. And- and they built a- a kind of a rough place and- and had their whole group there to clear-cut.

There was a little shanty built in the sugar-bush area, that's where the- that's where the- made the syrup then.

Oh well we were in good terms. They used to come and help me when they could, but they'd ah, done a lot of shenanigans.

Interviewer: Now what else would you do with horses? Speaker: Oh well you- you ah- and I skid log to the bush with them. Interviewer: Now how do you do that? Speaker: Well ah you cut a tree down and you- you- tree is- get ah pine logs. ... So we- we pull the logs out of the bush to where a truck and put them in a big pile where a truck can come and haul them away to a lumber- we sold them to- well my uncle sold them to- way up near Algonquin-Park. ... And then- and you skid them up there ...

But ah the big- the big timber when the years g-- early was pine. ... All winter they'd be- there'd be maybe forty teams of horses one plight in the bush. ... And ah men and ah people cutting, people skidding, people hauling logs out of the bush and other guys drawing the sleigh loads down to- where the truck would get them (inc)- ... Winter only. 'Cause you could sleigh- the sleigh uses snow for sleighing, eh?

Interviewer: Now how do you skid logs? Speaker: (Laughs) Well you put them in ah s-- whippletree and chain and drive them into the bush where the log was and hitch onto it with the chain onto it and then you pull it out with the horses into an open space. Or where you get a skid way to put them on the sleigh and bring them up to the barn. And ah some of them you could skid them out into the field and then load them onto a truck. And later on, I skidded them out into the field and loaded them on to the- a wagon and brought them to town with a tractor and wagon. Ah, good load on the wagon about eight miles to save hiring a truck. And ah I like working in the bush and ah worked for people at Poland. Cutting logs and skidding and- and got used to doing it so.

Ah, well I've done a lot of different things. ... I was on bulldozer for a while. ... Rooting out trees and- ... Skidding logs, whatever.

Interviewer: So what did you do up in the bush? Speaker: Cut logs. Interviewer: So let's- how did you cut logs in those days? Speaker: ... I took my Swede-saw, I went up in the little valley that runs up behind the camp and in three weeks I had enough stuff down, I was in the clear. ... Interviewer 2: That's- that's hard work. Speaker: Yeah, so I didn't have it skidded but it was lying, kept track of what I had, the mill- the mill that I worked in in the summer bought all m-- my material you-see? They bought my logs ... And you got ah seventy-five cents a piece for them. That was- you-know that- that- that was good, that was good going in those days. ... You couldn't buy a bush lot today even with your big skidders and-stuff and pay for it in three weeks.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we skidded all our logs with horses pretty well until the latter years and then we had a- a different kind of machine.

Interviewer: On- on your farm, on that five-hundred acres, ah, to get out in the forest were you clearing trails to, ah-? Speaker: Yes, yes, yes. It wa-- well, it- ah, mostly, ah, in terms of trails, ah, I'd say, ah, they were skid trails for horses. ... Yeah, we skidded all our logs with horses pretty well until the latter years and then we had a- a different kind of machine. But, ah, yeah, so it was mostly s-- skidded out into open areas and those open areas happened to be hydro lines, corridors, that sort of thing- or farm fields or-something-like-that, so. Yeah. But no, there's definitely a certain amount of cutting of trails, that's for sure, to- to get the, ah- the logs.

Speaker: And- and- and this part here, the wooden part has a steel thing on the end, so you- you dig it into the log like that and you roll it. So it's for- it's really a log roller. ... Interviewer 1: So it's like almost to- for leverage. ... Interviewer 2: And that would really control the log. Speaker: Yes, yes. And usually one person on each end of the log and- and- and then you would have like two skids and roll them up onto the truck and that sort of thing.

And then dad was pretty- pretty crafty and pretty handy fellow and- and ah, they built tongs and-stuff-like-that for skid and logs and did repairs and made horseshoes ...

Driving along and away went a wheel off down the road and into the fence. ... And I'm skidding down the road on three wheels.

Or where you get a skid way to put them on the sleigh and bring them up to the barn.

Interviewer: Now how do you skid logs? Speaker: (Laughs) Well you put them in ah s-- whippletree and chain and drive them into the bush where the log was and hitch onto it with the chain onto it and then you pull it out with the horses into an open space. Or where you get a skid way to put them on the sleigh and bring them up to the barn. And ah some of them you could skid them out into the field and then load them onto a truck. And later on, I skidded them out into the field and loaded them on to the- a wagon and brought them to town with a tractor and wagon. Ah, good load on the wagon about eight miles to save hiring a truck. And ah I like working in the bush and ah worked for people at Poland. Cutting logs and skidding and- and got used to doing it so.