after the logs have been sawed, so as to know just what deductions are necessary with respect to defects in the log, such as blind knots, shake, and many other imperfections that develop in the course of manufacture. He must also be able to judge whether the tree as it stands in the forest is perfectly sound, which is often determined by the fungus growth or "conkers" in the sides of the tree, spike tops, white moss and dead limbs, or similar conditions. The latter is a sure indication that the heart of the tree is more or less affected by rot. In other cases timber with pitch holes, or small openings in the butt of the tree denote serious defects. Another feature that must be considered is the liability of breakage in falling the timber on rough ground. Without being possessed of these qualifications, a cruiser would be unable to determine with any degree of accuracy whether a body of timber was sound or not.
When a tract is cruised, the estimates should show the quantity of timber; as well as the different qualities thereof on each subdivision of forty acres, together with notes showing the location of "burns" and openings; all branches, streams, ridges, elevations, slopes, and in fact it should contain a complete pen-picture of everything connected with the tract, including the most feasible method of getting the timber out, character of soil, etc.
Cruisers and estimators throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and other prominent Middle Western lumbering States, are in a class by themselves, and are regarded generally with feelings of the greatest respect wherever they go, as they are known to occupy an important station in life. Although often roughly attired, they are usually men of affairs, and invariably seek the best accommodations obtainable. Up to within the past few years, Pacific Coast cruisers—so-called—were very much in disrepute, being looked upon as land sharks of a dangerous type. As a rule they knew less concerning the correct method of estimating the timber on a tract of land than a horse does of religion, their principal stock in trade consisting of a deep-seated desire to catch "suckers" by masquerading as experts on timber valuations. For the most part, they embraced a class of "locators," who, by process of dishonest methods, had brought a stigma upon their calling, and in consequence were regarded as "undesirable citizens."
During 1900 I had occasion to stop in San Francisco for a night while enroute from Minnesota, accompanied by the president of a large timber land syndicate, and one of his cruisers, the latter a trustworthy and reliable gentleman and one who understood the timber business thoroughly. They had come West with me for the purpose of cruising and estimating a large tract of redwood timber land in Humboldt County, Cal., with a view of purchasing. We entered the Palace Hotel and were about to register, when the incipient clerk at the desk, noticing the garbs of my two companions, adjusted his eyeglasses, and with a glance of the coldest hauteur, politely informed them that he did not have a room left, but that they could secure suitable accommodations by applying at a cheap lodging house south of Market street. They had thrown their packs down on the marble floor of the celebrated hostelry, and their general appearance probably gave the clerk the impression that they were a couple of tramps, whereas, either could have bought the Palace Hotel with the fastidious young man at the desk thrown in.
The work of a cruiser is no snap, by any means. On the contrary it is a vocation not only of great responsibility, but of unremitting toil and hardship. To be successful, a person must be endowed with a rugged constitution, and capable of enduring the greatest privations while in the field, as he is often compelled to pack his blankets and provisions for weeks at a time while in the woods, over the roughest character of country imaginable, with a tree as his canopy at night. In the winter he is required to use snowshoes in the course of his rounds, and sleep in the damp forests without any protection other than that afforded by nature from frequent storms. The day is fast approaching when a competent cruiser will be recognized on the Pacific Coast as an important
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