+ A Pacific Tribune writing contest selection

Loggers’
oliday

By SAMMY WOODMAN
THE STORY THUS FAR: A group of loggers’ on

their way to the city for the Christmas holidays, are riding
the crummy from the camp to the wharf when they find
the track blocked by a derailed logging train. Rather than
lie around camp for two weeks, they decide.to walk the
remaining seven or eight miles through heavy snow. They
have covered about half the distance when Yodelling
Norwegian slips on a trestle, breaking his leg. Little Pete,
who has been uneasy from the outset about there being
13 of them, volunteers to stay with Yodelling Norwegian

until a speeder can be sent from the beach . . .

As we're pulling out, I hear
Little Pete. saying, “No use in
brothers splitting up. I might
as well stay here, too.” It’s now
4:32 p.m., I feel like staying
myself but I don’t want the
boys to think I’m going jinx
queer too. So, I swing right in
with the rest, for I’m sure we'll
never make the beach by 5:30.

Only two things are keeping
our maximum speed up. The
tub may be late getting™in or
Wally, who’s now far ahead of
‘us, will get there in time to let
the skipper know .we’re com-
ing.

On the other hand, ['m a
little worried Wally may get
aboard and say to the skipper,
“There's a few apes trailing
along behind me to board this
tub,” offending him so much,
he will insist_on observing the
official timetable and pull out
right on the dot. The skipper,
I know, likes to imagine he is
commanding a_ great ship
and is kind’a sensitive to re-
marks made by unimaginative
people like Wally.

We're a mile from the beach
camp and I'm really feeling
the weight of my packsack,
when we hear a_e speeder
around the bend. When finally
we see it there’s no doubt it’s
not living up to its name. For
one thing, there’s a slight up-
grade along here and for an-
other the snow is slowing it
down to low gear.

It’s a good thing the speeder
man stops to talk to us, other-

wise he might not have known
anything about Yodelling Nor-
wegfan. He might have gone
right through to the train
wreck and back down again
without knowing the differ-
ence.

“Wally Heavypockets told us
about the train wreck and I’m
going to pick up the fireman
who broke his leg there,” the
speeder man says.

So we tell him that he’s now
got two customers and proceed
on our way.

Now if the telephone line
was not down, we wouldn't
have to do all this walking. It
would be as simple as the
crummy going back to the
woods camp and somebody
phoning for the beach camp
speeder to come and get us.

As it turns out, we’re suck-
ers to do all this hoofing. Why
we had a ticket to the beach
camp. we didn’t recognize.

Here was a fireman with a
broken leg and Wally on his
way already. It seems the en-
gineer tells Wally when he
goes by to send a speeder up
right away when he reaches
the beach. Also, to tell the
tub’s skipper that there’s a
badly injured man out there,
lying alongside the tracks suf-
fering. Could he delay his sail-
ing until the speeder can scoot
up there and down because
this man needs a doctor’s at-
tention and there’s no other
means of immediate transpor-
tation.

What gets our goat most, in
fact several goats, is twenty
minutes after we board the
tvb, all tired out, and the tub

—_

S

(

\

still not showing any signs of
leaving, the speeder pulls up
with all the boys that we
figured went back to the
woods camp from the pileup,
including two stretcher cases,
Yodelling Norwegian and the
fireman. They lug the two
stretcher cases, aboard first,
then they all commence to
pile aboard with their packs.

‘@
By this time a guy in a
white jacket is walking

around the tub carrying a little
contraption which goes some-
thing like this: “Ding! Dong!
Dang! Ding!” And hollering,
“First call for dinner. Dinner
now being served.”

The tub’s pretty well load-
ed as can be expected at this
time of the year. It goes
around to logging camps to
pick up loggers headed for
town during the Christmas
lay off. We’re bound to meet
all kinds of characters here
that we know. Also characters
we don’t know.

Haywire Sandy comes where
I’m standing and says, “Here
comes the gut hammer,” jerk-
ing his thumb toward the guy
with the musical contraption.
“Let’s go and wrestle with that
silverware. I’m hungry enough
to eat the hindquarters of a
skunk.”

Whenever I'm on a tub I get
a little worried along about
meal time. Why, even this
rusty old tub, when you go
down to eat there’s about a

—

|

dozen and a half silver articles
of all sizes and shapes in front
of you not to: mention china-
ware and linen. And there’s
a guy in a white jacket stand-
ing behind you to watch every
move. As far as I know, maybe
they’re table manner critics
disguised as stewards. I even
suspect they expect a guy to
drop his knife and use a fork or
some other equipment to eat
such things as spuds, carrots,
peas and rice pudding. Why,
in any camp I’ve been to, one
flunky will serve twenty to
forty men and nobody ever
comes out hungry for lack of
table service.

Haywire and I set ourselves
down at one of the dining room
tables, thinking to order a nice
juicy steak. Looking over the
menu what do we find but fish
dishes, this being Friday.

Haywire says, “Look!” after
studying two or three lines
on the menu. “Here’s some-
thing might be meat.”

I ask, “What is it?”

“Sole,” he says, “Fish have
no feet. Certainly they would-
n't put leather sole on the
menu. Pig’s feet are good eat-
ing, so, this must be cow or
steer feet.” So, we order sole.

But when

white jacket

comes back and sets our dishes
in front of us, it looks very
much like a chunk of fish to
me, with a slice of lemon along

- July 27, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE

side of it. In fact, aff
a bite of it I’m sure il
Haywire looks at it Jl
he don’t believe his eyé
says to whitejacket, ‘
sure the dishes are Ml

up?”

“Both you gentlem
ed sole, sir,” whiteja

x

is no use making a scel
way, he starts in to
without another word:

I notice him sneedill
or twice. He says he

I gather ca

‘a cold coming on,

caught it when we St
first-aid Yodelling No

He’s sitting on the
chair where the tab
gathers about five yale
linen. He puts the line
kin down on his lap:
little while I notice
to be looking at some
his right hip pocket
not to attract any o
But, I figure he’s JU5
around for some 1008®
to pay for. the sole he™

After I’ve polished
deep apple pie whid
after the sole, I get WH
for the injury I haves
flicted on the fish. *)
ing there waiting
change, my back to

All of a sudden }
most surprising racké
me, just like the who
gone berserk and
can’t get together f@

When I turn arou®
Haywire lying on
nicely wrapped uP
tablecloth from the ©
and surrounded by =

Now the whiteja@
caught completely ©
They just stand the™®
jaws hanging like
shovel buckets. It Sq
at the time he rolls ®
much to unwrap hill®
way, he finally gets
at whitejacket and
much?”

Naturally, white
ures he means —
they’ll charge h!
breakage and §&
won't likely charge
thing if it was an ®

“Tt wasn’t an ace
wire says. “I was d
sole, that’s why 1%

Right away an
ing expression C@
invade whitejackets)
he says, “I see YOum
check.” 4

He starts dige]
wreckage for ib %
seems to me it WO™™
just to charge himy
paid and find the
he cleans up the @%
wants it that badl¥y
has to dig until he&
hands it to HayW*
hands it with the ®
guy behind a ee
and everybody's
cipally to see us *

an

(To be conclt