November 27,1980 - Art of Woodcutting'f n<rc: s nothing that Ict, v'.nt know
.. ntcr s,jra'; around .ho nroer nacre than
the first sumo. ill icf it was, a vr'eC1 ago
'b9irndtl night ioiti knew
nr,'.. "e•il. ; could feel if cnurjlll.! ;:.II r ai r.s 1
c'iti l ;. rlr,rj till 1)::t•1:
'!.'h, ,un ihci :;tmind the clay slowly was
,•r,!�eci I,•.' ,Moods. iJ01 tit, billowing ones
WWII rli. bin
/IV/11,311 Will, it II, [•hill ..loci ir'otn tilt:
t)arthE'a.`il. li� fllr('r :i'.(ill I','li�i(Ii'f'c•!i /HY
at "yha)I :t'FI: i,I r „Irr ;• f'' Jalf.
i 'rt)rl :ti, ,ili,i
:: r: ;ld., f'.:,1:,•tiro';.. i( `.. ��s t':,irl(; tf, sl)o•,:•. Had
the fool h�tt opt r)u)p. r, I,. . • flit v.hiie
ill,
o!,'. ,/ i:, I1'r11.: Il::ri.:Ii1,l ;I . loop,
i'vt i,.;•Ii ,Ir; ill!; ii .i :.1111 b ;, ;�•rl'i rlr.lii;
o K,1t'I('rl ii. iy•i Iltr1Il �'�i, it ;III Ii {',ill. I,IIj
IIr''r ;!li!r o.,Ty rill'. •' Ill it 'r•il
HI/ iorg ;ri to .nl)-
c'r'rtit',,ic• ol- V•,'I)al 'II. h,Ii ;!II of swill n
1 11 I)Ilifill1' : ;1 ',' 'r:, alt ill:' :,ir11' '1'hc
s E•cood 11111;' iil('r:''ti I1107'r r, rril'.'r.'.Il rill trio
:.111,1 tll(' /1,111; i:; hit. :.iro1 III: :,x drives
tbrr,ni�h.
'I I1C11 Ihc r,• :. 1111• tIi<,r.,.:: I1.1:1 h;IV;• :, boot
1:111,,Vd 111,Idl• and it ba r: ih;,i 111 ;• nit
t•,rms:; ifl a 1,1 , 11j4 h;lll 11;111,,,,' Ihi+lltgh
,,fl is j ;!011111•rl I1rf,1111; be I?vr, rr HI,' Iwo
Irllvt':: li tinrju'islll• Ilou 01•1111, ,ante
piooe; of 0:0(111 c:lo he and how (h'•y cling
on to IT)V :,';. If :; It',ele:;:: to ir'v 111 tti iv,' the
ax off by lifting the wn,Hi attat'hc•ci anti
driving it upside down onto the chopping
hloc•I:.
tkev f'; CIt•rri•(111'0,511.
The only {roc w;iy 10 ove,conie Your
frn:;inttion is In wort, lire ;nc out in your
[1115 wny. ,•oa+ ;iuf; it along; with your own
sp:•cial I;,nhu ;ll,t . The Irouhlr ovrfb Ili:; is
you soon find yoln'sell right hacl, ta'iltl the
ax jammed ill t;'Ihc (c you thought for :;tree
one lour,' tint' C',otrl,l (lo it. : ;o111.1iroc:; you
can split pieces of ' 0 ) 1 1 11 ( 1 1 he 15(011ed part.
of the wood and then leave the ornery 000
to he hurnetl "as is ".
It's surprising how certain things last in
this day and age, like the old chopping
block 1 haul' that has 'wen around for as
long as I can remetuher. 11'0 an o1d piece of
locust about l'l inches in diameter.
Weather and contact with the :.oil haven't.
l)arrnec1 it a bit. f.1) _OISI ix one• of (home noble
woods, like cedar, that last and last. Many
an old barn or house still coves its basic
strength to the locust or cedar 1)osls
beneath it.
There is something to be said for ex-
perience, I guess, for Os time goes on those
who split wood soon start to realize just
where the ax should go to make the best.
split. One can almost tell exactly how the
wood will fall if the ax hits its mark
directly. There's a certain satisfaction in
doing this correctly though perhaps not all
will agree it's something they look forward
to. Yet I think of old Ernest Tuthill on the
North Road in 11'Iattituck, who was a wood
splitter of the first order. I remember he
had neat piles of wood for sale past inside
his driveway for years and I'm told he split.
wood until he way .93 years old.
Of course, C
has to be cut
00 can split wood if.
bed and that loo is
somewhat of al art. Yet nothing like 11
used to be. Today the modern chain saw,
which just about anyone can run, cuts
through a log in no time.
Bucksaw Days Recalled
Nothing like the old days when the
bucksaw alongside of everyone's wood-
shed was the standby. I know we started
with one years ago. Bucksaws were the
forerunners in this country of the sleek and
easy - cutting Swedish saws of today.
Another part of the hand- sawing operation
was that valuable piece of equipment
called the sawbuck that held the wood as
you cut it. It always seemed as if one more
slip of the saw would cut it in half. The
weakest part of the old sawbuck was in
between the two legs where you'd cut the
Iasi piece of the log in two and inevitably
your cut would go right through the log and
into the wooden support. These wooden
supports were replaced time and time
again, for we used cords and cords of wood
in that big, black,pot - bellied stove that
stood like the Statue of Liberty in the
middle of our living room.
Once you graduated from the one -man
saw there was always the two -man saw
tha.l i used to swing on the end of when m:
f(.01 ,net 1 cul wood togyther. ",1,1,1 pft!!
it ", hr'd say, 'and Ihc• sa•.v wilt do the
11.1 '✓,, still ha'•.'e {hart. ul!f ('•.c: -man :,aw
Up 10 00' (c,oi01),01, ban ging on the {:all.
..ol'i a� iii'. •.: ira;)hy and it will a1WaY, h,rVe
':,'i ::•:' ;,,�'c�i.. (low: 1;: ;! saw wor 1,11 its way
llrotll.h Ihc: ialtetr ir0c:0 of the '3(1
Ion ci, ,irlc:. We had ::a loan }' piles of cut
t,,'::,,,rotlndour hoit;:' l ;rea! year I thought
rr;,ilri. ;lt•vt:r r'vrr i1;.! ":�
■ go out anti. gcr
you bur:)
I ;,not: ii):;. worlr{ { ;iii•:, Nets,
As 1 :',il ;Ind yrrife, fh<•:,115 : ni last night
((01! (rir'nr•rl () 1,!111 10 nn.s' V,In 1-
,Vrpc ,i5•1a.i.1,o.'1hC nrl•ihr' ;!sf[ r is ~till ii) iLs
;latch c {o,!i'(111. i ha• Wood l citi and :,plil. is
k['d of a tidy ;lest row ie out newly -
hlhili 0:ood!W0li. 1l(oilding rermit No.
I((5(51 she two scar: to clash.
ISuilriiilf, 5,0rni(s and woodsheds are of
different 1,00. f;ui then perhaps that is a
true :;11;11 of Ow limes.
1'111(1, STtOUTENHUR(;II
QUEEN ANNE'S LACE - -The first ice and snow on Monday night., Nov.
17, reaffirmed the fact winter is on its way. Photo by Paul. Si ottt.e. :ttjsii:,- i, ;.;,
IIISTORY of nuum ROC;:
'e knie Ms 6:30 - 8:30 beginning November 3
fJr,•.;,.,Inl 1•I r.0D Dl i
The Bea+les dc r'rr ,srl
ras
The Be tnninq Simon o ya, nk%llt
ofe +ones Ba��.lo Spnngf)e.ict '_)t]nl',
11�
Moody Blues '-5 ht. k)h 1
The°White Album
C6ca,lo @ST
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lase �inVs of t1 c.
poor-5 Ike T}c Who -
S{ones Rid whc' Nc-xt
S+ewart t-ea 7.
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Ba.,1
t_Inaa R.On9j3'.11
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