To break up this jam very often requires much labor and great daring on the part of the drivers, who wear spiked shoes and are armed with long poles having sharp steel points. When such a jam breaks up, the crashing of the logs and rush of water can be heard for miles.
Having finally reached the mill, the logs float in the river, inclosed in a log boom, until the mill men are ready to saw them into planks.
Fig. 69. A Modern Sawmill
The boom consists of logs chained together and stretched across the river just as a fence is built on land to inclose cattle.
Fig. 70. The Circular Saw—Interior of Sawmill
The sawmill of to-day is a mass of automatic machinery, and after the log enters it is not touched by human hands until it comes out as lumber of various sizes ready to be loaded on boats or cars.