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The long log drive--a spring
journey down icy streams and rivers moving logs from the forest
to the mill for sawing into boards, laths, clapboards.
For more than 150 years logging
techniques remained the same: men cut trees by hand and loaded
them onto horse-drawn sleds to be hauled over snow to the river.
Skilled river drivers maneuvered the logs downstream, risking
their limbs and lives every day.
From Stump to Ship, filmed
in 1930, survives as the best, most vivid and complete film
record of the long log business. People who know the business
and those who see it here for the first time, agree that this
film brings to life the priceless heritage of generations of
woodsworkers and their families. Remarkably detailed scenes,
filmed year-round, are uniquely enhanced by the original script,
written to be read with the silent footage in the 1930s.
The soundtrack is brought to life
by Tim Sample, narrator and renowned Maine humorist, in the role
of the filmmaker, Alfred Ames. Ames worked in the long log
industry for 40 years before filming From Stump to Ship.
28 minutes, black and white.
($19.95) |
