All edged tools are dangerous when in the hands of "chumps," dangerous to
themselves and to any one else who is near them. For instance, only a
chump will use an axe when its head is loose and is in danger of flying
off the handle; only a chump will use his _best_ axe to cut roots or
sticks lying flat on the ground where he is liable to strike stones and
other objects and take the edge off the blade. Only a chump will leave an
axe lying around on the ground for people to stumble over; if there is a
stump handy at your camp and you are through using the axe, strike the
blade into the top of the stump and leave the axe sticking there, where it
will be safe from injury.
Remember, before chopping down a tree or before using the axe at all, to
see that there is enough space above and around you to enable you to swing
the axe clear (Fig. 112) without the danger of striking bushes or
overhanging branches which may deflect the blade and cause accidents more
or less serious.
Do not stand behind a tree as it falls (Fig. 115), for the boughs may
strike those of a standing tree, causing the butt to shoot back or "kick,"
and many a woodsman has lost his life from the kick of a falling tree.
Before chopping a tree down, select the place where it is to fall, a place
where it will not be liable to lodge in another tree on its way down. Do
not try to fell a tree against the wind.
Cut a notch on the side of the tree facing the direction you wish it to
fall (Fig. 113) and cut it half-way through the trunk. Make the notch, or
kerf, large enough to avoid pinching your axe in it. If you discover that
the notch is going to be too small, cut a new notch, _X_ (Fig. 116), some
inches above your first one, then split off the piece _X_, _Y_ between the
two notches, and again make the notch _X_, _Z_, and split off the piece
_Z_, _W_, _Y_ (Fig. 116), until you make room for the axe to continue your
chopping. When the first kerf is finished begin another one on the
opposite side of the tree a little higher than the first one (Fig. 114).
When the wood between the two notches becomes too small to support the
weight of the tree, the top of the tree will begin to tremble and waver
and give you plenty of time to step to one side before it falls.
Fig. 112. Fig. 113. Fig. 114. Fig. 115. Fig. 116. Fig. 117. Fig.
118.
[Illustration: How to "fall" a tree and how to take off the bark.]
If the tree (Fig. 117) is inclined in the opposite direction from which
you wish it to fall, it is sometimes possible (Fig. 117) to block up the
kerf on the inclined side and then by driving the wedge over the block
force the tree to fall in the direction desired; but if the tree inclines
too far this cannot be done.
There was a chestnut-tree standing close to my log house and leaning
toward the building. Under ordinary circumstances felling this tree would
cause it to strike the house with all the weight of its trunk and
branches. When I told Siley Rosencranz I wanted that tree cut down he
sighted up the tree, took a chew of tobacco, and walked away. For several
days he went through the same performance, until at last one day he
brought out his trusty axe and made the chips fly. Soon the chestnut was
lying prone on the ground _pointing away_ from the house. What this old
backwoodsman did was to wait until a strong wind had sprung up, blowing in
the direction that he wanted the tree to fall, and his skilful chopping
with the aid of the wind placed the tree exactly where he wished it.
Fig. 118 shows how to make the cuts on a standing tree in order to remove
the bark, which is done in the same manner as that described for removing
the birch bark (Fig. 38).