The South West, timber worker
I toil where the big stuff grows
I'm the burly jarrah jerker. I all tall trees, but could do
With "splinters" a good bit taller,
For longer logs mean a bigger cheque
On pay day for the faller. Swamper and hewer, and yard hand,
I often ring the changes,
And work in the mills among the hills,
Along the Darling Ranges. Me? I handle case wood, weather boards,
Pickets and beam and sleeper,
And hold the flitches against the bench
When the snarling saws bite deeper. And in thoughful moments it seems to me
To be very much like murder.
That grand old trees get cut to bits
For transom, joist, and girder. Jarrah mammoth, or Karri King,
The lordliest forest giant
That braved a century's gales and storms,
Unconquered and defiant. I carve into shape for shingle and stave
Paling and lath-and often
I measure up into nice wide boards
For a handsome jarrah "coffin ! It's mind your steps when the log is on
And the "twins" start fiercely purring
And stand aside when the big beams glide
While the "docker" keeps on whirring. For few there are who work in a mill
Who do not carry a token
The livid scar or the injured hands,
Limbs twisted or lost, or broken. In the mills all day it's rush and dust,
Greased speed and saws' mad riot.
And I love best the wild South West
When yards and mills are guiet. And when in my little wooden hut
At daylight I linger dreaming,
My visions vanish to hear the sound
Of the "turn-out" whistle screaming. But when I've galloped my last load out,
And gone where we all are going.
On each South West hill, as monarchs still,
Will jarrah trees, be growing ! -JULIAN STUART. Notes From the Western Australian Newspaper The Westralian Worker 29 Jul 1927 p. 5. Julian Stuart was founder and editor of The Westralian Worker. He and his poetry started to be published when he was one of the jailed leaders of the 1891 Shearers' Strike in Queensland. In this poem he reflects on the dangers facing timber cutters as well as espousing an early view on the need to conserve the Jarrah and Karrie King stands "As Monarchs Still"