•Part 3
Dr. T. C. W. Magee's memoir, entitled "Recollections of T.C.W. Magee, D.D. S. Tulane University Dental School 1922-1927," reveals what the timber industry and the economy were like in the early years. He wrote of his related employment, which began in 1920. In Dr. T. C. W.'s own words, from his entry on March 22, 1971:
"My pay was 30 cents per hour on starting. I rode the train back and forth daily from Franklinton on a book of tickets that was bought at commuter's discount. In order to catch the train I had to get up at 4:30 a.m., dress, get breakfast and lunch my mother fixed and go to the depot for the 5:25 train. On arriving at Bogalusa depot, alight, walk (almost run) a mile and work at 7:00. Then when 6:00 whistle blew, reverse the trip back to the depot where the train departed at 6:40 (not rushing quite as much but hard to make on time). Arrived at Franklinton at 8:05, then supper, bath and bed. It would then be at least 9:30, so that left only 7 hours for rest. My tickets read from station 86 (Franklinton) to Bogalusa (station 72) and reverse.
I did that a while and was about to burn out as the expression goes. Would have, but I learned to sleep part of my lunch hour lying on a stack of lumber. I could sleep and wake up within one to three minutes before the 1:00 o'clock work whistle blew. Just before I was about to have to give up and quit because of the hard work I was doing and lack of rest I was told to report to Mr. Murphy Clayton, the foreman of the rough shed.
That Monday morning at 40 cents per hour my new job was checking the lumber being hauled by the monorail out onto the yard. A Mr. Odom operated this transfer and it ran on an elevated steel suspended track supported by a double row of timbers and crossbars of timbers. Odom sat in a cab operated by electricity that had double flanged wheels that hugged over the flanged bottom of the huge 'I' beam track. Dropping down from the bottom of his cab was a set of steel cables that he lowered and lifted by levers. These cables would drop down and be attached to the trucks or dollies of lumber, then be lifted. Next the operator would turn the load half way around so the long lumber could travel down through the long lane of pilings as he traveled westerly. He would then set the load down on a track on the desired ramp that would lead out into the 'The Pole Stock Yard.' My work was then easier and I had a Mexican helper, who couldn't speak English, who rolled the dollies in position to pick up. But harder times were on the way as an economic squeeze was beginning to be felt.
“They made it sound like a choice but it really was an economy move when they asked me if I would accept a five-cent raise and do without a helper. Naturally I agreed to it and finished out the summer at that job and that pay."
But it wasn't without adventure. Dr. T. C. W. nearly suffered serious injury on what he called the "Steam Horse" that he took to and from Bogalusa. In order to get to work on time in the mornings, he had to improvise, explaining, "So as the train would slow down for the Fourth Street crossing on the south side of town, I would hop off when the train reached its slowest speed. I didn't realize how dangerous it was until I was thrown a couple of times. The second time I rammed a hand through my lunch box, got a skinned elbow on the graveled crossing and broke my new 'Time Ball Special' gold watch given me for graduation by my mother and dad."
And his journey home presented similar challenges. Missing the train as it departed Bogalusa, on one occasion, Dr. T. C. W. detailed his perilous plight: "I caught the brass boarding rail on the last coach, with my feet planted on the bottom step. However the door was closed and the trap door dropped down in place. This left me precariously hanging off at an awkward angle with my feet and legs up under door and my arms and body swinging out wide. I called to some of the passengers by the back windows to open the door and let me in. One nonchalantly said the conductor will be coming through before long and open the door for you. By that time the train was crossing the long trestle over a street and also Lee's Creek and getting faster."
In his journal entry of April 28, 1971, he continued with his account, explaining that he couldn't jump or "hold on much longer." A bystander at the back of the train rescued Dr. T. C. W. by raising the trap and opening the door for him. I would imagine that the young lad was relieved to leave for Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in the fall. Notably, the following locals were also attending Baylor at that time: "Annette Corkern, R.W. Magee, Louis and Frank Gayer, Zula Bankston, Callie Bush and Natalie Magee."
Dr. T. C. W. returned to Great Southern Lumber Company the following summer, when he was home from Baylor. On April 28, 1971, he described the depressed times:
"…On application I was told that I could have my old job back but due to the depression then (1921) I would have to take a cut in pay. Work was work and with no other job in sight I was glad to have anything at all. Where I had been getting 45 cents per hour or about $115.00 per month nine months before, I only made 25 cents per hour or about $65.00 per month, a cut of 20 cents per hour. Remembering the hardships of the year before and lack of enough time to rest, I decided to board in Bogalusa. I stayed at John R. and Maggie Wood's and they treated me like one of the family. I milked their cow and helped out around in any way that I could and they charged me a very reasonable board bill. I saved a little but there was not a lot to save."
