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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
May 17, 1973     Shelton Mason County Journal
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PAGE 15     (15 of 30 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
May 17, 1973
 
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A THIRTY-INCH LOG was brought down in seven minutes and 241/2 seconds by Lewis Layton, first-place winner in the first Forest Festival logging show. He was 50 years old at that time. THIS LOGGING TEAM belonged to Lewis Layton's father. When he was 14 years old, Lewis graduated from greasing skids to drive the horses. By JAN DANFORD The famed and flourishing Forest Festival of the present day has matured through the years from an initial pageant staged in 1945, and in May of 1947 the now traditional logging show was for the first time featured. It was then that Lewis Layton, of the Skokomish Valley, representing the Stevens Logging Company of Hoodsport and performing as a single-jack failer brought down a 30-inch log in seven minutes and 24½ seconds to claim first-place honors. He was 50 years old at the time. Layton was born in Toledo, Washington in 1896 and at the age of 13 years began his career as a logger by greasing skids for his father after school and during vacations• The following year he drove a team and by the time he had reached the age of 16 years he was a whistle-punk in the woods• He set chokers in another year and he was falling timber as a 23-year-old. "I sure remember when I started driving the team," Layton announces• "1 wrapped that black snake whip around my neck a few times before I learned how to use it!" While second-falling at Camp 3 under Bill Grisdale, Lewis Layton, working diligently, was tapped on the shoulder by a friend who silently took the saw, motioning Layton to the other side of the huge tree where his partner lounged lazily. "That did it," Lewis Layton reminisces. "When I found him resting when he should have been sawing, I decided I might as well work as a single-jack failer." Highly skilled in the handling of an ax, Layton in his logging days could throw for a full 30 feet and imbed the tool in a tree. "I remember one time when a scaler cheated me," he relates. "I lost my temper and threw my ax at him, but fortunately for both of us that was one of my very few misses." After the episode, Layton quit his job in remorse but was promptly rehired. Following his Forest Festival win as the only single-jack faller entered in competition with many sets, Layton took part in demonstrations presented at Fort Lewis. Layton, who came to Mason County in the late 1930's, retired at the age of 65. "I ended my falling-career with a power saw," he says. and Valley 3 DAYS MAYTAG'S PERMANENT PRESS VY DUTY AUTOMATIC WASHER $ Easy Terms MAYTAG built-in DI • Wash Dishes Cleaner • Has Largest Capacity • Runs Quieler • Has Constant Sanitation • 3 Level Washing in LEWIS LAYTON, right, who began his logging career by greasing skids when he was 13 years old, was falling timber when he was 23 years of age. 3rd & Railroad Phone 426-8215 Thursday, May 17, 1973 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 15