19th – Waded mud-dragged wire ropes up the mountainside & everything else. Stayed all night again at the bunkhouse & on the 20th, we walked & carried our grips to Elma. 5 miles, & There took the train for Gate City. On Sunday night we stayed at City Hotel at Hoquiam. John & I went to Church. Heard a fine sermon. Got acquainted with quite a lot of the people. Wed. Evening I worked at the sawmill at Gate City. I got 85¢ for the work.
There is a non-sequitur in Jesse’s entry. He is talking about a couple of days, Tuesday the 19th and Wednesday the 20th, but he mentions a Sunday night in Hoquaim. He might be referring to Sunday, March 17th when they traveled to Hoquiam where they went to church and met a lot of people.
It sounds like John and Jesse did two days total in a lumber camp, and then they start working in mills. It might have been relatively easier work than being in the lumber camps, and maybe it was closer to the towns.
Eighty-five cents in 1901 has the same spending power at $25.28 today. That might buy a pizza and a pitcher of pop plus tip that Wednesday night, except pizza wasn’t around Washington State at that time. New York City is a different story though.
