60s: I have a store

Chapter 322 Telephone Poles

As the reservoir is about to be completed, the next task is to erect the electric poles. The poles must be erected first before the wires can be pulled.

If there is nothing to support the wires when they are pulled from the reservoir to the village, problems will easily occur.

All kinds of early telephone poles started out as wooden poles, even including high-voltage line poles whose voltage levels were not too high.

Later, with the development of steel bars and concrete, combined with technical exploration, the principle of centrifugal force was used to manufacture reinforced concrete tapered cement poles and equal-diameter cement poles that replaced most of the wooden poles. Cement poles are sturdy, durable, corrosion-resistant, temperature-resistant, high-strength, and crack-resistant.

Moreover, suitable wood is becoming increasingly scarce. Cement poles have a smooth and beautiful appearance and are more conducive to urban beautification. It is basically difficult to see wooden poles in cities.

However, in some less developed areas, wooden poles are still used to lay telephone lines because they are light and easy to install. In addition, the load-bearing and tensile force of telephone lines are small, so wooden poles can handle the task. If the telephone lines need to be changed, it is also easy to move the poles.

So, there are still some wooden telephone poles.

This is not only the case in China, wooden telephone poles are also common in foreign countries, even in the developed United States.

This is also why some Chinese people in later generations who went abroad to see the world were stunned when they saw wooden telephone poles.

The old branch secretary organized people to go into the mountains to cut wood. This time a lot of wood was needed, and there were no electric saws at the time, so felling was not an easy job.

Except for a few women who were sewing cotton clothes, basically the entire village was mobilized.

But the children were still quite happy. Usually, they were forbidden to go into the mountains to play. If they were found out by their parents, they would be beaten and punished in other ways, so the children didn't dare to go.

This time, we have adults to accompany us, so we don't have to worry about being beaten. However, for safety reasons, parents still tell their children not to leave the main group. If they are discovered, they will not just be beaten up.

Now all the villagers are contributing to the development of the village, but they don’t have much time to pay attention to the children.

After a group of people entered the back mountain in a mighty manner.

The old Party secretary said loudly: "This time, the trees we cut down must be more than six meters tall. Trees that are too short should not be cut down. Do you understand?"

Nowadays, the height of telephone poles is generally around 4.5 meters, and part of them are buried underground, so the trees must be over 6 meters tall. There is no need to cut them down if they do not reach that height.

"Got it!" everyone answered in unison.

Middle-aged people were the main force in felling trees this time, so each of them had an axe in hand. Women and children were responsible for clearing away the extra branches after the trees were chopped down.

"Captain, you take the village security team to guard the outermost perimeter." The old branch secretary instructed the old captain.

The captain quickly responded: "Okay, old secretary, I'll take people there now."

He then brought the village security team to the outermost perimeter, for fear that some wild animals would rush in and attack the villagers of Zhoujiazhuang.

The villagers who were cutting down trees inside had no guns, and if they were rushed in by large wild animals, the consequences would be disastrous.

"You two go over there, leave one person with me, and the rest of you go to the north." The captain arranged.

He added sternly: "If anyone lets a large animal get into the area they are guarding, I will make him pay."

I was afraid that the team members would not take it seriously. You know, the trees being cut down are very important to the village.

The team members all knew the importance of the matter, so they nodded to show that they understood. The north side was going deep into the mountains, so more people were needed to watch over it. For the rest of the area, two people in a group was enough.

The team members did not disobey the captain's arrangement, so they obeyed the order and went to their respective places to wait.

Everyone will rush to the best place to deal with the danger that may come at any time.

Pay close attention and look into the distance to see if there are any large wild animals attacking.

Zhou Xucai took a look at the tall fir tree in front of him, and when he had completed his requirement, he swung the axe and chopped it down.

Chinese fir is a tall tree of the genus Cunninghamia lanceolata in the Cupressaceae family. It has a large plant height; the bark is gray-brown and cracked into long strips, and the inner bark is light red; the large branches are flat, the branchlets are opposite or whorled, the young branches are green, smooth and hairless, the winter buds are nearly spherical, with small leaf-like bud scales, the leaves are lanceolate or narrow, and the male cones are conical.

This kind of wood grows fast, has a wide range of uses, high yield and great economic value. Therefore, fir is planted in large quantities in China.

Felling trees requires some skills. The first thing is to determine the direction in which the tree will fall to avoid it falling into obstacles such as houses or power lines. You can dig trenches around the roots of the tree to guide the tree to fall in the desired direction.

Use the axe to start from the bottom of the tree and gradually go deeper until the tree falls. Be careful to maintain the proper angle and force to avoid accidents caused by sudden breaks.

And there must be no one in the direction of the fall, otherwise it will be too dangerous.

The children were playing nearby and when they saw some edible wild fruits, they did not let them go. Instead, they picked them directly and put them in their mouths, chewing them non-stop.

Some children were also greedy when they saw it, but because they were not tall enough, they could only ask their older brothers and sisters for help.

In fact, the best time to pick wild fruits has passed. It is winter now, and even if there are wild fruits, they are dry and hard.

The old branch secretary was standing by and observing the whole situation, with most of his attention still on the children, fearing that they would run in the direction where the trees had been planned to be cut down.

If you are not careful, an accident will happen.

Originally, I didn't want to let the children come over, but seeing that I couldn't drive them away, it would be even more dangerous if I waited until they were far away and then followed them. I had no choice but to take the children with me.

After more than half an hour of effort, Zhou Xu finally cut down the fir tree. Although there was a slight error from the expected direction, it was still within an acceptable range.

The playful Zhou Ping accidentally ran over and came to the direction where the tree fell.

The old branch secretary had been paying attention, so he reacted immediately, hurriedly stepped forward and pulled Zhou Ping over, then criticized him harshly: "You little bastard, I told you not to play over there, why didn't you listen?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the tree that Zhou Xu had just cut down fell down less than five meters away from where the old branch secretary was standing.

If the old branch secretary had not pulled Zhou Ping over, one can imagine how serious the consequences would have been. The force of such a tall tree falling down is no joke. If one is not careful, one's life could be in danger.

Zhou Ping, the naughty boy, knew that he had gotten into trouble, and he immediately started crying, sobbing as he cried, "Grandpa Secretary, I will never dare to do that again.

Don't tell my father and mother, or they will never forgive me."

This time you know to beg for mercy, what were you doing just now?

(End of this chapter)