Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1856-09-03
MANUFACTURES OF LUMBER IN THE GRAND

MANUFACTURE OF LUMBER IN THE GRAND
AND MUSHROOM RIvERs.-In the Grand Rap
ids (Mich.) Enquirer, of the Goth, we find
an article on the Lumber Interest of the
Grand River Valley which, from the vast
amount of Chicago capital and skill invested
there, cannot fail to prove interesting to our
readers. 1t is by far the Oldest interest Of
that portion of the country, and so universal
ly was it pursued as far back as 1s4l. that an
article appeared in that year in the Times,
published at Grand Rapids, rebuking the peo-
pie for not following agricultural pursuits
The following is an extract from that article ::
at is much to be regretted that, buying
and selling government lands, and erecting
saw mills to make lumber to send to Chicago,
at an expense which only the continuance Of
the then prices-$6o to 500 ~ Mould
warrant was the principal business Of the
country, to the entire neglect of what is SO in
dispensable in a new country, the production
of something on which to subsist."
Continuing in the same strain, he says Of
the year 1888:
"a great proportion of the provisions
which, were consumed in the country were
brought in bv water; when Grand Rapids had
increased to a population of 600 or 500, there
a0ere not dozen farmers an the neigh6or-
hood acho raised anything to spare"
Nevertheless the lumber interest grew and
prospered. The construction of the railroads
from our city east, west, south and north,
opened up markets for pine lumber, which
the widest calculator never dreamed of. The
prairies of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and
even Iowa, became dotted with cities, towns,
and villiges, which made Chicago the great
est lumber mart in the world, and which
drove our merchants into the forests of the
Grand River Valley and other equally extern
sive pine regions in Michigan and Wisconsin,
and there built mills, wherewith to supply
our growing demands. The character Of
those mills may be learned from the follow
ing paragraph:
The mills upon the Muskegon River are
most of them of later date than those Of
Grand River, and some of them are the f.
nest in the world. One of the mills upon
Grand River is so complete an automatic ma
chine, that it draws up and arranges its own
logs, feeds them to any required thickness of
boards, gigs back and sets itself, carries off and
piles up the lumber, registers the number of
boards cut, and CONSUMES its own sawdust for
fuel-all by the aid Of the most simple and
beautiful machinery.
These mills are for the most part manufac-
tured and constructed at Grand Rapids and
Chicago, and the Enquirer challenges the
United States for superior machinery. The
following table is prepared by reliable gen
tleman, and shows the present state of the
lumber interest on Grand and Muskegon Riy-
ers: DEM Press
Number of saw mills on Grand and Muskegon Riv-
ers and their tributaries. lis
Number of single machines, ~
(These mills run from to 100 saws each)
Feet
Amount of lumber cut per year, 17s0OO00O
" Z" lath - Z" 100000
. slaves 4" I" s. 100000
" Z" shingles I" g g 200000000
No. of hands constantly employed in mills, 1,l5O
" employed in pneries, 1850
" rafting and loading vessels, geo
Average load of vessels. feet, $4,000
No. Of arrivals of vessels carrying lumber from
Grand and Muskegon Rivers. 1920