, 1867-01-18
Olympia Coiresp0adenee.
THE LUNBEH MILLS OK rnE souSD.
OLYNPIA, W. r.. Jannnrv 7,b. /

derlng on Puget Sound. The timber lands ar,
the realities to which no one can shut his eyes
sud # centuries sweep these "mnnarchs Of ID,
forest from the face Of the earth it must be done
| oy some other means than saving them up Pos.
sioly the majority Of your readers may have
formed az opinion of tos as Numbering eoun.
| try similar to what ! had done before I visited
it' namely, that saw mlls could be fonnd along
ihe shores OF the Sonnd for every few miles of ts
length, and that many Of them were run bv wa.
ter>power obtained from streams flowing into
SCUM. did not see single vster-m miii, ~-A
only six mills IN al; and am told th Al efe re
not dozen on the Sound. Bat any Que whose
IDEAS OF numbering establishments have been
formed from the small mills OF Oregon, or the
upper country, can have no true conception of
The magu tude of those on Puget Sound. First,
one must imagine an establishment that will
give employment to five hundred meu, and cut
one hundred thousand feet of lumber 10 a dav
which Is done at the "Port Gamble Mills"
visited that place, as well as Port Madison and
Ludlow, stopping only about half an hour at
each place. The latter establishments are not
so extensivei bat they are huge beyond ANYTHING
had ever seen. before, and will fit out a shin
with cargo OF five or six hundred thousand feet
of lumber-nicely planned and suuared-in ten
or twelve daysl | will not attempt a full des
eripton Of these esthbli, hments, for 1t would re-
quire n weeks examination first to do them ius
tice, and weeks rest afterward before person
could sufficiently recover from his astonishment
at their magnitude to enable him to give a Iurid
description. 1t has only been few days since
visited them, aud :he sight Of the immense en-
gnes driven by half>a dozen huge boilers, see,
thing aud steaming, aud from a dozen to twenty
saws, planes, grooves, squares, tenant machines
and lath aud shingle cutters, all going at once
under one root, and making as much noise AS
could possibly be kicked up in pandemouiam.
causing ce while there, to be constantly dod.
dod>dodgng, in momentary apprehension that
some flying missile, belt or other scare crow from
the vicinity whence emanated this seemingly
uneartnly racket Of click, clang clash and rlat,
ter, would del rive US Of our mental apparatns il
given Hs A sufficient reason for lack OF cHrlfur-
ibHty upon the part of your CORES pondent -
Aforesaid, to enable him to dilate extensively
upon the subject. Perhaps Mr. "Cuntux" could
do the subject justice; but much doubt if even,
he with his superior penetration and Hcalm ex>
terior," could upon his first entrance, sufIicient>
ly rid his mind of that fear that every one has
that the buzzing, seething, crashing whizziug,
planning saving, cutting and jarring sounds all
around and above hun, is going to bring the
heavens down upon his head, to W TX out al
once, flap his wings and say .Cumtux il him>
elfagainw
| have seen persons stand aghast, watching,
for the first time, typo distribute or pick up his
type, but have no dejcacy in coufessing that
no "greeny" ever looked with huger astunish>
ment than did upon these mill men catching
hold of big sawNlog, with their machinery, aud
lifting it into place upon their trucks, with as
much apparent ease as if il did not weigh a |
pound, Instead of tons; then setting q "gang" of
saws at work upon it cutting it up in less than |
A minute, leaving the lumber to walk off upon |
rollers, as ii it were a thing Of life, straight
through the planning machines, and then on out
into the lumber yard, or TO a ear ut the forward |
End of the mill. In the manufacture of laths or
shingles, the work Of picking up aud adjusting |
he sticks or blocks to the saws and cutters, is |
almost as rapid as Il printer picking up his type,
and a person familiar with the latter cannot |
cease to woncer how men Can become so expert |
1t tue former. Almost every article needed in
The building line is made at these mills-sawed |
planed, squared, plowed, grooved, and teuanted
n such shape that no surplus stuff need be ship.
ped; and all this at the rate of from ffry to one
hundred thousand feet per day.
Each of these milling places supports a town,
which appears to be inhabited almost tx :lusively
oy the employees about the mills; aud all the
business places in the towns are owned and con-
rolled by the milling companies. The populas
iOu of these places vary accOIdlnG to the mum
Der of hands required about the mills aud log
ring camps and sutted at from three to FIVE
hundred.
Just at this time the Lumber trade is dull,
.ad oae or two mills are Temporarily su 'peuded
/ account oft. The foreign m rkels have been
ylaited. If that eau be doae easily, nav, it
eeIns mprob able that this can ever uec Ime "a
Wealthy country from its lumber trade alone, as
ouae predict II will The veruAeular of '.aweay
leAewu ia Maine, be detected in most Of
he principal workmen aboutthe mills
The towns of SteildcOOm, Seattle and Port
townsend, which do not appeir to be dependent
ipOn milling interests are less lively than the
nilling towns, and wear the air Of deserted vii.
ages, tbond their surroundings are OF the most
,riInitle order; being situated on the ''bauks' |
4 the Sound and surrOunied by denseiy tim.
,ered hills, with only "clsdring'' enough for the
louses Port Townsend, wuicb is mostly built
lpon sand spit, was recently over flowed by
ligh tides, driven 10 By storms at sea. The tide
ose several feet higher than it has been known
or year4, and lifted many Of the houses off their
oundations, and did much damage. Bat the
,sople there are yet rejoicing at the reurn of the
,ustOm House to that place, and bear their
meekly. Mr.. Frank Psttigrove, whom
VI the old Oregouians willremet1be Der as the orig
nal owner of the townste At Portland, and one
If the first settlers at Oregon City, is located
rear Port Townsend, engaged IA the occupation
# uldng the soil--A poorer man than he once
vas, but not less happy one. ra
VISIT TO VICTORIA. s 9... nj.
The growing length of this letter reminds me
bat must be brief in my description of Yicto-
ia 1t is one of the most Beautifully loolted,
lomelke and inviting placesl bave seen for
many a day. 1t seems 10 number about as many
louses as Portland mostly brck), though it ey-
IDENTIFY does not contain more than halt as many