Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-05-19
WilliamspOrt Lumber Interest.

establishments of Williamsport ar
models of system and marvels Of bust
ness. One of them, (dry goods } tha
Of Mathcwson q Co., of which Mr.. L
G. Fay is u member, is doing a busi
ness of between three and four hun
dred thousand dollars annually.
But the great item Of Williamspor
business is Lumber In this it stand
unequaled and unrivaled by any plac,
in the United States except Saginaw
in Michigan.
One of the most interesting ant
remarkable features in this lumber
business is the Boom. At the dinner
Of the Lycoming County Bar, held a
the Herdic House on the 22d Of Feb
ruary last, the Hon. William II. Arm
strong, in recalling "reminiscences o.
eminent members Of the legal profes
sion, mentioned that soon after he wa,
admitted he visited Philadelphia, anC
was introduced TO Jeremiah Black
then a distinguished lawyer and after
wards Attorney General Of the United
States. After some conversation Mr.
Black called him aside.
The young lawyer anticipated re-
ceiving some useful hints from one SC
eminent in his profession, and wa,
somewhat surprised instead thereof
10 be asked "What is a Boom 2" We
will inform our readers, or such ol
them at least as need TO be informed
that it is an immense fish-net to catch
saw logs. The main boom tior there
are three Of them near Williamsport
and one farther up the river near Lock
Haven) is about five miles long, with
an averaged width of five hundred
feet. This boom occupies about one.
half the channel of tho river, and IL
literally packed and jammed with logs
from "stem TO gudgeon." II isl q sight
to behold, and In ancient times would
have taken high rank among the Won.
dors of the World.
During the summer and fall the
lumbermen go into the woods to cut
the logs, and during the winter they
haul them TO the banks of the streams
ready TO float down TO the boom when
the frcshets Of spring arrive. Every
lumberman marks his own logs with
his own mark, and then they are
allowed TO float miscellaneously into
the boom, from whence they are RATED
out and separated, every log accord
ing to its owner and delivered over
for the work OF the mills.
These Booms have been built and
are owned by what is called the "Sus.
quehanna Boom Company" This
company was chartered in 1876, and
the first boom was built in lS49 The
capital stock OF the company is s60..
600, but II has expended in the cree.
ton and maintenance Of the booms
over s750,000. Tho Directors of the
Company are NJ. Fisher, John &.
Reading, Peter Hcrdic, Joseph b.
Potts and Thomas Scott.
PreSideHt-M. Fisher.
Secretary and neaSurr-John G.
Reading.
Being in Williamsport a few days
since, we were favored with an oppor.
tunity of visiting these Booms. The
little Screw Steam Yacht Maggie car
ried the party some nine miles up the
river. The party was composed as
follows-M Fisher, President of the
Boom Company; f. Coleman, Esq,
of Williamsport; ID. NJ. Peck, Esq, OF
Lock Haven Major Henry V. Cole,
and the editor of the Advertiser. The
little craft was most admirably man
aged by FRED Keller, who takes a
commendable pride in his profession,
while the pilots deck was skillnlly
held under the volunteer management
of our fellow passenger +. Coleman,
ESQ. The day was cloudy, and upon
starting there were indications of an
impending storm. Before we had
proceeded many miles il came. The
wind blew great guns, and the rains
fell in torrents. The furious waves
fairly touched the gunwales, yet the
staunch little ship ploughed its way
nobly ahead. The party did not
escape a pretty thorough wotting, but
the cnioyments of the trip and inior.
nation impaired more than rompen-
sated for the little "unpleasantness'
of the rain.
The capacity of these Booms is csti.
mated for two hundred million feet
of lumber. The number of men en-.
ployed as about one hundred during
nine months Of the year. The charge
for boomage is sl.25 per thousand feet,
giving on the amount run through the
booms about s25O,O00 per annum.
The logs which find their way to these
booms are cut from the immense and
almost illimitablo forest of pine which
abound on the upper waters Of the
West Branch and It's tributaries. Pine
Creek, Kettle Creek and the Sinnema-
aoning contribute very large share
of the whole amount. II is estimated
that these forests will continue to fur
nish the annual supply Of logs, at the
rate they are now being cut, for at
least fifty years to come. SO II will
be seen there is no present danger of
this great staple OF Williamsport trade
being brought TO grief The estima-
ted amount of lumber TO be manufac-
tured the present season is two hun
dred and twenty-five million feet, and
in this work about forty saw mills are
employed.
Among the largest of these mills
are those of William X. Dodge 4 Co.,
with capacity of 25,0O0,OOO feet a