Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-05-14
The Barnum Mill. - Brothe,


Croft, of the Stoughton Reporter, has
the following interesting communica-
in the last issue of that paper;
Centralia, Wis, April 80, 1874.
Barnum, the point reached at the
da tie of our last letter, is situated on
the Wisconsin river in the Northwest
corner of Adams county, and is but just
assuming position of Importance as a
manufacturing town. This place
sprang into existence about six years
ago, at which time a gigantic mill was
erected and put in operation, but owing
to dissensions among the owners, and
other causes, the manufacture Of lum-
Der ceased and the mill stood idle sew
eraI years, until an enterprising firm
from Oshkosh stepped in, purchased
the entire property, placed it in the
most perfect reI air, and are now turn
ing out vast quantities of lumber, lath
and shingles. The mill is propelled by
an engine of $40 horse power, and is
the most perfect of its kind we have
ever seen. The Wisconsin river at
this point is divided into two channels
by several wooded islands, thus form
ing natural boom with capacity for
holding 30,000,000 feet Of logs those
are hauled up an inclined plane into
the mill, by means of huge windlass
operated by steam, and are sawed into
various kinds of lumber which is rated
and foated down the river to market.
The facilities for handling logs and
their products exceed anything we have
ever seen in the land of pine, and is, we
believe, the --LATEST mill on the river
by this we mean that cunningly devised
machinery does the work of brawny
arms, and the logs come in at one end
of the concern and pass out at the
other end in the shape Of fencing, floor
ing, jQists, &C., with scarcely any help
from the hand Of man; a board drops
from the saw upon a series OF rollers
and goes travelling out of the mill, down
the inclined plane into the rafting shed,
like thing of life. Nothing is wasted
here, the slabs are worked into lath and
pickets, and only few pieces of bark
with now and then scrap Of wood re-
mains of what few moments before
was a huge log The sawdust is car
ried in conductors from the saws to the
furnaces under the boilers, and the sur
plus discharged into the swift rolling
stream A new tangled shingle ma
chine attracted Our attention, and AS
We watched the operation of reducing
pine logs to shingles, we wondered
whether the inventive genius OF the
next generation would have any chance
of development this machine, tended
by one man, is capable of turning out
100 NJ shingles per day. The packing
is done by girls, the punches securely
bound and piled to await transportation
down the river, constituting what is
termed deck-loading. From 30 to 5O
NJ are usually piled on raft and thus
find their way to the market below
The refuse slabs, edgings, bark, &c,
are piled on car which runs on MIN
iture track of the railroad pattern, and
robust specimen of the pinery boy
pushes the loaded car before him to a
safe distance from the mill where hot
fire is burning, and dumps the load in
to the devouring flames. This IS the
Hades of the lumber regions, the
smoke of whose torment ascendeth from
early Spring until the mills shut down
in late Autumn. On the summit of
the building is located large tank
which is kept constantly filled with
water pumped up from the river. for