Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-12-05
The Wooden Age.
Hon. Clas. D, Robinson in Scribner f


Thousands of years hence, shall dig into
the rast to learn how obsolete people
did i've and build and develop, as we
are now digging into what we call the
store, the bronze, and the iron ages, he
viii discover that this nineteenth cen
tug was mainly marked, so far as the
NTH American continent was con-
crned, with what he will term the
wooden Age" followed by the brick,
ne stone, and the iron periods of archi-
ecture He will, if he explores back
ward with some truth and ingenuity,
learn that the newcomers who so
swarmed in upon and overran these
fresh lands, found first the great forests
with which to build their houses, fences,
ships and implements and that after
ward, when those resources were swept
away by use, by fires, and by an all
compelling mania to see the face of the
land shorn of every obstruction. the an
clients of the nineteenth century were
driven to other expedients with the
products of the earth and mine Not
waiting, however, for the possible CLASH
fications of the thirtieth century, we
may safely say that to-day we are in the
midst of the Wooden Age, and that it is
an interesting subject to consider how
long it is likely to last. .su
In the development of new country
like the United States, it may be diff
cult to say which is the most important
factor : the product of the soil, the
forest or the mine though it is quite
likely that in the practical necessities of
civilization they come in the order we
have given. First, agriculture, as the
prime necessity for food; next, lumber
and timber, to give houses, fences, We
hicles, bridges, farming implements,
ETC.. and then iron for railroads, ma
chinery and Tools But in the wonder
full progress Of the great West, which
contains SO many paradoxes, this order
of production has not been closely adj
hered to. In the race for new lands,
new town sites, and new sources of
wealth, we have not waited for the pillow
and the wheat-feld to precede us. Out
on the plains balloon towns have sprung
up, as it were in a night. Agriculture
is an after-thought, and the farmer
comes slowly after the pioneering trad
er and speculator Even the railroad
which we have been accustomed to re-
gard as the latest conner of all, has be-
gun to surprise us lin pursuit of land
subsidies or the commerce Of q region
beyond) by suddenly stretching itself
out across trackIess and uninhabited
wastes AS has been said by a man well
known as one of the most fearless rail
road projectors in this country, You
cannot build railroad into a wilder
ness you may pointone there, andyou
may build it with all the speed and en-
ergy of capital but when you reach the
place you will find the settler before
you"
But with some little exceptions and
reservations, it is safe to say that among
the earliest elements IN the settlement
:, of a new country is lumber The first
things are-roofs over our heads; fences
to protect the growing crops bridges
to cross the streams and before even
the locomotive can reach us, there must
be the ties on which to lay the rails,
Thus in a new country everything is
wooden. The tremendous demands on
the forests soon thin them out, and then
utterly destroy them. Then what? Ay,
but the country has grown old-old for
this western world-and we pass on to
other stages. Here in New York, for
instance, we are already OUTLYING the
Wooden Age, and are entering on that
of brick and stone The wood in one
of our modern buildings is scarcely of
any account and exists only in the
door-ways, window-cas not often
even IN the roofs, and is getting to be
antiquated for the floors. It has been
an anxious problem many a time, and
in an immense area of our country is
to-day, as to what We shall do when the
timber is exhausted. Sufficient INTO
the day is the evil thereof. The problem
is being solved every day where the ne
cessity brings it to the front. n q g
In the capital invested, the number of
people engaged. tie skill brought to
bear. and the general enterprise enlisted
In the production of lumber. it is scarce
" second to any other industry There
ergy, such indomitable perseverance,
and persistent, inflexible purpose. The
lumber producer, from. the time he
strikes the first blow in the pine forest,
begins a contest with the elements, the
seasons, and almost with fate. Too
much snow, too little snow, too much
water, too little water--these are alike
disastrous. TIE terrible forest fires de
vastate his timber lands and his mills,
being generally driven by steam, are in
hourly danger from their own fires.
In estimating the magnitude of the
lumber trade too, it is difficult to con-
trast it, by actual figures and statistics,
with other great classes of production,
because, oddly enough, it refuses to
submit itself to the statistician. You
can tell: every year, pretty closely the
number of bushels of wheat produced
or the tons Of iron or of coal, because
they mainly find their way to the great
centers of trade; but lumber, in GER
tain way, finds it's markets remote from
those centers, and seems to be dissipa-
ted out of sight. Here and there lum-
Der district may be harnessed down to a
status with the exact Sciences" but
such territorysis only as drop in the
bucket. There are also great numbering
centers to be comprised by estimates
but all through the land, up hill and