The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1878-06-06

Z
The length ol line in Opcrat ton at pres
ent is nine miles, with three additional
miles l,cing built. The main line com
plcnces at the Muskegon river OIL Sec
! tiun q, r. 1915 west, strikes section Z,
IN Is 8, thence running through Sec
ti IN \ to lake George In section ID, tn
he continued southeast past Smith
| lake to the southeast corner Of section
3, one mile from the Ionia l. Hougli-
ton Lake state road, aud only about
seven miles from Farwcll. This adj
ditiona! three miles will be completed
before September, and further attended
as soon as practical. This looks
Ominous, and means that this vast
! tract of pine In Clare county, hitherto
considered tributary to tho Saginaws,
IL
GOING INTO THE MUsKEoON RIVER,
to be manufactured on the shores of
Lake Michigan. This will bc the In
evitable result, us may be seen at u
glance. With water outlet inaccessible,
the distance by rail tO Saginaw at least
6j miles, and tO the Muskegon river 10y
the other route, from ID to 11 miles,
there can be no doubt as to the destina-
ton of this timber, which can be put
into the MuskegOn river for about
One-third the amount per ] 900 feet re-
quirest to land them ut Saginaw. Once
la the river IL costs but - cents per ],
900 to run them to Lake Michigan.
Saginaw parties see all this, and hence
the +. Il p. NJ. II. II. Go. are selling off
their lands In these parts, to MIR. Ger
rish.
Armed with "pass" from J. v.
Watson, the gcntlemanly and Obliging
Secretary, We mado
A TRIP OVER TIE ROAD,
on Monday, and the ride was indeed
II novel one. A railroad engine steam
ing through the forest, with ovcrhang-
ing branches and trees so near the track
as to be reached by those OH the ears.
Along the route are skidways Of logs,
lumber camps, and men working at
various par,s at the eall-alSOrbing busi-
hess 10y which We arr surrounded. The
track is Of common railroad width,
rails small, ears and engine light but
strong, Leiiig just what is required for
this business. There are three engines
OfabOut tons weight each, in use, and
90 cars. There are fifteen cars to each
engine, which carry an average Of about
5000 feet Of logs to the car. The three
engines are
RUN DAY AND NIGHT,
and ut least 5OO, ,OOO feet of logs so into
the Muskegon river, daily, AMI this rate
will continue all summer. This Is u
regular chartered road. The officers
are: w. ). Gerris!i, general manager,
president and treasurer. VIM. Stafford,
superintendent. j. V. Watson, secre-
tary. There are two engineers to an
engine. The Sampson IL run by Dan
Hopton and john Langdon; the VIM.
Stafford 10y Joe Van Horn and john
Hopson ami George Hopson--alit tip top
1,loyed ON the +. d Z. NJ. Railroad. Joe
Van Horn Is an old engineer and u man
of mGch experience. El. Holson, or
ulne brick, always running over with
iiir.h. The scene OH the high bank O:
the Muskegon river where the logs are
uhloa,lcd from the train, is magnificent,
and Mr.. Gradtl,, of Saginaw, artist,
has done the subject Justice. The J.
Y. Watson is the engine which was run
from Farwcll last winter, over u COM
mon dirt ro,d to lake George, the first
was published all over the Union. Mr..
Gerrish, or "ScOt," as he Is familiarity
called by the boys engineered the bus
iness, but "rctlI" was there, too.
To fully comprehend the
MAGNITUDE OF THESE OPERATIONS,
one must sec for himself. Here with
In an area of / square miles has been
In operation for the past winter, %
lumber camps, IA Of which belong to
w. s. Gerrish and his contractors,
each camp employing from ~ to 75
men each with teams and equipments,
ami travel over the district Of operation
show the enormous amount Of work
that has been performed. What fear
full destruction Of pine forest. In no
part of the world on the saine amount
of territory, Is such gigantic lumber OPP
erations going OH. 1t Is estimated, ut
the close OF this seasons operations,
that at least lO0, ,000, ,0U0 feet Of logs will
be removed from this section, and this
work Is expected to continue for at
least ten years, with timber still left.