Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1882-01-07

In excess or xSOOOUOOOO. These totals
far Outstrip those of any other timber
producing state, or Of any country of
like area.
FACILITIES FOR TRANSPORTATION.
The numerous lakes, rivers and small
water-cOurses which form such salient
features in the topography of Michigan
have been and are of inestimable value
to many interests, but to none more
than those of the lumbermen. They
have borne myriads Of logs from the
forests along their banks to the bOOms
OF the mills located at convenient ship
ping points, and this economical trans
pOrtatiOn has added millions to the
profits Of the business and greately aided
its remarkable develOpement Within
few years the disappearance of the valu-
able pine along some of the streams and
the necessity of access to the remOter
tracts of timber have led to the construc-
tion of small logging railroads in many
portions of the lower peninsula which
possess an aggregate length of many
miles.
EFFICIENCY OF THE MILLS.
Many of the mills OF the state are un-
equaled in their capacity and in the
completeness of their equipment.
The distribution of the lumber manu-
facturs of Michigan is determined by its
rivers and railroads. Below the valleys
of the Saginaw and the Grand, little else
than mere local trade now exists. The
Saginaw receives the waters of the
Tittabawassee, the Cass. the Flint, the
Shiawassee. the Bad, and their numerous
tributaries, draining a vast and mag
nificently timbered region. At its
| mouth are the thriving towns of Bay
City and West Bay City; sixteen miles
above, and at the head of steam naviga-
ton, are Saginaw and East Saginaw.
At these cities and in the fOurising vii
lagos between them are collected the
finest numbering establishments in the
world, whose total yearly product sur
passes that of any other single district.
The river which brings the logs to their
bOOms also bears large vessels to their
docks, and they have under absolute con-
troll all the advantage of cheap water
transportation. The Saginaw valley is
also connected by several first-class lines
with the railway system of the con tinent,
and with this multiplied outlet COM
| mands access to all the markets of the
world.
The Lake Huron shore, including Sag
inaw Bay, counts its saw mills by the
hundred. The Au Sable and Thunder
Bay are important logging rivers of that
part of the state, and numbering is also
extensively carried on along the Rifle,
the Au Ores, the ChebOygan, the Black,
and many smaller streams. Alpena,
Tawas City, East Tawas, ChebOygan,
OscOda, Au Sable, Harrisville and Black
RIVER are important manufacturing or
shipping points.
The chief numbering rivers emptying
into Lake Michigan are the MuskegOn,
the Manistee, the Grand, the White and
the Pere Marquette. The MuskegOn,
after draining broad valley extending
far into the interior, expands into a
handsome lake close upon the shore of
Lake Michigan. No natural provision
could be more favorable for the hand
ling OF logs and the shipment of the
sawed product, and the city of Muskegon,
located upon the south shore of the lake,
has the distinction of annually cutting
more lumber than any other single city
in the world. Manistee possesses SINH
lar eminence in the manufacture of
shingles. Benton HarbOr, st. Joseph,
Grand Haven, Spring Lake, Saugatuck,
Montague, Whitehall, Pentwater, Lud-
ingtOn, Frankfort, and Traverse City,
also contribute to swell the total Of the
forest products of the Lake Michigan
shore lUl7 rs
There are many inland towns situated
upon railway lines, which, are import
ant centers Of this Industry; among them
are Flint, Lapeer, Evart, Big Rapids,
Cadillac, Midland and Farwell.
numbering is yet in its infancy in the
upper peninsula, but the value of the
sawed timber product of that region in
1880 was $4,O00,000. Saw mills are
scattered along the shores and the rail-
ways of MenOminee, Delta, Mackinac,
Marquette, SchOOlcraft, Baraga, HOugh-
ton and OntOnagOn- counties, but the
chief centers of lumber production in
that section of the state are MenOminee,
Escanaba, Manistique, st. Ignace, Ford
River and Munising.
The impression that Michigan is show
ing signs of exhaustion as timber
producing state is without adequate
foundation. Careful observers estimate
that its forests still contain 45,OOOOOO,-
600 of feet Of good pine, exclusive of the
smaller grOwths which will become mar
ketable as the larger trees disappear.
The value Of the vast quantity of other
timber covering its woodlands can only
be expressed in enormous figures. Even
for the cedar and hemlOck, which are SO
abundent, there is steadily increasing
demand, while the stock of hard woods
must, i'm the future, prove the source Of
great wealth. BY some well informed
lumbermen it is believed that ultimately
the hard wood product of Michigan
will approach in yearly value the gener-
GUS figures that now represent the gross
earnings of the pine lumber trade. Ger
tainly the time is not far distant when
hard wood saw mills must become COM