The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1882-02-11
Our Olio.
The sawmin Changes of a Century.

h~ A1sAN LII III SAohFNCO Vi q SShIAlA y
Among the most marvellous of the many
wonderful things which distinguish the
United States from other nations, are the
results which have grown out of the pos
sessions of immense forests of valuable tim
Der, in stimulating inventive genius to the
preparation of an article of building mate
rial so cheap as to enable the poorest to
have comfortable home, while at the same
time 50 excellent in character as to be not
only suited, but indispensable, to the work
ing classes. Those more readily accessible
regions of the continent which possessed
these forest growths in the greatest abun-
dance were among the first to receive large
aceessions to their population. drawn to-
gether at those centers which presented the
easiest access to cheap building material,
not less than for their personal safety from
a savage foe. 1t was not until the demand
for lumber far exceeded the ability of the
creates" mills of half century ago to
supply, leading the manufacturers to feel
the need of a more extended system of pro-
duction, that the star Of empire made any
progress westward, or it became posSibil-
ity to settle upon the prairies of the West
or to develop the mineral resources which
have already shown our nation TO be the
peer Of if it does not excel all others in
the extent Of Its possessions Topossess is
to need Aud the cheap building material
which the cheap mills of the days long gone
by enabled a scanty population to utilize
stimulated a more extended immigration,
with its increased needs, as well as higher
order Of inventive genius TO increase the
supply.
The mills of the olden time were, first,
the windmill. with its uncertain power
scarce exceeding that of the men who rau
the pit saws which were then in measure
superseded. and whose indignation at the
effort to lessen their manual labor caused
them 10 mob the owner aud tear down his
machinery. Second, the adaptation of a
current water-wheel of scarcely greater
power, If more reliable. run by the natural
current Of small stream Next came the
/ simple ilutter.whesl, 10 imTart motion TO
which required the building If dams to
4 hold large bodies Of water, which shoall at
all times Be available But for large opera,
Z tions the hutter-whcei WAS found 70 possess
Z too little power AID the oycFshos or under.
+ shot wheel became a necessity. to be super
seeded later by the adaptation Of turbine
wheels. nov ~ much in favor with mill
owners who eSntrel water power. For the
fTSi Gifts yesrs Of our national gr0wth, As
vel as during the preceding portion Of the
..~.1.1'sr - satfta
equipped With anything nsoFo than single
upright saw working in gate, aad shen
another ssw was added, as the incepsiye
idea Of the gang which quickly saceeeglol
with is large Kumber of saws, words could
scarcely exprssss the astonishmeut Of an who
saw the working Of the bold innovation.
Up TO this time, all the humber which
was manufactured had been edged upon ,he
top Of the log after il vas turned down; an
auxiliary saw vas nol ihoaght Of, for the
buzz-saW, just beginning 20 he usei, gas
considered most dangerous pieee of ma
chiaery Bat the incFeasei manufacture
growing out of az increase IN the power
and an lnerease IN the nuIaber Of SAYS. ls,l
to the introduction Of the small circular %
-buEz saw, which vas II once found 10
nearly double the capacity Of the min II
j. needles for us 10 enlarge upon the in
PRODUCTION Of steam power in the saW-uill
oE to follow the original idea 81 an engine,
exs inches. attached % the lcwcT cud of
the pitman or saw gate, through H. sucoos-
sive stages q Development and enlargement
10 the present time. when the Corliss. or
Estes, or other well.known engine, 81
poEer from ten to one hundred times greater
capacity than va It's original devicC, are
by the thousand in number engaged Ia
turning out lumber, each in one season az
gTegating a greater manufacture than were
all the saw.mills Of the county colabiRed q,
period scarcely City years ia the past.
The old gate sas was superseded BY the
nlnlay, with reduction Il friction equal 10
thirty 6r iifty per cent increase IN cutting
capacity. The mulay gave way 20 the cir
-csilar, and with IL Introduction may be-
dated the commencement ef an era which
has been prolific Of innovation, improve
nlent. and advantage Ia the sawniill world
As the use Of the circular became better
understood, and men became expert in ~
dressing IL a. 10 make true l:nes and sulou;h
surfaces. they found themselves able 20
produce more lumber in the rough than
they could properly edge and prepare for
market. The Old edging-table could not
keep up with the cut Of the saw This
was rcmedied by the introduction Of gang
edgers, which no mill doing any consider
able business could now dispense with.
Now the work Of the main saw could be
safely increased. for the gaug-or, as 1t was
AT first known. .'douhlc --edgeT was abun-
danfly able 10 keep pace with it, and while
at first capacity equal to Loco feet per
hour was doubtfally claimed later develop
ments have shown in not few instances an
entire seasons work a, the rate uf 6,0O0
feet per hour.
This increase in capacity called for
more speedy method Of handling the logs
ON the carriage, and the lumber as it left
the saw, and multitude Of inventive minds
were concentrated oR mill dogs, which
should successfully take the place Of the
lever and pike, driven BY mallet aud the
modern sawmill could not now be operated
with the original method Of degging the
log. The ~nigger, for turning the log on
the carriage, ss well as rolling it on the
skids, has superseded the c;lnt-hook aud
muscular power formerly relied upon, while
the lumber, as it leaves the saw, drops upon
a system Of live rollers, which does the
work to much better advantage than it was
formerly accomplished by hard worked
''off- bearer, who could not in these days
by any possibility keep up with the work
which would crowd upon him.
Plenty of lumber, cheaply manufactured
and sold at reasonable prices, has enabled
the settling up of nation at the rate of
nearly fifty per cent increase Of population
during each decade This in turn has de
manded network of railroads, and carriage
BY them has not as yet been reduced to a
science. which enables us to believe that
rates have reached minimum which they
viii realize in the future The manufac-
turer of lumber, bearing this in mind, must
reduce the weight of his product to the
lowest possible point, and the trimmer be-
came prime necessity as an eeonomizer,
not less than for an advantage in an esthe-
80 roint Of viayv And fha old oranO mill