New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-14
LUMBER IN THE NORTHWEST.

obs or limb zR-CUTTING.
IRON An Occ AsIoNAL CORRESPONDENT or THE rRiBUNE'
CHICAGO. Oct. 3-Ot the rather more tnah
o ooo ooD ooo feet OF white pine lumber that
yearly rea hes docks aud yards of Chicago nearly
all Comes from the western halt of Mich Inu, the
northern peninsula of the State and the Green
/ Ra,, districts OF Eastern Wisconsin. OF the total
amount as much as 300. 900 900 IS "eriTed from
n dozen places along the eastern shore oil Lake
MICHIGAN Muskegou alone IN 1851 furnished this
market 1917. s. 600 fest and - l1,OOO Shingles
while 'Iauisfce sent forward jl'l3O,ouo feet OF
lumber and - '.OO0,493 shingles the latter place
heinz the Greatest shine ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS place on
that shore The chief district Of lumber mannt1r-
tnre on the uprer PENN ull is 80 the mourn OF tie
Nruounlnee Ri,ec which emp,ies into Green Bay
and ivide- tho States a. MchiLan ani Wisconsin.
The mills are located &C MenOMinec. IT Michigan
aad Nlarinette. in W. ousln ia'ee proportion o.
the lumber stock that greS % 10 Ike up the residue
Of Chicaeo's 1000. 900 feet 10 proinccd AT
these two points The Men"miane district IN
ISL fur1lshed 20 917.0O0 feet of lumber, AMI
this year 10 is thought the amount will reach over
100000. 900 feet Tire o.hrr Green Fay and Upper
Peninsula ports of importance "A 1881 shipped ~
follows: Peshugo. 52.2GOOO0; Ford River.
91.72iO0O; E.cauaba 1.GS0.OOO: Oc'nto.
z.2iO 600 Of Saginaw luuier IN 1881 37.57J.Ooo
feet were received. rut II Is probable that much
moro VIII have arrived AZ the close oil the present
season on account Of the unusual reaching about
after stocks this year. Alprna, on the Huron
shore. in SSl supplied Chicago with 9439'OOo
fse. anI more tnan that viii arrive from that p"r,
this yrlr. Some IS furnished from otuer Lake
Huron points Lattrry the Lake superior region
has produced considerable lumber. most o. "hl'E
has reached the Chicago market the arrivals from
Ashland i'm lSs amounting to 2O.a9j,0OO feet ami
from, Ootonapon To 1,3jO.OnO. The lumber indus
t.r nj that section is being greatly developed ana
tho tu,e will soon come when the output along the
-,,h shore Of the great lake will swell the yearly
total 10 JoOOo,OJO. but large part OF it VIII no
aonlt 20 to supply the markets OF the new North
west by way OF Duuth aud the three Northern
Pacific IA roads.
The grand total Of lumber that goes to supply Tie
Chicago market. aud the places OF ITS pro"ucuon'
have thus been glanced at 50 that the reader can
~ 4 measure comprehend how such vast Pile of
white pine lumber can reach a single distributing
poiut A look at the map reveals that none OF thr
immense produce is moro than 400 miles away from
Chicago. the majority Of it not more than 200 miles
while billion feet is produced within 30 miles OF
its docks and much of the latter amount Is only
seventy i've to eighty miles away Every ioVI OF
this lrmber is accessible 10 the inland seas Oh
winch II is borne To market, either by means o.
streams bays or logging railroads. Never was Il
prowIug metropolis and lumber market 50 wei
situated as Chicago for reaching It's lumber supplies
II seems ~ if the Power that shaped the dcstnrs
of tins continent caused the pine forests 70 cluster
around the great lakes-and pine forests too. such
As the world nowhere else affords, both as to
quaiity and capacity OF product-contlguous 10 the
vast praIrles Of the Interior that nothing should
be lacking to the rapid settlement of the region
II the nearer prairie States haG been obliged to
transport the pine product necessary TO their de-
vclopmeut over hundreds Of miles OF intervening
territory. before railroads we're tuilt the occu-
! nancy of the Northwest by settlers would have
! been delayed many years. But nature designed
that the intervening space should be covered oy
inland seas and that into these streams should no"
from the regions covered with pine, so that their
remotest pais could be reached by the craft that
should convey the forest product market.
II il imposs bic to estimate the influence the pine
of Mtcmean and Wisconsin has had III tie develop
ment of the Northwest and OF the entire country.
An important factor ia tins great agency IS the fact
thata waterway existed between the forests aud
the prairies. White pine is light and portable
timber emiuenty adapted tc the wants Of new
settlers easily worked by partly skilled laLor 1t
has furnished a material Tor the building OF homes
the Improvement OF farms, the sudden growth OF
cities and villages, and by its means an empire has
been created as 1t were. in a Gay. Comparison is
the most conclusive argument and il one compares
white pine with the yellow pitch variety Of the
South il will be seen that if the Northwest had
been dependent upon the weghty and hardly
worked pine or the Southern sections OF the coun-
try the progress of the prairie States would have
dragged far behind its present advanced condition
Even to this day when railroad facilities from
South to North quite ample the weight OF
yellow pine amounts TO almost an embargo on ship
ments to the Northwest, though strenuous efforts
are being made to overcome this difficulty ~
cheaper frelghts.
The estimate placed on the standing pine Of the
Northwest by the Federal census forestry bui-
etns however much they may be criticised has
served to awaken much interest in the present and
prospective pIne supply. Ten years ago it was
claimed in the Saginaw Valley that the available
pine in that section would be used up in ten ears
yet the yearly product since then has steadily IN
creased and last year the output was greater than
ever before The same Is true OF the Lake Alchl-
gan districts. This at FIRST blush seems an incon-
slsteut proposition but being better understood, it
appears more reasonable. When ,he first estimates
| of Michigan pine were made, the operators took
| into account only such timber as was accessible
TO the streams and was of certain proportions
For instance time was when a pine less than four
teen inches in diameter never cut. Now, such
has become the Unsuitable demand that trees no
more than eight inches IN diameter are sacrificed
TO the greed of the lumhermen and it IS common
Joke among the rel-shirJed brigade that sawed
sticks 6xG are often seen with all four corners
" waney" In the early days of the industry Michi-
gan lumbermen penetrated the forests no further
than would make a short haul necessary to bring
the sticks to stream After timber became scarce on
short haus, long hauls were undertaken Al
length operations had become so thorough that
teams could no longer bring the logs to bank ana
there pause and consideration OF fufther
appliances at each stage Of deuudation the pine
was said to be exhausted. Estimates Of standing