San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1883-09-06
Decline of the Woodlands Axe.
New York Evening Post.

The breezy orators of the West
who have scared so often into the
realms of hyperbole with the ring
inc axe of the woodman" for a figure
of speech, must hereafter either dis
guise the facts or mourn lost meta
phor. AS the king implement oflum-
her craft the axe has long been sup
planted by the costly butinfinitely more
efficient saw. 1t may be asserted,
indeed, that the perfectionas a cutter
which the saw has reached has fairly
revolutionized the whole numbering
industry. The saws in these regions,
where lumber leads the van of pro-
ducts, vary widely III shapes ana sizes.
There is the gang saw of the mill,
with it's thirty upright blades cutting
four big logs at once into boards IN
less than three minutes, and requlr,
inc immense steam power; the chisel
buzz saw, six feet in diameter, that
slabs a log fifteen feet long IN two or
three seconds with its movable teeth,
costing some $500; saws for cutting
slantwise, changeable saws, working
on curves, for shaping panel slaves;
saws that slant the edges Of barrel
heads; saws with reverse action Tor
the thick and thin edges OF shingles
and host of other saws with too
MANY names and motions to be de-
scribed here. But the saw most used
in the woods at first glance seems OF
the most ordinary cross-cut order,
like that used for thick logs in an
Eastern woodward. Examine 1T,
however, more closely, and you will
find that the teeth instead OF beng
bent in the old style, are widened at
the apex so as to avoid clogglng; 1t Is,
moreover, only every other tooth that
cuts, for between each pair IS a bltur-
cation at the end of a square shout
der that, as the saw moves, cleans
away the dust, allowing each tooth
to play freely against the uncut wood;
While i the saw itself is made Of steel
SO beautifully tempered that L have
seen the workmen bend it without
injury into double coil, like q Dam
ascene sword blade. The wonders ID
cutting accom- isAed by tits improv-
ed flexible saw in the hands OF the
skillful Michigan woodsmen almost
pass conception. Working on q test,
two men have felled in ten minutes
ten pines, each Of them two feet IN
diameter; and where d gang OF three
men used to consider so logs q big
DAYS work, 200 logs a day ale now
REGARDED as nothing unusual. AS
may be imagined, the good condition
of the saw is of prime moment, and
perhaps the best paid man II lum-
Der mill or camp is he who repairs
the broken teeth and keeps the saw in
good temper, while a broken spike
head left in log often causes most
costly damage, particularly after
,ough timber reaches the mill. They
ell very creditable story OF a re-
7engeful backwoods farmer-or ten
lerfoot," as they most untlttlngly Call
/ farmer out heIe-who, in his Ire
over some wrong spiked the logs OF
ais capitalist foes and made them I'M I'M
nense loss in broken saws after the
i'm bers had reached the mill.
The axes used mere in the Mlchl-
ran woods seem to be lighter than
hose of the Eastern woodchopper,
out fitted with longer helve: The
skill in chopping Of the Michigan
yoodsman in these Gays of the TIL
,mphant saw is not very marked. A
Iueer, double edged axe much IN
iogue, is hung on a helve at the CEN
re. One blade is thin the other
hick, USED respectively for choppmS
md shifting.