The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1884-12-04
BossING a FLORIDA Buzz-sAw.
A Woman Scratches Saw-dust
Bald-Headed in Florida.
North western Lllmberman.

iAS5 AAIO w iFC 40 "a
lumber manufacturer is at hand.
will state at the start that l am not
in the business through choice,
but having loaned money to parties
with which to purchase saw mill,
/ was compelled by their failure to
make even the first payment to take
their machinery FROM them. L
then put my son-in-law, Ernest
Viewer, who promised great things,
in charge. told him [ knew moth
ing of saw milling but | knew that
the saw dust was too fine and the
scratches on the boards too close
together. l left him to run the
mill, but in short time l found he
could do no better than other men
and L took him out of there so
QUICK it made his head swim. /
moved the mill a distance of 90
miles, fording the Hillborough
river, and placed it near my own
house, at an actual expense of So;
and in Il few days | had everything
in good running order. l have my
own teams and carts and take tim
| Der from my own IanuS.
Although accustomed to manage
my own affairs, commencing by the
time 1 was grown, l found Difficult
ties enough in making lumber, and
l have often said that saw mill
and satan belong to the same fami
ly, and some people say that since l
become the owner of one they are
sure of it; but while they talk 1 am
at work. This is the trouble with
half the country saw mills. There
is too much talking and not enough
work. Why, Mr.. Editor, the most
of men talk over log long enough
to saw it into inch boards. Then
when they get started they discover
that the fireman has not steam
enough; then they must all sit
down and talk again. By the time
steam is up and one or two boards
are sawed, belt must be repaired,
which might just as well have been
attended to before working hours
in the morning or at noon. Then
one man sews the belt while all en-
gage in talk again. When the belt
is ready the sawyer gets it into his
mind that the machinery needs oil
ing; then he hunts up the oil can,
for he never has place for any
thing, and goes round squirting oil
into every hole but the right one,
while the other hands go on with
their talking. The next day they
are out of logs and the mill hands
do nothing except to allow ''their
time to go on" The day following
some of the men are reported sick
and more time is lost. At the end
of the month there is little lumber
and no money and they all wonder
why saw milling does not pay.
know well enough that machin
cry was made to run, and when run
ming it should be at work, and all l
had to do was to keep the saw cut
ting 10 hours day and six days in
the week. In order to do this the
mill must be kept in good order,
not by repairing broken parts but
by keeping it from getting broken.
And 1 soon saw that the parts of
machinery out of sight were neg
lected the most. l suppose any
man would know that is the inside of
things that needs attention-the in
side of the boiler, the inside of the
cylinder, the inside of the pump or
inspirator is of far more import
ancc than the outside. Nothing
makes me more angry than to see q
man rubbing up the outside of his
boiler when / know the mud is six
inches deep inside, baking, burning
and blistering the iron; yet l have
seen but few saw mills except my
own. But I saw how it was manag-
ed before 1 took possession of it,snd
/ am told the others are managed
no better.
Many a man in the saw mill bus
iness would do well if he could get
skilled labor, but this country is
cursed with q tribe of saw mill
traDps who claim to know every
thing and when tried can do moth
ing. They are always on foot and
out of money, yet if we are to be-
lieve them they have been the Sc
perintendents of the largest mills in
America. Every one of them has
been Gov. Drew's principal sawyer
for at least 10 years, receiving not
less than $6 day. They all know
more of machinery than the men
who make it, are ready, not to COM
mence saving, but to commence
cutting, changing, splicing and re-
building with a promise that if l
will give them $3.50 per day and
board they will double the capacity
of my mill and be ready for work in
about three weeks. l have never
been deceived by one of them, but
they leave their mark wherever
employed. One half of them ought
to be hung and the other half
sent to the penitentiary. One
came to me few days ago who was
an exception, for, nothwithstand-
ing he was "the best sawyer in
Florida" he was willing to work |
for $40 a month and board, or $l2 |
if he boarded ''his self'-hungry |
looking wretch! l wouldn't have
boarded him even a day for 50, and |
l knew he couldn't board himself at |
any such price. Said "do you
see that road out therep He very
meekly said he did. "Then," said |
1 ''you go out there, and when you
get to it you take either end you
like; the one that will put you out
of my sight the quickest will suit
me best" He went. Ifhe had not
1 would have put the dogs after him
in three minutes.
employ none but the best hands
not paying Zoo much or too little,
for one fault is bad as another.
l can't say just what my lumber
costs me, but / know that when
sold I have taken in more money
than I,have paid out. I am SO years
old, or about that, was born in
Elorido and waa raised at q time