The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-03-12
THE PIRsr STEAM SAW MILL
In What IL Now West v~irGintn-A Pho.
ncer Concern.

THE PlRST brEAM SAW MILL
In What Is Now West v%irginin-A Pho.
Moor Concern.
To he Editor oftt Iniettcenea.
sIn:-Hefore complying with your request
10 furnish You a description Of the lirst steam
saw mill built In this tection Of the country,
1 will premise the statement that It was no,
only tho lrs. in this SECTION, but probably
the first In what Ia now the State OF Yves,
Virginia, and as the description will neces'
sarily have TO deal with much that Is techni'
cal, l a,n afraid II will prove rather unintsi.
eating to the generality Of your readers.
Yet, % the subject 10 local and embodics the
trislB aud vex2iions that lever attend pioneer
enterprises, we muy hope it willnot DO Who'll
ly so. al.
This mill was built BY my father In 1926
on the sits OF the present saw miH-n near the
stone bridge, and was m annex TO the flour
posed TO take the power to drive It. At i'll,
time the power In belts for transmitting nc.
ton was as little known us that Of the Kelley
Motor, everything requiring Il different
spsed from that Of The prime motor bslng
driven by cog.gearing, and these under tht
circumstances were probably not available
the engine being outside the flour mill nHc
parallel 10 1t, and beside this we're the boil
era, under which passed the shaft, connected
By & crank aud drag link to the engine from
which tho power to drive the raw was to bt
taken. Wu
NOISY MILL.
What the original plan 10 DO this was
have nc idea, butt remember that 4 numbsl
OF months were spent in endeavorlng 10 &C
o0mpllsh 1t,
One OF the plans tried was chain belt madt
on the plan Of the chSin OIL au oid-fashioned
watch, with links about six inches long
made o! hRlf-inoh by oue-!nch iron, ant
slightly curved IN the under edge to cou.
form to the shape OF the pullits over whict
they had TO pass. No theatrical thunder evel
tqualed the noise nude by this chain durih,
the few days that suillced to throw II II
pieces. Whether this was tho first or las
experiment ! can not say, but finally thu
idea OF utilizing the ilouriug mill oagine w&
abandoned, and n small horizontal euSlnp
with direct attachment 10 the saw shaft sut
stituted. Thia would haye proved Just tn,
thing but Tor It's imperfect consti uctiou
owing TO which II wts forever going 10 pieces
ecarcely q day passing without some part Q
1t giving way.
FAULTY SAWS.
With all this trouble below stairs, thing
above were In but little better shape, IT
s,wa we're as crude in workmanship 90 au
part OF the whole, being made in three lay
ers Of iron and gtIel, iron In tho m;Gdl
with steel on tho sidey, 80 imperfectly weld
that these would separate, making ttre
scraggy points 10 the teeth. Bad as this wa
the temperiIg was worse, sometimes soft. by
moro frequently SO hard the teeth would Il
like glass when they were tried to the SO
Many Il time have l held torches made {
spliuters OF wood 10 the teeth until they wei
ut red heat before the sawyer would attemI
to set them.
At the time the mill wal built there wa
no known way to return the carriage aft
tho saw had made q cut through the log, bu
by man power applied to tho feed wheel, /
the side Of which wood pins were ~insertet
thus forming n tresd wheel which tho me
worked much as Il hod carrier climbs a La
der by satpiug from pin to pin ss tho whet
slowly revoived. In the course OF two @
three years a plan WIS devised by the uee {
q band chniI and pullies TO do 1t. taking til
power from thellarger engine. Whether thi
device wa1 one OF Fathers or not | can nc
say, but believe 1t was, az / remember we
the changes that had 10 be msds before
could be made 10 work satisfactorily.
BLOW WORK.
The csrrisge was OF q piece with the resi-
being supported on ANAL wooden posts whic
morticed into the, joist. Ovtr these it va
dragged In It's movement toward the saw b
coga let into the shaft OF the feed vince
working in holes mortiaed in the under aid
OF the rails. The capacity of the mill whe
favored with a run Of IL hours (Which WIS
dsy'a work was about 800 teet when frs
Started, but by the nid OF improvements |
the course OF ten years. the quantity WI
Increased to l GOO or l 500 feet. 1t is hard
necessary to add that thnt many ,housa"d
now produced III as many hours BY the c;,c
lar saw.
at first all The logs used &. tho mill wer
hauled by teams, the expense Of which mad
II desirable to try come other plan, and a
inclined tram way with II winuiass at III
top worked BY cxen ives made to tho cteel
but shortly after building :!e incline tn
chain bait TO return the carriage WAS devised
and tAisat once suggested the application q
thenngine 10 do tue work OF pulling up III
logs.
SUCCESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS.
Thus step by step through Il period OF to
yeass, did this pioneer mill advance In In
provemen;s, bat isolated as 1t was, itlsck.
the adyantageso Of the combined efforts in tn
way Of Improvements which were bein
made in the sections Of tho country wlSs
Numbering was the principal business Of Ii
people, aud 20 fell bchird in the ,nnrch.
Father having heard through some mean
that saw mills in the Stsie Of Main
cut six thousand feet in twelve hours, Will
ssepticsl as TO the fact determined to see 70
himself, ard in tho winter of 1896 made til
journey, and finding that nothing but tn,
truth had reached him, engaged men |,
come on at once and build him a mill, q
the same time making arrangements for
crew to come and run 1t when 1t wss lie
ished.
Early in 1887 the old mill was dismantle,
ana torn down, aud the present mill built
which was then the crack mill west OF III,
Allegheny mountains, but mutatis mutandis
1t is today like the pyramids Of Egypt, !
monument OF the past, having fallen 80 ia
behind the ago that 10 those who have see,
the improved a.ills Of to-day it is as yeritabs,
an antique as is the memory OF the old nil
whose history l have written. -
II. B. HUBBARD.
Wheeling, Marcia s.