The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-01-22
MINING FOR VALUABLE TIMBER
An Underground Forest OF Cedar In Now
Jersey, Perfectly Preserved.

An Underground Forest OF Cedar In No v
jersey Perfectly Preserved.
iCape May letter.
Dannisvills, Cape May county, u. j., is
reached BY stage The village Is hidden
away in tbs pines. Around it arc num-
dred souls endure its seclusion and ouiet
No ono can tell how long the town has ex-
bted; the old inhabitants say it was always
old.
II was prosperous town during the
Revolutionary war and after Hundreds of
Anaeraeen ships wors built on Dennis creek.
whieA nows through it Its thriftiness
snake shift" They keep up the appear
ancs Of respectability by a liberal use
Of whitswssh. Nearly every house in the
place has been eucrusted with lime willis
the borns and fences do not relieve the mo
notony. Mining out logs has been the oc-
easlonaI industry of the place ever since
Dennisvills existed Several thousand acres
OF swamp land follows the course of Dennis
creek, beneath whose vegetable eposit are
buried millions OF feet OF lumber. Giant
cedar trees, laid low by winds a thousand
years ago. are mined out, and the aromatic
wood Is valuable for shingles and cooper's
slaves -
Tho manner in which these logs are So
cured has not its parallel in mining opera
tionA A long spear is ussd to locate the
logs, which are generally several feet under
the surface. After the trunk has been
probed the miner can tell how much Of it is
sound. The deposit is removed and the
solid part Is separated by saving. The ex-
cavation Is gradually filled with water,
and the moment the log is released
nom the buried part it floats to the
top with the lightness Of cork. In
coming up the log will turn over, always
coming bottom up Frequently logs have
been examined that have been fifty
Feet long and four in diameter, giants that
were NJ to keep company with the holy
brotherhood Of Lebanon The average log
- twsnty feet with diameter of two.
Some Of the miners Immediately tear off
the outer bark and smell the dry and aro-
matte log The odor indicates its possible
age, and few can tell whether it was blown
down by the wind or fell from age. q
The only wood buried hera is the .waise
cedar. Thuja Spaerasdalis 1t is the most
valuable timber land in America. 1t is fine
grained, easily split and strongly aromatic.
1t is used for frames OF buildings and ss-
pecially for single. It's charcoalis valna-
bic Tor Gunpowder, and fine lampblack can
be made from its smoke. The years that
It has lain underground has improved
10 weight and aroma When exposed to
the air the fibers become tough and the
wood hard. Toe venerable looking proprie-
tor OF the Gatixmsr house viii tell you his
shingles have been on the old inn fer fifty
years, and they are harder to-day than
when they were tackled on the rafters.
Fences Of now cedar, that were not exposed
half the time, have long ago gone to rot
The old men OF Dennisville shake their
heads when you ask them how many years
ago It was when the buried cedars nodded
to the breeze. The old deacon will tell
you It was when Solomon was praising the
cedars OF Lebanon to Queen Sheba. The
age OF these buried trees has caused much
speculation, and it is given by several au
taorisies OF national repute that the trees
must have grown many thousand years
ago. In the forestry report for 1877 many \
authorities ars quoted, and they agreo in !
the matter Of time