The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-01-17
Getting Out the Logs.
Tacoma Ledger

in green the mountain scopes OF
Washington have been allowed to
stand. The end is near for the
lumber interests of the east, and
the men who have made fortunes
in Michigan, Minnesota and Wis
consin now are turning their eyes
to the swamps Of the south or to
the inexhaustiblc supplies of the
mountains of the west. They are
watching the mill owners on the
Sound, and in short time will be
eager to rush into competition. A
lesson has been taught the lumber
men of the country and they have
begun to cut the great western for
ests judiciously. Wholesale butch
cry is no longer allowed and each
piece of timber is cut to the ut
most advantage. So great is the
care now exercised that it was
with difficulty that sufficient lum-
Der of a poor enough quality was
secured to plank one of the city
streets this winter. The owners
would not allow logs to be cut in
any but scientific way, and the
result was that the timber was cut
up into grade of lumber too ex-
pensive for ordinary street paving.
This exhibition of wisdom is
not caused by any apprehension
that the forests will fail for gener-
at!ons to come, but for the purpose
of preserving what is not needed
tor present uses for the people Of
Washington when the new state
shall be as densely populated as
some of the countries of Europe.
IN addition to this, in few years
lumber must be shipped over the
mountains, and western lumber
men are making their foresight
equal the hindsight Of eastern mill
owners. In the camps near the
great lakes, the choppers selected
the best Of the forest. These gi
ants only were considered fit for
saw, and the rest of the timber
was u'ncared for and much of it
was destroyed. Soon the big tim
Der gave ont and the woods were
gone over the second and even the
third time, until now a tree six or
eight inches in diameter is consid-
cred worthy Of cutting. No fur
ther slaughter of wood is allowed
there, and the mill owners Of
Puget Sound are as careful as the
owners Of thosej depleted forests
because it is becoming more and
more evident that within few
years demands for lumber will be.
gin to pour in from markets that
cannot be touched at the present
time. 80
Until that day arrives it will be
a question who will buy the lum-
berg This may be puzzle to one
who does not understand the com
merce OF Puget Sound, but Wash
ington lumbermen are not worried
In the least over the problem. Ia:
coma and other cities and towns
upon the coast consume in their
marvellous growth the output of
many mills, and it will be years
before building operations become
in any way stagnant. During this
period of activity in building up
the country, not only will the prod
net OF the sawmills be in demand
by contractors, but other mills en-
gagged in the manufacture of sash.
doors, blinds, shingles and all va
rieties OF woodenware will be large
purchasers. The home market is a
fruitful field for the mill owner.
but the foreign market is WIDEN
ing day by day and the lumber of
Puget Sound is being shipped
across the Pacific and to the coast
of South America in quantities
that must be pleasing to every
resident Of Tacoma.
In view of the increasing con-
sumption Of timber, how long will
the supply last9 This question is
asked repeatedly, and experienced
woodsmen have attempted to
make estimates. but their efforts
have been in vain. No one can
guess within thousands of millions
OF feet the extent of the forests in
the Olympic and Cascade ranges.
This timber must find a market
through the mills on Puget Sound,
and, though hundred mills be set
to work for every one now in op-
GRAFTON, no man now living will
see the day when the mountains
will be bare or even when they will
show any serious depredations.
THE LAND NOT BARREN.
1t will make little difference to
the state OF Washington when
thousands of acres of its primeval
forests are cut into merchandise.
The soil is not barren, so that when
the old timber is gone nothing will
grow. This has been the trouble
with much OF the pine lands of the
world, and the woodsmen have left
behind them bleak and dcsolate
deserts, where the beasts have re-
fused to dwell and where mankind
could find no refuge or sustenance.
AS the virgin forests Of Wash
ington Law low their heads before