Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1892-11-18
THE /. 7. ], CO.'S Yard.
One Of the Best Arranged Lumber
Yards in the Northwestisi in
this City.
IT LOOKS LIKE A CITY
The Immense Piles of Lumber
Arranged With Neatness
And Precision.

Anu 1ToCASlOu.
The Pine Tree Lumber company
has one OF the best eqipped and best
laid out lumber years, on the West
side of the river, that can be found
in the whole northwest. In this
statement not even the large lumber
yards of the mills of Minneapolis, are
excepted.
The arrangement of the
yards and the facilities with which
the lumber can he reached and
handled is due to w. NJ. Simpson,
foreman Of the yard.
Mr.. Simpson is a young man in
years but old in experience, and his
work in connection with the extensive
yards during the past year, has
stamped him as being thoroughly
posted on the Arrangement of a
first-class lumber yard.
The yard OF the Pine Tree Lumber
fcompany occupies tract of about
fifteen acres at the present time. 1t
is situated just back of the saw mill
and a convenient position for the
quick handling of lumber This fall
there is bet ween twenty-five million
and thirty million feet of lumber in
the yard but by the time the mill
starts up in the spring, it is thought
that over half of it will have been
shipped.
To one who has never been
through an extensive lumber yard
the sight is a very interesting one.
The yard is laid off into streets.
avenues and allys, as it were, and
can well he likened to city. Stand
ing at one end of a street one can
see far down, the huge piles of
lumber on each side piled with exact
ness and precision.
The piles of lumber rise to height
OF from ten to twenty-five feet, the
top extending a slight distance
forward OF the base Each pile is
numered, contains the dimensions of
the lumber, when it was piled,
and the amount of lumber.
Each Of the streets or cross-streets
are numbered SO that it is an easy
matter for the foreman of the yard
to tell just what pile of lumber is to
be used and all mistakes avoided.
A feature of the lumber yards is
the width of the street and the alleys.
While this arrangement takes up
considerable more room in the end
there is a great saving by the facility
with which the lumber can be hand
led. The alleys are used in piling
lumber, the teams driving through
them and the lumber being piled
from the rear. BY this arrange
ment lumber can shipped from one
pile which is dry, while an adjoining
pile can he building. Without the
alley and with narrow street this
is impossible, as in most yards the
streets are SO narrow that two
teams cannot pass.
Another improvement over most
yards is the distance between the
piles of lumber. Here there is
distance OF not less than two feet,
so that a person can easily walk
between the piles. This plan has
been adopted as precaution in case
of fire. Last spring in the big
lumber yard fire lin Minneapolis, the
Waterman discovered the fire just as
it had started. On account of the
closeness with which the piles We're
built it was impossible for him to
throw water on the blaze. BY the
time the fire department arrived the
fire had got beyond control and
millions OF feet of lumber were
DESTROYED, entailing Il loss OF several
hundred thousand dollars. Mr..
Simpson does not propose to have
any disaster of this kind happen ON
account of mismanagement while he
is III charge.
A fire in their lumber yard is the
dread of all mill men by day, and
haunts their dreams by night. When
once a fire. is fairly started it is
almost impossible to put it out until
it has burned everything in sight.
The lumber is piled with a view of
shedding water and on this account
the best equipped department in the
world is working under a dis
advantage.
A good portion OF the land ON
which the yard on the west side is
built has been reclaimed. from a
marsh. This has been accomplished
by putting slabs and waste from the
mill over the marsh to depth OF
four or five feet. This is covered
with shavings from the shingle mill,
and this again with sand.
Within the past two months the
water mains have been extended to
the mills and through the yards SO
that in case of fire there will be an
abundant supply Of water.
1t is thought that next year the
limits, of the yard will have to be
greatly extended, as every prepar-
alton is being made for a large cut.
But as Mr.. Simpson remarked this
'The sky is high, and If
we have to wccan build upwards.
Prnf T Il IanirOn formerly