The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-06-16
WITH THE LUMBER MEN.
HOW One of the Great Industries of
This City Is Oper-
ated.
a Lumber Plant That l. an Important
Factor in the City's De-
vel0pment.

lumber industry, a'd to that the prin-
cipal contributor is the Butte and Mon
tana Commercial company.
TRIBUNE reporter visited their mill
at the foot of Ninth street north yester-
day ard found a very extensive and in
teresting plant. Entering the saw mill
from the platform. IN front the visitor is
invited by a sign to ascend to the bal
cony and view the machinery in motion.
This balcony extends the entire length
Of the mill and at its real end, in the
back part of the mill, is a large room
where the saws are Strengthened, ground
and filed. The filler is o. r. Dunn, a
filler of twenty-four years experience,
and he has two helpers. For filing the
large circular saws there is an automatic
machine which turns the saw slowly
around and regularly raises and drops
the emery wheel, grinding the teeth to
the desired length, width, and point
For tho smaller saws there is a machine
in which the wheel is raised and lowered
by hand. This machine grinds all the
saws except the log saws.
After the saws are ground they are
filed and then lowered by means of ropes
and pulleys to their places. Looking
from the windows in the tilers' room the
boom full of logs may be seen, and run
ming from the second floor of the mill to
the river is a long trough in which runs
an anI1acc oh Oh, ,rn,nl ,,,th ,l,,~ l.1..
A mar stands where this enters the
water and as the logs are sent down
from the boom he catches them with
his pole and pushes them on to the
hooks of the chain. which carries them
into the mill.
AS each log comes into the mill it is
scaled, or measured, and then thrown on
to the skids at each side Of the entrance
by large wheels which may be raised in
either direction by the man in charge.
There are two log saws one on the north
and one on the south side of the mill.
and from the skids the logs are rolled by
men, and a large arm, fitting in two
steam cylinders beneath and controlled
by the sawyer onto the carriages as
wanted.
These carriages are small cars. run
ming OF two rails and provided with a
set of dogs TO adj lust and hold the logs.
The carriages are moved by a large rod
which runs into a cylinder lying on the
floor and filled with steam, and may be
stopped at the will of the sawyers-Ed.
Kelleher and Earl Rogers. There is also
a set or the carriage with which the logs
may be so a djusted that a plank of any
size may be obtained and the services of
two men are required on each carriage
to adjust the set and dogs.
From the SAWS the slabs go along a
series of rollers to small saw to be cut
into the proper length for making laths.
The clean-sided pieces that are next cut
are taken from the rollers, on one side
by men, on the other by "kickers'' which
are raised by steam power, run along
hooked chains, n run through the
edger to clean the sides of all bark. The
edger contains six SAWS, which may be
placed from four inches to any necessary
distance apart, and, when they have
passed through here, they are run to the
trimmer, while the edgings go to the
slab cutter.
At the trimmer men grasp the planks
with aXe.like hooks and throw them on
to chains, which carry them to saws ar
ranged so as to tim the black and
worthless ends from planks of varying
lengths.
From the trimmer they slice to rollers
which carry them outside the mill,
where they are grasped by men, thrown
on chains and run over a platform where
the tlmbers are arranged at varying dis
tanccs apart and, reaching the space
equal to their own length. drop and are
SO assorted and may be carried away.
The slabs and edgings, when cut
some are not cut, but kept for sale for
fire wood-are run through a set Of saws
and thus made nearly clear of bark and
ready to be cut into laths. These
''bolts" are run through saws arranged
the thickness of a Hath apart and makes
three or four laths. which are placed in
ducks" until 80 are collected, when
they are wound tightly around with a
chain on a stick and tied and thrown
down a chute to be carted away and
piled in the yard.
The saw-dust falls to the first floor and
Is wheeled away, some to the engine
room and some outside. The seasoned
lumber is treated at the planning mill,
which is run by a separate engine from
the saw mill. The sEavings here are
drawn by air suction into pipes and
thence TO a large box. whence they are
run to the furnaces.
Although they might have access to
the greatest water power in the world
the company chose their present site and
use stearl power, using their own refuse
AS fuel, and thus saving expense. j. L.
Harris is superintendent and j. j. Nc
Cannon foreman of the mill, and under
these gentlemen are about l25 men en-
Il .--l -. -s