The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1894-01-11
NOVEL SAW-MILL.
IT Is OPERATED ALMOST EN-
TIRELY by ELEPHANTS.
A Force OF Giant Pachyderms That
Garry Logs and Arrange Them
In Pilcs-Two Act as Over
seers and Flog the Lazy.

broken for show purposes,
i cannot offer the slightest cont
{. parison in interest to the
trained elephant exhibition one sees
in the city Of Moulmein, British Bur-
NAH. The most absorbingly enter.
tanning feature of the novel sight is
the paradoxicallv industrial character
which the work OF these huge Indian
pachydcrms assumes. IL hardly
seems possible that the wor,.. of saw
mill, usually done 10y human hands,
could be accomplished through tho
medium % the elephants trunk and
the elephants sagacitv; nevertheless,
II Is a fact that the lrrdwadv Steamship
Company uses some forty to fifty ele.
phants ia the operation of it's saw-mills
ut Moulmein, and the teakwool SO
largely entering into the construction
of ships is here made ready for the ar
tisan, says the st. Loiis Globe-Demo
crat.
The logs are chopped in the interior
and foatad several hundred mile,
down the Salwin river to the mill,
which Is situated on the banks of the
streaN' at Moulmcin. Here the logs
are formed into boom, and hence
forth the work OF transportation is
done by the elephants.
The boom is very similar TO those
We see in the numbering districts Of
Wisconsin and Michigan, but instead
of the sight of men, brightly garbed
in red and blue, running from log 10
log and moving them with long steel
pointed poles, W. see great, ponderou,
elephants wddingaud ,wimmingd dl. Z
the teak logs and pushing them toward
the shore.
The logs are not sawed directly from
the water, hut are first seasoned, and
the elephants not only bring the logs
from the water 10 the land, but also
stack them III huge piles, convey them
to the mill, saw them and aiterwnrd
pile the lumber. OF course each ele.
phant performs only such certain parts
of the work for which he has been
trained and the entire herd il divided
into companies OF from two to eight.
One division of the pGchylcrms does
tn" work III the water, another com.
pHny carries the logs to the dr,iug or
seasoning stacks, others pile tn m, nm.
other class conveys the dry log TO the
mill, whore some of the elcph nts do
the work of saving, still oth,r- pile
the sawed lumber and anotb,r herd
carries hay and prepares the f,od for
this great industrial combination OF
brute strength and intelligence.
But the most wonderful, interest
ing, novel and almost incredible
foutur- tho entir 'ou tinnt
the sight of two monstrously large
male elephants that actually acl in ths
capacity Of bosses or overscer, Of the
work. These move from place to
place among the working elcphaut-.
'purring th"m ON, pushing, driving
and frequently chosti-ing lazy oy
rccalritrnnt member oithc force
Very few men nrr needed t. direct
the elephants ~ their work From
siN to eight of the animals usua.lv
work an Oh" water. These waa, or
swim, according 10 tine depth of he
water, 10 ;hr lug boom, and. loosen
Iug several logs a;u time, tow them to
shore at - certain point Each of the
company OF elephant, that convey the
logs from this point t. the driving
p.Hcc has " chain attached to his neck
and reaching to the ground. At the
bottom of this chain /. loop through
which the lug 4, run \ man directs
the movements al the elephants IN
placing the log within the coil Of the
chain. The elephant picks up another
log 10y hl, trunk. and in this manner
drnge two NJ II time TO the seasoning
stacks, About eight clephants are en-
ploycd IN tins capacity. The work of
pIl.ng Cnc logs t. dry is done by TWO
female elephants. Each winds her
trunk about the log near the end, and
together they rais.' II in horizontal
position and place it on the stack.
After the logs have dried sufficiently
they ARE ready for the mill. Two fe-
male elephants take the dry logs from
the piles and deliver them T. herd
similar IN training 10 those that worn
between the water and the seasoning
stacks. These convey the logs to
truck over which u small car runs to
placed upon this car. As soon ~
log il in position on the car an .Ie.
phant trained for this particular part
Of the work pushes the ear to the mill.
Arrived at the mill the log is pushed
from the car 10 n carrier that passes
beneath the buzz saw, As soon as the
log rs thus transferred to the carrier
the elephant operating the car returns
for another log, while another huge
beast, trained to do the saving,
operates the carrier and pushes the
log against the SAW. But the interest
ing part of the work does not end here,
for as the log is being sawed into
the desired boards and timbers An.
other elephant receives the completed
material, pilling the slabs ON one iide
and the more valuable product on the
other. But two men are required to
oversee and direct the elephants in
saving the logs.
Another detachment of the herd ia