Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-12-14

lumber. Other counties in the state are
fully as thicklv timbered, and have, so
far, been logged very little; so it will be
seen that, even in its present vastness,
the Washington numbering industry is
only in its infancy, comparatively speak
ing.
The greater part of the understandable
timber of Washington is Douglas fir;
but spruce and cedar are also extensively
cut, especially the latter. which furn-
ishes the enormous quantity OF shingles
produced in the Puget Sound Basin.
Douglas fir has been widely tested by the
L. 5. Government, by the car building
departments of the leading railroads, by
leading architects, and by prominent
ship builders, and the results as to shear
ing strength, tensile strength, and spe-
cific gravity, and as to capabilities for
receiving finish, have been uniformly
satisfactory. 1t is indeed remarkable
wood, and for bridge building, ship
building and all structural work cannot
be excelled. Its cheapness, all things
considered, is also remarkable; and the
wonder is that its sale has not grown
with even greater rapidity than it has.
Washington's red cedar shingles are
supplanting white pine and cypress in
all the western states, and are rapidly
working their way into prominence in
the eastern states. Cedar shingles stand
extremes of temperature better than anv
others, and are not nearly SO combusti-
BILE. As to their durability, buildings
have lately been torn down in Seattle
that were covered thirty-tive years ago
with cedar shakes, and they were found
to be perfectly sound. The butts were
worn thin by the continual dropping of
the rain, but not in the least decayed.
Lumbermen, well acquainted with both
the cedar and the pine, do not hesitate
in making the assertion that cedar
shingles will outlast pine, two to one,
under any and all circumstances.
The output from the two hundred and
fifty sawmills and the two hundred and
forty shingle mills operated in the State
during the year of 1893 was eleven humid
red and sixty-iour million feet OF lumber,
valued at Sll 100000; and nineteen
hundred million shingles, valued at
$2,6'o,Ooo. This is a greater output than
that of Oregon, Idaho, Montana and
British Columbia combined The shingle
mills Of the State have daily capacity
OF sixteen millions; while King county's
thirty mills have a daily capacity of
three and a half million shingles, and
last year cut 500 900 900, valued at S660,-
600, the largest output OF any
county in the State.
The trade report of Seattle for the wear
ending June 80, 1894 shows lumber
shipped from Seattle and adjoining terri
tory by rail, 1850, OOJ,OOO feet; shingles
shipped from Seattle and adjoining ter
ritoIy by rail, I,007, 04O0 900; lumber
shipped by vessel, ll6, AS 600. For the
first five months OF 1898, Seattle made.
transcontinental shipments over the
Northern Pacific alone of 396 cars Of lum
Der and 1896 cars OF shingles. Figures
from other roads are not at hand.
OF the l2,o0o,U0O feet exported during
October OF this year Australia gets 800
600 feet; South America, 5, 300, 5000 feet
South Africa, $500, 600 feet; and China,
Hawaii and Japan following in the order
named. Large contracts have been
signed by Puget Sound lumherr en- g..