The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-12-21
JERSEYS CEDAR MINE
Lumber Made Out Of Logs That
Have Lain Buried in
Swamps for Ages.

The mining of cedar has been going on
in Dennisville, Nj, for -three-quarters of
a century, says the Newark Sunday
Call" and over, but few Jerseymen
seem to be aware of it, although the fact
has been exploited in the newspapers
from time to time. When one speaks of
mining cedar the impression usually is
that petrifed cedar is, meant. 1t is moth
Ing of the sort. Ages and ages ago a
forest of cedar trees waved its multi
tudinous branches in the breezes about
Cape May. They were superb monarchs
of the forest, many of them, and they
ner. They fell PROSTATE, perhaps
through the agency of some terrific
storm, and perhaps through some ire
mendous earthquake.
At all events, they did not rot away,
but were laid low in their prime, these
stalwart cedars. One theory is that the
forest was once of wide extent, n that
it stood in a lake or swamp of fresh
water. Then, say DR.. Maurice Beas-
ley and Clarence Deming, biologists Of
| standing in the lower part of the State,
| either the half submerged and on which
the forest sank lower and the trees col
/ lapsed into the lake or swamp or else
the sea burst the barrier which had sep
arated it from the trees and, rushing
down upon them; wreaked widespread
destruction. Possibly the tumult of the
inrushing ocean was sufficient to over
turn the gigantic trees by the force of its
waves and by the undermining of their
roots, but they may have been done to
the death in a more gradual way-by
the destruction of their life at the roots
by the salt water. Down they all went,
however, into the soft muck in which
their roots were imbedded, sinking deep
| er by reason of their tremendous weight.
The mould of centuries of leaves closed
| over as if they had been babes in the
| woods, and the festive plethiosaurus and
the melancholy pterdactyl knew them
no more.
THEY SLEPT WELL.
After life's fitful fever they slept well,
and if trees have any sense of feeling
| and subtle inner consciousness the grim
old fellows must have thought it was
| all up with them. But it was not1so to
be. The resurrection time began away
back in the year 1872 when some prosaic
South Jerseyman, d~elving<in the earth,
hit upon a cedar log and hauled it
out to the light of day. To the surprise
of everyone it was found to be in a
fine state of preservation. 1t had been
successfully protected from decay by the
| peculiar qualities of the soil about it
one of the strange accidents of nature
which set scientists agape every now
and then. 1t did not take long for the
natives to reason that there might be
more logs of the same sort in the vicin-
ity. So they went about plunging an
iron rod into the soil. When the rod
struck something hard, and after they
a satisfied themselves that the SUBJ
stance was wood and not stone, they at
tackled the earth with their shovels and
soon would have another cedar laid bare.
Practically the same process is pursued
to this day, n thousands of feet of
excellent timber v been procured
since the mining of cedar began.
The trees often lie over one another
and sometimes in heaps, as dead men
lay on some of the battlefields of the
Civil War. The miner usually has little
trouble in striking wood One or two
jabs into the soft soil oftentimes suf-
fees to locate a log. When the prod
strikes the log the miner chips off a
piece with the sharp point of the tool,
which brings the splinter to the surface
when drawn out of the muck. By the
appearance of this chip the experienced
miner can at once tell whether the log
is sound or rotten. If it is sound he at
once falls to work to prod up and down.
its length until he has determined how
long it is. This ascertained, he goes
at the mining, He works a saw, SINH
lar to those used in cutting ice, down
into the earth. sewers the tree near its
roots and also at the top. The log is
then ready to be raised. A ditch is dug
down to the log. the trunk is loosened by
% Mt hooks and IT riSoG with thn wafpr
to the surface of the ditch. A very odd
Thing happens to the logs when they
rise to the surface-they Invariably turn
bottom side up in the water. To haul
the log off to mill is then a very sim
pie matter.
NINETY FEET BELOW THE SUR
FACE.
These venerable trees are white cedars,
and as the saw eats its way into them an
odor many times intensified over that of
the red cedar of today rises to the nos
trils. In color the wood is of a delicate
flesh tint. Strange as it may seem, not
a single log, it is said, has ever been
found that was water-logged. The earthen
shield about them has protected hem
perfectly from the dampness of the
swamp in the very midst of which they
lie. So far there seems to be no means
of telling how deep down in the earth
this cedar. miue goes Although the
mine has been worked for eighty odd
years the first layer has not yet been en-
tfrely removed. That there are more be-
meath the first layer is certain. In some
stretches of the Dennisville swamps the
logs have been uncovered without the
hand of man, by the sinking of the earth.
There the prehistoric cedars can now be
seen lying criss cross and In heaps. No
where in the entire swamp have dogs
been found lower than five feet beneath
the surface. but that means that the
miners nave not bent their energies to
probe further while the first layer remains
u~nexhausted. Eight miles distant. how
ever, logs have been found at a depth
of twelve feet. and twelve miles further
on. at Cape May, some men engaged in.
sinking an. artesian we'll came upon a log
ninety feet down. The earthen sheath
about this log was similar in compost
ton to that of the Dennisville swamp.
The old logs make excellent building
material, and there are tubs, pals, casks
and even shingles in South Jersey which
were made from the wood seventy years
ago in a fine state of preservation.
What it is in the soil about the logs
which has preserved them SO perfectly no
one seems to know. If any scientist has
solved the mystery the great world wots
not Of it. i
CENTRAL SCHOOLS CHRISTMAS.
The holiday exercises of the Central
Evening School took place in the High
School building last night. Parents and
friends of the scholars turned out in
force, and the large assembly room was
filled. An orchestra furnished excellent
music. A recitation by Miss Graft open
ed the programme, which was very well
rendered. Miss Katharine Harvey sweet