Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1895-08-15
Correspondence.

WILDBAD, GAsTEIN,


To the Editor of the American:
On our ride from Verona to Innsbruck
we saw many cars loaded with sawed
lumb Der and some logs, and all bound into
Italy. This circumstance prompted me
to look little into the lumber industry
OF this Alpine region. The rivers we saw
the Adige, the Lii, the Gun, Ssalzsch-
gave no hint OF any log driving or raft
ing on their waters. There was not a
log, nor a slab, nor a board, nor tree
branch, nor bit OF sawdust visible any
where along them or on them, except
that at Leud on the Saalzach Fdid see one
old log on the edge of the current.
U the mountain sides, however, could
be seen "cut downs, =" and logs lying on
the ground, and also a swath down
through the trees below indicating the
pat his through which the logs were run
down the side OF the mountain. Since
arriving here l have explored these
places somewhat
There are no wild woods" here. how
ever far up one may climb. The forests
here are cultivated. There is no under
II,
Except | saw one up the remote
Aulauft hail.. There are no dead branc hes
lying about. The trees are cut with care,
and the tops and branches are carefully
gathered up and carried away for fuel
and cattle bedding. The logs peeled.
and the bark carefully saved. The logs
are cut into lengths of about sixteen feet,
and then run down the steep slopes,
usually on the snow, but sometimes in
the summer the sides are steep enough TO
allow this. w hen a cutting is over, the
ground is clean and the smaller trees left
have full chance to grow. As a con-
sequence of all this care there are almost
no forest fires in this section, and the
ground is speedily covered again with
trees.
have found no large saw mills. All
the logs seem to be sawed up in small
mills at the foot OF the slope and near a
small mountain stream. The sawed lum-
Der is then hauled to the railroad stations
The slabs and sawdust are carefully pre-
served as having commercial value, and
hauled away These mills would be
called brook sawmillso with us, and are
very primitive. There is no need to build
them on or near fall nor even on the
stream. The sawyer erects his little mill
close to his dwelling house, and near
stream. Then going up the mountain
some fifty or a hundred feet he taps the
stream with wooden sluice and leads
the water overland to his mill. The
heels are almost universally over-shot
wheels, bot h for The saw and the "nigger,
The head of water is practically unlim-
tied, but these old fashioned wheels do
not give much speed to the saws. The
lumber is like our pine and spruce. l
have seen no hemlock.
spent about two hours one afternoon
in one OF these mills. The sawyer and
his son were some twenty minutes in
getting a single log from its place in the
yard into the mill. 1t took fifteen min
utes more to square the ends with a small
half moon cross-cat saw. Then to roll it
on the carriage and wedge il up ready for
he saw took six minutes. The saw was
eleven minutes in going through the log.
Ten minutes more elapsed before the
sawyers could detach he slab, run the
carriage back and start the saw again.
An Ellsworth man can figure from this
how many thousand these mills saw in
a day.
There are no dogs used TO hold he logs
in place. A sort OF cradle is placed on the
carriage and held in place by wooden pegs.
The log is laid in this cradle and wedged
up. II the wedges or pegs slip, as they
sonnet ines do. there is trouble and some
times breakage. 1t all seems very crude
and behind hand to a Maine man.
Mr.. Strau binger, the "boss" OF this viii
lage, has just put turbine wheel into
one OF his mills, and it is the wonder OF
the village. Crowds flock to see and
wonder. The speed of the saw surprises
them. The quick clip OF that saw is the
most American thing ! have seen here,
and | was not surprised to learn that it
was an American wheel.
Iwrote in my former letter Of the farm
houses. They are scattered up and down
/ he sides OF the mountains and, looked at
from below, they seem to he stuck
against the mountain. | resolved one
day to climb up aboYe the reg ion Of farm
houses W hen l thought had sue
eeeded, after long, eXhausting climb, !
saw across the valley on the oppo-
site mountain arm-houses onsidera bly,
higher still.
The mechanics all have their shops in
or next to their dwelling houses. | have +
found a blacksmith and wagon maker, /
each living over his shop, and in one case
/ found a butcher living over his slaugh-
ter house. ! have been into some Of these I
houses, for the people are very polite and |
hospita bic, and on your saying you are
an American they are interested at once.
In none OF these houses did | see news (
papers, or books, or pictures, except T
religious ones, or musical instruments,
or carpets, They were eXquisitely clean /