Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-12-20
WASHINGTON TIMBER.
AN ESTIMATE FROM A COMPE-
TENT SOURCE.
IT'S VaStness Beyond ESiimatien
and It's Usefulness Just Begin
ming to He Realized.

and It's Usefulness Just Begin
ming to He Realized.
A staff correspondent to the Chicag
Daily Inter Ocean of July q. has tn
following, in part, to say relative t
| the vastness and wealth of Western
Washington's timber:
There is more standing timber il
Western Washington to-day thai
there was in Wisconsin, Michigan
and Minnesota before the mills wen
into those States" said Henry Hewitt
of the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumbe
Company. Mr.. Hewitt is an oil
Wisconsin lumberman and made
fortune in the lumber business il
that State before he came to Tacoma
He is practical, conservative man, ant
on his judgment the st. Paul ant
Tacoma Lumber Company bases it
contracts for standing timber. HI
leads the life of "cruiser" much o
the time, going into the woods tt
tramp through them and make hi
own estimates upon the extent ant
value of the timber. His estimate
gives better idea of the timber in
Washington than would that OF any
estimate in millions of billions of feet
The people of the East may not know
how much timber has been cut in
Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesots
in the last twenty-five years or how
much is left standing. But they dc
know that these three States have
practically supplied the white pine
for this country for years, have con-
trolled the lumber market, and made
millionaires OF many men who went
into the woods poor and literally
coined money out of pine logs. The
lumber business Of those three States
has also made great cities, placed
great lumber fleets on the lakes and
rivers, built railroads, and almost con
trolled all business in that section
NO man can estimate the timber o.
Washington in ieet," said Mr.. Hewitt
That is mere guesswork, but spent
many years in the Wisconsin woods
and 1 have now been in Washington
for several years, and firmly believe
that there is more standing timber in
Western Washington to-day than
there ever WAS in the three States
named and / know that it is better
timber and will be OF greater value"
This rather startling statement
when the area of Western Washing
ton is compared with the area of the
three States named. The timber o
Washington is all west Of the Cascade
range OF mountains, and this em
braces territory almost as large a
Indiana, or about 10000 square miles
while Wisconsin has $4,000 square
miles, Michigan almost $4,000 squar'
miles, and Minnesota $1,000 square
miles. They together have an arei
of $4,000 square miles, or NOR
than six times the territory embraced
in Western Washington. The differ
ence is that these Eastern States wer
not entirely timber lands, while West
ern Washington is.
The statement of Mr.. Hewitt il
however, based more on the size AM
close standing OF the timber. West
ern Washington was an impenetra
BILE forest before the sawmills came in
and although there are 250 mills il
the Puget Sound district, cutting sew
eral hundred million feet year, the
have made but little impression upol
the forest. The mills of Washington
do not, in fact, touch the timber les
than sixteen inches in diameter, an
in fir the lumbermen speak in con
tempt of trees that will not show u
ninety feet to the first limbs. Sucl
| fir trees are called "short bodied.
Had Wisconsin, Michigan, and Mime
sofa lumbermen left the sixteen-incl
trees standing, as do the Washington
lumbermen, they would have left tn
great bulk OF the timber that ha
been cut.
When Washington lumberme
speak of their timber they refer t
Douglas fir, spruce and cedar, thong
they have much hemlock that is va
liable, some ash, cottonwood and sc,
eral other varieties of which they tax
no account, but which would be va
liable in country that had not sue
an abundance OF fine timber.
The predominating timber of Wasl
ington is the Douglass fir. The las
census estimated that fully sever
eighths of all the standing timber
fir. Mr.. Hewitt regards this as tn
most valuable timber left standing
any considerable quantity in tn
> United States to-day. 1t is as stron
as oak and one.third lighter. 1t
therefore more desirable for car built
ing, ship building and bridge buildin
than oak, and the length OF the tin
ber makes it the best for ship spal
and masts that can be found anywhel
in the world to-day. Spars and mas
are shipped to England, France, Chin
Japan, New England, and wherev'
ships are built, and they can be foun
= of any length and size desirable. Tt