Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-08-14
v. n. B. GALLABER. Editor.
In a Modern Lumber MiII.

| wanted to see a fin de steele lumber
mill. When | was a boy in the pine
woods on the Allegheny hills they had
sawmills on the creeks and rivers that
used to do business with the logs in way
that seemed to be amazing. They used
to have buzz saws in those days ABOUT as
big around as the full moon, aud the way
that little Gypsy engine of three or four
horse power could make them revolve was
a wonder But they told me here
that | was out of date, and that the ALE.
gheny pine woods were not in it.
So went down TO a real lumber mill
Minneapolis lumber mill-yeslerday.-
A Minneapolis lumber mill is a place
where they feed forest into one end and
draw frame house out of the other. A
Minneapolis lumber mill is the Keller of
the mechanic art. 1t swallows log and
vomits a wagon load of tOothpicks. There
is prestidigitation for you. The modern
lumber mill is a place where the men are
machinery and the machinery seems to do
. the thinking Seems isn't really the
word. 1t does think. Or, if you can
prove that it doesn't, you can't make me
believe it. | saw it think. saw a great
big leviathan of thing, a Jagged hooked,
long-toothed monster, reach over and pick
up a log, log that was half as big as the
steel arch bridge, and pat it and caress it
and turn it over as woman would a
baby, and tuck it in, and then-rip 1t
was over with Mr.. Log. 1t made me
think of when the wolf unmasked himself
to Little Red Riding Hood. He bad
been good and kind and loving, and all
that, you know, but finally he showed his
cruel teeth. That's the way this human
monster, this machine that thought, did
with the log the poor log that it pre-
tend to be so fond of, and had coddled
and made love to.
Down in this mill where | was there
were three saws running. This ism t tech.
nical, and | don't know for sure what
they call them, but one was buzz saw
| know buzz saw when | see it-and
another was a saw like leather belt,
piece Of leather betting | mean. 1t must
have been % or 80 feet long, and ran
over big wheel that went around a mil.
lion times a second. Four or five feet of
the saw came down vertically, just at the
edge of little railroad about 80 or 60
feet long, inside the mill. There was a
fiat car on the railroad and big piston
rod was its motive power. The car was
fastened to the rod Ruth was half as
surely tangled up. Whittier thou goest?'
Well, when the rod went you may be sure
the car went right away. A man pulled
string and the rod did the rest
1t was on to this car that the thing
with the VOLTS teeth dumped the logs, one
by one. When they were in position, all
tucked in and feeling pretty comfortable,
| thank you all at ouce that string was
pulled, and in about a second the poor,
unsuspecting log had its nose up against
that leather belt saw and was being sliced
aud trimmed into stick of square timber
In about two minutes it had lost all its
self respect. 1t was nude, shameful, pitt.
able.
Then some one pulled another string or
touched a button, | don't know which,
and what was left of the log was ignomi-
niously thrown overheard. 1t fell upon
a moving sidewalk, something like that
thing they had down by the steamer pier
at the Worlds Fair, aud the sidewalk
carried it of, first south then east. |
think this sidewalk thought too. 1t seem
ed to and did just the right thing at the
right time. 1t never made snything that
looked to me like a mistake. 1t took
this big timber and ran it over to the
middle Of the nill and laid it on another
sidewalk that aas at rest. The brother
of the moving sidewalk was very busy on
the other side OF the mill, taking care of
the timbers the buzz saw was turning out,
turning them into the same centre. Ev-
cry few minutes six or eight squared lin
bers would be piled upon the sidewalk
that was at rest Then some one would
pull another string. The sidewalk that
was at rest got a move on tself; not very
ALsIIn4a - pur fan