The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-10-15
A Somerset Lumber Mill.

extensive one of Lawrence, Newhall &
Co. at Shawmut, In theitown of Fairfield
) miles up the kennebec river from
Fairfield village.
The water power is valuable one. the
being the only concern on tn -
dam al this point and sole owner thereof
and consequently have full control of
the water to use rs they see fit. They
have also an So horse power steam
engine that they use as supplementary
to water power and also for heating
and other purposes. The entire machin-
cry of the plant can be run by steam if
need be. The large boilers that were
formerly part of the machinery of the
large plant of the Shawmut Fibre Com
pany destroyed by fire some six years
ago, being in a brick fire proof boiler
house apart from the other buildings,
were saved from the conhagration and
are now utilized to furnish steam as
stated above.
this plant is contained in three large
buildings and several smaller ones and
they are admirably adapted to the work
for which they were constructed. In
brief the machinery for manufacturing
lumber contained in their building may
be enumerated as 2 band saws, one
gang, clapboard machines, shingle
machines, lath machines, planners, hard
wood flooring machine, hard wood
finishing machine also saws and maehin-
cry for growing and cutting lumber
into almost any shape or size, so that
an order for the wood work inside and
out of almost any building can be
promptly filled at these mills. This
machinery throughout is of the most
modern in style, the best in quality
and is kept in perfect order.
The band saws are of comparatively
recent use in manufacturing lumber in
Maine aud as they make a saving of
Sl50 per thousand feet in the spl uce
cut up into saw dust over the ordinary
circular saw, the economy of their use is
apparent. The capacity of a good band
saw under favorably circumstances is
from 40 to 10 thousand feet per day. A
gang will cut about 20 thousand feet.
Thus it takes 100 thousand feet of logs
60 keep the Lawrence, Newhall & Cos.
mills at work one day and million feet
will last but 10 days.
These mills have complete system
of water works. running into every
building with automatic sprinklers and
pipes laid upon the roofs of the mills.
SO that at short notice the mills can be
drenched outside in case of fire, beside
the protection inside from the sprinkler
system.
TO run these mills crew of about
l75 men is required aud this mill crew
is employed in the woods winters to cut
and haul 100000 feet of logs to
supply the mills during the saving
season. The nill crews and the woods
crews are largely the same men and
they make up the greater part of the
male inhabitants of the pleasant little
village of Shawmut, IA community of
itself, to whom the lumber business is Il
matter of Importance.
Mr.. Edward j. Lawrence, senior mem.
Der of the firm, has had 30 years exper.
fence in the lumber business. He began
manufacturing lumber with the single,
up and down saw in a small way; then
came the gang, the muley. the circular
and now the band saw. 1t is not easy
to forecast what improvement can be
made on the latter as an implement
wherewith to reduce the spruce log to
boards, plank and joists.
Lawrence, Newhall e Co carry large
amount of lumber on hand Of the
various kinds amounting to to s
millions, in their yards and sheds. They
have about 10 acres covered with lumber
on the sticks at the end of each manu-
featuring season, and their seasoned
lumber in store-houses and sheds, pine,
spruce, wildwood, hard wood flooring
and finishing, shingles, cldpboards,
laths, etc, aggregate an amount of
stock in trade, aside from the logs in
the water and piled on the bank, that
requires Il large amount of capital to
keep an operation of this magnitude in
running order
The edgngs aud mill waste are utilized
"a far as practicable, and what cannot
be made use of are burned. Saw dust is
sold by the car load to limited extent,
it being blown directly from the saw by
system of sluices to cars and also
to the steam boilers where, it is used to
generate steam. Edgings are sold to
pulp mills at Fairfield, or elsewhere.
Spur tracks of the Maine Central are
laid just where they will best accomo-
date the shipment of the products of the
mills with the least labor from handling
and hauling.
The lumber business from beginning
to end is one having multitude of
contingencies connected with it. There
is the contingency of destruction to
forest from fire and wind, that of too
little or two much snow, that of two
little water so that logs cannot be
driven out of the streams and lay over a