The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-01-03
HARVEST Or THE FOREST.



any means 20 fad a spruc. tree fourteen
se&t Ia diameter. So large - - that 10
logs are ofts2 hszsts1 WITH 6ynsIits IL
order 70 accommodate the saws 1hs b1k
OF ths spruce shipped 20 ths eastern
market comes .ror1 S-&Ys haTcor. The
principal usss Il is pnt 20 are siding. door
stock. tubs, pals. piano sounding ocsras.
etc. Tns comr7or grades go int boxes.
q trade aot TO ss sn-ezea 81 wnen tho
magnitude OF the fruis ard fss canning
fnsius tries % the Coast 10 taken into coz
sheraton. Il growing demand 10 for door
p.nef stock. many Eastern cash and door
soncsrns selling it under tire name sf
waite piae.
Other Useful woods.
Eeuiock 10 . valuable wood. II = M
superior 70 the Eastern article and u
especially besGtiful q finish wood ~
bark produces q stronger tanin than the
Eastern wood % the same name
Alaska cedar 70 a nre-gralned wood
found in the mountains In Limited guam
titles. L&rch, Or silver pine, Is also q
mountain wood and Is used principally IN
sash and doors. Limited quantities OF
alder, ash. oak. maple. laurel and other
hardwoods are found, but not In qaand-
ties large enough TO deserve special mea-
TOE.
Magnitude Of the Industry.
There are a. present ~ saw mills. 200
shlngle mills and seventy-two wood work
lng factories OF al kinds IN the state OF
Washington. An estimate for 1895 places
this output Of lumber Al 800. o0o,ooo feet and
& so. e00.ee3 shingles, valued at slzvo, 90.
Add to this the manufacture OF doors,
furniture. tntsrioT trim, broom handles.
boxes. tubs, pals. matches. excelsior. bar
RES, etc. Al 3. ooe, eo0 and We have a total
OF SIS. 00o 90. In the production Of this
material II is tha usual custom 10 Inquire
one man In the saw mil TO every 1902 feet
and one In the woods. In sinngle manu-
featuring, one man 20 5.eoo shingles and
one man in the woods are required. Con-
sequentiy in the production OF so, 1900
feet OF lumber last year o.090 men were
given direct employment and IN shingles
3 $50 a total OF 9.4o6 men. Dependent upon
these men, using the usual estimate or
three persons TO the family, were 1s,Sss
persons. ADD 10 this ~ least !, 700 en-
ployes Of transportation lines, wood work
Ing establishments. tug boats. supply
houses. etc. upon whom were dependent
$.s59 persons and We have grand total
OF g. SOS.
Yet fn Its Infancy.
This great Industry Is not very old. In
fact 1t is in It's infancy compared with
the white pine states. The first saw mill
IVES bulk IA the fortles by DR.. Marcus
Whitman. near Wa8a Wails- The first
on Puget sound was built az Tumwater
b. III T. simmons, according to Samuel
Crawford. who in recent Issue or the
Post-Inteliigencer gave very interesting
account of the early saw mills on Puget
sound. Tie great impetus in mill build
ing came during the boom period. between
1ss5 and 1S82 II was during those years
that the first shipments of consequence
were made TO the Eastern states, the
trade prior to that time being with Cali
Ffsfa nj farf Ia ~
scarcity OF white pine attracted many
lumbsFmen from Minnesota, Michigan and
Wisconsin 10 Puget sound. VINO buit
mills and invested heavily In timber lands.
None OF them have grown wealthy in the
lumber business as yet, but they know
that eventually their patience viii DO re-
warded. These mill men invaded the East
ern markets and forced the consumers TO
recognize the merits OF Or, spruce and red
cedar. so rapid was the growth OF the
demand for the latter article especially
that during say months IN 1889 no less than
1.5 shingle mills were erected. This caus-
ed an overproduction and only last year
did the demand. which, BY the way,
amounted 20 6.3u car loads in 1882 s.05S in
1855. 1875 in 1884 ana L. Sol In 1895. equal
the supply. This being the case the price
OF star A stars. which IL 1851 was si.15 a.
the mill. fen gradually 30 p cents. which
Was the prevailing price in 1886. This lat
ter price leaves nothing for stumpags, but
Il has furnished steady employment 20
shingle mhl employees. both cutters,
ranchers and others, whose lot would not
havs been ons OF opulencs had It not been
fer the single industry.
California the Best Customer.
California, 20 the surprise or many unin-
formed persons. Is the largest consumer
OF our lumber. in 1925 she took from this
state 80 80 3ls feet Of lumber against 49,
I4os2s feet. which went 20 foreign ports
and los Us co feet which found their way
TO the Eastern states The foreign ship
nents were distributed IN Australia. New
South Wales. south Africa, Mexico. Cen
trGl America. Germany, England. France.
South .Amertca, Hawaii. Japan. China,
| FlJi ard other nations. Australia leads.
with Chile South Africa, New South
Wales. Hawaii and Central America fol-
lowing.
The Mills Equal to Any.
Regarding the equipment OF the mills
ANA factories IA this state, u may be
{ stated that it IS fully equal to th&t OF the
/ Eastern mills, In fact. there are \ mum
I Der or ntus here waose work is even bet
T ter than those Of the East. This Is espeo-
{ ia1ly true in the planning miA department.
where ewing 70 the character Of the tim
bes greater skiA Is exercised than IN the
4 East In ar. ths har3 and soft grains are
/ Obstacles not easily overcome by the
I average planning rli man. II spruce the
/ 'sfuzzy'' surface Is dtsc0ura glng TO the
workman aecuet ome3 10 white pine. aud
/ the coarse. ollftse gratn og red cedar pre-
! scented obstacles jhcaht TO be insurmagnt-
able AZ FIRST. bUt overcome by intelligent
/ effort and extra sharp tcQls. fn tae saw
1 MIL the machinery differs from that %
/ the East I'm order 20 conform with exist
/ fnc conditions. Al parts. especially car
riaecs, "nigEsgs." engines, atc.. are larger
ana heavier than focud elsewhere which
I nay rs su-mtse1 wagu tao large logs OF
/ our forests are taken into consideration
The Methods of Logging.
! TIE methods o. logging are unique ard
/ interesting. IN tne Eastern states lagginE
! Is conducted during tns winter, AMI SNOW
/ sua cod weather are the main requisites.
( II q good aara frost sals in before ias
/ winter SHOWS make their appearance. the
/ logger = heppy because be Knows tnAS he
I VIE aAve good roads Therefore effort Is
I made 70 bank as many loss AZ tie strsaras
/ as POI shas for she spFiag drive. su0 even
I - thers he no snow ere sprinkler gna kea 4
Eooys ice road vblCl answers the pHrp1ee.
I IRE loKs are hauled on s,e&s 20 the land
+ Ing
/ here in washington iCEstnE goes On al
/ the year except Wacu sn4w 90 eNcsssa :
I rsfea tn tertere River Grv4ng also goes
J Oh gye-y month Sea tse year. Here the
SKA roaf takes tho place 81 IRE Sc road
+ aid d7akey ems ats che place % ne horse
/ team Tha sEsa read IS ou1t ~ saplinR
/ timber. ossAa1 and p4scea about i've fset
( arart Tasu tHe ends 90 ne loEs are
/ scu 1naf OF ia asnt7 words, che eeEeS are
( raaraed eT ara VIA che apptcation -
{ sS{d sreass Ihe los 10 matter ao~ large,
/ So easily .alen SO Las tan1&aE. In macy