The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-09
WEALTH in TIMBER.
A Lumber and Wood BonRnZa That
Is Controlled by tho New Mexico
Railway and Coal Company--The
Timber supply OF Three states aud
OF Northeastern New Mexico Prnc-
ticaliy in Its Hands.


Timber supply OF Three states aud
OF Northeastern New Mexico Prnc-
ticaiiy in Its Hands.
FL Paso, Texas, April 30.
1t is very evident that the people of
the North do not fully appreciate the
timber question in the Southwest. 1t is
! easy to say that nearly the entire lun-
ter supply for all this region comes
either from Oregon and Washington
on the Pacific. 81 from southeastern
| Texas, more than 1000 miles away.
And yet the average Northern reader,
il Re thought at all on the subject,
would bc likely to say that this Is he-
cause of railroad communication Jie
would be wrong. The lumber comes
from the sections named because it has
been believed that there was no avail
able supply nearer to FL PasO.
OF course there have been rumors of
timber in the Captains and in the
Guadaloupes and the Sacramentos, but
anyone at ell familiar with the tree
growth of the Rockies, or of any por"
ton of New Mexico, or Arizona or
Western Texas, is apt to believe that
such timber where it exists is small
As matter of fact there is a section
| reaching from the Captains on the
north to the Sacramentos on the south,
and including both ranges, which is re-
markably well timbered. An expert
| lumber man and mill owner, after
rather careful examination Of the Cap
| itans, decided that there were over H.
100000 feet Of white and yellow pine
oh 1G
Of 100 600 feet OF red spruce; 500O,-
600 or 6,OOOO0G feet of bull pine, fit for
mining use-stuls props, etc--and
| considerable quantity of juniper and
cedar.
The New Mexico Railway & Coal
company knew of this timber and
counted on it as one of it's sources of
revenue But careful investigation
made since work on the road was be-
gun had demonstrated not only that
the timber yield on the Captains will be
as great as estimated probably very
much greatar-but that the Sacrament
tos are vastly more important as a
source of lumber supply The more the
| Sacramento region is looked into the
more surprised and delighted do the
! promoters Of this company become. Tn
many great areas the trees stand as
| heavy and as thick as in northern
| forest. In many respects the resem-
| hlance to a northern forest is perfect.
The familiar growth is there. The big
trees and the little trees are there. The
heavy carpet of leaves, so familiar to
| those who know the northern woods,
are there. Let a man from northern
Pennsylvania be dropped down any
where for 50 or 100 miles on the crown
| Of the SaCramentos and he would
scarcely realize from the appearance OF
| the growth Of the timber that he was
out of his own state.
When the promoters Of the New
Mexico Railway and Coal Co took hold
| Of their enterprise here they considered
| only the market for timber that went
| into El Paso and vicinity from Eastern
| Texas and based their figures on earn
! ings on this information.
1t has now been made clear that the
copper mines of Arizona use very large
AMOUNTS of timber, both round and
| square for mining purposes, such as
timbering ganSways, propping, etc.
| This market amounts to over 5000 900
! feet per month and is now supplied
| either by all rail from Oregon, a haul
! of over 1900 miles, or else by water
from oregon and San Pedro. Cal, and
thence six or eight hundred miles by
rail. These Arizona markets are with
| in $50 to 250 miles from I'll Paso, and
/ will naturally look for their supplies
/ to the Sacramentos as soon as the El
| Paso & Northeastern Railway is COM
| pleted
Investigation also shows that up
| wards of eight million feet of lumber
| were shipped through El Paso into
| Mexico last year, besides a large
! amount that went across the Rio
| Grande at Eagle Pass. All of this
| northern Mexican market is at the
| command of the New Mexico Railway
& Coal Co., as market for it's timber.
| Rough timber sells at $50 per thousand
| feet in FL Paso, and flooring at $25, and
| the demand for railroad ties here is up-
| wards of 100000 per year
| The consumption of wood in the city
| Of FL Paso is 125 cars per month, OK
! elusive of the wood packed on the
| backs of the burros by the Mexicans,
| and also exclusive of the vast uuanti-
! ties of mesquite roots that are burned.
| and which furnish almost the only fuel
! for a large portion of the inhabitants.
| With cheaper wood, the use of mes
quite would certainly be very much
| less. The wood brought i'm, whether
| by cars CT by burro for fuel purposes
is very largely cottonwood and not at
all good for fuel purposes.
| The sacramento supply which will SO
| soon be available both for burning and
| for timber use, is much of il less than
| lOJ miles away. 1t is one marvel of this
! marvellous enterprise that such a near
| by source of business promise has
| passed unnOticed, unknown for so long
a time. 1t is clear to everyone who un-
| derstands the subject at all that once
! the railroad reaches these mountains,
| the timber market Of El Paso, and
| through it OF a region ten or twenty
times as big as the state of Pennsyl-
vania Is at the command OF the New
| Mexico Railway & Coal Co.
| II. NJ. G.