The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-11-28
WILD RIVER BUSINESS.
Row the Great Hastings Lumber Company
is Conducted.

One of the largest deals in timber lands
and real estate that has been made in this
state in some years has just been CONSUME
mated and the transfer of the property
will probably be made some time this
week. The Wild River Lumber company,
which is composed largely of Vermont
men, has sold its saw mills and buildings
in the town OF Hastings and a tract of
about $4,000 acres of timber land in New
Hampshire to the Hastings Lumber COM
pany, which is Incorporated under the
laws OF this state and in which some
Portland men have considerable money.
Daniel E. Emery, Esq, of Portland, is
the president OF this company and W. w.
Mitchell is the treasurer. The headquar-
tiers Of this company are in this city.
The Wild River Lumber company has
been carrying on the lumber business
along the valley of the Wild River since
1892. In that year the saw mills at Hast
ings were built and since that time some
thing like eight miles of railroad have
been built by the company across the
Maine line into New Hampshire and con
Meeting the town of Hastings with the
Grand Trunk railroad at Gilead. The
property recently sold by the Wild River
Lumber company includes the buildings
at Hastings, consisting of the saw mills,
20 dwelling houses, a large general store,
a boarding house and hotel and the tim
Der land which contains lumber camps
snL5 o, cjk fo1 In Roo, %
Purchase, N. II. This timber land most
~ consisted of spruce and hard wood.
The purchase also includes 100 horses, all
of the camp equipments, freight houses,
locomotives, cars, etc.
The saw min turns out $4,000 feet of
lumber a day and has o capacity of IL
million feet in season. 1t is all shipped
via the railroad of the company, directly
from the saw mills to the markets in
Boston. The railroad owned hy the COM
pan7 runs up the Wild River valley
through a most picturesque region. and
the big trees are cut along the slopes Of
the White Mountains and hauled down to
the railroad. Here the logs are rolled
directly upon the big cars and when a
train is loaded it is hauled out of the
woods and down to Hastings where the
saw mills are. The train runs out over
d long trestle over the mill pond and the
logs are rolled off the cars into the water.
AS they are needed they are foated
down to the mill and there sawed into
lumber and shipped directly to the
markets.
The town of Hastings is not incorpor-
ated but it contains about 400 people, all
of whom are the employees of the COM
pany. In the winter season the company
EMPLOYS three or four hundred men in
the woods and operates several camps
along the valley of the Wild River Over
100 horses and $50 men are now at work
in this region cutting down the giant
trees which as soon as the snow comes
will be hauled down to the company
railroad and thence taken to the mills.
The company finds that IL is prottabl to
haul lumber for two miles but 10 fur
Their. AS soon as the timber two miles on
either side Of the railroad is cut off the
company constructs a mile or more of
new line into tho woods in another direc-
ton and the cutting of this strip begl MS
again. Inc saw mills are ali run NY
steam and are kept going ten months in
the year. The f,Iel for the mills comes
from the waste in the saving of the ium-
Der, while the fuel for the locomotives,
of which the company owns two and will
soon buy another, also comes from the
waste of the mill
The other men connected with this
company besides those mentioned ara res
idents of New York and Boston. The
company intends TO do its trading almost
exclusively in Portland and as the patron
Island Pond, the merchants of this city
will find that their business is increased
not a little. The Hastings Lumber com
many is capitalized for $500 600.