Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-05-15
SCARCITY OF LOGS,
Much Anxiety Among Mississippi
Valley Saw Mill
Men.
LACK OF RAIN Is THE CAUSE.
Not Enough Water in Tributaries
to Drive the Timber to
Boons.

1here IS some anxiety on the part
of the saw mill men in the Mississippi
valley relative to the possibility of
shortness of logs this summer. The
fact of the matter is. that it is posi-
bic that the mills will be compelled to
close down for want OF them. How
ever. there is hope. at least, that
there will be rain enough in the north
to break the landings, and carry the
logs to the booms.
In the north the drouth this spring
was considerably exaggerated as COM
pared with this section of the coun-
try, and there was not enough water
in the upper Mississippi and its trib-
utaries to enable the lumber com
panies to drive" the logs into the
booms. The Cloquet Lumber COM
pany, located at Cloquet, Mimi, will
be compelled to close down for
want, of logs though at one landing
upon the St. Louis river there are
80. coo. 900 feet of logs and at one
landing on the Cloquet river 49,
600, 900 feet. These rivers, it should
be understood, are tributary TO Lake
Superior. However. practically the
same condition exists on the upper
Mississippi and its tributaries, and
as result the booms of the St. Croix
at Saltwater were closed down Friday.
Minneapolis mills. which commenced
late, have beeen running only part of
the time and the chances are that they
will be compelled to shut down en-
tirely.
The ordinary mortal does not. as a
rule. understand the situation in the
north. The logs are cut many miles
from the booms, where they are raft
ed. and oftentimes miles and miles
from the tributaries leading to the
b'oms. In the latter instance they
are nowadays hauled by rail TO the
nearest tributary where they are
dumped into the tributary. the point
of dumping being called "lar ding"
When the spring freshets come, the
logs are carried away. aud this is
called breaking the landing" The
logs are then driven" loose down the
tributary many miles away, and at a
point where steamers may come for
the RATS. In these booms they are
assorted, RATED and made ready for
their longer trip to the mills below.
Roads Into PIneries.
The Clcquet Lum Der company is To-
Gated upon the Cloquet river IS miles
below the junction of the St. Louis
river with that stream. Recently the
Cloquet Lumber company had con-
structed 81 miles of railroad directly
north from the Cloquet river into the
piueries to the north The road was
built year ago last December. Not
rail had been laid nor spike driven
Dec. l, and Jan. following, the road
was hauling logs. During the first
winter it hauled 1000. 900 feet CT
lum Der.
An interesting feature of lumber
railroading is the construction of the
spurs in the winter time which line
the depths of the timber which line
the right Of way. If il is desired to
clear away an S0-acre tract spur is
laid upon the snow. Snow is used to
lamp around the ties, and after this
is done water is poured over it and
allowed to freeze. The track is used
during the winter and before the
breakup comes in the spring the track
Is taken up. The workings of the
vast lum Der interests of the north are
of the deepest interest. and are Pr obs
bly, less understood than almost any
ut her line of emr1IOyment