The Bemidji pioneer., 1900-05-17


sasterly direction from thessouth.
east corner of Kannabec county
TO- the southeast corner Of Lake
county, thence due north to the
corner of said county,
thence in q westerly direction
clear across the state to the north
west corner of Marshall county,
thence south to the northeast cor.
ner of Polk county, thence south
easterly to the point Of beginning,
the area thus enclosed would EN-.
brace the present pine region of
the state, throughout which log.
ging camps are more or less thickly
scattered during the winter sea.
son.
The ares described embraces
about 81. 200 sqnare miles. or 81
per cent Of the total area Of the
state, and includes al or . part Of
the following counties: Lake, st.
Louis, Itaska, SBeltralni, Polk,
RED Lake. Hnbbsrd. Becker, Caas,
Crow Wing, Aitkin, Carlton and
Kannabec. This Is tho Minnesota
pine land ]arsa Of today, but II has
not always been SUCH In the;
past it has extended considerably
further south, and In the future
the present southern line Of de-
narration will have to be pushed
further and further north. II
During the past season logging
camp, have been conducted in
avery one of the scountiesy sbove
named; but BY far tho largest
number have been located ID st.
Louis, Itasks land Beltrami COUP
ties, which. aside from being par.
'ticularly heavily studded with
pine, are moreover of such size
as to1 takeupaaslarge portion Of
the territory described. 1 u ~.
Very few people have any idea
of the extent of the logging in
dustry of this state. That log
ging camps exist somewhere in
ths northern part Of the state, and
Eha t,rmara prv lssssp paople Are an
plcysd 10 them j in 7 the winter sea
son, is commonly kuown;fhut that
these camps number Several hun. hun
,dreds,. and. furnish employment
during the winter for from IA, 900
to 10000 men, halfestass many
horses, requires to be demonstrat--
ed before it is accepted as true. i
The state labor department. has
for. some time been Engaged, in
collecting, statistics ,ooncsrning
thisindustry and ! has treeeiyed de.
tailed reports from 800 Of these
cansps, showing AN 81 my Of 1 work: 9, =.
srs numbering about IA, 900 men
Al and 1900 horses. ! Thelogscut BY.
these camps during the season y! just
closed is shown to- havelbeen con
siderablyi ,oyer one billion feet.
Now The statement Zone | billion
feet" whilsit expresses The, facts
fails TO convey; an adsquate I'm.
preston, ofthe magnitude of the
work. Atclearer idea issAobtsined
whsn$it3is2 stated that'one billion
feet willsupply suficiedt material
for "a d; sidewalk. nearly eight feet
wide,~s around the earth lat the
Las4. I u
a How nearly the reports in hand
come to being o. complete census
Of the logging industry in the.
state for the past season i is i'm
possible to state. W BUT Judging
from: the field covered and the
manner in which it has
been covered, it might be safe to
estimate the total log cut ia thee
state at one and quarter .millio
feet, and the total number Of men
EMPLOYED at 1900, and half that
mum ber of horses.
As for the length Of the logging
season, it generally extends from
Oct. is to April 1. Weather con-
ditions and requirements Of differ
ent logging firms however, vary
this periud to a great extent. Dur
ing the season of 1899. 1900 some
Of the firms operated only two
- al L.