The Republican., 1900-09-20
VALUABLE INDUSTRIES.
The Preston Lumber Company and Their
Railroad Into Union District.
From the West Virginia Argus.

inc ITtstOH LulhDcF company ana InBlr
Railroad Into Union District.
| From the West Virginia Argus.
Crellin is not within the borders of
our county, but the timber supply on
which its prosperity exists is now al
most wholly within the limits of
| Preston.
The village lies perhaps a little
more than mile east of the
Maryland and West Virginia State
line and is on the west side of the
Youghiogheny Immediately below the
mouth of Snowy creek, itself a con-
siderable stream. 1t occupies a level
site, the portion next the Yough be-
ing occupied by the mill and sheds of
the Preston Lumber and Coal Com
pany. There are perhaps 10 dwelling
| houses, but the most conspicuous
/ buildings are the commodious and
well arranged quarters of the Pres
ton Store Company and the Metho-
dist church, white frame structure
i vi hOt1l DCStI DOJll WlUll1ll cllIl
without. The village is four miles
from Oakland and seven from Terra
Alta.
Less than ten years ago the site of
Crellin was a glade, partly cleared
but largely covered with thickets.
There was only one dwelling house.
! There was also an old water mill fol-
merly owned and operated by Mr..
Ashby. The present village is the
creation of the Preston Lumber and
Coal Company and was named for
gentleman interested in the same.
This corporation was organized in
1882 by Pennsylvania capitalists, Its
office is in Oakland, Md, but the gen.
eral headquarters are in the coal Ex-
change Building, Wilkesbarre, Pa.
The president is Albert Lewis; the
secretary, W. R Butler; the treasurer
and general manager, w. R. Stull.
Besides buying up the land com
prising the present village, the COM
pany purchased a portable saw mill
which was operating on the tract,
and utilized it in saving the lumber
needed for the new buildings. The
dam across the river came in good
stead, since the pool above held the
logs that were soon floating down the
stream. Besides large quantities of
timber lying along the course of the
river, tract of 10000 acres in Union
district was purchased.
A railroad to Hutton on the B. Il o.
was constructed. This stretch of two
and one-half miles has recently been
much improved, and within the past
year the iron rails have been extend
ed toward the centre of Union dis
trict until there is now a main line
124 miles in length with branch lines
sufficient to bring the aggregate up
to 16 miles. This railroad is capable
of heavy traffic, being standard guage,
rock ballasted, and substantially built
and has cost $1,000 mile: 1t reaches
to the village of Aurora and a con-
siderable extension to the southwark
is in contemplation These extern
sions, present and prospective, have
been rendered necessary by the di-
minutiye of timber supply along the
Yough. Logs may be fioated very
cheaply by water, but even with the
aid of the splash dam near the source
of the river, they could not always be
sent down on schedule time. And be-
sides this fact, much timber had per-
sisted in growing at an inconvenient
distance from the water.
The equipment of the railroad con-
sists of four engines and about 25 log
ging cars. The road has not been
opened for a general freight and pas
senger business, although freight
from Aurora and Carmel is sent for
ward in carload lots. On the day of
the big picnic near Carmel, Aug. 3, a
large number of eXcursionists were
given free ride over the whole road.
At Crellin itself half-mile of side
tracking has been found necessary
From Is to 25 cars are loaded with
lumber each day and 10 to Is cars
with bark, during the season for
shipping bark. Ever since the estab-
ment of the plant the company has
been furnishing the tannery at Hut
ton with $500 tons of bark per year.
The big mill, with it's array of whiz-
zing, noisy saws, driven by two en-
gines, one of $50 and one of rs horse
power, has been working at full
speed all the season. The output of
lumber during the last 12 months has
been 1S,000,000 feet. The greater part
of this is hemlock with some white
pine and poplar, but the proportion
of hard wood which comes to the mill
is on the increase. Most of the hard
wood lumber is shipped to the East.
The greater part of the hemlock goes
westward, rs per cent. of it being alb
sorbed by the railroad towns in our
own state.