The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1900-10-13
For House Building Materials
and Heavy COnstruc-
tiOn Work.
ADVANTAGES IN ITS USE.
Its Cheapness Alone il Steadily
Forcing 1t to the Front as
a Building Material.

That hemlock is growing in favor
of housebuilding materials, and
heavy timbers in the construction
of docks and for Itimbering in mines
is evidenced by the fact that about
10,0O0, 900 feet have been cut at the
saw mill at Chassell this summer,
says the Houghton Gazette. Ready
sales have been made of this kind of
lumber and timber to jobbers. The
mines are also beginning to be
heavy users of it, and especially the
great Pittsburg and Lake Angeline
mine in Marquette county. While
it is conceded that hemlock cannot
take the place of pine in a great
many places it answers as good
substitute, aud especially is this
true in timbers for mines and for
the coarser materials in housebuild-
ing such as shiplap, studdings,
| joists, first or underhoors, etc. In
wet places, hemlock is far superior,
as it will not rot as quickly as pine,
its durability being about as great
as that of cedar.
The cheapness of hemlock is
great advantage in its use and this
alone, in time, will force it to the
front. When pine was in abundance
hemlock was looked upon as being
only good for its bark for tanning
purposes, except now and then when
timbers were TO be laid in wet
ground, but as pine is now almost
exhausted hemlock is slowly finding
its place, and large tracts of this
timber that were considered almost
worthless are now regarded valuable.
For the proof of this assertion Su-
perintendent Robinson, of the Stur-
geon River Lumber company, de-
clarcs that he is buying all the hem
lock logs possible from the farmers
who are clearing their lands, and
that he is saving the hemlock on the
lands owned by his company for flu
ture cutting. A large portion of the
logs he is purchasing are coming
from Baraga county and the south
ern portion of Houghton county.
Hemlock logs are bought at $3.50
per thousand feet in the river and
50. 90 at TIE mill, which not so many
years ago was considered fair
price for pine. The separating OF
the culls from the good lumber is an
important work in manufacturing
hemlock lumber. This precaution
has been taken by the Sturgeon
River Lumber company and it is
now making large sales as u result
The culls are sold at one-half the
price of the better grades. They
are used chiefly by farmers for
sheathing purposes.
The total output Of the Sturgaon
River Lumber company S mill this
summer will be about 2l 600, 900 feet.
This, of course, consists of pine,
hemlock and hardwood. The cut
was contracted for last spring, and
is now being shipped as fast as pos
sible so that the yards may be clear
before navigation closes. This
winter several camps will be opcr-
ated and the usual cut will be made.
In the erection of the power house
and car barn for the Houghton
County street railway large
amount of hemlock has been used
and it is also being, freely used in
the new stamp mill at Keweenaw
Bay for the Mass mine.
Twenty years ago men who came
to the upper peninsula from tie
state of New York and Pennsylvania
; were accustomed to express their
surprise at seeing pine used for 2x4
J and 2x6 studdng and joists and 'or
sidewalk plank; they had for years
seen only hemlock used for such
purposes and the day is now not far
distant when the same will be true
] in this section.
Save money by buying your fruit