The Republican journal., 1900-01-04
Lumber Interests of Washington.

lumber have been depleted until the great
lumbermen of the Middle West are al
ready looking to the Far West for the
future supply. Less than one-half the
great State of W lshingt0n is timbered,
while the larger part is prairie country.
West OF the Cascade range OF mountilns,
which divides the State from north to
south, the country is heavily timbered,
even down to near the coast of the Pacific
ocean The principal timber of that
region is the fur and spruce, both OF which
grow to enormous proportions. The cedar,
too, is both prolific and of large growth.
The alder, which in the far east makes
fair bean poles" here grows to more
than one foot in diameter, and when manu-
featured makes fine finish The hem
lock of western Washington is also unlike
the heml0ck of the east, it having here
straight grain and has even been used IN
the local manufacture Of viollns The
name is ''agin it, but the lumber will
ultimately come into general use when its
worth becomes known.
Official reports give the distribution OF
these species OF lumber in Western Wash
ington 10 follows, ia boald measure: Fir,
Sc, POS SOL 900 feet; Spruce, g. 4o3, HOB, 600
feel; cedar. IT, l92, 276. o00 feet; hemiock
IA Gao s@4 600 feet. The same report
gives he estimated Total If standing tim
ber OF Western Washington As 1o2, 5Q4, 376,
300 feet
,,a,,,I;.,,.it,- INF fb.. fl called fhe D ,ng-
las ~, is ,be occasional thickness OF
t1,c hank eyj,frb sometimes exceeds a foot
or T., inches am, is velv heavy and III m.
Wood dealers take orders far such bark
for iael-for CRATES and furnaces. It
.nakes and holds splandid fine.
THE manner of .lceging," 81 cutting
standin., timber and transporting it 20
roatket H. vastly different from the nro-
cess lu,sued III the East. Thereto work
accuplcS tile winner months. wien the
snow assists Ia sIelfgjua The LOGS from the
.st,}o,r So fine river. on railroad. Ia Wash
,noton most If tine numbering is done in
stt- summer am. tl,.. i,,ti,lino If loo. bv
horse and ,.x teams has nearly been snp-
srceIrd Inv fine Steam .9oeper.t 81 ordonlley
engine ma wire cable.
MANY taJoe camps have steam broad
.,,!aec railroads running through their
timber, the LOGS beng drawn from the
stump to the train BY the donkey engines
which then assist il Loading upon the
cars. Some loggers ham the logs along
the track bv means of the locomotive. the
sleepers being creased as are the 'skids'
in other operations.
The giant trees are cut far above the
ground. because the lower section is scarce
" fit for good lumber and is much larger
ii the base. The choppers cut nntcles we'll
uu the Tree into which sprjnr boards are
placed. about five feet long and SIX or
eight inches wide. upop which the men
stand while cn+tinp a tskerft in one side
ana saving on the other until the tree
falls. with the aid Of iron wedges which
become necessaly in order to make the
tree fail in the desired direction Fir
1iees T. and 10 feet in diameter are not
Uncommon.
The V ashington o. Douglas tir-some-
umes marketed IS 'OIegon Pine''-is a
rma kabiy sJloug lumber and is largely
gsed ior bridges, fstigh1 aud other cans.
I'd such work as requires great strength
nd d minimum vi lightness.
Goleelnlhg the strength uf the Douglas
If, certain scientific tests have proven
nuch Ten pieces each Of green oak and
,reen fir, two feet long by two inches
quar-, an' lrt ssed, were given spau If
. g. 'es and ii lift made at the center of
each stuck separated, by a hydraulic Jack
until the pieces broke.
The breaking strain required for the
fir averaged = SD pounds, and for the oak
2,735 pouuds-110 pounds in favor of the
fir.
Ten pieces of dry oak and fir were like
wise tested. The result showed the break
ing strain 70 be 3, 800 pounds for the fir
and foI the oak ), 2l5 pounds-G95 pounds
in favor OF the FL
Six OipCeS of fir same size as above