Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-16
a. Far =. On. Can See the Eye Fan.
on Plank..
FEET SAWED A DAr.
Day and Night the Great Mills Arr
Running. Keeping Nearly rw.
Hundred Men Bus,-rhe sawed
Product Goe. All Over the wo-1a
a. Gases for standard OIL Cons
pany,. Product.

Looking from the Free Bridge down o.
Richmond's handsome river front the fac.
tories there seem to cover lots OF space
acres and acres. but down In Southeast
ern Virginia IN Surry county. there Is 4
single plant which spreads over ground
extensive enough to hold all OF Rch-
mond's factories with room to spare.
This is the lumber plant run by the
Tru.tt. Vincent Company. near Jarratt's.
TO give an idea Of the scale on which
these works are operated, there Is, by
one Of the saw-mills, a valley filed with
a mountain OF saw-dust which rises as
high as the tops OF the tallest pines that
skirt 1t, and looks in that level country
like a big volcano. BY tho way. at one
Of the more up-to-date saw-mills there
has been a blow pipe erected, which by
means OF air currents carries saw-dust
and shavings from the mill to a distance
Of one hundred yards from 1t and dumps
them on a fire heap" which never stops
burning. day or night
AT dusk on winters evening. 1t is a
sight which suggests Dante's Inferno to
see this huge pipe looming across the
plain and blowing out heaps OF fuel ora
flames which send sparks and smoke
rolling above the black pine tops.
Another fact will show tho great sig
OF the plant. II you stand at one end OF
the flats on which the sawed timber Is
drying you will see It stacked over an
area. hundreds OF yards in breadth. and
stretching along the Coast-Line railway
track for something like quarter Of
mile.
This humber when seasoned and dressed.
Is shipped for the most part. to the STAN
dard Oil Company for use In making
crates to put around their oil tanks before
shipping them abroad. So this pine which
Is cut from the woods here In Virginia.
North Carolina. and Tennessee. Is knock
ed OFT Of oil-cans on foreign wharves and
some Is picked up by the Chinaman to
cook his rat FOR him. and some by the
Norwegian fisherman to light and heat his
hut Of winter nights, SO that he and his
family can sit around the open fire and
tell ghost stories until they are afraid to
go, to bed.
The '.shooks." as the sticks made for
Grating are called, are in great. demand
and the machinery of the Truitt. Vincent
Company for a greater part OF tho year
is taxed to It's utmost. at certain sea-
sons the force OF 15G men whom they ern-
ploy is kept working In alternating
squads day and night.
Care has to be- taken In the manufac-
ture OF "shooks'' that no knots or+.doty''
lumber be used. In this way the boards
are often chopped In two In order to
throw out the defective parts, and there
would be an enormous waste Of material
for these ends measuring from six incnes
ia h<a h,fY a IN
except that farmers come from miles
around to haul them home for fuel and
other uses. Until recently. when the coal
strike caused the price Of wood to adj
vance. these refuse boards were given
away; now. however, they are sold by
the car or wagon load.
To meet the demand for their product
this company has built number OF saw
mills. principally between Carson. Va.
and Weldon. N. C. Besides what they
manufacture In their own mills they get
lumber from points on the Norfolk and
Western and Seaboard Airline. and frou9
places as far away as Nashville. Tenn.
The nit! at Jarratt's alone turns out
about coo feet OF lumber annually,
The heads of this great business have
not been seized by commercial greed for
they are all known as public-spirited
gentlemen who have the interest OF their
entire community at heart The company
is made up OF Messrs. G. W. Truitt. OF
Suffolk. Va: ". II. Vincent. of Capron.
Va; G.. L. Vincent. OF Jarratt's. Va. and
W. F. Deal. OF Emporia. BY the way,
Mr.. 6. L. Vincent was here IN Rich.
mond. as member Of the Constitutions
Convention. Mr.. Deal is interested IN all
OF the public works of Lmporia and
shows liberal spirit In their support.
Mr.. Vincent, of capron. exercises a coed
Influence over his whole mill force. Sons
time back lie gave 5000 to an orphanags
In Richmond.
These are types OF the men who ara
keeping Southern Virginia fully abreast
with the healthy Industrial progress OF
the whole State. Sound businessmen
who take no stock in booms or unnatural
| growth. but who build up ON business
principles prosperity which gives every
indication of having come to stay.