The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-12-23
REV. CHAMBERS LETTER.
Writes From Wood County, the Garden
Spot of Wisconsin.
RAPID ADVANCE IN THE PRICE OF LAND.
Interesting Description of Their Method Of
Getting Rid OF the Big Stumps. Enter.
prise at Grand Rapids.
SoUTH WAYNE, WIS, Dec. g. 1903.
DEAR Bro, PECK,

will try to write a little about that
neck O. timber. By looking on
the map of Wisconsin you will
see that Wood county is right in
the center of the state. While it
may be truly said that Wisconsin
is a great state in many respects
and represents vast amount of
wealth and enterprise, yet she
has in my opinion a grand future.
| am now speaking especially OF
I Wood county, near the center OF
which my son aud grandson John
and William are living; land there
has advanced a hundred per cent
~ price since they went there
but the advance on unimproved
land has been too rapid; 1t rather
tends to retard the progress Ol
improvements. There are thous
ands OF acres, the productive
qualities of which are phenomen.
al, aud almost ineXhaustable: but
d vast amount Of labor Is required
to bring il into Il state of cultiva-
/ ton.
1t is generally thickly set with
uuderbrush. When that Is cut
off and the half rotton logs (Which
lie sometimes thickly over the
grouud) are all piled up and dried
and burned, then you can see the
ground plentlfully supplied with
pine stumps of mammoth dinlen-
sions. These must be disposed
of in some way. Some blast them
/ with dynamite, but that does not
seem to give satisfaction. The
most common method is by
means of what they call stump
puller," consisting of a tripod of
heavy tim bers with q screw work.
ing in plate at the top to the
lower end of which is attached a
huge cham of links made from
inch rods, and worked by horse
hitched to a long sweep. One
horse can easily pull the stump
out, but it requires two to move
the machine. Fortunately they
do not generally, have to move
very far. | saw the operation
performed when | vas there
The roots of some of the stumps
ran out in every direction, form
ING diameter of over forty feet.
But, then, after they are out of
the ground, they are more in the
way than they were before
! There must be something done
to get them into such size and
shape that they can be handled,
dragged off. or burned.
Now, | will go down to Grand
Rapids, the county seatof Wood
county, 1t Is a beautiful little
city of 5000 inhabitants. and
there is an enterprise now in pro-
cess of completion that they say
will exceed anything of the kind
in the world. 1t is simply a pa
per mill; the building of which
covers about two acres. 1t is to
be run by water power, the wa.
ter Of the Wisconsin river to be
utilized for that purpose. A boiler
80 feet in diameter and 13 it,, long
however, will be used for driving
purposes, There was an island
in the river, tut they took that
out as an accommodation in build
ing the dam, The length of the
dam breast Is 300 feet, (not built
on straight line, however,, l
did not ascertain the height, but
it rests on solid rock in the bot.
tom of the river, Is built OF large
rocks, and put together with CO.
ment, so that the whole structure
is one solid block As IT,, thick at
base and - feet at the top. The
dam costs some 10 to 80 thousand
dollars, aud the mill Il million and
a half.
On the way up north, we pass
cd and laid over an hour at the
city of Madison, city of about
10000, the capital OF Wlsconsin
the county seat Of Dane county,
and the site Of the University of
Wisconsin where they have some
5000 students. Coming down