St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-04-06
WHERE LUTHER Is KING.
A visit ts Fsllen.by g. Peck's Busy
Mill.


Mill.
For over half century the dam on
the Moose river at the upper end of Port
land street has furnished the power tor a
sawmil, and though men who owned it
have come and gone the water has
flowed on and the wheels have helped
establish the largest industry of it's kind
in st. Johnsburv. Follensby & Peck,
the present owners, have developed the
property until today they are employing
a force Of 20 men and their annual out
put exceeds 100000 feet of lumber.
The senior partner. c. c. Follensby,
came here 13 years ago and bought an
interest in the property with W.. L. Rus
sell. The firm name was Russell & Fol-
lensby. Later William e. Peck entered
the 6rm and it became known as Rus
sell. Follensby & Peck. Follensby &
Peck afterward bought out Mr.. Russells
interest and the firm name was changed
to Follensby & Peck. When Mr.. Peck
died his interest was bought by his son,
Charles E. Peck, the firm name being
retained. Mr. Follensby has grown up
in the lumber business and besides SUPER
vising work at the mill is busy much of
the time buying new timber lands. Mr..
Peck brought to the firm keen knowl-
edge OF men and modern business meth
DDS, acquired by successful experience
as a travelling salesman, and has charge
OF the books and collections.
The rOr1snn NJ Al. 1.-e.1.:~-
up OF the ice on the river means that the
busy season has arrived at the mill and
the force will spend the rest of ,he year
working up the great piles of logs that
line the southern side of the river.
There is more lumber in sight in these
piles than for 10 years and the 1904
product will be 1,75O,OOO teet. There
are 10 piles of logs, each pile being about
$50 long and 80 feet high. The piles
contain mostly spruce, but there are
occasional logs of maple, birch, beech,
oak and other hard woods. All this
large lot of logs was brought in this
winter and there are about 25 carloads
more to come. About halt the logs
came by freight from points on the Lake
road and were unloaded on the spur
track which runs up the river from the
mill. The balance was brought by
teams and it was no uncommon sight to
see 80 or 40 teams in the yard at one
time during the winter unloading their
product. FoIlensby & Peck had 125
horses this winter in the woods and
on the road besides gangs of
men in the woods telling the trees.
They also leased a mill in Victory, the
product of which will be cut and dressed
here. Much of the timber was bought
standing and then cut during the cold
weather.
The low water stopped work at the
mill this winter, but 1T has now started
up with unusual vigor. The power for
the machinery is furnished bv two whe els
with capacity of 125 III. P. which does
not represent, OF course, the ca pacity of
the dam. Uatil the ice breaks up the
huge logs are taken directly from the
piles and drawn up to the big saw by an
endless chain. Later the logs will be
rolled into the river and taken directly
from the mill pond. The equipment Of
the mill includes surfacer, a four-sided
planer, an edger and trimmer, COM
plete electric light plant. blowers, and
eve' ything that a frst-class sawmilI
requires tor the manu- acture of dressed
lumber and its bye products. A new
building has been built for the shavings
and another building contains all the
sawdust. Two large sheds con ain
lathes and clapboards which
are always in demand. On the road to
East St. Johnsbury are 400 cords of
wood and pile after pile OF slab wood,
while near the mill are great piles OF
bark to be shipped to the tanneries.
The firm also keep on hand about mill
lion feet OF dry lumber to supply the
immediate trade.
No mention has been made of the
custom work which is, however, an
important feature OF the business. ALI
through the winter farmers are dra wing
in their logs aud taking home the lum-
ber. land the demand in St. Johnsbury
alone for lumber is nearly million feet
year. The mill was rebuilt As years ago
and as the business grew more land was
bought until the firm no " owns 25 acres.
A few years ago the small Office Opposite
The mill was built which greatly iaciIi-
Lates handling their increasing business.
Such in brief, is the story of one saw
n Il and the growth of local enterprise
which has been built up by hard work,
and wise business manage
nent and the adoption of modern equip
nent in every part OF the plant.