The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1904-04-06
NUMBERING ON THE CLARION.
Passing OF Once Great Industry
About the Last Run From the
Upper End of the River.
EDITOR REPUBLICAN,:

Clarion River we are in the midst OF what
% years ago was known all along the
Clarion as the "rafling and running sea.
son" days that have gone to stay gone.
From here OF up the Clarion proper, and
up Little Tobey, which enters the Clarion
one mile above this point, there is no re-
minder at all of the days when the entire
timber and lumber product of this, then,
great forest region, found its way to mar
ket down the Clarion and Allegheny
rivers.
1t has been some time since raft of
any kind passed this point on its way to
market below this-with the exception OF
one year ago last fall man up on Tobey
who had RATED in what would in the old
numbering days have been called three
"1-platform pieces" of stuff culled from
an old mill and some other old buildings
up on Tobey attempted to run the stuff
down on the fall rise in the creek. He
got along all right until he came to Port
land Mils dam. The pond was closed
with boom and the "chute" was in
rather a risky condition. The boom was
opened and two of the little RATS attempt
ed to run out the breast of the dam. They
| got over, but the two RATS were drift piles
when they drifted away from below the
dam. The men on the wreckge succeeded
in getting to land with the wreckage half
a mile below, and tied up their lumber.
The third raft was left in the pond, and
went out in the ice the next spring, or
among lot of drift in the fall after.
do not know whether the Portland
Lumber Company paid damages or not
on account of their occupation of the
river and the condition the dam was in;
at any rate it was very ragged and
sorry termination of the water
traffic on the upper Clarion. The
passing of the old rafting days should
have been managed better, and have end
with greater eclst. But so it is.
GeorgelCulver, the big-hearted, heavy
weight constable of Spring Creek town
ship, put in a RAFT of logs and small raft
ofsquare timber picked up on the hill
side mile below Portland, two years
ago. This found it way by water to mar
ket somewhere below.
At Lily Pond, between Arroy o-old
Beach Bottom-and Hallton, at the
mouth of Spring Creek, David Moore of
Summerv!lle, Pa, put in $4,000 cubic
feet of hemlock timber the past winter.
At Arroyo Mr.. Ford put in 10 or 20 thou
sand cubic feet hemlock fallen timber
FROM the Bingham lands, and raft or
two oflogs and timber at Irvineton, just
above Hsllton. Opposite Hallton and
half mile above the last of the timber on
the Rhines estate was cut last summer. It
was made into square timber-l00, 900
feet-and logs. Only part of it was hauled
the past winter, the rest will be hauled
this spring or summer.
David Moore has one winter more on
his lot; and little timber may be put in
at Arroyo from the Bingham lands next
win er. This brings us down to Spring
Creek. No square timber was put in on
Spring Creek this past winter.
Joseph Metz bought the log timber on
the Rhines estate last Summer and will
run between 400 and 500 thousand logs
board measure-from the mouth of Max
well Run this spring, and probably as
much or nearly so next spring. And that
will clean up numbering operations by
water along the Clarion down as far as
Maxwell run, which is 10 miles ABOVE the
town of Clarngton.
A raft or two-one timber, one logs
was put in just above the Grant M ills site
William Moore OF Clarion ~ in 100000
feet ofsquare timber at Raugnts, and will
run it this spring. Bell Bros. put in co.
600 of squsM mber at Wynkoop Run.
That is sbo10all from Spring Creek to
Clarington. Huff and Daniels, who have
bought all the leg timber on the Moore
tract, have put in a mill near the mouth
of Belvidess Run, which empties into
Spring Creek about one mile and half
from the mouth, and manufacture their
logs into lumber there, and ship out over
the Clarion River Ry to Carman, where
there is outlet by way of the b., k. tS P.
or r. & c., branch of the p. r. r.
There may be a raft or two more besides
what we have mentioned between
Raughts and Clarington-we are not sure.
Here is the outside total of all the timber
and logs from here down to Clarington to
be run on the Clarion this spring. Less
than 500, 600 cubic feet square timber; and
not over l,OOOO 900 feet of logs, board mea-
sure.
There was little timber put in at Clar-
ington, but the amoppt was very small.
Below that 1000 of timber at Cooksburg
would include about all down as far as
that. A local paper up above here prints
short paragraph to the effect that the
banks of the Clarion below this, includ-
ing the territory | have sketched, are
"lined" with timber and logs to be RATED
and run this spring. The man who wrote
that paragraph should have seen the
banks of the Clarion % and 80 years ago.
Then he'd seen something to exuberate
over.
William Moore will have about three
years more and will put in possibly l25,-
600 feet each year. Bell Brothers will
put in no more timber.
The rafting and running days on the
Clarion are about over. TRAMP.
Letter to John McCrea.
TiOneStd, Pa.