The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-12
SPOOL WOOD FOR EUROPE.
Vast Amount Shipped to Thead Fac
 tories From Maine.

Vast Amount Shipped to Thead Fac
 tories From Maine.
 The British tramp steamer Louis ana will probably clear from Bangor on Wednesdays with the last cargo of spool bars to be shipped from that port this season. The Louisiana Is now taking in her third cargo of the season, having made the rather un- usual record of making three trips between Bangor and Scotland during one season.
 The Louisiana's cargo Is the sixth to leave Bangor this season, the others having been taken by the steamer Dorset in two voyages, the two pre- vious cargoes taken by the Louisiana and the cargo by the steamer Arau- cania, which came here from Portland with a partial cargo and had the re- mainder put in here.
 The sailing of the Louisiana close es a big season for the spool wood ship pers on the Penobscot. With the de- parture of the Louisiana the total of the seasons shipment will float up to about 7,000,000 feet. This is an in- crease of nearly 1,000,000 feet over last seasons shipments. Practically all the spool wood was shipped by one firm, which had large mills at West Sebois, Katahdin Iron Works and other points in that region. All of this spool wood has gone to England or Scotland, where the great thread factories of those countries and their product furnish an ever increasing de- mand for the spools.
 Though this seasons shipments have been large, the spool wood man. ufacturers think there will be a big dropping on in the shipments this next year. The white birch forests of Fin land are now coming to the fore in the spool wood industry and their product is encroaching on the market which has heretofore been held al- most exclusively by the American product. Then the manufacturers of spools in England and Scotland have been taking the spool wood as it came along until they are overstocked with the raw product, and consequently are not making contracts for further supply.
 Practically all of the spool wood shipped from Maine comes from the country along the Bangor and Aroos- took Railroad and most of 1t from that section about Schoodic, West Se' bois and the Katahdin Iron Works branch. Some spool wood is sawed ir Washington County, but the manu' facture of the white birch there is al. most wholly for box shocks, which art shipped from Passport in large quan tity. For manufacturing both spoo wood and box shocks the white bircf trees are used. The wood of the vel low birch does not meet the demand: of the spool manufacturers, and vii not stand the shipment as the white birch does.
 There are thousands of acres O. birch growth in Maine, with the vel low birch predominating. The yellow birch is used for making hubs, bu there are but few hub mills in Main and the yellow birch is consequent! almost drug on the market and cal be had for almost nothing. The spoo wood industry gives employment to large number of men during the year Two or three mills will give employ ment to 300 or 400 men cutting whit birch during the winter, and thes same mills during the summer vii give work to 50 or 75 men in sawin; and handling the spool wood-Bango Commercial.