Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-23

the Cedar river. near the head works of the
water system. and IL has Just been COM
pleted at a cost of 100000. In addition to
this there are private electrical plants which
are furnishing light and power here Tho
Seattle-Takorna Power Company has large
turbines at Snodualmie Falls twenty five
miles away. and the power Is carried over
wires to the city. The falls there POS
feet high. and there is enough water to gen
| crate 3o,Do-horse power About two-thirds
of this is now being used.
The Puget Sound Power Company has a
power plant on the Puyallup river about
forty miles from Seattle, which was put in
complete operation about two years ago.
This plant can supply 20,ooo-horse power.
and the juice is carried forty miles TO
Seattle. 1t operates the street railway sys-
TENS of Seattle and Tacoma, and also
line between the two cities.
Indeed, the water powers of this whole
country are being rapidly developed. Men
are going about through the mountains
prospecting for them they formerly pros-
pected for gold mines and coal mines. and
the probability is that they will eventually
make more out of the water than out of tho
coal One of the shrewdest examples OF
power utilization have seen is that OF big
lumber and planning mill in of the Wash
ington towns. This mill had large amount
of power. which 1t used during the daytime,
but not at night. An enterprising fellow
made a contract for the use OF the power
at night. and then sent in bids TO the city
to furnish its electric lights. His offer was
accepted and he is now making so l am
told a small fortune in lighting the town
with the mill power.
The Puget Sound Lumber Industry.
Seattle is now doing a grea' deal OF man
ufacturing. 1t has over fourteen hundred
Industrial establishments making products
Of $59.0eooo6 a year. A large number OF
these have been established since 1900 and
they are all growing in size. There are now
big rolling mills. cordage works. ship-buid-
ing plants and large number OF saw mills.
Other saw mills are scattered at different
places along Puget sound and there are in
the state something like nine hundred which
are making lumber and shingles. The lum-
Der industry is more important than any
other. 1t is now giving employment to more
than thirty thousand men. and It pays out
wages annually amounting to twenty mil
lion dollars The quantity of timber used
approXimates two billion feet per annum,
and vast amount of finished lumber, as
well as logs are sent out by rail and steam
er. More than 800, 000, 900 feet were shipped
in 1904, the amount being almost equally
divided by steamer and car. The state OF
Washington is now sending out by rail be-
tween forty and fifty thousand carloads OF
lumber and something like thirty-sx thou
sand carloads of shingles every twelve
months.
Washington Shingles.
Indeed these Puget sound shingles are
now used all over the country. The first car
rails have been kept hot with them, and
they are now furnishing one-third of all the
shingled roofs of the United States. These
shingles are of cedar; they are far superior
TO pine and will last for generation or
rrcre. 1 have seen cedar logs clasped in
the roots of great trees which have grown
up over themi Notwithstanding which the
log was still undecayed.
The lumber and shingle mills of this part
OF the world have the most modern ma
chinery. Man presses the buttons and
water, steam and electricity do the rest.
The logs, some single ones of which are
large enough to load a car are brought TO
the shores of Puget sound and thrown into
the water. They are pushed along 70 the
mills and from that time on are so twisted
and turned by machinery that they come
out in shingles, flooring, sash doors and
other kinds Of finished lumber, with the
minimum amount of human work.
l doubt whether there is an industry in
the United States that is more economically
managed than the lumber Industry Of the
great northwest.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.