New-York tribune., 1909-07-11

made, now one OF the most artistic colonnades
on the grounds; twenty-six logs. "a feet long
and from to 6 feet in diameter were needed
for inside pillars sixteen logs, IS feet long and
4 feet in diameter, were necessary for girders.
and hundreds OF smaller timbers were required
| All must have their natural bark and be straight
as an arrow.
Keen selection was necessary. but the posts
were found. Their forest abodes were sixty
miles from Seattle and at elevation Of five
| thousand feet. where the snow banked UP
high a mans head and ii was bitter cold No
twentieth century labor saving devices could be
OF use here, and workmen pulled and pushed
the great saws that rasped their way through
the monster trunks The bark must not be
damaged, for the pillars must be permanent,
and the logs were cut in the season when the
sap is in the roots.
Then the donkey engine puffed and the log
ging road trembled as the great hulks were
dragged over the snow to the railroad. 10 be
hauled to Seattle. Ninety-eght 41-foot fat
cars were necessary to shoulder the weight and
bulk of the fallen forest giants. and with much
spouting Of steam and smoke they were pulled
to Seattle and to the fair grounds. A spur had
to be constructed 70 the building itself cutting
through the very centre Of the exposition, in
order that delivery might be made without un-
necessary transferring This track climbed =
10 per cent grade and but two could be
handled at 4 time.
Then the tremendous task Of actual building
began. Special machinery had 10 be construct
ed. for such ponderous bulky material had never
been handled before. Portland its Lewis and
Clark fair. had erected a forestry building that
was the forerunner and predecessor of this huge
log structure, but the work Of construction there
was child's play compared to what the con-
hod hot fber, ber no 70 ,
averaged twenty tons in weight, the 54-foot |
monsters tipped the beam at twenty nine tons |
and some individual logs ran as high as thirty |
three tons. A so ton derrick was necessary, and |
this was built on the grounds.
The giants were hoisted into place and only |
one man hurt. This considered 4 re-
markable feat, fatalities had occurred wher-
ever buildings Of the kind had In the past been
attempted. Five hundred men had been en-
ployed at one time or another during the course
of the work.
In each one of the pillars that form the colon
made there is enough rough lumber to build an
ordinary five room house, together with a fence
and shed. Four million feet OF lumber would
be found in the building could its bulk be re-
duced TO measurable shape. Cut this into half
inch strips. let them follow each other length |
wise as If Joined together in one long measuring |
string. and they would reach four thousand
miles. some four hundred-odd miles further
than from New York to Seattle-the Atlantic TO
the Pacific The route taken in the transconti-
mental automobile race might be marked from |
to end with this timber. The average
sailing vessel has a capacity OF some five hun
dred thousand feet 1t would take eight such
ships TO transport the timber In the Forestry
1t Is affirmed that this structure con-
tains more lumber than any other ediice In the
world i
hl,iI Tfpo In nh Gin oia |.