The Big Sandy news., 1919-09-26
DANCER OF WOOD
FAMINE IS seen
Trees in Forests Must Be Re.
placed or Great Scarcitv
viii Result.
SAW MILLS SMALL FACTOR
Pulp Mile Eat Up Many Millions Of
Spruce Every Year Scientific
Forestry Has Not Caught Up
70 Tree Slaughter.

Forestry Has Not Caught Up
TO Tree Slaughter.
Bangor, Me.--When the world gets
through with Its arguments about war.
peace. the (or a) League Of Nations
and all that Is expressed In the
short and ugly word "rum," Il should
turn It's most serious and Intelligent
attention to tree farming. Positively.
there must be many more trees. OK
constant and liberal replenishment OF
the existing supply. or presently we
shall suffer great Inconvenience from
the scarcity OF many useful and some
ornamental things.
In the simple and innocent old times
tree was Just so much standing lum-
ber, and lumber was cheap. Within
the memory OF men OF middle age
first-class spruce logs sold In Bangor
at S11 to $14 per thousand feet. The
men who cut the logs were paid $1S
to 500 a month and board. the board
consisting chiefly OF bunk 70 sleep
in and "beans twenty-one times a
week. The men who drove" the
snme logs that is. personally con-
Quoted them down the roaring brooks
and raging rivers, received for their
labors and halr-raising risks. $2.25 to
So day, according to their athletic
skill and their fame as white water
men," and OF course all hands were
fed, although the menu was character
lied by monotonous simplicity and
the service subject to many irregu-
larities and postponements. These
same logs were sawed In mills that
ornamented the banks Of the Penob-
scot for fifty miles or more, chiefly
between Milford and Bangor. q dis
tance Of about fifteen miles. The mill
hands went to work very early In the
morning and kept at II until long af-
ter everyone else had quit for the
day, being rewarded to the extent Of
about $50 a month and all the corned
beef, cabbage. etc. they could eat In
twenty to thirty minutes. three or
four times a day, according 70 sea-
son.
Profit to Manufacturer.
The sweet-smelling spruce that was
sliced on by the saws was worth
s14 to $21 per thousand feet, accord
Ing 10 quality and dimensions. This
would seem to allow Of slight profit
to the manufacturer. but there are
various ways OF measuring logs and
woods scale. boom scale and
mill scale--and during the golden era
Of Bangor's spruce trade the jugglery
Of figures was such that 1000 feet Of
logs, boom scale would saw out"
anywhere from 1.150 to 1,400 feet Of
lumber, 1900 feet being a fair aver
age. So. even in the gloomiest days,
when heavy spruce dimensions were
selling at s21 to s23 and the Bangor
mill men would sit in their ofices
chewing tobacco and cussing the hard
times, fhey were In fact making Q
pretty good thing especially II they
happened to own the land the logs
were cut from.
Then, last OF all, the coasters who
carried the lumber to Boston, the
Sound and New York got $1.76, $2.25
and $3.50 per thousand feet for de
livery at those several destinations
that Is, the rates quoted prevailed
during fairly good times. In dull
times lumber was carried from Ban
COR to Boston as cheaply as $1.25 to
s1.5O per thousand. to Long Island
sound ports at $1.75 to 81, and to New
York at 81 to $2.25.
Now everything is changed. OF
Names normal log cut Of 100000
900 feet, at least 90 per cent goes In,
to pulp and paper. The native log
ger, who swung sharp ax skillfuIly
at SIS to $40 month and was con-
tent to live on baked beans and
salted fish. has been succeeded by
polyglot mob that uses saws Lam
guidly at $50 to 500 month, de-
mands hotel fare. frequent payments,
polite treatment and every few weeks
a vacation. The logs for the most
part, are cut into four-foot lengths,
and they 90 to the big pulp and paper
mills owned by corporations that long
ago bought up hundreds Of thousands
Of acres OF the best timber In Maine.
Logging. used to begin in November
and end in March. Now It goes on at
all seasons
Saw Mills Small Factor.
The saw mill Is small factor In
the great game Of turning Maine for
ests into money. The long log
ger, that is, he who cuts for sawmiIIs,
Is almost extinct. The big sawmin
drives are seen no more. This is the
day Of the sfour-foot stun" which
makes mp most Of the drives and gives
business to the railroads. The pulp
mills eat up 50 many millions Of feet
Of spruce that speculative and statis-
! tical persons wonder where It all
comes from and how long the supply
viii last. So far rs Maine is con-
| cerned there need be no fear Of wood
| famine very soon. but at the pres
| ent rate Of cutting there Is bound to
| be q scarcity In the United stntes with
| In few years that win send prices
| kiting-
n,ho ,,raeonf animal contamination Of