The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1919-07-31
DANCER Of WOOD
FAMINE IS Seen
Trees In Forests Must Be Re-
placed or Great Scarcity
viii Result.
SAW MILLS SMALL FACTOR
Pulp Mills Eat UP Many Millions Of
Spruce Every Year - Scientific
Forestry Has Not Caught Up
TO Tree Slaughter.

to Tree Slaughter.
Bangor, Me.-when the world gets
through with it, arguments about war,
peace. the Cor NJ League Of Nations
and all that is expressed In the
short and ugly word rum" II should
turn it's most serious and intelligent
attention to tree farming. Positively.
there must be many more trees. or a
constant and liberal replenlshment OF
the existing supply. or presently we
shall suffer great Inconvenience from
| the scarcity 81 many useful and some
ornamental things.
In the simple and innocent old times
tree was just 80 much standing lum-
her. and lumber was cheap. Within
| the memory 81 men Of middle age
frst-class spruce logs sold In Bangor
at s11 to S14 per thousand feet. The
men who cut the logs were paid SIS
/ to $50 month and board. the board
consisting chiefly OF bunk 20 sleep
| In and "beans twenty-one times a
week" The men who "drove" the
same logs that Is. personally CON
Quoted them down the roaring brooks
and raging rivers. received for their
labors and hair-raising risks. 1928 to
SO a 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 10 many irregu-
larities and postponements. These
same logs were sawed In mills that
ornamented the banks ~ the Penob
scot for fifty miles or more. chiefly
between Milford and Bangor. a dis
lance OF about fifteen miles. The mill
hands went 10 work very early In the
morning and kept AZ II until long ar
ter everyone else had quit for me
day. being rewarded to the extent Of
about $50 month and all the corned
beef. cabbage. etc. they could eat In
twenty 10 thirty minutes. three or
four times a day. according TO sea-
son.
Profit TO Manufacture.
The understanding spruce that was
riittd 0u w tut ra"r WIN "Vtth
S14 TO $2l per thousand feet. accord
ing 20 quality and dimensions This
would seem to allow OF slight profit
TO the manufacturer. but there are
various ways OF measuring logs and
lumber-woods scale, boom scale and
mill scale-and during the golden era
OF Bangor's spruce trade the jugglery
- hae 4 "a. ~
logs. boom scale would saw out"
anywhere from |. $50 to 1.4O0 feet OF
lumber. 100 feet being a fair aver
age. So. even In the gloomiest days.
when heavy spruce dimensions we're
selling AT S2l 20 S23 and the Bangor
mill men would sit In their Offices
chewing tobacco and cusslng the hard
times. they were In fact making a
pretty good thlng-especially II they
happened 10 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 sl.75. s2.25
ard $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
gor 10 Boston as cheaply as S1.25 20 !
$50 per thousand. 10 Long Island !
sound ports at sl.75 to 81. and TO New
York at 81 TO 1928.
Now everything Is changed. or
Names normal log cut OF 1OOO.OOO,- |
900 feet. at least 90 per cent goes In
10 pulp and paper. The native log
ger, who swung sharp AK skillfully |
M SIS 10 $40 a month and was con
tent to live on baked beans and |
sailed fish. has been succeeded by n
polyglot mob that uses saws Ian |
guidly at $50 20 SEQ a 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 go 20 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 II goes on at |
all seasons.
Saw Mills Small Factor.
The saw mill Is a small factor Ia |
the great game OF turning Maine for
ests into money. The long log |
ger. that Is. he who cuts for sawmills, |
is almost extinct. The big sawmin |
drives are seen no more This II the |
day of the "fourfoOt stuff' which |
makes up most Of the drives and gives
business TO the railroads. The pulp !
mills eat up so many millions Of feet |
OF spruce that speculative and statis-
tical persons wonder where II all |
comes from and how long the supply |
will last SO far as 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 10
he a scarcity In the United States with
In few years that will send prices J
killing.
The present annual consumption Of