The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1921-11-03
NUMBERING HAS
CHANGED SOME
Process of laundering in
State Has Changed from
River to Rail.
ONLY HARD WOOD LEFT

Madison, WlS.-Lumbe ring opera
tions this winter in the remaining for
ests of northern Wisconsin will prob
ably be less extensive than in former
years, the conservation commission
here believes, because of heavy cuts
the past two seasons. Already the
first of the thousands of lumberm en-
are entering the woods to renew their
attack on the remaining hardwood for
ests of the state, which are being de-
pleted at the rate of billion feet each
year.
The start of logging work is expect
ed to give employment to many of the
$4,000 men who will be out of jobs with
the completion of the highway con-
struction work this month. Those OBJ
tanning jobs in the woods are receiv-
ing from $50 to $50 a month with
board and lodging, a drop from $75
paid during the summer of 1920.
Lumbermen are said to be making
final inroads on the Is billion feet of
timber, estimated to be standing in
the forests of the state, which for
eight years after 1900 led the nation
in their productivity. Only hard
wood is left, millions of acres Of white
pine having long ago gone down the
northern rivers to the saw-mills. In
it's cutting of hemlock and birch this
state is still in the lead.
But with the passing of the pine
went the Scotch-Irish lumberjack who
built the great lumber industry of
northern Wisconsin and whose wit and
humor, combined with a life of. ro-
nance and daring, made him nation
al character in song and popular verse
In his stead has come the immigrant
Of mixed nationality, Firms, Austrians.
and Poles taking the lead.
Live in Box Car.
The movable box car abode has tax
en- the place of the lumber camp, with
the railroad supplanting the river as a
carrier for bringing logs to the mill.
Cutting has gradually drawn ava
from the river dee> back into the
country, and has made river drivine
operations a thing Of the interesting
past.
Instead Of hauling his timbers by
sled to the river side to be piled up
for the huge spring river drive, the
modern lumberman in northern Wis
consin rolls the logs on to a fat car
which heads directly for the mill. Dan
ger and excitement are largely with
drawn.
numbering started on it's great ex.
pansion in Wisconsin after 1860, when
new mechanical inventions in the mills
and improvement in rivers made large
cutting operations possible. It was
during the 40 years that followed that
the interesting numbering history of
the state developed, in which northern
Wisconsin cities grew at the expense
of the forests.
Industry is Declining.
Decline in the industry commenced
with 1898, and has continued steadily
until this state now ranks eighth in
the nation, where formerly it stood at
the head.
The 100000 acres of forest have
been reduced to 2,500,00 acres, with
cuts now averaging one billion feet
annually, where formerly they amount
ed to from two to two and one-half
billion. Former great white pine for
ests which were considered inexhaust-
ible have almost been depleted, until
numbering is now confined to hard
woods.
The logging operations this winter
will be undertaken in the far north
ern counties where practically all of
the cirgin timber Of the state is left
standing. Tracks have been run into
the woods, and all plans made for cut
ting to FIJI the mill yards. Although
the movement of lumber has been
heavy cutting will of necessity be i'm
possible.
Wisconsin is said to cut yearly four
times as much timber as is grown in
the state, with the margin decreasing
however, as the cutting of forests de-
ereases and land settlement operations
increase. At the present rate of cut
ting, timber lands are expected to be
depleted in 80 years.
was made recently to quash this for