ib4
THE WEST SHORE.
June, 1880
leg, doing builneu tad enjoying lift
ibould never be exchanged for the
itnlghMneed) sectarian methodi that
invariably obtain In the older State of
uur Union
To bring about thin great deiidera
nun, mid thus MUM iir hopei to be.
oonta realitUt) we lee but one way of
prooatding. Amid the din and jostle
mi Idonl t the influx of 1 large Immi
gration, our own peculiar institutions
iimiki ba preeerved from the inclusions
of Ettterfl heterodoxy) Living at we
rc, in the beautiful nineet land
oi reality n well a romance, let us
fottti with ilne fidelity, whatever i
really occidental In oni phyilcal( moral
ami IntsUoctnal temperament
While "in language ami literature is
nttlonali in the metai then is, after all,
like our forest hrcccs, a refreshing
odofi all our nwn, pervading ami den
lifying ull we say cir ilo, National in
ley lily nml unity do not necessarily im
ply stiiit homogeneity of constituents;
nor tin they preclude the existence oi
those pleating varieties which Nature
Ik ist If isrtes ami maintains in the
economy of the human race. Our
fauna nml oni differ very widely
from tbott of the Atlantic States. Our
charming landicapei and mountain
teener) lurpaet the power of ordinary
language to detcrlbe, hit climatic pe
CUllaiitiet have more than once pro
voiced the dreamt of Paradhe in the
mlndi and aouli of out poctt, Bvenin
the .it puis department! of inorgank
1. .i..... ... j .
, .in 1, linings Departure! are pre
tented thai geologitti have regarded
in land m .1 newei creation than the
Vtlanlii coaal. , , itrange, then, thai
amid all these sum.,, through the pro.
DMOI M leWM and reaction, many
I "uoohiioiis Milium UIKOVCI
the anal m among em people, and thus
lend iheii chamu to itrangeo and ms
Hon from other land ? Let us look
well, then, to the faithful prcservntioi
I out i,k .(i patriot! tm, our truly West
mi irwnrnttoai, ihr nvereignty of our
mannart and customs, ,,,.1 tbttoy. out
eccinenui langeagi ami literature,
aeje mmm
"1 h.vra
sa..i ceoceitad nattdan, in the eenm
1 coDvenatton, -So have all lM
ssrs" irptinl I bj slaiulrr.
To reeaOV mil from steel, nil. well
wuo .wcrl ML In forty right hcuri
use Oackad line, powdered rcrj Bnc
mn until trie nitt .Iivipprms.
MULTUM IN PARVO.
To the uninitiated, hewing money
out of fir and cedar stumps may appear
to be a rather paradoxical business, but
we beg the indulgence of our readers
hile we show them that such a Uimg
clearly and practically possible. In
craft of a thousand tons
.. (,-""15
burthen, there are from three to five
hundred ship knees utilized to impart
strength and rigidity to the frame
work of the hull. A double-decker,
f course, requires nearly twice as
1 ... i
many knees as arc useu in a siugic-
cked vessel. The general reader
may form something of an idea of the
immense number of these pieces used,
hen he is told that each end of every
icaiii is secured DV three Kneel ninny
Kilted to the ribs and girders of the
hip. In fact, wherever BO angle offers
the opportunity, there a knee is fitted
in'! bolted.
These rugged and ugly-looking
pieces of gnarled timber are the thews
it the ship, being somewhat analogous
o the bracei in the frame of a strong
house, and vet far superior in strength.
since they are so fashioned as to become
solid angles themselves. The size of a
ship-knee is rated according to the
width of its vertex, or "elbow," and
priced at so much per inch for this di
mension. Thus a knee which would
iquare, or "face," as the carpenters
say, ten inches, would he worth, at fifty
entl per inch, live dollars. Hence, it
w ill lie seen that the ml rinsir v iln,. r
........ , WI
1 tree sending forth spurs at its base
large enough for ship-knees, amounts
lo considerably more than what the
b ar lumber it contain! would sell for.
These Important elements of a shin's
frame arc gotten out at nearly all
angles acute, obtuse or right angled
just lis the fangs of the stump will work
most easily and profitably. It is often
remarked thai there is neither a right
angle nor a straight fine in any of (he
WOod-WOrk of a shin's 1,1,11 ' Wi.:i
1 "" one
this may not be atricttv true, it is n-r.
dn that very few of the thousands of
kuccs meti , a ship-vard are finished
with an apex at a right angle, or their
Meittnlght tinea, rbit fact redounds
essentially to the favor of the contractor
who saws ad rwe tl kneee from the
stumps.
We are informed by woodmen who
expei ienced i Ut work, that from
two to five good ihlpVkueea can ba
taken from the base of fir and cedar
trees, and that on an average, three can
be safely counted on in the forests of this
part of the coast.
The history of marine architecture,
unlike that of house carpentry, shows a
gradual increase, rather than a falling,
off, in the amount of timber used in the
construction of wooden ships. As deep
sea-going vessels are much larger now
than formerly, they would be relatively
much weaker were it not for the more
complete consolidation of timber con
sumed in the construction of the frames;
and as this tendency to consolidate pro
ceeds, there is a much greater draft
upon angular sticks worked from nat
ural crooks than upon any other kind
of timber used. Again, traversing as
they do, every navigable body of water
on the globe, ships of all kinds are more
severely tried, now, than in earlier
times, and as a necessary consequence,
they arc proportionately much stronger.
From what has been said, farmers
and woodmen will see that there is both
economy and profit in the utilization of
sound stumps in the way and manner
we have endeavored to set forth above.
Hut especially is this true in the neigh
borhood of our navigable streams and
other bodies of water bearing our na
tional commerce. No especial me
chanical skill is required to carry on this
industry. By cutting, sawing and
cleavage, the spur or fang is separated
from the base of the tree ; it is then
rough hewed in the usual way, and
finished with the adz and broadaxe.
(letting out ship's-knees is a much more
lucrative employment for farmer's sons,
during the winter months, than hunt
ing and fishing. Let the sticks be
taken from good, sound trees, let them
be of all sizes and angles, and nicely
finished, and our word for it, they will
find ready sale in any of our seaport
towns. Should there be a temporary
lull in the market, they can be easily
boused from the weather. Not a winter
passes but hundreds of trees arc turned
over by wind storms, the roots of which
are easily accessible for the prosecution
of this enterprise.
The Eastern demand for ship timber
of all kinds is rapidly increasing. Deck
plank and spars constitute the bulk of
out-going cargoes at the present day,
but we believe the time is near at hand
when the smaller and more rugged
pieces will be shipped from Oregon and