The west shore., August 01, 1888, Page 415, Image 13

THE WE8T 8II0HE.
415
LUMBERINQ IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
OGGING operations, as conducted on the Pacifio
j slope, are quite different from the business in
the pineries of the east The large scale upon which
the work here is prosecuted alone constitutes a itrik.
iug feature of difference. The large size of the Urn
her, the peculiarity of the seasons, and the general
character of the country, make logging here new even
to lumbermen from the east As the pineries of
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota wane, the atten
tion of the capitalists interested in the lumber indus.
try there is turned to newer fields of operation, which
they find west of the llockies, and many are securing
timber, and even making arrangements for manufac
turing, in the new northwest Though the country is
new, and much of the choicest timber land is not eas
ily accessible, the lumber output of the northwest is
enormous, and constantly increasing. Washington
Territory seems to attract most attention just now,
but Oregon has large quantities of good timber, which
will stand the draughts of manufacturers for many
years.
There are many interesting features connected
with the logging business, that comparatively few
people are familiar with. Those who come from por.
tions of the east where lumbering is carried on are
more or less acquainted with the plan of operations
which prevails there. Lumbering has closely followed
the "Star of Empire" and taken its way westward
across the continent, but the methods employed in the
business as carried on west of the Hoclics dwarf into
insignificance the hewers of timber on the eastern
shore when the lumber and ship building of the Pine
Tree state, and the pitch, tar, turpentine and lumber
of the Carolinas, constituted the wealth of school book
catechism on the subject In due time, lumbermen
invaded the forests of Michigan, Wisconsin and Mi n
nesota, and even Georgia furnished a very creditable
field for their enterprise. Now the region known as
the Pacific northwest is the field lumbermen are head,
ing for, and the industry here has assumed enormous
proportions. An idea of the plan of operations in the
woods can best bo presented by a description of the
work at the camp of the Willamette Hteam Mills,
Limbering and Manufacturing Company, on Aber
nathy creek, in Washington Territory, which detail
from The Wlst Shoke sUff recently visited. The
several views of lumbering scenes at tbat iict in
this number of The Wwt Shore will aid the reader
in understanding the work.
Abernathy creek is a small stream emptying into
the Columbia river from the north, some sixty mil
below Portland. Camps No. 2 ud 4 "f th till
lamitte Steam Mills, Lumbering and Manufacturing
Company are located on this stream, the former four
and one-half and the latter five and one-half milei
from its mouth. The location of camp No. 2 is at a
waterfall, as shown in the picture. These camps aro
the typical loggers' quarters. The men's shanties,
stables, shops, etc., are built for utility, rather than
artistic effect, though the latter is not entirely want
ing, a fact which the builders should not, perhaps, bo
held accountable for. A narrow gauge railroad runs
from tho landing on the Columbia river to this set of
camps, and is used for transporting provisions ami
logs and in dislodging logs from the jams which frc.
quently occur in running the timber down tho creek.
A locomotive with several hundred feet of large roj)
does excellent servico in breaking jams.
The choppers and sawyers fell the timber and cut
it into logs of the desired length, generally ranging
from twenty to thlrty-two feet. Tho trees aro largo,
and to avoid cutting through the swell near tho roots,
notches several inches deep are chopd iu the side
of the tree, and the end of a spring board, having an
iron shoe, is put in tho notch in such way that it is
bound fast by tho weight of a man who stands ujm
it to chop or saw. If the first notch is not high
enough to enablo tho workman to reach aUivo tho
swell comfortably, the second one Is mad Ily this
method the stumps left standing are from eight to
twelve feet talL Each man has his own spring boanL
When tho preliminaries have been arraiged, tho osu.
al notching iu preparatory to sawing tho trei down U
done, and tho treo is felled in tho ordinary stile. It
is often necessary to use saws twelve feet in length
in cutting this timber, and none les thau sveu M
long are taken into tho woods for tho regular siting.
Care is taken to fell tho treo where thero Is least lia
bility of Its breaking, and when the stately shaft li-
prostrate, tho men measure and mark it for culling
into log lengths, th-o Meg regulated ) as to anui I
too much waste in cao of a break or an utiound sj-d
in any ortion of tho tree VV hen tho treo is thus cut
into mw logs, tho swampers get a road to it, pull tff
tho bark, which is from threo to six inches in thick,
nets, anil hitch tho chain or rupo by which the ox
team hauls the logs to tho landing, or to tho skid
wsy. When tho logs aro away op oa a silo hill, a
longropo is uM to reach them; h rwir of ac
ca, tho b'avy chain concocting directly with tho
team is nml
Tho ox tato, as it appears in tho df lam.
ber woods, is w tho loneme sing! pair of qivlra
ptds which vet's tho soul of tho eastern K'irr. A
single team b-re eoniUU of six pairs of lusty axitaa!
moving in cone!!, asd as tho aijicg i. tty will
M poll auj thing that's hW Oko traasfcr, with tho
aid of a g"l pair of leaders, c: tie kam with