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STEAM HAS SUPPLANTED ANIMAL POWER; COLUMBIA COUNTY'S
WEALTH OF STANDING TIMBER
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THE Immense logs of which the For
estry building at the Lewis and
Clark Exposition Is constructed
came from.. Columbia County, and the
great squared timber Oregon sent to the
St. Louis Exposition came from the Fame
place, near Clatskanle, and was gotten
out by S. Benson. i
' Columbia ' County has 10.000.000.000 feet
of the best standing timber in the world,
and but a few short years ago the supply
was deemed to be practically inexhausti
ble. When one rides on the Northern
Pacific tralnspast Scappoose and Warren
and sees the broad fields that stretch
away toward the hilltops, it Is hard to
realize that less than 20 years ago these
fields were covered with standing timber,
and that they were cleared up by the
low and laborious process of. logging
with ox teams, converting Into cord wood,
and burning In log heaps.
AH logging in those days was done by
cx-t earns over skldroads, and the driver
vl the best team of bulls was a great
man in the community. He was a high
priced .helper, hte wages being $130 per
month and beard. aad, provided he could
make geed with the bulls, there' was no
dagger ef Me being out of employment.
Like Shakeapeare's Mir, fee was "fall
of strange oaths." but the tsam seemed
to understand his dialect and to rather
like being cussed at as "they bent their
patient necks to the ponderous yoke
and dragged the giant firs from their
falling places onto the skids and down
the greased road Into the creek, or bay.
Stcaih Supplants Animal Power.
But logging by such primitive methods
has practically passed away, and in place
of the bellowing of cattle and the loud
oaths of the puncher, one hears the shriek
of the locomotive whistle and the rattle
of improved machinery. Steam and elec-i
triclty Tire the agencies employed, and
the capacity for denudation has been mul
tiplied until now there Is anxiety as to
where good timber is to be procured in
the near future. With their present ca
pacity the camps of Columbia Count)
could cut every stick of good timber on
the river, side of the divide within ten
years, and then the roads must be ex
tended on Into the Nehalem Valley.
I have taken Illustrations for the benefit
of The Sunday Oregonlan's readers, of
an up-to-date logging camp, that of the
Teon &. Pel ton Logging Company, lo
cated about four miles frota the tows of
.Rainier. The Illustrations show the en
tire process of bantling logs, frem tb
time Um tre Is felled la the Ioret uatil
r
It is deposited in the slough at the foot
of the incline. The equipment of the
Yeon & Pelton camp consists of three
23-ton Baldwin engines and one 45-ton
Climax, seven donkey engines. 24 sets of
logging cars, eight miles of standard
gauge railroad, and a lowering machine to
lower the cars down an incline 2300 feet
long. 2000 feet of which bona 23-per cent
grade. The lowering machine consists
of one pair of 16x20 engines, two batteries
of band brakes, one emergency brake and
3200 feet of l4-inch cable, capable of sus
taining a strain of 72 tons. The time oc
cupied In lowering and raising a train of
three cars on this Incline is rour minutes
each way. and It takes 20 minutes to
make the trip, including unloading about
20.000 feet of logs, valued, at present
prices, at about $156. About 36 trips per
day can be made over the road, and a
total output of about 00,660 .feet of logs
can be made; but the real average does
not exceed over half that amount, or
about 200.OOO feet of logs dally.
To handle this enormous output from
the standing tree eight miles back In the
forest requires the services of about 135
men. from the efflcient skilled mechanic
at $4 per day to the lowest paid labor In
the camp, at the liberal pay e-f 5XM per
day. Owt e- these wag the mea pay
their board at the rate, of HM per wek;
ami tfeer live "sCs well aa4 probaUy better
than the same class- of workmen in the
cities, as Mr. Teon Ls a firm believer In
the dectrine that well-fed and, -contented
employes are profitable to their 'em
ployer. .
The eutpat of the Teen & Pelton camp
Is taken entirely by the North Pacific
Lumber Cempaay, of Portland. The road
was established abeat eight years ago. by
J. H. Petenwn, and Ic the efaeet logging
railroad new in existence .In tMs ceanty,
tkoogk. its eQUipmeat wbea Jtrat con
structed was nothing like what it Is at
the present time. The striking feature of
the Yeon & Pelton camp is the incline,
down which the loaded trucks are lew
ered to the slough. Frier to the advent
of the present manager a chute was
made use of. for this -purpoee. and Mr.
Teon. informs me that nearly 15 per cent
of the. logs were shattered so badly as
to be vm-iless for lumber., which' seem to
have been almet a criminal -Wie e( eue
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The total output of Yeon & Pelton and
their predecessor up to date is in the
neighborhood of 225.000.000 feet of logs,
the valuation of which, at the present
price, would be about 51,600,000. In addi
tion to the employment given to a. large
number of men the presence of this In
dustry has been a great boon to the
neighborhood, as It has supplied a local
market for the farm, products, the single
item of milk totaling $120 per month.
What the profits ot the firm may be no
one knows, or cares, but It is safe to say
that this county stands in need ot more
such Institutions to take the timber from
the land and prepare the way for the
settler. Of course, the permanent pros
perity of the county depends upon agri
culture, but logging is the pioneer of ag
riculture, and without it many years
would elapse before any perceptible im
pressfon could be made upon our great
areas of fore3t.
To those who are inclined to take a
pessimistic view of life and to insist that
the day of opportunity for men to achieve
financial success by their own endeavors
Is past, we commend a study of the career
of John Yeon, and we can point to dozens
of equal worth In this county. Mr. Teon
was born in Plantagenet, Ontario, Canada,
and has been a worker in the woods from
his .boyhood days. He has been a resi
dent of Oregon for about 15 years. 1
asked him' if he brought his bank ac
count with him, and his answer was that
his only capital when he landed in Ore
gon was his blankets and a remarkably
good appetite. He still retains his appe
tite, but he has also accumulated some
thing of a bank account, to which be is
addiRg a, little every day; but no one
entdfes 'him thk.
There .are a.mnnBer of other logging'
railroads in Ce4umba. County, and many
camps and. mitts. 'At Clatskanic the Ben-J
son Company has a road about six" miles
long, thoroughly well bulli, ' with
heavy rails and standard-gauge; the In
tention being to extend to the Nehalfini
Valley as soon as circumstances. wiH.ius
tify. At present the Benson camp is. idle,
though the cars are running and trans
porting considerable lumber, shingles, etc.
Mr. Benson Is operating on the "Washing
ton side, where ho has a large-araountH)f
2,-mber that must be removed" rwithin a
stated time. He will probably return to
Clatskanle next year. A newldggfng
road will soon be built by Jennings- &
McCrae, of Portland, who o.wrt" lrge
tracts olJ timber on the Columbia-side" of
the Fishhawk divide.
At Rainier a Mr. Rocky, supposed p, be
connected with Benson, Is building a ne.w
road. a
At Goble Is the Goble and Nenalesa log
ging road, with probably mop. 'capital
back of it than any other similar "con
cern In Oregon, and also with .the ypwed
intention of penetrating to the Ne.balem
Valley.
At Columbia City is the ColumbiS.'Ctty
and Nehalem logging road, with '"Messrs.
Giltner & Sewall, of Portfarid.aathe
proprietors. . w
The principal place of business of' all
these companies is- Portland. Their .sup
plies are purchased In the "metropolis
and it is very evident that iPortland is
vitally interested in their succeg arid in.
the general development of the "country
In which they operate. Right -Sereat
your door is the greatest field ftr-'Port-land
capital. We have timber, coif Iron,
marl and other minerals in the'grealeet
abundance. The Portland cement forth
Pacific Coast and for Asia "sftou!dCTba
manufactured, here, within 20 miles of-"the.
city that te paying freight upon 'ft'acrosa
the continent. The eloquent onL' Rich
ardson might put in his time tb eotiWer
able advantage convincing Pprtlandca.p-,
ItaJIsts that there is soraeththir IwkV
profitable thaa S per ceat a nd&ciief. .a
cuiated. t'e promote the growth' ;ind rs
perity of the eoentry- 35: 1L kyiAJ;