History of Humboldt County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 15

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328

USA > California > Humboldt County > History of Humboldt County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 15

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The beauty and majesty of these redwood forests have long impressed upon far-seeing people the great necessity of preserving a considerable tract of this timber as a public park for the benefit of future generations. And several efforts have been made along this line, but so far without successful result. At the present time a bill is pending before Congress which authorizes the appointment of a commission to visit Humboldt and investigate the necessity and advisability of securing some tract of these trees as a public reserve and park. And recently a large timber owner, Charles Willis Ward, now resident here, has initiated a plan to secure a tract of some fifteen thousand to twenty thousand acres, the plan being to obtain large subscriptions from wealthy and public-spirited citizens sufficient to cover a considerable portion of the cost, and then ask the govern- ment to make up the balance. It is sincerely to be hoped that one of these efforts, or a combination of the two of them, will bring about the desired result.

The redwood forest in Humboldt extends in an irregular but compact belt from the southern to the northern boundary of the county, parallel to and near the coast, for a distance of about one hundred and eight miles. It varies in

111

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

width from two or three miles to ten and even fifteen miles, averaging about five miles in width. Originally there were about 538,000 acres of this remark- able timber in Humboldt, of which some 458,000 acres are still standing. At the commonly accepted estimate of 100,000 feet of all timber products to the acre, there is still 45,800,000,000 feet of uncut redwood in Humboldt, sufficient to last for more than a century at the present rate of cutting.

The stumpage value of this great timber belt is an immense present and future resource of this section. Twenty years ago this value ranged from fifty cents to $1 per thousand feet. Now the minimum price is $2 per thousand, and as high as $4, and even more, has been paid for tracts with especially favorable locations. And these prices will be steadily augmented as other available timber sources grow scarcer, and as the demand increases with the growth of population throughout the country.

Applying the present minimum value of $2 per thousand feet to the forty-five billion feet of standing redwood and we find that this one resource of Humboldt county is now $90,000,000, and this value is constantly increasing. And it is safe ; for redwood forests in their natural state will not burn. Being without resin, and protected by thick, non-inflammable bark, and with the constant condensation of moisture from the foggy atmosphere of Humboldt due to the thick and heavy stand of these great trees, it is impossible for fire to gain any headway, or to do any serious damage to these compact standing forests.

Redwood has no pitch, and the acid in it seems to resist combustion. It is difficult to ignite, and a fire of it is easily extinguished. It strongly resists decay, the lower portions of the trunk especially, being the equal if not the superior of any known wood in this respect. No known land insect will prey upon it, and only the teredo, against which marine scourge no wood is proof, will injure it. Red- wood shrinks but little in drying, and none at all after that. Neither will it, when once dry, swell to any extent on being wet. Its shrinkage lengthwise is, propor- tionately, much greater than across the grain. It is little affected by extremes of weather conditions, and so is especially adapted for patterns, mouldings, tanks, vats, flumes, house finishings, and railroad ties.

Its color is a rich red, varying from that of light red cedar to the deepest mahogany. In general appearance and qualities it resembles red cedar more than any other wood. Quite a percentage of it is curly grained, and this variety is especially adapted for interior finishing in its natural color. The great size of the tree and its freedom from knots render it possible to get planks of almost any desired width without knot or flaw. Much of this lumber shipped to Australia and other foreign countries as "rough clear" is in great planks of pieces six or eight inches in thickness, and from twenty-four to thirty-six inches or more in width, absolutely clear. Redwood is soft in texture, and easy to work. This, taken in connection with the extra widths that may be had, and its weather endur- ing qualities, make it a most convenient and serviceable wood for building pur- poses.

The manufacture of lumber in Humboldt began in 1850, but was at first confined to pine, spruce, and fir, as the great size and weight of redwood logs placed them beyond the primitive facilities of that early date to handle and saw. Nor were the good qualities of redwood as a lumber known to the pioneer lumbermen of that day, while they were familiar with the other woods men-

112

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

tioned. In 1855 the first cargo of redwood lumber was sawed and shipped to San Francisco. In 1862, the introduction of the circular saw gave additional impulse to this industry. In 1886 the band saw began to replace the circular saw, and its economy of timber and other advantages soon gave it the lead, and now all the mills in the county are fully outfitted with band saws, which, perfected by time and experience, seem now to be the acme of progress in this direction. In the beginning, the old-fashioned sash or muley saw mill would cut from 4,000 to 8,000 feet per day. Now a single band saw mill is rated at from 60,000 to 80,000 fcet per day, while a double band mill, especially if provided with a band splitter, may produce from 200,000 to 240,000 feet of lumber per day. The eleven large inills now operating in the county are rated as having an aggregate capacity of 1,500,000 feet of lumber per day, or 450,000,000 feet in a working year of three hundred days.

The improvement in methods and facilities in logging has fully kept pace with the advancement of the mills. Owing to the great size and weight of the trees and their thick stand on the ground, redwood logging offered many prob- lems not met with in other woods, but these conditions have been met and con- quered, and now redwood logging moves along smoothly and systematically, con- ducted by men who know how. In the beginning, the logs handled were small and comparatively light, and they were moved by means of oxen, on bob-sleds. Soon heavy trucks with solid wooden wheels replaced the sleds, but with oxen still as the motive power. In the early '70s the oxen were partially replaced by horse teams. About 1874, logging railways were introduced, and in 1882 the steam donkey began to be used to assemble the logs in the woods. Ten years later the heavy and powerful bull donkey came in. At first these were mostly stationary, but later on they were made removable, making changes of location readily practicable. And now the bull donkey and the logging railway have replaced all other forms of logging machinery and adjuncts, and the glory of the ox team and the horse team as essentials in redwood logging has passed away forever. One of the unique features of redwood logging still further illustrates the security of this timber from fire. After the trees are felled, freed from limbs and the bark peeled off, a fire is set and all the trash and underbrush burned off. These fires never penetrate the adjacent standing forest, and the logs on the ground are seldom appreciably injured. In no other commercial tiinber would this pro- ceeding be possible.

Prior to 1889 no attempt was made to record the output of the mills or the shipments of lumber from the county. But by figuring from the amount of land cut over during that period it is estimated that the total lumber production from 1885 to 1888, inclusive, was about 2,500,000,000 feet, of an approximate value of $40,000,000.

Beginning with 1889 fairly accurate records have been kept of the ship- ments from the county, no attempt being made to include the amounts used within the county, although the amount so used is considerable, as practically every building and structure in the county is built in whole or in part of red- wood. It should be remembered that the following figures include not only what is commonly known as "lumber," but also any and every form of manufac- tured timber, such as shingles, shakes, posts, bolts, ties, etc., that is capable of

113

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

reduction to approximate lumber feet. The figures from 1889 to 1913, both inciusive, are as follows :

Year

Feet

Value

1889

120,545,800

$2,296,135

1890

161,455,000

3,067,645

1891

152,517,613

2,897,834

1892

166,855,262

2,502,828

1893

152,749,713

2,222,610

1894

111,751,264

1,588,570

1895

128,785,709

1,795,410

1896

100,460,581

1,320,005

1897

133,717,278

1,778,085

1898

128,291,255

1,802,330

1899

163,640,590

2,336,000

1900

162,635,560

2,242,520

1901

218,280,060

3,148,060

1902

221,595,486

3,830,410

1903

272,054,860

4,816,600

1904

274,054,860

4,816,600

1905

313,495,560

5,632,300

1906

360,671,090

7,201,000

1907

374,539,400

7,702,205

1908

300,804,570

6,101,820

1909

339,891,500

6,093,000

1910

368,527,700

6,552,560

1911

367,139,720

6,505,460

1912

415,925,400

7,494,500

1913

369,633,766

6,820,800

Totals for twenty-five years, 1889 to 1913, 5,880,422,877 feet ; value, $102,- 525,607. Totals for thirty-four years, 1855 to 1888, 2,500,000,000 feet; value. $40,000,000. Grand totals, fifty-nine years to 1914, 8,380,422,877 feet; value, $142,525,607.

The above figures seem stupendous when considered as the result of only one industry (although the principal one) of Humboldt county, for the fifty-nine years from 1855 to 1914. But when one reflects that less than one-sixth of the available redwood in this county has been cut and manufactured, the immense potentiality of the remaining timber resource may be in some measure realized.

On this one industry alone Humboldt might live and thrive through the next century ; for it is certain that for all that time to come the hum of the band saw or some improved machine, as it eats its way through the giant logs of the Sequoia Sempervirens, monarch of all commercial timbers, will make sweet music for the ears of the lumber manufacturers of fortunately endowed and happy Hum- boldt.

Under the American development, so far as the authentic accounts give us history, the manufacture of lumber in Humboldt was commenced in 1850, but the manufacture of redwood for the lumber market did not commence until 1855. Those who engaged in the lumbering business were eastern men, from the Provinces, and from Maine, accustomed to the pine, spruce and fir of that region. They knew those and kindred varieties of timber, and their adaptability to the

114

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

manufacture of lumber and construction work, but by reason of both the inca- pacity of the mills at that time to handle the large redwood logs, and lack of knowledge as to their adaptability for lumber manufacture, no redwood was manufactured or shipped from Humboldt till 1855. As a proof of this statement, it is only necessary to mention the fact that the first cargo of lumber was manufactured and shipped in 1851 ; it was sawed at the "Pappoose" mill, owned by Martin White, which had a capacity of about four thousand feet a day. From that initial cargo of lumber from Humboldt in 1851 to the summer of 1855, all the lumber manufactured and shipped from Humboldt bay was spruce, pine and fir.

In the summer of 1855, the Muley mill (then operated by William Carson), by picking out the smaller logs, and not handling anything that exceeded five feet in diameter, got out a cargo of 200,000 feet of redwood lumber and shipped it to San Francisco on the brig Tigress. From that time on, the manufacture of redwood increased but slowly up to 1862, mainly on account of the incapacity of the sash and Muley saws to cut the huge logs. In 1862 the circular saw was intro- duced, when the manufacture of redwood gradually attained greater dimensions.

As early as 1852 a commission was appointed, composed of Hon. James T. Ryan and W. H. Kingsbury on the part of the mill-owners, and William Carson on the part of the loggers, to adopt a standard of measurement for the scaling of logs. They decided that all logs twelve feet long and sixteen inches and up to and including thirty inches in diameter, should be measured by the Spaulding scale, and that all over that size should be measured by the Scribner scale. These provisions for log measurement applied to spruce, pine and fir only. There was never in the pioneer days, and is not now, any exact rule, method or scale by which to measure redwood, on account of the size, shape and pecu- liarities of the timber ; then as now it was scaled by a method made up of both the Spaulding and Scribner rules, combined with the judgment of the scaler. The logs for the first few years were cut where Eureka now stands and rolled into the bay and floated to the several mills.

While Humboldt was not the first to manufacture redwood into lumber, yet, after 1862, when the circular saw came into use, it soon took and has always held a leading position as a source of redwood lumber for both the San Fran- cisco market and the lower coast. Thus it is seen that in the last fifteen years the lumber cut has trebled in volume, and those in best position to know, hold that the outlook is favorable for a twenty-five per cent increase in production the present year, over that of 1903.

From the crude methods in vogue in 1851, when the first sawlog was rolled into Humboldt bay, the successive stages of improvement in lumbering form an interesting chapter in the history of Humboldt's progress. The first logs handled were small, and were moved by means of ox teams on bob-sleds; then heavy trucks with solid wooden wheels, bound with heavy iron bands, were employed for the longer distances. Thus the pioneer lumbermen worked, selecting such logs as they were able to handle with the means they had.

The more notable improvements that have been made in the half century from 1852 to 1903 may be summed up briefly as follows: In 1862 the circular saw was introduced ; this brought the need of surer, quicker means of getting logs to the mill ; the steam locomotive and railroad were put in operation in 1874; 1882 the steam donkey ; 1886 the band saw, 1892 the bull-donkey. Each advance seemed

115

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

to solve and settle the problem of the need of better methods, but each in turn has developed accentuated needs in other directions, and now when it would seem that perfection had been so nearly reached, we are at this date promised new methods as important as any that have preceded, in the electric saw for felling trees and sawing logs.

Redwood is a soft timber, yet among the many varieties of timber that have come prominently to the front in construction work, it is safe to say that none has developed so many and excellent qualities, or such wide range of adaptability as the redwood of California. In classifying lumber cut from redwood lands into three classes, the proportion would be as follows: The first quality would average fifty-five per cent; second quality thirty per cent; the refuse or third quality, fifteen per cent. Each one of these is often subdivided into several grades. The third class is divided into two or three grades, and is used extensively for doors, windows, panel-work, wainscoting and all construction in which short ma- terial can be used.

The market for redwood at the present time covers a wide field besides the United States. Looking over the destinations of foreign shipments, one will find cargoes of redwood going to England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sandwich Islands, Mexico and New South Wales.

In the matter of testimony and proof as to the many merits of redwood, it would be impossible to give them all. A few are appended which have served to crystallize the minds of the people upon the facts as they exist. It is certain that no timber has been so much relied on, or so carelessly used, with such general good results. In the hurry and rush of the wonderful development of the west- ern shore, redwood has been used in every need in structural work; taken drip- ping with sap or water from the forest or pond, run through the saw mill, and hurried into place without a day's time in which to season, used for main tim- bers or for furnishing, it is only occasionally that a piece shows the effect of shrinkage upon becoming dry ; and it takes paint and holds it equally well in any condition.

One writer has put it that "San Francisco, a city of 400,000 inhabitants, with over three-fourths of its buildings sided and shingled with redwood, need not be ashamed to compare fire records with any city in the United States, whether built largely of brick or other materials," so slow is it to ignite, and easily extinguished when fired.

Eureka, a city built entirely of redwood, with the lumbering. mills built all along its northern edge, thus subjecting the whole city to the fire risks from the line of mills during the northern trade winds, has never had a destructive conflagration, such as has visited every other California city once or more.

All the Pacific coast railroads use redwood ties on all their lines as far as the cost of transportation will allow. Their testimony is that redwood ties do not rot and are impervious to the attack of all insects by reason of the acid the wood contains.

After reviewing the non-combustible qualities of redwood, Charles Towe, fire marshal of San Francisco, says: "I sincerely hope we shall never see other woods substituted for redwood; and I wish the proper authorities would throw the mantle of protection around our redwood, so as to prohibit its total destruc- tion."

116

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

George H. Tyson, general agent for the Pacific department of the German American Insurance Company of New York, writes: "From an intimate knowl- edge of the fires that have occurred on this coast during the last sixteen years, I can state without fear of contradiction, that as slow-burning wood, the Cali- fornia redwood has no equal. In the insurance business on this coast, it is a well-known fact that in our coast counties, where redwood is largely used for the construction of frame buildings, a much lower rate is charged than in the northwest district and mountain counties of California where other woods are exclusively used."

W. H. Curtis, of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, says: "As indi- cating the great life of this timber against ordinary decay, I have pleasure in informing you that we have today left in sidetracks not very much used, some redwood ties which were put into service in 1855. On other parts of the line, we have in service many ties that were laid from twenty-five to thirty years ago. For the siding and roofing of cars, for the foundations, siding and roofing of buildings and for water tanks, this timber is the most durable of any that I know of, and when used for building purposes it has the valuable quality of not being easily set on fire, and when set on fire, it burns very slowly."

H. J. Small, superintendent of motive power and the machinery department of the Southern Pacific Railroad, testifies to substantially the same facts.

W. B. Storey, of the Santa Fe Railroad, concluding a letter of some length commending redwood for car work and railroad construction, says: "In conclu- sion, I would say that we consider it one of our most valuable woods in railroad construction, and I heartily recommend its use for all purposes as above de- scribed."

It is interesting to note that many attempts were made in early days to extend the use of redwood into the commercial channels of the East. Owing to its softness it is barred from many uses common to pine and other competing lum- ber. During the last eight or ten years many efforts have been made to use redwood for railroad ties. These efforts have been partly successful, especially in Africa and Australia.

Where large ants abound the railroad companies have long been hunting for a wood possessing durability and unattractive to the large ants. Reports from Africa indicate that, while the ants destroy the redwood in time, they eat it very slowly. In Australia the orders for redwood ties have been increasing rapidly during the last few years, and it is believed that it has proved distasteful to the ants of that country. Owing to the softness of the wood it is necessary to use flanges unless the sinker redwood-being heavier and tougher than the other-is used.

It may be interesting to note the following facts concerning some of the uses to which redwood has been put. In 1897 B. F. Durphy, then of the Vance Redwood Company, selected and shipped to the New England Piano Company, in Boston, Mass., a cargo of redwood, and it was made up into piano cases and exhibited. It was a special exhibit at their salesroom on Washington street and attracted much interest and attention. It was placed side by side with the fine mahogany, rosewood, black walnut and ebony pianos, and was considered as fine, beautiful and desirable an instrument as any made. This test of the use of redwood for piano cases has been so completely successful and satisfactory that

117

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

it has become very popular and in great demand for the fine finish of costly houses throughout New England.

The well-known piano firm of Vose & Sons, in Boston, Mass., one of the largest piano firms in the United States, in 1898 ordered several carloads of red- wood, to be worked up into piano cases. In the early history of piano manu- facture, Mr. Vose had a thorough test made of all the different woods grown in the United States and in some foreign countries, and it was demonstrated and established beyond all question that redwood made the most perfect sounding board for pianos; besides, it had a great advantage in that it would not warp, twist or crack.

In 1874 Abbott & Co., of Boston, Mass., large lumber dealers, loaded five million redwood shingles on one of their ships in San Francisco, and transported them to Boston. The next year these shingles were sold to the Fitchburg Railroad Company. This company had a large stockyard out at Uniontown, and had erected sheds for sheltering their stock. The roofs of these sheds were covered withi a patent roofing, but on account of the flat pitch of the roof it proved unsat- isfactory. The company had this patent roofing removed and a part of it replaced with redwood shingles. The other roofs were replaced with some shingles from New England and Michigan. Those replaced with the New England and Michi- gan shingles were completely worn out and decayed in 1897. In 1892 there were but a very few cedar shingles left on some of the roofs. In 1898 the redwood shingles that had been used on the other roofs were sound and all on the roof and in perfect condition, so far as their being warped and decayed is concerned ; the only breaches being where the nails had rusted off and the wind had blown the shingles away.

There was adjoining these sheds a large stock barn which was built five years later than the date the shingles were placed on the shed; this barn was shingled with New England shingles, as the railroad company could procure no more red- wood shingles; the roof was very much steeper and the shingles should have lasted much longer than the shingles on the shed, but were completely decayed and the barn nearly bare of shingles in 1892. In 1890 the Fitchburg Railroad Com- pany made inquiries of all the New England lumber dealers who would be likely to have redwood shingles, with the object of getting them for the purpose of reshingling these buildings, and they refused to accept any but redwood shingles.

It is a common method in vogue among the lumber dealers in and around Boston to send their customers out to the old Union Stock Yards of the Fitch- burg Railroad Company, to show them that there is no shingle known having the value and durability of the redwood shingle; and those shingles, used in 1874, are now the strongest argument they can and do use against other shingles and in favor of the redwood.

William Roch, who was a director and the purchasing agent of the Santa Fe Railroad when it was first put in operation in the Central states, was the first purchasing agent of what is now the Santa Fe system in California. Mr. Roch purchased and shipped around the Horn from Boston a large quantity of ma- chinery, cars, engines, railroad iron, etc., and on the return trip ladened the sev- eral vessels employed with redwood. He used a part of these cargoes to build his summer residence at the sea-shore in those earlier days. That residence at the sea-side is now one of the most perfect buildings there. It was built entirely of redwood lumber and redwood shingles; the doors and window frames are

118

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Humboldt County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 15

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328