From stump to ship: A 1930 logging film

169 consecutive years the forests on the Machias River have resounded with the sound of the woodsman's axe yet today by exercising common sense and practical forestry we have the finest stand of timber in the Northeast United States for the past 75 years my father my brother and I have had charge of these timberlands knowing that the long lumber industry in Maine was a thing of the past in 1930 I purchased a moving picture camera to make a record of the long lumber operations on the river and show by our method of forestry the size of the logs we were able to produce the first scene is the logging camp on Township 36 when I got the crew out of the camp to take the picture they thought that they were obliged to stand still not knowing that the moving picture camera required action but I did get a kick out of Paul mealy the men eat and sleep in this building the Dingle is in the middle where the men are coming out we will now show you a couple of haul boys from Kenny Beck sawing a pine the tree is scoffed on the opposite side from which they saw the next scene is the same crew with Edie Connors and Harry McCreevy on the saw these men will saw the trees into three 16-foot logs Charlie O'Donnell is putting the distinguishing mark with an axe on the side of the tree we usually use a single horse to twitch the logs to the Yod as it doesn't destroy as much young growth as I wanted to be in the picture I had mr. McCready hold the camera on me while I came out to take the views of the four teams hauling the logs to the landing on the first load Bert Stanhope his team stuff on the second Lord William Hudson is Teamster the logs on these sleds are very good size logs for an operation in Maine at this time on the third load Wilton forces teamster you will notice a crooked log on the side this is a cedar and will be sawed up in 16-inch bolts to make shingles on the fourth load is alfred melee teamster poorest team we had in the lot but they had the largest load this morning the teams are unloading at the rolling pier at the West Branch note the steam rising off the horses owing to a tremendous rainstorm the day before the stream overflowed and it was not deemed advisable to put the teams on the ice I took this view to show the outfit that I used to travel through the woods driving only one horse in a double track the next scene is the main river camp the building in back is the garage for the log hauler the vehicle in front is the snowmobile on the right the Hubbell where the horses are kept Sam handy in Herbert hat are now cutting the trees on Township 31 below the bacon place this is the third crop of timber cut off this land under our system of cutting in the past 25 years this is the Lombard log hauler built at Waterville Maine without it we would have had to build four dams on Crooked River in expense of 10 or 12 thousand dollars this is Edwin Blanche of Whitney Ville arriving at the yard with a load of logs from Pekin montón the loads on the front of the yard are ready for the log hauler just gone by we are now showing the cutting of logs on Township 37 the cookie is taking lunch to the men but 27 years ago this country was cleaned according to our system of operating by James McLean and when I sent mr. Oliver up there to cruise the lands he thought it would be useless because he understood the timber was all cut but you will note the trees Cross filed here it is not a bad stand of timber grown in the past 27 years now landing logs on third Lake old stream these logs are landed in a Cove a boom is put around them on the ice when the ice goes out in the spring they waft these logs and the boom down to the outlet where they may be sluiced through the dam and driven into the Machias River I took this view to make a record of logging sleds used on our river the bunks of the sleds are seven feet long on the st. Croix River they you sledge with a five-foot bunk other places they use ten and twelve foot bunk in the spring river driving begins on the west branch logs coming down the stream have collected on the boulders on the shore and are forming a wing which if not removed will build across the stream and form a jam mr. Ed Connors who is the boss is one the most efficient lumbermen in Maine he could build a dam or build a camp he's a good civil engineer can lay out a practical logging road and drive the logs the water and the logs are making so much noise conversation is difficult so mr. Connors is motioning to some of the men to come down to work on another place I have taken this view to show how agile the river drivers are the men have picked holes and you see them running over the logs shaking them so to keep them floating down with the current we will now show you the shoes worn by the men on the drive made by bass of Wilton Maine the corks enable the men to stay on the logs when they're slippery and make them able to do efficient work the Cook has hallowed luncheon and in a moment you will notice two men crossing on two logs the fellow in the rear is brown from East Machias now a bellhop at the Falmouth Hotel Portland he said Mr Eames I came pretty near fallen in but he landed on shore all right this scene is the men having their lunch they have four lunches a day a breakfast four o'clock first lunch nine o'clock second lunch two in the afternoon and supper when they get in at night first luncheon they have canned beef boiled ham hard-boiled eggs biscuit doughnuts cookies and tea second lunch they have tea cookies donuts biscuit and ham this is roll damn ledge in the summertime one can walk across this ledge with shoes when the water is turned on to make a driving head it spreads out on this leg so the logs roll over this is a beautiful sight and most interesting to see these logs rolling tumbling pounding all day long the day after I took this view a body of logs came down in the night and formed a wing on the opposite shore and had to be dynamited off the next scene is taken a mile below where young Morrison of Whitney Ville and another fellow attending this station to see that the logs don't form a jam in 1879 when I first went up the Machias River this section was heavily timbered with pine from 12 inches up on the stump we now come to tunnel pitch this is a small island middle stream about 18 years ago a jam formed up over here and Burt Tibbits of Cherry Hill was out there helping picked for Jam when the log started he fell in he went down under the logs and the crew all turned away from the site thinking that he was lost the happened today and opening in the logs about twelve feet across where the water boiled up through someone looked up and discovered Burt just as the water threw him up on the logs he had one on Jonah he came out all right this is main River Camp and the cook serve their lunches cafeteria style note the two cooks one is Al Smith not of New York but of Columbia Falls and by his side is Billy hence come of Machias his give Barry of Jacksonville mr. Conners is now leading the crew up on the jam the man in the back part of the screen with a light shirt on is chopping the key log if they're not able to stat it by cutting the right log they may have to use dynamite this time the logs commenced to move the men are going to the shore where the dogs pinch up trying to keep the logs moving the logs are six to eight feet deep in fact down to the bottom of the river you will note the Spruce 20 feet long going end over end the men on these logs have to be careful because if their foot slips down between some logs they're liable to have a foot or a leg pinched off you will notice the logs gathering momentum all the time the main body of logs is held by a boom just about a mile above waiting to get this jam started and when the river is clear they will turn the other logs off the next scene is main river bridge one view is up the river the logs coming down to the bridge and the view of the rapids later the battles will be run over these rippling x' now you will see the men working on this wing a point is forming out into the stream held there by boulders and the logs will have to be cleaned off when it is all flattened down mr. Connors will take the men onto the shore where they will clean out the cold the green men which we sometimes call Agha handles will work on the shore while experts like the man with the vest on mr. Everett Scott of bearing the work on the outside next to the stream mr. Connors is on the show watching if anything should happen the men would be in danger he would hoot at them and have them come ashore now we will show you the men clearing a center jamb at the head of the Falls these logs all have to be picked off and it is about a day's work for 20 men we have two votes on the rear to follow along and pick up the stray logs and men that may be marooned on a center like this about 20 years ago I saw Joe Haycock stand on this ledge nearly half an hour while they dropped the backhoe down to him having one line on each shore first paying out one line and then another until the boat swung around and he could get aboard a man is on the logs about 30 feet from shore you will see that the tow dropped down to pick him up unfortunately my camera ran down at the critical time and I didn't catch him as he jumped aboard the beto in the cove is putting some men ashore to go to work down below this is a view of the falls and the battle coming down over the rapids and it's some Joyride in 1920 I came over this falls in a battle when we struck a boiler the water flew over the heads of the men in the bow and I got about a barrel of water right in the face here comes another backhoe down over lower falls three or four battles are here until after the last log is taken off the falls then they will close the boom behind the logs in the pool and it is dead water from here into Whitney Phil Patrick Sullivan was camera shy but thinking I had the camera he came out on the sleuth with me and I had another man take this shot this shows Philip Clement of Prentice and Carlisle Alfred Ames von Maur and Patrick Sullivan the dog coming out to greet me has chased me many miles through the wards we will now show you the fire and wangan and river driving outfit the fire is between two logs where we boil tea and baked biscuit in a tin kitchen before the open fire the cookie is getting wood for the bean hole the bean hole is three feet crossed and fill up with Kinlan wood with birch or maple wood thrown on the fire the beans are put in the ground at four o'clock in the afternoon the four o'clock in the morning the process is reversed I staged this picture because I could not take a view with four o'clock in the morning how Smith is given Clint clock a plate of beans belvane is frying doughnuts I've seen half a barrel of Dornish eaten by the crew in one meal next is the canal at Whitney Ville where the logs come to Machias by the Whitney Ville Mills this is the dam at Whitney Ville and the Sullivan Mills there Frank Hammond and Charlie handy are sorting logs for the lower Mills from the top of the mill you'll see different pockets of the millpond West Bruce pine and hemlock are sorted I am standing on a log but I pick out a good big one note these children in their bathing suits the river drivers of the future these suits are not the kind that would be worn at Palm Beach but they clear the law Howard mills were built by dr. Howard of Boston who was a member of the Boston mill and land company there used to be two mills with for single saws in 1858 the Polk brothers of East Machias purchased these mills and my father was sent over here to manage them they've been under his hand and my charge since that date the old fellow with the pick pole feeding the logs up onto the slip is Harrison Faust these reels were taken partly by dr. Kane of Washington DC he had a modern up-to-date camera and I could not get such good views with the cheap one that I'd purchased the logs are going up the slip on a chain we will now go into the mill notice the log kicker throwing the logs off the live roll we are now rolling the logs onto the bandsaw carriage when the log comes back it is turned down on the skid this is the back side of the band saw the sawed Lamba coming off the live rolls pine boards 16 inches wide the square edge boards going through the edger that is the way we get them out on the load-in platform the live edge boards have to be edged the saws are set on a shaft with guides which pull them back and forth to make six eight or ten inch boards now you will see the trimmer we are now cutting edges Mac McBride has some job to keep the rolls clear of the lumber we are getting out 10 by 12 timber for bridge frames will Hanscom is edging shingles we are now sawing lasse from large edgings which come off the side of the plank we are now signed clamored for the sound log 18 inches in diameter and up and saw it on the bed mill into bolt 50 inches long the back and sapwood is turned off and the bolt is made symmetrical couple of hooks are fastened down to this bolt and then swung around to the collaborating machine notice the saw is underneath the bolt is dropped down on the saw and it saw is towards the center about six and a half inches in sign clubs from the circumference towards the center it makes one edge thick and the other thin same as a pie cutout into church supper this is the expensive part of the mill where the bandsaw is filed the bandsaw used in our mill is 48 feet long 9 inches wide 14 gauge and one and a quarter inch - the men are putting the dolls are on the floor and taking the shop one off the grinding machine notice the sparks fly from the emery wheel on the filing machine Jimmy Lee is the filer to file he simply points up the tools with the file these saws have to be rolled hammered and tensioned it is some job to make one run perfect next is Loudoun timber from the loading platform an order of one and a quarter by tens proof for the Portsmouth Navy Yard next shows load in live Here I am with dr. Howard Kane dr. Kane is a Machias boy and now a most successful practicing physician in Washington DC round Amelia and all the houses are owned by mill men who've worked for my father brother and me for the past 50 years they all own their own homes and they're very comfortable the last reel shows the shipping of lumber in 1917 the schooner Lucy evelyn was built at Harrington Maine before the schooner was completed we could have sold the sails and Reagan had a profit of ten thousand dollars now we cannot give the schooner away this order is for Bridgeport Connecticut the deck Lord goes to Vineyard Haven the rail of the schooner is eight or ten feet above the war and Machias we have a rise and fall with the tide of 12 feet each day there's business fell off we were obliged to sell the tow boat and now have to depend on siding boats for towing the Lucy Evelyn is loaded with two million two hundred and fifty thousand lives for New York probably this is the last cargo of lumber that I will ever ship Arthur Jasper is opening the drawer on the drawbridge that leads from Machias port to East Machias across the Machias River you will notice the tow boat and the reflection of the smoke in the water this is a calm before a storm and we had a good one that night just as the tow boat is going through the drawbridge you will notice the steam from the Train which leaves Calais in the morning for Bangor leaving the Machias port station about 9 o'clock in the morning this is quite a unique feature as there are very few places where the sail meets the rail now the Lucy Evelyn is that mattias port getting ready for sea this vessel is modern equipped with a gasoline engine to hoist the anchors and sails have walked the vessel in the dark the first mast on a schooner is the foremost second mast main las' third mast the mizzenmast you will notice the bow of this vessel of the interest of Machias Bay where the first naval Battle of the Revolution was fought we will now show you the good scorn of Bertha V built in Mill bridge main 50 years ago taking a cargo of lumber to Boothbay Harbor she's going under her own sail she is called a hand liner this is the birth of the sailing out into the night in a southeasterly rain this is what I call the twilight of my career as a lumber man the night was filled with music and the cares that infest the day shall fold that tents like the Arabs and as silently steal away

Channel: PublicResourceOrg

Views: 589,812

Keywords: archives.gov, public.resource.org, logging, sawmill, lath, boards

Id: cIKCjQdxtO0

Length: 27min 56sec (1676 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 15 2010