*** Source: History and Business Directory of Humboldt County, Lillie E. Hamm, November 1890, Eureka, Cal. *** ---page 055--- [ad] Pianos and Organs Latest Assortment Sheet Music J. E. Mathews [ad] HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY 55 this point the raft is broken up and the logs are floated into the boom and are hauled up a slanting railway on a car, one by one, into the mill where they await their turn to be sawed up into the lumber of commerce. THE SAW MILLS. The sound of the saw mill is music in the ears of the citizens of Humboldt county, for it is to be found in almost every locality, and Humboldt Harbor is practically bordered with them. In most cases, or rather mills, the circular saw is used; some though are equipped with band saws. To go into one of these mills is, to say the least, bewildering. From the booms or "log ponds" the logs are hauled into the mill up an incline by a great chain attached to a low iron car which is first lowered into the water and the log is floated upon it and made fast; a lever is moved and the steam windless slowly draws it up into the mill. Here it is rolled off onto a platform and again onto the steam feed which carries the log against the saw, which quickly removed the first slat, disclosing the deep, rich color of the redwood, without blemish, the entire length. The slat is run over rollers and carried out on an endless chain cable to the waste pile, some little distance from the mill, where it is burned, or, if it is of value enough, it is cut up into lengths for shingles. The "steam feeder" is run back to the starting point, a lever is touched and the log is moved an inch, or as far as desired, and it again runs down on the revolving saws which quickly remove a plank maybe fifty or sixty inches wide. It is then carried on rollers to the gang edger, where three or four boards are cut; then the trimmer saws cut the rough ends off. Some of the boards are then sent to the planer, or are made into rustic by a machine for that purpose; others are made into tongue and groove and afterwards are sent down the chute into the yard beneath and are piled up ready for shipment by schooner to the different points on the coast, to Honolulu, Mexico, or Australia. All this work has been going on, though in a less degree, of course, for the past thirty-five years, and yet the ravages attributed to the woodsman are hardly noticeable. From appearances the work seems only to have been commenced. IN GENERAL. Many of the companies and firms engaged in the manufacture of lumber employ during the busy season from 300 to 400 men; pay wages of $35 for the boys engaged in tying up the shingles to $150 per month for the head men. The following are the wages paid in the different departments: Mill hands--Common hands in the yard, per month, $30 to $60; helpers inside the mill, $30 to $50; edgers and trimmers, $50 to $85; sawyers and filers, $85 to $100; engineers and machinists, $100 to $125; tallymen, $75 or $3 per day for transient work. In the woods--Swampers, $60 to $100; choppers, $65 to $75; sawyers and chain tenders, $65 to $100; teamsters, $125 to $150, besides board and lodging. Nearly every company or firm has three or four cookhouses; one at the mill, at the log dump and one at each camp in the woods. The cabins for the men are com[fortable] [ad] Gibbard & Lever Do All Styles of Upholstering and Repairing PIONEER B'DG Cor. 3d & H St. [ad] ---end---