TANNERIES METHODS OF LUMBERING. 33 



In 1842 Dexter and Daniel Davis built one in the town of Caton, 

 Steuben County. In 1844 a steam sawmill was erected in the town of 

 Hammond, St. Lawrence County, by James E. Lyon. The first steam 

 mill in Erie County was built at Tonawanda in 1847 by Col. L. S. 

 Payne. In 1849 one was started by Kitts & Broadway in the town of 

 Denmark, Lewis County. 



TANNERIES. 



Although the lumberman has little in common with the tanner, the 

 demands of the latter had a material influence on that part of the 

 lumber industry which belonged to the hemlock trade. To-day hem- 

 lock lumber finds a ready market, and at a price equal to that paid for 

 spruce not many j^ears ago. But a large portion of the Hemlock in 

 this State was cut to supply the demand for bark only, the logs being 

 left in the woods to decay and waste. This was particularly the case 

 in the Catskill counties, where this species was more abundant than 

 elsewhere in the State. Only the most accessible of the timber was 

 hauled to the mills. 



Bark-peeling in the Catskills ceased prior to 1870, and the great 

 tanneries at Phoenicia, Woodland, Shandaken, Big Indian, and Pratts- 

 ville had to abandon their business for lack of bark. The tannery at 

 Prattsville, owned by Zadoc Pratt, was one of the largest in the State. 

 Here 60,000 sides of sole leather were tanned and 6,000 cords of bark 

 consumed annually for twenty -five years. Over 6,000,000 feet of 

 hemlock was cut each 3 7 ear to furnish bark for this tannery alone, the 

 greater part of the logs being left to rot after they were peeled. 



The principal men in the tannery business in the Catskill region 

 were Col. H. D. Snyder, Phoenicia; James Simpson, Phoenicia; 

 Pratt & Sampson, Shandaken, and Zadoc Pratt, Prattsville. In 1865, 

 according to the State census, there were 820 tanneries in New York; 

 to-day there are not a dozen all told. 



METHODS OF LUMBERING. 



The present system of logging and lumbering has been evolved from 

 the knowledge and experience gained by lumbermen in the early years 

 of the industry. Many improvements have been made in tools and 

 mechanical appliances; men are now better housed, fed, and paid; but 

 the general principles, on which the business is conducted to-da}', remain 

 the same as in the days of the pioneers. Hence a description of the 

 manner in which the work is conducted at the present time will give 

 some idea of the methods employed a century ago. a 



"A good description of life in the lumber camps as it existed many years ago may 

 be found in the interesting volume. Forest Life and Forest Trees, by John S. Springer. 

 185t>. New York: Harper & Brothers. 



25193— No. 34—0^ 3 



