"captains of industry." 39 



of the lumber business. In modern sawmills we find the oscillating 

 gang-, circular saws with inserted teeth, mechanical appliances for 

 handling logs, live rollers, and 'that most profitable of all improve- 

 ments, the band-saw. 



Until recent years the word " forest" was seldom heard except when 

 used rhetorically. It belonged to poetry and literature. The lumber- 

 men and the people used the word ' ' woods " instead. People lived in the 

 backwoods, went into the woods, came out of the woods, or were lost 

 in the woods— never the forest. People spoke of the North Woods, 

 the South Woods, the "Nine-mile" Woods, and the Shattygee (Cha- 

 teaugay) Woods. 



But now we hear the words forest and forestry. And in chronicling 

 the improvements in the lumber industry of New York State mention 

 must be made of the intelligent, conservative methods recently intro- 

 duced in the management of public and private woodlands by profes- 

 sional foresters, whose working plans insure the preservation of the 

 forests and the perpetuation of the timber supply. 



"CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY." 



In recording the rise and progress of the lumber business, some 

 passing tribute, at least, should be paid to the memory of the men 

 who were prominently identified, with this important factor in the 

 development of the wealth and resources of the State. Thev were 

 men of both physical and mental vigor, possessed of sturdy virtues 

 that made them respected, not only in the communities where they 

 lived, but wherever they were known. They had a keen sense of 

 honor and fair dealing that made them known and described as men 

 whose "word was as good as their bond "—a common, homely expres- 

 sion, but one carrying praise that was well deserved. The grass has 

 been growing on their graves for many years, but their memory is 

 still cherished, their influence for good is still felt, and the world is 

 better for their having lived. 



Among the men now dead and gone who were prominently con- 

 nected with the lumber business on the upper Hudson, mention should 

 be made of Abraham Wing, a James D. Weston, John J. Harris. 

 Albert N. Cheney, Lewis L. Amies. Walter (leer, Orlin Mead, George 

 San ford. Orson Richards. Augustus Sherman. James Morgan. Charles 

 H. Faxon, and Lemon Thomson. 



On the Raquette River: Edward King. Ralph Pomerov, Charles 

 Pearson. George Richards, Matthias Vickery. James H. Carpenter, 



a " .Mr. Wing, born in 1791, had the foresight and judgment requisite for Improving 

 the golden chance by bringing to market the splendid pines with which the grea< 

 Brant Lake tract abounded. This rich ami extensive lumber region, previously 

 operated by the Fox Brothers, Alanson and Norman, had come into the possession 

 of parties in Tmy, who intrusted its management toMr. Wing." (History of Queens- 

 bury, by A. W. Iloiden, M. D. (ill nP Kails: ]S19.) 



