MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



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 406 MAJESTIC BUILDING 



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 DETROIT. MICHIGAN 



Frank E. Carter Editor 



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A CHECK TO BIG INDUSTRY. 



A Bay City lumberman, discussion the de- 

 cision of the supreme court of Michigan affirm- 

 ing the ownership of sunken, or "deadhead" 

 logs lies with the original owner, will check 

 the raising of logs in many streams, says: 



"Some years ago when saw logs began to 

 be worth money an inventive genius devised a 

 scheme to raise these logs and convert them 

 into lumber. The first attempt was made 

 above Saginaw, on the Tittabawassee river. 

 A scow was rigged up with a steam derrick 

 for raising the logs and probably something 

 would have resulted but the question of owner- 

 ship of the logs when brought to the surface 

 was at once raised and little was accomplished. 

 It was alleged that arrangements were to be 

 made with the owners of logs which bore log 

 marks, but so many difficulties crept into the 

 matter that it was abandoned. Two or three 

 years ago the same trouble came up in raising 

 logs in Black river near Cheboygan, and litiga- 

 tion resulted. A lumberman named Chris Yaw- 

 key experienced considerable success in raising 

 sunken logs the last few years in Au Sable, 

 but it is not recalled what methods he resorted 

 to in order to avoid litigation. The decision 

 of the court, holding that the title to the logs 

 known as deadheads remain the property of 

 the original owners, and for them to remove 

 the logs from the river is not an unlawful in- 

 terference with the rights of the riparian 

 owners, will probably end the business largely 

 of lifting these deadhead logs. If owners of 

 all the logs thus raised could be communicated 

 with and arrangements made for raising the 

 same it would be an easy matter. But there 

 were over 300 distinct marks of ownership on 

 logs rafted out by the Tittabawassee Boom 

 Company alone during the 30 years of its oper- 

 ations. Many of the original owners are dead 

 and others are scattered all over the world. 

 To attempt to reach and negotiate with them 

 or their heirs for ownership of deadheads 

 raised would be a task not only impossible, but 

 one that no one would undertake. Other 

 streams are similarly situated. In some re- 

 spects the decision, while undoubtedly the 

 proper thing, works unfortunately in that it 

 will discourage raising of deadheads and mil- 

 lions of feet of valuable timber will never be 

 available. It has been estimated that there is 

 fully 100,000,000 feet of sunken logs in the Tit- 

 tabawassee river and tributaries. Then there 

 are other lumbering streams, such as the Cass, 

 Flint, Bad river. Swan creek, Shiawassee, Kaw- 

 kawlin, Rifle, AuGres, AuSable and other 

 streams in eastern and northeastern Michigan. 

 If all the deadheads in Michigan streams could 

 be converted into lumber it would represent a 

 good many million dollars." 



CURTAILMENT OF LUMBER OUTPUT. 



"Nature is doing considerable to curtail the 

 lumber output in the Georgian Bay district," 

 says C. A. Eddy, of Bay City, who has been 

 actively engaged in lumbering forty years in 

 the Saginaw valley and is now operating a 

 large mill at Blind River, Ont. "The mills in 



the Georgian Bay district started late this 

 spring. June 1 the Eddy Bros.' mill had only 

 one-half of the lumber manufactured this sea- 

 son on the dock it had the same date last 

 year. There hasn't been as much lumber sold 

 this season as usual. The last two years our 

 entire output for the season was sold in the 

 winter before the mill started, for delivery 

 after being manufactured as wanted. Buyers 

 appear to be nosing around I suppose thinking 

 they may strike bargain counters in the mat- 

 ter of prices. But there is a general disposi- 

 tion to hold up prices. I have received two 

 or more invitations to meet saw mill men to 

 agree upon a curtailment of the output. I told 

 them if all firms pursued the policy of Eddy 

 Bros., there would be all the curtailment 

 needed. We don't propose to sacrifice our 

 stock. I learn that stocks are generally light 

 in dealers' hands and am satisfied that the 

 lumber will be wanted soon. When the panic 

 of 1893 struck this valley I wanted to shut 

 down our mill and nail up the doors. Some of 

 my associates insisted the mill should be kept 

 in motion though lumber was low. Had my 

 advice been taken when good times came again 

 we would have had 125,000,000 feet of timber 

 to have converted into lumber at prices that 

 would have more than made up for the time 

 lost during the stagnation. That experience 

 was worth something to me. Business men 

 appear to be confident that there is a percepti- 

 ble improvement and in a short time trade will 

 be much better." 



DEADHEAD LOG DECISION. 



The Michigan Supreme Court has decided 

 the question of the ownership of deadhead 

 logs in the streams and lakes of Michigan. 

 The case was that of the Muskegon Log Lift- 

 ing & Operating Company versus the owners 

 of lands along the waters on which the com- 

 pany was operating. The company had pur- 

 chased from the original owners their rights to 

 the logs. When the company commenced to 

 remove the logs and piled them on the banks 

 of the Muskegon river, a land owner applied 

 for an injunction to restrain the company 

 from taking possession of them, claiming the 

 property as riparian owner. The lower court 

 held with the plaintiff, but upon appeal to the 

 supreme court the decision was reversed, the 

 higher tribunal declaring that the title to the 

 logs remained in the original owner and that 

 the holder of lands through which the streams 

 flowed had no ownership or interest in them. 



The question as to the ownership of this 

 property, and the rights therein of riparian 

 owners, is of very great importance. The 

 value of the sunken logs in Michigan streams 

 aggregates hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

 The bottom of practically every rafting stream 

 and lake used by the operators in the old days 

 is covered with these so-called "deadheads." 

 In nearly every instam.e the logs are perfectly 

 preserved and yield the finest of pine lumber, 

 now nearly extinct in the forest. Millions of 

 feet have already been removed from the 

 waters north of Saginaw, especially in the 

 Au Sable country, and the logs have brought 

 handsome returns to those who bought and 

 reclaimed them. In some instances the title 

 has been conveyed for a mere trifle, and the 

 purchaser has netted a small fortune from the 

 transaction. The real value of the logs has 

 only been realized within the last few years 

 and now they are receiving more attention 

 from the original owners. In view of their 

 increasing value riparian owners have been 

 disposed to lay claim to certain rights or 

 interest in them, and the exact establishment 

 of title therefore became a matter of much 

 importance. 



QUIET LUMBER SEASON. 



Thomas Connors, who is one of the largest 

 timber dealers in the Upper Peninsula, says 

 that he does not believe the coming season 

 will be a busy one, as most of the large lum- 

 ber concerns of the country are heavily 

 stocked. The mining companies put in an un- 

 usually large stock during the past winter and 



they will not need much timber to carry them 

 through next winter, as less than the usual 

 quantity will be used during the summer. The 

 jobbers who got out timber in the district 

 below Negaunee, on the line of the Chicago & 

 Northwestern Railway, during the past season, 

 have completed their shipments and there is 

 nothing doing in the woods, but several small 

 mills are in operation. There are two working 

 at McFarland's Hill, one at Turin. The plant 

 at Little Lake, which was recently destroyed 

 by fire, will probably not be rebuilt this sea- 

 son. B. J. Goodman has a considerable quan- 

 tity of logs there, but he will probably move 

 them to one of the other mills, farther south. 

 Several of the more prominent jobbers in 

 the district plan to begin their season's work 

 early in August, but there will be fewer camps 

 opened up before winter sets in than were in 

 operation last year. Last season was a fairly 

 good one for the jobbers, in spite of the fact 

 that the prices received for the timber did not 

 compare with those of the previous year. 



NEW LOGGING COMPANY. 



Articles of association of the United Log- 

 ging Company of Escanaba, capitalized at 

 $100,000, have been filed. The new corpora- 

 tion is a Delta county organization and the 

 officers are as follows: President, I. N. 

 Bushong, of Gladstone; Vice-President, J. P. 

 Bushong, of Gladstone; Secretary and Treas- 

 urer, T. M. Judson, of Escanaba. The new 

 company has taken over all the logging con- 

 tracts which existed between the Escanaba 

 Wooden Ware Co., at the time that company 

 went into the hands of a receiver, and the fol- 

 lowing companies: Escanaba Manufacturing 

 Co.; Kimberly-Clark Co., Neenah; Northwest- 

 ern Cooperage & Lumber Co., Gladstone; Me- 

 nasha Wooden Ware Co., Menasha; Mason & 

 Donaldson Co., Rhinelander. 



The contracts which these companies had 

 with the Escanaba Wooden Ware Co. gave 

 them the right to enter upon the lands Con- 

 trolled by that company and proceed to take 

 out the timber at any time that company 

 failed to perform its contract. It is understood 

 that the new company has all the rights under 

 those contracts which were vested in the five 

 companies named, and it is the intention of the 

 new company to begin active logging opera- 

 tions in the near future so as to provide these 

 companies with the timber supply provided for 

 under their contracts with the Escanaba 

 Wooden Ware Co. The company expects to 

 carry on its operations upon a very large scale 

 and employment will be given to several large 

 crews of men. 



The new company, which has as stockhold- 

 ers gentlemen who are interested in the five 

 companies named above, intends to bid on 

 the logging outfit, horses, camp equippage, and 

 other property of the Escanaba Wooden Ware 

 Co., which is to be sold at a receiver's sale in 

 Escanaba on June 15. The new company 

 wants the equipment, and for this reason it is 

 safe to assume that the property will bring 

 pretty close to its real value. 



The United Logging Co. will have its main 

 office at the office of the Escanaba Manufac- 

 turing Co. in Escanaba. 



MANUFACTURING LUMBER AGAIN. 



With the plant put in condition for a long 

 and successful run, the big sawwill of the 

 Marais Lumber Company at Grand Marais has 

 resumed operations for the season. It will 

 continue in commission until the approach of 

 another winter, and it is expected to make its 

 usual cut. The mill is owned by Alger, Smith 

 & Co., of Detroit, and it is the mainstay of 

 the town. 



SHINGLE OUTPUT. 



D. Quay & Sons, of Cheboygan, manufac- 

 tured 10,000,00 shingles last year. The firm 

 is putting in a stock of logs for this season's 

 run and a quantity of cedar ties and posts. 



