708 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



River driving is carried on wherever 

 possible, and the stream improvements, 

 dams, and so forth are constructed in 

 much the same way as in any other 

 country. Watching the drive one day, 

 the forest officer hailed an expert 

 driver and told him to give us a little 

 exhibition. The man rode down the 

 stream nicely on one log, and I snapped 

 his picture while he was rolling it. He 

 took stage fright, however, fell in the 



go to be emptied and loaded with logs 

 again. 



An aerial tram was also built at this 

 point for transportation of logs and 

 ore in cooperation with the Kosaki 

 Mining Company. 



There are at the present time about 

 eleven sawmills operated by the 

 Government, of which two were visited. 

 They are primitive in construction with 

 a conglomeration of foreign made ma- 



A Logging Railroad 



THESE CARS ON THE ODATE GOVERNMENT FOREST ARE RUN MAINLY BY GRAVITY 



water, and had a hard time making it 

 for shore. 



A water balance was erected at 

 Odate, where the logs had to be elevated 

 about 100 feet from the river to the 

 sawmill on the bank. This was accom- 

 plished by means of a short double 

 track railroad on a steep incline pro- 

 vided with two cars fastened together 

 so that one would be at the top, when 

 the other was at the river. The cars 

 were made water-wagon fashion, and 

 while the one car was being loaded with 

 logs at the river, the upper car was 

 filled with water. When full it would 

 outweigh the logs, and down it would 



chinery. At one mill were found 

 German, English, and American made 

 parts in addition to machinery made in 

 Japan. The mills are low powered and 

 operating mainly gangsaws and circulars, 

 using handsaws to a small extent for 

 re-saws. The average output was ap- 

 proximately 25 M. per day. Three 

 men were necessary to roll the log onto 

 the carriage, where it retained its place 

 by its own weight. Above the circular 

 saws could be seen punctured tin cans 

 filled with water, which was steadily 

 dripping down on the saw to keep it 

 cool. The sawdust was swept through 

 a hole in the floor into a basement, 



