LUMBERING IN MANCHURIA 



THERE are many lumbering en- 

 terprises being established in 

 Manchuria, Siberia, and Sak- 

 halin, preparing to compete with the 

 Pacific Coast lumber. 



The most important is the Russian 

 Timber and Mining Company of the Far 

 East, with headquarters at Port Arthur. 

 This company is organized by some of 

 the most prominent men connected with 

 the Russian government, and is reputed 

 to have a capital of 20,000,000 rubles 

 ($10,300,000). Its principal operations 

 will be on the Yalu River, where it runs 

 down timber from the forests of Korea 

 as well as the large forests of Manchuria. 



I .have been informed by men who 

 have seen these forests that they are 

 very extensive and contain immense 

 quantities of exceedingly fine timber. 

 There is much fine timber in this market 

 from that locality, and it has been the 

 source of supply for both this and the 

 Tientsin market for ages. 



The ocean and river junks are built of 

 this timber, hewn out in large pieces, 

 often 3 feet and more in width. There 

 are about 25,000 of these junks trading 

 at this port (Niuchwang). The timber 

 is mostly pine, very much like the white 

 pine of the United States. This is the 

 best quality of lumber that I have seen 

 in China. The percentage of clear wood 

 is not very large. 



There is also considerable fir, usually 

 much smaller than the pine, and also a 

 timber similar to our tamarack. These 

 are the three varieties from the Yalu 

 district that I have seen. It is brought 

 into this market and the other markets 

 of China on junks. These junks, when 

 coming to this market, usually sail in 

 fleets as a means of protection against 

 pirates, who often board them near the 

 mouth of this river and rob them or levy 

 tribute on them. 



Most of this timber is driven or rafted 

 down the Yalu in short lengths, and it 



is almost impossible to get long timbers 

 from this district. The Chinese, in their 

 native affairs, seldom use any but short 

 timbers, and all the timber cut for 

 Chinese consumption is cut into short 

 lengths in the forests. 



Up to the present the logs from this 

 section have been cut into lumber by 

 the whipsaw method, the natives using 

 a thin and narrow saw blade with teeth 

 set so as to cut both ways. Where the 

 Russians have charge of the native 

 sawmills they have introduced large and 

 heavy saws, cutting only on the down- 

 ward stroke — such saws as are used in 

 our country for whipsawing lumber. 

 With these the natives accomplish much 

 more. 



On the Yalu this old method is now 

 to give way to another. Russia is to 

 construct at the mouth of this river the 

 third largest sawmill in the world. I 

 have not been able to get the details or 

 to ascertain whether the mill is to come 

 from the United States or not, but it is 

 certain that a great mill enterprise is 

 already in process of construction. It 

 is to be situated at one of the points of 

 political controversy. It is at this place 

 that the great naval battle between 

 China and Japan was fought, the con- 

 clusion of which practically settled that 



war. 



RUSSIAN LUMBER 



In addition to this competition, which 

 is already supplying large quantities of 

 timber and lumber to Port Arthur, 

 Dalny, and Niuchwang and to the Chi- 

 nese Eastern Railway, the Russians are 

 now shipping to all of these places by 

 steamer from Vladivostock and vicinity 

 and from the Island of Sakhalin large 

 quantities of lumber. 



This lumber, so far as I have seen it, 

 is of a rather inferior quality compared 

 with the Yalu lumber. It is harder, 

 coarser grained, warps and twists badly, 



