276 REPORT OF THE 



mechanical appliances for handling logs, live rollers, and that most profitable of all 

 improvements, the band saw. 



Until recent years the word forest was seldom heard except as used rhetorically. 

 It belonged to poetry and literature. The lumbermen and the people used the 

 word woods instead. People lived in the backwoods, travelled through the woods, 

 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 (Chateaugay) woods. 



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

 and improvements in the lumber industry of our State, mention must be made of 

 the intelligent, conservative methods recently introduced in the management of our 

 public and private woodlands by professional foresters whose working plans insure 

 the preservation of our forests and perpetuation of our timber supply. 



'' Captains of Indastr^^/' 



In recording the rise and progress of the lumber business it seems proper that 

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

 one locality or another, were prominently identified with this important factor in 

 the development of the wealth and resources of our State. They 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 

 expression, 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 in it. 



Among the men, now dead and gone, who were prominently connected with the 

 lumber business on the Upper Hudson, mention should be made of Abraham 

 Wing,* James D. Weston, John J. Harris, Albert N. Cheney, Lewis L. Armes, 

 Walter Geer, Orlin Mead, George Sanford, Orson Richards, Augustus Sherman, 

 James Morgan, Charles H. Faxon, and Lemon Thomson. 



*" Mr. Wing, born in lygi, had the foresight and judgment requisite for improving the golden 

 chance by bringing to market the splendid pines with which the great Brant Lake Tract abounded. 

 This rich and extensive lumber region, previously operated by the Fox Brothers, Alanson and Norman, 

 had come into the possession of parties in Troy, who intrusted its management to Mr. Wing." 

 (History of Queensbury. By A. W. Holden, M.D., Glens Falls, 1849.) 



