60 



THE DESTRUCTIVE AGENTS OP FORESTS. 



mills more recently. The mills were easily set up and kept in 

 running order. Power cost nothing except the labor of building 

 dams and races and keeping them in repair. The lumber sawed 

 was used to the last foot and nothing was wasted. Only the 

 good, mature trees were cut, and all the young growth was left 

 undisturbed. 



"We know as little of the first portable saw mills as we do of 

 the first water-power mills. Full history at this time would be 

 impossible. Local historians, with one or two exceptions, have 

 remained silent regarding this industry, and all that can now be 

 learned must be laboriously obtained from a few imperfect re- 

 cords and from the older citizens of the state who engaged in the 

 lumber industry many years ago. 



According to Martin's list there were 15 steam saw mills in 

 operation in the counties that now constitute West Virginia in 

 1835. These he gives as follows : 



Brooke 1 mill. 



Jefferson 1 mill. 



Kanawha 2 mills. 



Mason 1 mill. 



Monroe 1 mill. 



MK)nongalia 6 mills. 



Ohio 2 mills. 



Wood 1 mill. 



The increase in number of portable mills was not rapid 

 during the first 30 or 40 years after their introduction. A few 

 experiments were sufficient to show that the industry was not 

 profitable in cases where the mills and lumber had to be hauled 

 long distances on wagons. For this reason most of the early 

 steam mills were built within easy reach of streams which 

 afforded an outlet for their products. 



With the coming of railroads, however, mills of this kind 

 began to multiply rapidly. The new towns that grew up along 

 these roads required a large amount of rough lumber for the 

 hastily built houses, and it was usually possible to locate mills 

 near by. In 1870 J. H. Diss Debar wrote: Along both 



