Clinton Lumber Season Recap 1909

 
From: The Clinton Herald; August 30, 1900
Transcribed by a Clinton County IaGenWeb volunteer.

WAS A BUSY SEASON.
Mississippi River Lumbermen Enjoy a Good Trade This Year.

Mid-Summer Rise of the River Results in a Plentiful Supply of Logs From the North – The Season’s Cut in Clinton Will Equal That of Last.

A busy lumber season is drawing to a close. Notwithstanding the fact that during the early part of the season, the lumbermen along the Mississippi had grave doubts as to whether or not the supply of white pine logs would be sufficient to carry them through the season’s cut, heavy rains in the north decided the question favorably. The water, which had gone down to an alarmingly low stage, rose gradually, and the result was an increase in the supply of logs for the mills on the upper river. Since the mid-summer rise the water has continued at a good stage, and the lumbermen have no fears but that they will be able to keep their mills moving till the end of the season.

In Clinton, the season has been a fairly good one, and although the cut will not equal that of former years, it will be about up to the average of recent ones. Last year at the Lamb mills the cut was 60,000,000 feet of lumber, 5,500,000 of lath, and 9,240,000 feet of shingles. According to present indications these figures will about represent the cut of 1900 at the three mills. The Lamb fleet of rafters have had a busy season this year, and have been successful in supplying logs for the Clinton mills that not a day’s suspension of business was due to non-supply. The mills opened this year on April 4, and will probably continue to run until November 1, when they will shut down for the winter months. During the year an average of 625 men have been given daily employment at the three mills.

The lumbermen of this vicinity have enjoyed a brisk business this year, and indications point to a continuance of the present state of affairs. On the whole, the lumber season in the Mississippi territory has been a very satisfactory and prosperous one.