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The most basic kind of sawmill consists of a chainsaw and a customized jig ("Alaskan sawmill"), with similar horizontal operation. Before the invention of the sawmill, boards were made in various manual ways, either rived (split) and planed, hewn, or more often hand sawn by two men with a whipsaw, one above and another in a saw pit below.
Formed in 1942, the origins of the WTC go back to the First World War, when the Women's Timber Service had been formed to help with the war effort. In 1940 to solve a labour shortage and an increased demand for timber the Forestry Commission started recruiting women both as forestry workers but also to work in sawmills. [2]
The region appeared as though it were designed for building ships. White oaks provided excellent ship timber and planking. Cedars, chestnuts, and black oaks were perfect for the underwater portion of the ships – due to their impermeability to liquids, shock resistance, strength, natural durability, and decay-resistant properties among others.
There the logs were decked onto "rollways." In spring when snow thawed and water levels rose, the logs were rolled into the river, and the drive commenced. [6] To ensure that logs drifted freely along the river, men called "log drivers" or "river pigs" were needed to guide the logs. The drivers typically divided into two groups.
The term lumberjack is of Canadian derivation. The first attested use of the term combining its two components comes from an 1831 letter to the Cobourg, Ontario, Star and General Advertiser in the following passage: "my misfortunes have been brought upon me chiefly by an incorrigible, though perhaps useful, race of mortals called lumberjacks, whom, however, I would name the Cossacks of Upper ...
Meadow River lumber began the process called clearcutting in 1939. Major products included flooring, hardwood shoe heels, furniture, and later moldings and trim. By the time the mill ceased operation, it was the world's largest producer of women's hardwood shoe heels and flooring.
At one time, sawyers were important members of the rural community, because many implements, as well as buildings, were made of wood. In England, the terms used were 'bottom sawyer', for the man standing in the pit, and 'top sawyer', for the man who balanced on the log. Together, the sawyers would alternate pulling the two-man saw through the log.
Initially, both the mill owners and local unions were against the army's takeover of lumber production. The mill owners disliked having the army overseeing their businesses, and the unions saw soldiers' labor as a form of strikebreaking. Disque, however, called on everyone to support war production.