Ana Leigh - [The Frasers 4 - Jed] - One Night with a Sweet Talking Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

being slid down the slope into the river below,” Nathan said, joining him. “We rotate the sections that we cut and skid the trees from the cutting area to the river, then float them to the mill.”
    “As long as you have to haul them this far, why not take them directly to the mill?” Jed asked.
    “We harvest them faster than we can mill them. We cut and jam them in fall and winter, and mill them in spring and summer. The water protects them from insects and fungi, as well as a fire.”
    “But what keeps them from continuing to float downstream? Surely you don’t dam the river.”
    Nathan chuckled. “No, we string a raft that jams the logs but keeps the water flowing. We might lose one now and then, but we depend on the river current to operate. Come along, I’ll show you.”
    They approached the large building set on the river’s edge.
    “This is the actual mill. See that water wheel at the back of the building? It’s rotated by the river’s current.”
    Two men with cant hooks were standing on a logjam, manipulating the trees onto a conveyor powered by the water wheel.
    “Inside, you’ll see more reasons why the river’s current is so important to our operation.”
    The smell of sawdust tickled Jed’s nostrils before they even entered the building. Once inside, he saw that the tree on the conveyor was being stripped of bark and then flushed down a chute into the teeth of a saw, where it was measured and sliced lengthwise. The ends were then trimmed and smoothed by waiting hands, and when completed, the lengths of lumber were taken outside and stacked to dry out.
    “An interesting operation, sir,” Jed shouted above the screech of the whirring saws.
    “Most of my lumber is sold to shipyards. We delivered the last of that two weeks ago,” Nathan said, moving outside. “We send it downriver on a raft to Napa. That’s easier and faster than freighting it down in wagons. We only have a skeleton crew of buckers and boom men now, for some smaller pieces that go to furniture builders in Napa and San Francisco.”
    “So you depend mainly on shipbuilders. But most ship hulls are no longer made of wood, since iron is more protective—especially in battle. How much demand can there be for lumber?”
    “Enough to keep us thriving. The shipping industry is booming. There’re more ships now than there’s ever been, and with a greater demand not only for more passenger cabins, but larger and more luxurious ones. That calls for a lot of wood.
    “Steam may be replacing sails on ships, but it leads to explosions and a greater potential for fires. And even when they perfect those steam engines, there’ll still be a demand for wooden masts and hulls.” Nathan winked at him.
    Jed laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “And there’ll always be a need for an old sea dog like you at the helm.”
    At the sound of an explosion, he spun around. “What the hell!”
    Nathan chuckled. “Nothing to be alarmed about. It’s just Bomber blowing up tree stumps that are too big to dig out.”
    “I’d have thought a blast would be too damaging to an area,” Jed said as they walked over to a nearby hill.
    “Not the way we do it. Bomber’s a master at the art. You’ll see for yourself.”
    They climbed the rise to where a man was sprinkling gunpowder at the base of a wide stump. “Bomber, this is Mr. Fraser. He was a crew member on my ship during the war.”
    The man looked up and nodded hello.
    “Captain Collins said you’re a master at the art,” said Jed. “Why gunpowder? Wouldn’t dynamite be easier?”
    Bomber shook his head. “Too powerful, Mr. Fraser. It takes too much along with it when it blows. Gunpowder and a long fuse is easier to control on a smaller job like this and will only uproot the stump. That way nothing more than you want is destroyed, and nobody gets hurt.”
    “The uprooted stump is then hauled away by oxen,” Nathan added, “and we use what we can as firewood here in the office and