The squared logs are
then carried along over rollers and collected before the gang-saws.
From two to four of them are clasped firmly together and then forced up
against the teeth of the parallel group of saws, issuing from them as a
batch of lumber. The boards are then passed on to a set of men at
small circular saws, by whom they are sorted and the edges trimmed,
while still others with trucks carry them to the yard for stacking.
Take note of the operation of the mind as it passes from one part of
the machinery to another. Each part is first examined by itself to get
its construction and method. Then its relation to what precedes and
what follows is noted. Finally, in review you survey the whole process
in its successive stages and understand each part and its relation to
the whole and to the purpose of the mill. We might call this an
analysis and synthesis of the process of making lumber, or in other
words absorption and reflection. In the observation of such a complex
piece of machinery as a large mill the mind swings back and forth many
times between absorption in the study of parts and reflection upon
their relation to each other.
Having examined the mill in detail and grasped its parts as a connected
whole, the next step is to observe its relation to the river, to the
rafts and rafting-boats, and further back to the pineries and
logging-camps up the river.
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