RIVER WITH OAKEN BED.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13399, 5 June 1914, Page 9

RIVER WITH OAKEN BED.

DISCOVERY MADE IN RUSSIA.

TIMBER OF SUPERB i QUALITY

A member of the diving corps of the Russian Imperial N*»,vv, Colonel Ivanoff, wbo owns property along the banks ot" the river Moksha, a tributary of the Oka, which m turn flows into the Vol^a at N-shni-NovgOTod, not long ago discovered one of the, greatest deposits of old oak that has ever been found. In the course of some '" diving experiments m the river Moksha, Colonel . Ivanoff noticed that th© bed of the stream for long distances was paved with oak. _P_rrther investigation proved these logs continued for a distance of 500 miles. -vSome were brought to the surface and sawed into planks, and, the timber was found to be of superb quality, very dark m color and fit for the highest-quality cabinet work. Long before Colonel Ivanoff found the great timber deposits he was aware that the peasants living along the Moksha 'had for generations been using beautiful black oak timber for all sorts of domestic purposes, such as building their dwellings, making furniture, and even pig styes. The peasants always said "they got the logs out of tho river," simply by dragging a loop of > chain or rope along the* bottom until it caught a fog and brought it to the surface. The origin of the remarkable accumulation of logs, which are of a vast size, is easily explained. The river Moksha meanders through a level, open plain, from five to seven miles m width. This plain is composed of sandy alluvial soil, and the river banks are consequently very friable and easily worn away by the Jieavy floods, especially when the ice is breaking up m the spring. In consequence, tho river is constantly changing its bed, as the loose soil of its banks wears away. At

some remote period the whole plain was covered with a dense growth of magnificent oaks, and as the river cut away the soil, these fell into the stream, and, becoming water-logged, sank to the bottom and remained there. *• A_NCIENT RIVER-BED. The remains of the ancient beds' of the river ate found everywhere over the plain, some dry, the more recent filled with water m the form of long, harrow, lakes, but the bottom of these /lakes, like that of the, river itself, is also filled with oak logs. It is impossible to estimate the total quantity of timber, but careful calculation go to show that it must run into many millions. In the present bed of the Moksha, without taking into account what lies *m the lakes and the old dry water courses, there is soincient to yield at least 20,000 logs annually for fifty years or more, and| the stream is constantly exposing fresh deposits. , Some Of the trunks are '_ of enormous ' size. Oak logs over 60ft m Jength to the first branch, and , measuring up to 4ft m diameter, have been brought to the surface during the. lest summer. The logs do not lie m a single layer. At points where those on the bottom have, been removed, the ; stream has washed away the sand, disclosing yet other layers below. This circumstance led to further investigation beingj made, and it has been ascribed that .m places the logs lie at. least 10ft deep m long stretches of tho river. .'-..•'

WOOD WATER SEASONED. The water has had a peculiar effect on the timber that has been immersed m it for so long. It is well known that water seasoned 'wood possesses peculiar qualities, and this method is often adopted when specially good timber is required for some special purpose. The practice is to sink the logs to be seasoned m a stream, with tiie butts to the current. In this way the sap, "which is the principal cause of deterioration m, badly-seasoned timber, is dissolved arid •washed out, and much sounder and more durable timber is the result. '•>.

The oak logs m the Moksha have been subjected .to this process naturally, the current acting on the' branches insuring thaf- __t_y were all laid with the butts upstream, and they have become perfectly water seasoned. . But this additional change has also occurred : The water of the Moksha contains an appreciable amount of iron m solution. In the course of centuries this iron has been carried into the pores of the timber, where it combined with the natural tannic acid of tho wood to form a black pigment, which has stained the wood a beautiful dark color. It is not so black as bog oak, where the excess of tannin, derived from the peat m which it is embedded, darkens the wood until it almost resembles jet, and completely obliterates the grain and the medullary rays which constitute the chief beauty of oak.

VALUABLE OAK TIMBER.

Russia has almost a monopoly of oak timber of this kind. There is a river m the Caucasus where old oak was discovered a long time ago, and the timber used m flooring and panelling the famous throne room of the Kremlin of Mobcow. The beauty of the woodwork m that celebrated apartment has been the theme of numerous connoisseurs, but the timber from which it was made m no way surpasses that now found m such vast quantities m the Moksha! The method used foi*' the recovery of the logs is very simple. Large pontoons, equipped with winches, have, been built a.d launched on the river. From "these loos of chain are lowered and swept aloh>* the bottom to catch the ends of the '/.. '. The first log Raised was brought to the surface m exactly two minutes from the cabin being dropped to the bottom. ) The work of raising the logs can go on all through the spring and summer. Ice prevents operations from the. end of November until about the end of March| but the winter is an ideal time for conveying the logs to the railway station at either Sassova or Arapovam, when sleighs can be run on the frozen snow. .Labor is cheap, plentiful, and excel--Ben±. . ■ ■ . '.