GEO. E. BREECE LUMBER CO.

On April l8th, 1943, the George E. Breece Lumber Company blew the final whistle for its big plant at Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the dismantling oi the extensive buildings is already under way. These consist of the former big mill, planer and millwork plant, kilns, sheds, etc. The mill site has been sold to the Santa Fe Land & Improvement Company, a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway.

The liquidation of the once great lumber business of the George E. Breece Lumber Company has been under way for several years, and was accelerated when George E. Breece died in January of last year. Mr. Breece had been a lumber manufacturer in West Virginia, where he was born and raised. He moved to Louisiana and engaged in the sawmilling business there, and then went to New Mexico where he created a very extensive lumber business. He built a big mill at Albuquerque, and bought some tremendous tracts of timber land in that vicinity. He built a large and very modern sawmill at Alamagordo. Before his death he leased the Alamagordo plant to M. R. Prestridge, who organized the M. R. Prestridge Lumber Company to operate it. With this mill went large Indian Service timber cutting contracts. With this lease went an option to sell, and Mr. Prestridge exercised his option and bought the mill and timber contracts. The plant is equipped with a band headrig, resaw, and edger, and is electrically driven.

For some time the sawmill at Albuquerque has been closed down but the Breece company has been operating a string of small sawmills in a great stand of timber in the Zuni Mountains near Grants, and bringing the green, rough output of these mills to Albuquerque for dressing, drying, and marketing. Also they have taken in like fashion the output of the Indian Service sawmill at Fort Defiance, Arizonia. The Breece company had made all their plans on closing the Albuquerque plant to install a planing mill of about 75,00O feet daily capacity at Grants, to handle the products of those small mills, but on account of the labor situation they have decided to postpone any such action until more favorable conditions exist, and in the meantime they will ship the product of the small mills rough, mostly to factories.

The Breece timber holdings are still large, consisting of 250,000 acres of timbered land, mostly virgin, with more than fifty million feet of standing timber; also they have considerable timber stumpage under cutting contract. They used to have a logging road from this timber to Grants; but took it up two years ago when the Government called for unused steel. C. O. Breece, brother of the late George E. Breece, is president of the company, and Tom M. Stribling is vice-president and general manager. Mr. Stribling has a son in the armed forces, and at present stationed at Camp Swift, Texas. The late George E. Breece had three sons, all of whom preceded him in death.

Announcement is also made of the sale by Mrs. George E. Breece of "La Tapia del Camino Real," which is one of the famous show places of the Rio Grande Valley. This consists of a handsome twelve-room house, sixteen-acre apple orchard, and spacious landscaped grounds including a beautiful rock garden of great size. The late Col. Breece designed this as a summer home, but made it his full time residence. Mrs. Breece has moved to Albuquerque to reside.

The big mill at Alamagordo is in full time operation by the M. R. Prestridge Lumber Company, and practically the entire output of Ponderosa Pine is marketed in New Mexico and West Texas.

Beech Lumber

Specific ceilings for various grades of beech lumber are announced by OPA in an action making several other important changes in the northern hardwood lumber regulation (MPR 223, Amendment 5), effective May 4.