Working for Quality in Fir: The West Oregon Lumber Company

Portland, Ore., Aug. 8.While this isn't a hardwood, but rather a softrvood (soft, old-growth Yellow l'ir softwood, in fact) story, the gist of it splendidly illustrates the good old axior! that-"Great oaks from little acorns grow."

There are lots of lumbermen around Portland. Oregon, who remember well the time-it was in 1902-When E. D. ("Ed") Kingsley, started the West C)regon Lumber Company, To say that it was a modest start, is stating it very mildly indeed.

The town of Linnton, Oregon, where the West Oregon Lumber Company lives and moves and has its being, is located on the log-laden yet thoroughlv lovely Willamette River, ten miles from Portland.

At this time there was a little sawmill located in the mountains four miles from the river. It turned out ten thousand feet of lurnber in a ten hour work day, if nothing happened. The orvner of this manufacturing institution also owned a tract of timber land adjacent to the mill, on which he claimed he had ten million feet of timber. He also had seven hundred acres of land from rvhich he had' cut the timber.

Mr. Kingsley made a deal with the owner of this domain, whereby for the sum total of five thousand dolldrs he became the owner of mill, timber, and cut-over land. That is, he paid dorvn fifteen hundred dollars, and gave his note for the remaining thirty-five hundred, payable at the rate of a hundred and fifty dollars a month. That old note, with the payments noted on the back thereof, is today one of Mr. Kingsley's proud possessions.

He cut the timber close, and when he got through he cut the cut-over land again. He wasn't lvasting anything in those days. And he got twenty-nine million feet of timber off property before he quit.

The first thing he had to do was find some u'ay to get the lumber to the river, and he built a flume-on credit-four miles long, over canyons and mountains, and put his lumber through it successfully.

And so well did he nurse and nurture and operate this modest establishment, that when it was through he built a real sau'mill on the river at Linnton, and. has been operating there ever since. In 1911 his mill was destroyed by fire, and he built a bigger one. ln 1925 all of his mill but the sawmill proper, was wiped out, and he built a better and more modern one. The larv of Kingsley is the law of progress.

But there was one particular thing that Ed. Kingsley started trying trventy-four years ago, and has never stopped trying for a single day since that time, and that is to cut quality lumber out of Yellorv Fir logs, and particularly to make superior Finish. And so well did he succeed that he began years ago calling his product of this character "Super Finish." And today the Pacific Northwest agrees that West Oregon Super Finish is a product of splendid and dependable quality; a product so fine as to be entitled to special mention wherever !'ir Finish is known and used.

Because every man knou's that making a specialty of Fir

Finish and doing it successfully, is the hardest thing in the Fir manufacturing game, because it requires such infinite care and efiort and must be predicated on ripe experience, sound doctrines, and splendid timber.

The name and fame of this one product, has done much to spread the name and fame of the West Oregon Lumb-er Company. It was a rvise merchandising thought on- the part of Mr. Kingsley, because everyone admit-s the hi-gh quality and charactei of his Super Finish, which naturally carries with it the idea that the rest of their product, must be likewise. And Mr. Kingsley admits that it is.

Now, the present plant of the West Oregon Lumber Company is probably a little out of the ordinary. It is -a U;gmitt, but not an -extra large one. It is just big_enough to permit Mr. Kingsley and his organization to make lumber in the way theyl,vant to.

The sawmill proper is the only part of the plant whe-re high spedd is aimed at. There is but one head-rig. Y"! this mill cuts 30,000 feet of lumber every eight hours of operation. There are three re-saws, and trvo big gangs in the sawmill. They get everything out of the log bu! the scream of the sawi. -They have nb refuse, and burn nothing. They sell their sawdust and their refuse that the mill leaves.

From the time the lumber leaves the head-rig and the gangs, it goes more slowly. It is being looked over careiullf to s& what they can get out of it in quality. Th.y handle and work their short stock as well as their long. They do a fine cargo business with California and have 1,000 feet of deep water docks at which to load their vessels.

Mr. Kingsleyts pride and joy is his new planer. It-is a well known fatt that the method of handling lumber from the planer machines out, in most of the modern mills of the northwest, was first used and pioneered by the West Oregon Lumber Company. You step on no one's toes whe-n you say that the new planer of the West Oregon Lumbir Company is one of the most attractive and remarkable in the world. It is hardly fair to call tha\ open, highly lighted and ventilated, and unusually arranged instittttion.a pi-aning mill. It is really a studio for finishing high grade lumber.

All of their product, all of their items, and all of their grades, are given particular attention to the end that the iustomer may ha'ttC a superior product. But in their Super Finish they fairly surpass themselves' From the .log to the car, thair Finish is a specialty. They select the.ir logs, and they go through theii entire operation of cutting, selecting, -dfoing, dr6ssing, grading, loading,- etc., with- the c"re o=f a ipeclalist. Tfiey carry large stocks of finish all the time. You can get it as wide and as long as you want it. Thirty-two inches in width is common with them, rich looking, pirfectly dried, and dressed' They.make both flat and sla'sh grain frnish. They rvill sell you either or both. You can biy it by the carlot. They will guarantee you 8O/o slash grain, if you rvant it that way.

They are very proud to be a service concern' Around their plant and iheir sales office they give you this-impression more than any other. They want ,vou to understand that they are in business to serve thdir customers- ^ They like mixed car orders. They carry nearly everything on earth that a Fir tree will make, in stock; and if they haven't got it, they will make it for you. No trouble at all, glad to please a customer.

Somehow at the West Oregon mill you sort of get away from the rush that accompanies mass production usually.

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