The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1883-07-06
MONTANA IMPROVEMENT COMPANY.
An Important Lumber Enterprise TO be IS
tabIIshed I'm Montana.

LISA well known fact that almost from
Mlssoula to Pen d'Oreile Lake, distance Of
go miles. the. Northern Pacific traverses the
most magnificent belt Of white and yellow
pine, fir cedar, and tamarac there Is between
Minnesota and Puget Sound. Even this sids
of Missoula as far as NJ cCarty's bridge there
are fine forests Each alternate section oil
this timber land on belt eighty miles wide
belongs to the Northern Pacific company. Ii
is more valuable than cleared land. There Il
an eager market for its lumber from the Dalles
to Miles City, and we doubt not also down
the Utah aud Northern into Idaho, Utah,
Nevada, and Wyoming 1t is to the interest
of the n. P. Co. to supply these markets with
all the lumber they demand, the company
having not only the transportation but the
product itself as source Of revenue. It Is
also to it, interest to preserve these forests
from wasueful cutting and from fires. There
has therefore been organized aud iucorpora-
ted recently what is known AZ the Montana
improvement COMPANY. with a capital sock
of $1,000, 0U0 and tri- COMPANY ha~ mad" a
! c"ntrec' .n' y. /, ga O." ~ - -
| lurub uu al a"uV ::iiIcal~d, cont a't
running for twenty years. The Improve
ment company agrees to cut and keep an adj
| equate quantity of lumber on the line of the
road in the forest to supply all demands for
lumber at every principal point between the
| Dalles and Miles City, to establish and main
| tain lumber yards at all those places, and TO
protect so far as possible the railroad com.
pany's lands from spoliation or fires. The
railroad company is to be paid stumpage for
all timber cut and reserves the absolute right
to limit and control the amount to be cut. 1t
has also the option to haul and store at the
selling points selected at its own time and
convenience thus enabling 1t to utilize empty
cars and light trains in transit without inter-
fering with the regular traffic. This will
enable transportation at immensely less rates
and Is advantageous to both companies.
The enterprise is one of the largest and
most promising ever undertaken in Montana.
Among the most prominent of the stock
holders are E. L. Bonner, j. Fl. Robertson,
r. A. Eddy, A. B. Hammond, and Washing
ton Dunn. The names are sufficient assur-
airce that the Montana Improvement Com
pany can handle the project in hand, and the
scheme has on its face the evidence that
"theres millions in it," The eight mills re-
Gently employed in saving ties, timbers, etc,
for the construction of the n. p. road, are al
ready nearly all at work cutting lumber for
this enterprise. They have already about six
million feet cut, stacked, and seasoning, and
are adding to the quantity go 900 feet day
About 175 to 200 men will be employed by the
company. Whether the result will be de-
crease In the price of lumber along the line
indicated remains to be seen, but one thing
is certain, there will after the road is COM
pleted be no scarcity of all qualities of sea
soned lumber in the towns where the COM
pany establish yards. We believe as yet the
company has not yet formally signated its
officers, but the contracts are all closed and
the business is in operation.