The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-24
INDUSTRY At An End
WITH THE COMING YEAR OPERA
TIONS WILL CEASE AT WEST
NEWTON
THE EDICT HAS GONE OUT
Lur,herfuc ODeratfons on the Chip
peyva VIII Soon BE a Thing OF
the Past-Tyvo Thousand Men
Have Been Given Permanent Err
pIOyment by the Logging Conn
pany-The News of the Northwest.

WINONA, Mimi, Sept. 23.-(Special.)-
Northern Wisconsin lumber and logging
operations, as far as this section Oh .he
Mississippi river is concerned, practlcdly
cease with the coming year. with next
wear the Mississippi River Logging COM
nanv. or rather the trust, with headquar-
ters at West Newton, will go out OF ex-
istence and the numbering industry OF
the Chippewa and Northern Wisconsin
will be a thing Of the past. The uttl-
maturn has been set forth by the trust,
and all owners of standing pine nave
been given to underestimate they desire 20
take advantage CT the facilities OF west
Newton they must do so this winter, as
the business of the company is to be
closed up without fail or delay.
West Newton, located on the Wisconsin
side of the Mississippi river about thirty
five miles above Winona, Is really the
outcrowth of Beef Slough. another ratt-
ing works organized In 1851. At that time
Messrs Day and Jenkins, of Oshkosh,
and Francis Palms, of Detroit, conceived
the necessity Of having a harbor wherein
logs could be gathered and RATED as they
came down the Chippewa and ACCORDING
" organized the Beef Slough Logging
company They figured On a handsome
investnent but in the ten years that tIey
controlled and operated 1t the project
barely paid expenses, aid on more lh''h
one occasion they came near ABANDON
ing 1t.
'This they were almost on the point of
doing when Mr. Weyerhaeuser, the great
lumber magnate, then young man Oh
brains and ambition, stepped in ana
bought it. He saw the future of the
pine industry of the Chippewa and i'm
medately began putting tie piers ana
hoons of the works in Testing condition
From the start it was paying invest
ment for him. Its stock was nc longer
on the market and the dividends paid are
said to have been enormous. Along IN
the sos Mr. Weyerhaeuser, with his COM
pany, gained complete control OF the
Chippe va, and il a few years the logs
were being run cut into the river at TIE
rate Of 400 coo 900 feet a year. These went
10 feed the many mills along the MISSES
sippi river, the controlling interest IN
which was gradually being absorbed by
Mr. Weyerhaeuser and his company.
In. 1889 and 1884 the heavy foods prac-
ticallv rendered the slough va'ueless,
sand swearing in from the main Cnlppe-
wa river md filing it up until hardly q
log could be RATED. Engineers said TIE
work would have to be abandoned
Here Mr. Weyerhaeuser's ability in
times of emergency came into play
Without saying a word to any one ne
purchased property in the vicinity Of
West Newton directly on the bank OF the
Mississippi river and Immediately b gan
the building of vast piers and booms.
Here one summer morning he startled
the rivermen by turning into the river
a stream of logs that fairly covered its
broad surface from shore to shore. He
had shear doomed the river from the
Chippewa to West Newton, and between
piers. and shelter booms had so blocked
the channel that steamboats, and the
small craft that piled the river tnen
were unable to pass either way un,il Mr..
: Weyerhaeuser and his men saw fit to
! shut off the long string of logs that was
coming out and let them through. They
were indignant and raised a great howl
The government was appealed to, and
for a while it looked as If the whole
| thing would have to go. 1t stayed, how
ever and daily poured into the Missis
sippi thousands of RATS Of logs that gave
employment to as many hundred steam
erS.
Rivermen, tired of appealing to the
government, resorted to dynamite, and
sent the big boom skyward, but 1t was
Immediately repaired and has since re-
manned unmolested. Steamboatmen saw
the advantages of the works. 1t gave
them work, and as the cut of pine yearly
increased, so the steamboat business
grew in size and Importance.
The lumber business has made the up
per Mississippi and to rivermen the
passing of West Newton is a CALAMITY.
To Chippewa Falls and the other towns
in that locality the loss is heavy and
will compel them to look to other ins;i-
tutions to supply the deficiency. The
average number Of men given employ
ment was fully 1900 and at times more
This does not include the many steamers
which with the closing of the works will