Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-06-14
GRAND RAPIDS LUMBER co.
One OF The Great Industries of the City-Bit
Addition to the Plant Soon to be Made,

!
Addition to the Plant Soon to be Made.
The Grand Rapids Lumber Co. Of
which John Parrish is president. John
DAILY, vice president, and Henry A.
Sampson. secretary and treasurer, was
organized and incorporated in MAY.
1899, with capital stock of $50, ,OO0
and quite number of lots or tract of
ground along the c. M. & ST. Paul
track and adjoining Cranberry street
south Of that cOmpany'S depot on the
West side, was purchased of W. B.
NaylOr.
On this ground the company imme-
diately began the erection of the ex-
tenSive mill that is now covering all
the spare ground it owns there with
immense piles of lumber. In fact the
original purchase of land was soon
found to be altogether too small to
accommodate the products Of the mill,
and 5S acre tract Ct valuable tim
bered land lying just southwest Of the
first tract purchased, was bought of
Mr.. Naylor during the latter part of
the past winter. Twenty acres of this
new tract have been cleared and on
the clearing a mammoth lumber yard
was surveyed, whose streets and alleys
have been Staked out with the syme-
try and regularity of modern city.
This will become the mills main
yard.
After the mill building was practi-
cally complete the company expert
enced much difficulty in securing
desired machinery, many veXatious
delays occurring before the mill was
ready to begin operations in December
The mill is band saw, band re-Saw
and lath mill, with capacity Of $4,000
feet per day of 20 hours running.
There are two crews, one having 10
hour day run and the other a 10-hour
night run. The saws are: one 51-foOt
band saw, 9-foOt wheel, 10-inch saws;
one 32-fOOt band re-saw, 5-fOot wheel,
9-inch saws: double gang edger, large
slab Slasher of saws, modern auto
matte stove wood SlaSher and a lath
mill. The carrying devices are all live
rollers and live chains, worked auto
matlcally, SO that very little heavy
lifting or handling Of lumber or tim
Der is ever required. The ''nigger"
and ''kicker," in operation, is an
interesting sight to the novice or
those unacquainted with the machin-
cry of a large mill. These contrivan-
ces handle the largest logs as easily as
If they weighed but a pennyweight
instead of several tons.
The machinery is driven by a 175
morse power engine, capable Of develop
ing 200 horse power, fed by a battery
OF five boilers whose capacity is 250
horse power The whole plant and
yards are lighted by electricity so that
dark night is no inconvenience or
interruption to the work in hand. The
logs are dumped in an artificial lake
or pond that was formed in the bed of
a creek Just south of the mill and are
easily manipulated here or fioated up
to the carrier that elevateS them to
the saws in the second story of the
mill. This pond is kept free from ice
in winter by the exhaust from the
engine connecting Tiit.s the water of
the pond, keeping it comparatively
warm. The machinery for large
planning mill, re-Saw, rip saw, hatcher,
mOulder, Servicer and Sizer, has been
purchased and the erection of a large
building for its occupancy was begun
Monday, just west of the saw mill, and
it is expected that it will be COM
pleted and ready for operation within
the next sixty days. This new build
ing will be 4SX70 feet, 16X70 feet being
two stories high with lean-tO on
each side. The power house will be
separate from this building and the
new engine for this plant will be a
Buckeye automatic of 70 horsepower.
ChaS. Lemley has charge cf the con-
StructiOn of these buildings.
The working force Of the mill is now
los men, but it will be increased by the
addition of the planning mill at least
Il or ID men or to about 125 men.
Besides this force who live and work
in Grand Rapids the company has a
force of lOggerS in the woods that
varies from 30 to 40 men in the sum-
mer to 175 men in the winter, which
makes pretty long pay roll for it's
officers to consider every month. The
men at work in this city alone having
to distribute among the merchants
and trades people of the town between
81, 900 and $4,000 of the cOmpany's
money which they have received as
monthly wages.
Henry Sampson, the secretary and
treasurer, has personal supervision of
the mill and wards with the following
men who occupy the principal positions
to assist him: Pat Star and Ole Mat
son, head sawyers; Joe Kirkland, mill
wright: M. J. WhitrOck, yard boss:
John Daka, lumber grader: W. Fl.
Falk, head tiler, Geo. Goodman, en-
gineer and Henry Geise who has
charge of the lath mill. Any Old-tlme
resident of the town in going about
the mill and yards will be struck by
the many familiar faces he meets of
men who have grown up in the lumber
and logging business in this vicinity
some who have been at the work for
the past % years and had drifted away
from the town and out of the recOllec-
tion of many people, but who returned
to resume the work on their "Old
stamping ground" when the new mill
started up.
The logs are all shipped in by rail
from nearby points, thus permitting
the logging business to be kept up to
certain extent in summer as well as
winter and the product Of the mill is
large variety of hard wood lumber
as we'll as white pine. Besides in
Wisconsin, the lumber finds market
in Iowa. Illinois, Indiana and to some
extent in Minnesota.