Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-11-29
SMITH POWERS MANUFACTURE
ING COMPANY ON COOS. BAY
is MODERN MANUFACT-
URING CONCERN.
NUMBERING ON HUGE SCALE
Capacity Of 100000 Feet Daily; ves-
sells Loaded by Machinery at Rate
of 100000 Feet Per Hour; So DON
key Engines in Woods; More Than
1900 Men on Payroll.

1H6N are uOll6 ONCi III biiC
Coos Bay country" declares w. v.
Fuller, of Dallas, who returned We'd
nesday morning from a 10 days busi-
ness trip to Marshfeld and other
points in Coos county. "I have seen
some very good sized lumber mills,
and some logging operations on a
large SCALE" continued Mr.. Fuller,
"but they are pulling off some stunts
over there that are about the largest
and most extensive ever attempted in
this Western country where big
things and large operations are COM
mon."
According to Mr.. Fuller, the Smith
Powers Manufacturing company at
Marshfield, has one of the largest
sawmills on the coast with capacity
of 400, 900 feet daily and even this ca
pacity is about to be increased, This
mill is modern in every respect and
is operated upon business principles
all the way down the line, he says.
For instance, it is the only mill in
existence with gang band-saws. Band
saws are common in the larger mills
Dul lnG COIllDdhy was lily
first to install this latest gang i'm
provement.
Spend Much to Save Little.
So closely is the output of the mill
figured and so infinitely is the esti-
mate of the cost of production estab-
lished, that the company will spend a
large sum in any improvement which
will cut the cost of saving a thous-
and feet of lumber even what may
appear to be an infinitesmal amount.
For instance, the company's policy is
to spend from $4,000 to $4,000 in
installing an Improvement at the mill
which will save not more than one
cent per thousand on the manufact-
ured product.
At Marshfield the company is erect
ing a pulp mill which will be the
first in existence to manufacture pulp
from the refuse from a saw mill. A
large force of men are employed at
this mill and it will soon be ready
for operation. More than 500 men
are employed at the Marshfeld plant
of this company. The company also
owns it's own towboats and its own
line of deep sea vessels. Immense
lumber carriers have recently been
purchased on the Atlantic coast which
will be used in carrying the firms
lumber to the Eastern seaboard after
the opening of the Panama canal.
Rapid Loading of Vessels.
But little lumber is handled by
hand in the mill or on the docks and
vessels are loaded with remarkable
rapidity by means of electrically
driven machinery which handles i'm
mense carloads of lumber and lowers
them into the yawning holds of the
vessels at the rate of 100000 feet per
hour.
The big mill was built about five
years ago by Mr.. Powers and it has
been constantly added to until it has
reached its present capacity. When
Powers first went to the Coos Bay
country and announced his plans, the
conservative operators shook their
heads and predicted that he would
lose his money. yet he went ahead
and developed his ideas and Is deliv-
ering his logs at the mill at approx
imately $3.50 per thousand less than
by the former methods employed in
that vicinity.
Logging on Large Scale.
The Smith Powers company is car
rying on their logging operations on
scale as large as that Of their lum-
Der mill. The company has 13 camps
in operation at the present time, em-
ploying from 40 to 1875 men in each
camp and II requires So donkey en-
gines to handle the work. One Of
these engines is a monster. II is a
four-cylinder affair. recently built by
a Portland manufacturing company
and weighs In the neighborhood OF
40 tons. II is said to be the largest
donkey engine ever constructed, and
is used in handling the new method
Of bringing out logs in a rough coun-
try-by aerial cables rather than in
dragging them through the woods.
The great logs are raised by one end
and are hurried through the air with
the other end sometimes humping
along the ground and again swinging
clear Of the earth and dangling in the
air like hugs sticks. The advantages
to the company by the use Of this
aerial tram Is readily seen when IL Is
declared that logs which formerly
cost SO per thousand 20 bring out Of
the woods are delivered by the new
method FOR less than 50.
But the company proposes TO do
away with the donkey engine method
as rapidly as possible and when their
great electric power plant Is complet-
ed at Marshheld. they propose TO op-
crate all their logging machinery by
electric current Juice viii also be
supplied % al the camps for lighting
purposes
Build Modern Railway.
That the policy of the company 20
do big things and do them right il
carried into every undertaking, Is