Snohomish County, Washington - Chapter 3: Harvest of the Forests, 1926 (part 2 of 2)

The record of 1894 is almost incomprehensible. It fairly bristles with the establishment of new mills and lumbering projects, although the trend of the market was continually downward and the entire country was fairly groaning with the hard times. The shingle output of Snohomish County in 1893 was 313,830,000, valued at $417,932, and this was increased materially in 1894. A new year's view of trade declared that the shingle manufacturers of Washington and Oregon entered the year with brighter prospects and with less stock on hand. On January 1, 1893, the total stock of shingles on hand was 150,000,000, and in 1894 the stock on hand was given as 25,000,000, and it was said that the shingle stocks of the Fast were also low. Fred Drew, superintendent of the Puget Mill Company at Port Gamble, estimated the saw logs in the water of Puget Sound from 60,000,000 to 80,000,000 feet and the cut of the big mills at about nineteen million feet per month. .\bout 95 per cent of the shingle manufacturers joined the association, which was formed at Seattle in January; G. W. Loggie, G. F. Evans, James Loggie, S. A. Butt, Charles Mudgett, and J. F. Weber being the Snohomish County representatives. The price of shingles was then from $1.10 to $1.20, and the association hoped to raise the price after the Ist of February. Business did show some revival in the spring, but the association was not able to advance prices, and in April a meeting was held and the articles so amended as to include the manufacturers only ; it being charged that theretofore the speculators had been enjoying about all the benefit and profit. In April there was a brief railroad strike, which played havoc with the shingle men, especially along the line of the Great Northern, and it was estimated that 25,000,000 accumulated along that line during the tie-up. There was also a car famine during which the Stanwood mill showed its resourcefulness by building rustic roofs over coal cars for the shipment of shingles. In April it was admitted that the prospect for the loggers was not bright, as cargo trade showed no encouraging signs and there was a lull in trade all over the world. Wages had fallen, but the price of logs had fallen with them. The loggers along the Lakeshore Railroad were hard hit by a ruling in November compelling the loggers to pay freight charges in advance and to accept the scale made by inexperienced station agents. It was believed that this would mean the closing of a number of camps. Money was so tight that even at the first of the year it was reported that shingle certificates were the chief currency in use at Blaine. The new paper mill at Lowell opened a market for the despised cottonwood, which had previously escaped the ax, and its contract for 25,000 cords kept eighty-five men employed for some time and opened up a new source of income for the woodsmen. There were no large projects that started during the year, but there were many small ones. E. C. Jackway improved his plant and water power. The Utsaladdy mill was overhauled and made ready to resume at any time. Stinson and Cyphers reopened their logging camp near Cathcart. Smock Bros. sold at Hartford and erected a new mill at Wallace. Folsom opened a logging camp at Hartford. The Norman shingle mill at Stanwood doubled its capital stock. The Darling & Ford shingle mill at Haller City began in March with a capacity of one carload a day. The Marysville Globe reported that 60,000 shingles were being made daily on the Tulalip reservation. Stinson extended his logging railroad and added two more camps. Paulsen & Thompson erected a new shingle mill near Hartford and a shingle mill of 50,000 capacity was erected at Everett, near the Everett & Monte Cristo depot. The shingle mills of Edmonds resumed business in May, and in June it was said that there were thirty-seven shingle mills with a daily capacity of 2,770,000, only two counties, Whatcom and King, ranking above Snohonish in shingle production. There were 234 mills in the state capable of manufacturing 16,515,000 shingles per day. In August it was reported that all shingle mills were running with orders ahead, and it was also said that the logging firms of John Hogan & Company, at Oso, and Gilpatrick & Judy, at Trafton, were to resume. An item of importance to Everett was the building of a log dump on the Snohomish River bank at the point of the peninsula near Everett, where the logging companies were to construct a boom to receive timber brought by rail from Hartford and Granite Falls. The first shipment of logs from Stinson & Cyphers' camp over the Everett and Monte Cristo was made in November, 1894. The only mention of mills shutting down during the year was that of the Holmquist shingle mill at Sultan, which ceased operation on account of low prices, and the Loggie & Evans mill at Port Angeles, which was forced to close by a court decision that they could not maintain a tramway across the tidelands on the government reserve. The shingle record of the year was made on a Perkins double-block machine by the I-verett Shingle Company ; in ten hours, with split timber, 152,000 shingles were cut and packed. The log cut of 1894 in Snohomish County was given as follows: William Hulbert, 6,000,000 feet; Stinson & Cyphers, +,000,000 feet ; FE. H. Elwell, 1,000,000; William McGee, 3,000,000; Arthur McShane, 1,500,000: Butler & Meredith, 300,000; Gierin & Pearl, 3,000,000; Solberg, 1,500,000; McDonald Bros., 1,000,000; Mosher & Mc- Donald, 1,200,000; Frank Wetherill, 600,000; Buck & Sons shipped 26,000,000 shingles; Standard mill cut 10,000,000 shingles and 2,260,000 feet of lumber ; Mudgett Bros. cut 16,000,000 feet of shingles; J. F. Weber & Co., 14,000,000 feet ; and Marysville shipped 33,000,000 shingles, as against 20,000,000 in 1893. Lumber mill at Edmonds reported a lumber and shingle mill pay roll of $17,000 per month. Two important fires in 1894 were the burning of the A. H. Eddy shingle mill at Hartford, in May, and the total loss of the Standard mill at Everett, in July. Workmen barely escaped alive from this blaze.

Quite the most important news note affecting the lumber industry in 1895 was the brief newspaper announcement that 'Frederick Weyerhaeuser and other wealthy eastern lumbermen are making a tour of the Puget Sound lumber companies and are said to be looking for a suitable location for a large mill. This was evidently the preliminary scouting trip which led Mr. Weyerhaeuser and his associates to make their large purchases of timber lands in Washington which eventually proved of such great benefit to Everett and Snohomish County.

The sawmill interests were distinctly in second place in the manufacturing end of the lumber business in 1895, shingle manufacturers being much more active. Nevertheless, the lumbermen were busy and there were some important developments during the year. In May, it was announced that the Everett Land Company would erect a large sawmill on the tide flats. Rucker Bros. were to furnish the site and it was the intention ultimately to lease the property. In August, it was stated that "'under a modification of the contract between the Everett Land Company and Rucker Bros., the time for the completion of the big sawmill on the tide flats is extended to the first of May next. It is to cost $65,000 and have a capacity of 100,000 feet a day. This is a more costly mill than specified in the original contract. It is believed that the company which will erect and operate the mill will have a capital of not less than a quarter of a million dollars." Under the beneficent auspices of the lumber trusts, the mills were able to advance the price of cedar siding and finish from one to three dollars per thousand in July, and Eastern orders were so good that the Morgan Bros. mill was reported as running day and night.

Evil fortune continued to follow the Blackman Bros. On the 4th of July "Cap" Blackman met with a painful accident while unloading logs from the cars at the mill near Granite falls; his peavey got caught; another log falling upon 'it caused it to fly up and strike him in the face. He fell in such a manner as to break three of his ribs. Three months later, the Blackman Bros. mill at Granite Falls was fired and burned to the ground, with a loss of $25,000. New machinery had just been installed and the fire threw about fifty men out of employment. This was the third mill Blackman Bros. had lost by supposed incendiary fire within six years. The first occurred September 19, 1889, with a loss of $75,000; the second, June 9, 1891, with a loss of approximately $125,000; the third, September 17, 1895, loss $25,000, making their total fire losses, $225,000. Even this did not dismay these lumber men, and within a month it was announced that "Blackman Bros. have decided to build their new saw and shingle mill at Everett, an excellent site having been donated on the riverside a short distance below the bridge. The engines, boilers and saws of the old mill at Granite Falls are being repaired, and timbers for the new structure will be cut there." Just six weeks before the Blackman Bros. fire, the large EK. D. Smith sawmill and lumber yard at Lowell were totally destroyed by fire. This occurred at an early hour on the morning of August 1. This mill, built in 1889 at a cost of $50,000, had been operated for two years by Q. E. Friars, but had been closed since the preceding July. The insurance on the mill was $10,000 and Friars' loss in lumber was $12,000. E. D. Smith had been one of the victims of the financial depression and for some time his creditors had been fighting among themselves for possession of the mill. It was to have been sold by the sheriff the week of the fire on a judgment in favor of the Washington National Bank of Seattle, but the sale was temporarily enjoined by a mortgagee - Jane Thompson of England, who held a sheriff's deed to the premises and.also a bill of sale on Smith. The property was valued at $60,000. In November, two important announcements were made, one that Q. E. Friars, William Foley, A. D. McAdam and David Crosby had formed a partnership and had leased the Smith millsite at Lowell for eight years with the intention of erecting a mill of 50,000 feet per day capacity. The other announcement was that M. J. Darling had leased the Everett [and Company's mill at Everett, formerly operated by James E. Bell, for the manufacture of cedar siding. Darling had opened up a logging camp on the Indian reservation at Tulalip and had about twenty men in his employ getting out cedar.

With the shingle men, the year presented a very picture of success, new enterprises, and failures. The Mish shingle mill at Everett, which had been forced to close, reopened in April on the cooperative plan, and in June, the Marysville Globe reported that more logs and shingles had been shipped from there in May than any other month in its history, but it added that the products brought barely a living price. Ford & Darling, at Haller City, gave a bill of sale of their shingle mill and all their personal property to the Everett National Bank, in June. This was the third mill the bank had been forced to take over. The Getchell shingle mill, together with 500,000 shingles, was destroyed by fire on May 14, but by the latter part of June, this mill was rebuilt and ready for business. The Mudgett mill was apparently prosperous when it added a new dry kiln with the capacity of 1,500,000 shingles in June, but by December 22, it was forced to make an assignment, M. W. Packard being appointed receiver. The general situation seemed to have been satisfactory in point of production, but highly unsatisfactory as to profits. The assessor's figures, published in August, 1895, give the number of sawmills in the county as eleven, of which three were idle, the output being about 60 per cent of capacity. There were forty shingle mills in operation and one idle, and the daily output was 1,640,000 shingles. The six sash and door factories were all running. The assessor also found that some 200 loggers and 50 mill men were idle. The situation was not entirely discouraging, for in this same month of -\ugust, the Everett Shingle Company leased the Missimer mill at Lake Stevens, intending to run it at full capacity day and night, and Frank Riley projected another shingle null at Monroe. The Sultan mill was also busy shipping its first carload in October. At Haller City and Arlington there were four shingle mills, three sawmills, and fifteen logging camps, employing 442 men, their monthly wages amounting to $17,680.

Shingle Men Organize

Market conditions grew worse near the close of the year, and this led the shingle makers to try to effect a stronger organization. .\ meeting was called at Everett on November 25, and the following Saturday a constitution was adopted, and it was resolved that the shingle mills of the county be requested to close down January 1, 1896, and to remain closed until a time to be set by the association. The county was divided into five districts and a committee man appointed in each district to obtain the approval of the mills of this resolution and also to vote for three delegates to the convention of the state association. This committee consisted of W. W. Mish, Everett; J. V. Van Horn, Hartford; E. M. Stevens, Marysville ; Fred Mudgett, Snohomish, and \W. J. Morgan of Getchell. The mills represented at the preliminary meeting were Lebanon Cedar Shingle Company, M. J. Darling & Company, Marysville Shingle Company, Riverside Shingle Company, C. A. and F.H. Mudgett, Anderson Mill Company, Stocker & Cady, Thompson and Folsom, C. A. Blackman & Company, J. A. Falconer, J. J. Megley, E. A. Anderson, J. P. Cathness, and G. K. Hiatt.

There were a number of trade notes of interest. The shingle men of Lowell obtained the concession of having their cars weighed at that point, instead of on the other side of the Cascades, the shippers complaining of the accumulation of snow on the cars while going over the mountains. Edmonds, also, introduced innovations when A. Johnson & Company installed baths with hot and cold water for the benefit of the shingle weavers, and the Hatch & Bosner plant installed electric lights. J. W. Thompson of the Thompson & Folsom at Hartford Junction claimed the record for the largest hand machine shingle cut when he produced 119,000, 5 to 2 16-inch clears in ten hours. This exceeded all other records by 20,000 and the performance was watched by many. Thompson claimed to be the champion shingle sawyer of the world, and his claim was unchallenged. Another new thing was the contract received by A. J. Uphus of Everett for 1,000,000 cedar blocks to be used in paving streets of Indianapolis, Ind., and the trade generally rejoiced when it was announced that Washington fir was being substituted for oak by Wells, French & Company of Chicago, who were building 600 refrigerator cars for the Armour Packing Company, using Washington lumber only. -\ memorable event of the year was in February, when a number of Snohomish County lumbermen and railroad officials were initiated into the mysteries of the Hoo-Hoo at a concatenation in Everett. This great social order of lumbermen of the United States has since become a permanent fixture with the lumbermen of this county, and has added greatly, not only to their social enjoyment, but to their mutual helpfulness and cooperation.

The logging situation was in bad shape especially during the fore part of 1895. There were both optimists and pessimists in the trade, both of which were fairly represented by the following newspaper statements published in July. The first reads: "A log famine among the Puget Sound mills is a probability of the near future if the present demand and conditions continue. A scarcity of logs now exists. This has been caused largely by low prices which have bankrupted so many and compelled the camps to shut down. The demand for logs is now great, particularly with the large mills. Port Blakely is cutting about 600,000 feet a day. Last week eighteen vessels were at the mill waiting their turn to load, and ten vessels were at the Tacoma mill. Other large mills are also rushed with orders. All this means the slaughtering of an immense number of logs each month, and a consequent advance in prices." The Marysville Globe commented caustically on the "return of prosperity" in the vicinity of Marysville, as follows: "The A. D. Quinn and Afflick properties at this place were sold at sheriff's sale on last Tuesday. The properties consist of 175 acres of land, 135 of which are in tide flats and front on Ebey Slough. The property, as sold under foreclosure, brought $8,000 and was bought by the principal mortgagee, the Marysville State Bank. Besides this property, the building and lots of the Block saloon were also sold under the hammer. At one time, an offer of $165 per acre was refused for the tide land property." In December, logging trade notes reported, "there has been but little change in the log market during the past month, except that on Puget Sound, prime logs are very scarce and growing more so every day; but there is no advance in price. Fir prices on the Sound range from $2.50 for poor logs to $5 for good ones. Cedar logs are not very plentiful at from $3 to $6.50." In spite of these adverse conditions, there are many reports of large contracts and of logging activities. The crew at Stinson's logging camp near Arlington was increased to 150 men in March. In April, the Blakely Mill Company contracted with Nicholas Healy to take 5,000,000 feet of logs per year, and, in June, Manly Wilbur and William Hulbert contracted with Port Crescent Improvement Company for the stumpage of the tract of timber stretching back from Port Crescent Bay and estimated to contain 150,000,000 feet. In September, Edgecomb contracted with Isaac Cathcart for 60,000,000 feet around Lake Beecher. There were nine logging camps in operation on the Stillaguamish in June, 1895, four on the north fork, and five on the south. The fall drive amounted to 3,000,000 feet and the Arlington Times estimated the season's output of the Stillaguamish at 20,000,000 feet. It was also stated in August that ''during the past six months 20,000,000 feet of logs had been towed to different mills from the Pearl & Tomkins booms at the mouth of the Snohomish. In April, it was reported that the loggers on the river had secured control of the Stillaguamish River Improvement Company, electing Willam Brown president and Fred Funk secretary, and that all the prominent loggers on the river had taken stock. Later it was reported that the Chinook Boom Company, which controlled the entire output of the Stillaguamish near Stanwood, had been sold to W. C. Butler and J. E. Bell of Everett and H. C. Henry and H. F. Burleigh of Seattle, for $24,700, to be reorganized as the Stanwood Boom Company with Chadbourne as superintendent. In October, the Stillaguamish Boom & Improvement Company of Everett was incorporated by F. H. Brownell and E. C. Mooney with capital of $10,000.

The notable deaths during the year were those of George Bran, an oldtime lumberman, who met with a terrible death in June. He tripped and fell in front of.

Auto Truci

some rolling logs, and after being dragged for a distance, was crushed against a stump. In October, occurred the death of G. E. Stinson, a son of Ulmer Stinson, the pioneer lumberman, and a member of the firm of Cyphers & Stinson. Another death was that of D. B. Jackson, pioneer lumberman and manager of the Port Gamble Mill Company and the Puget Sound Steamboat Company, at Seattle in December.

The record of the year would not be complete without mention of the fact that the spars of the gallant yacht Defender, which successfully defended the International Cup, were of Washington fir. They were gotten out by McDougall, Jackson and Veazie, near Arlington. They were cut from ten to thirty-two-inch centers, were from 60 to 140 feet long, and cost 14 cents per lineal foot at tidewater. The flagstaff for the Chicago World's Fair was also cut near Arlington. It was 238 feet long, 4 feet in diameter at the butt, 17 inches at the top, smooth and straight.

The hard times continued throughout 1896. This was the only year in the history of America when business became a side issue and politics was the chief subject of interest with all the people. Under such conditions, it is not surprising that not a great deal of interest transpired in the lumber world of Snohomish County. Early in January, the Bell Lumber Company completed arrangements for the construction of a large mill at Everett of 70,000 feet daily capacity, securing the plant of the Standard Lumber Company at Kirkland. The Bell Company leased its old mill to M. J. Darling, who ran it both as a saw and shingle mill. The Uphus, at Everett, was employed in cutting lumber for the rebuilding of the burned mill at Lowell for Friar and his associates, and this was in operation by the first week in May. In February, the Pacific Lumber Company with capital stock of $10,000, was incorporated by Melville Swartout, A. S. Smith and W. W. Black of Everett, and in August, Dimick & Taylor started to build a mill at Stanwood for the manufacture of clapboards for the Eastern trade. These were practically all the new developments among the lumber mulls.

The canvass of the county January 1, 1896, showed a stock of 139,000,000 shingles on hand. All the shingle mills at Hartford and a majority of the mills throughout the county shut down as per the agreement made with the Shingle Men's .\ssociation, and the last of January, the state association requested that they remain closed until the first of March. There was a general resumption of business by March, and it was reported that August Holmquist was using from 325 to 350 cords of bolts per week, and was in the market for 2,000 cords. Cate, McGrath & Company of Everett leased the Mudgett mill and began operations in May. Shingles went down to 85 cents per thousand, but were up to 95 cents in April with a brisk and upward tendency. The Lebanon Cedar Shingle Company had been forced to the wall and had been bought in by the Everett National Bank, which leased the mill to Metcalf & Wade of Tacoma. The Everett Land Company completed arrangements for the removal of their shingle mill from Woolley to Everett, and U. S. Buck and J. C. O'Conner incorporated the Cedar Shingle Company which they operated at the old Buck mill. The shingle department of the Morgan mill began operation in August, and the Mudgett mill again changed management, being operated by Kansey, Rowley & Otto. There was little of unusual importance in the logging industry. Healy & Cisco were active laying track to a body of 12,000 acres of timber and beginning operations in April. A newspaper item stated that Henry Hewitt, Jr., the "father of Everett," had entire command of the log supply for the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company, turning into the mill 100,000 feet of logs a day; the prices paid ran from $2.50 to $5 per thousand. Logging was more active on the Stillaguamish than on the Snohomish, and the résumé of the season's business on that river was as follows: 'The log drive on the Stillaguamish is complete, and the entire output for the season, excepting a few logs that went down in the spring, is now in the boom at Stanwood. This season's cut amounts to at least 22,000,000 feet, and the loggers say the timber is unusually fine. The amount of logs put in by the different camps is, approximately: Tvete & Johnson, 3,000,000; McPhee & Amberg, +,000,000; MeMartin & Fairbanks, 1,000,000; Ferguson & MecKilligan, +.000,000; Chichester & Company, 1,000,000 : Irvine Bros., +,000,000: Hudson & Elwood, 2,000,000; Watson & Kingdon, 1,- 500,000; Gates & Company, 1,500,000; total, 22,000,000.

In April, the boom and other property of the Snohomish Boom & Improvement Company were sold to a newly organized Everett concern, consisting of F. H. Brownell, A. R. Whitney, George Montandon and others, and in June, the old Chinook Boom Company was sold to W. C. Henry and A. F. Burley of Seattle, and reorganized as the Stanwood Boom Company with capital of $25,000. The establishment of the Stanwood Lumber Company, with a capacity of 20,000 feet in a ten-hour day, by A. S. Howard was one of the major accomplishments of 1897 ainong the millmen. Howard served as president of this company until his death in 1913, when he was succeeded by Dr. D. McEacheran, who was in turn succeeded by F. L. Howard in 1925. D.G. Bennie became the manager of this corporation in 1903. It now has double its original capacity, employs about ninety men and is a thoroughly modern institution, and one of the mainstays of Stanwood.

Weyerhaeuser Visit Of 1897

It was in this year, also, that Frederick Weyerhaeuser, Sr., again visited Puget Sound, coming this time in a special train which he had chartered, from St. Paul, bringing with him, as his guests, about seventy of the most prominent and wealthiest lumbermen of the Mississippi Valley. They investigated the timber resources of the Sound thoroughly, and as a result many of them joined Mr. Weyerhaeuser in buying about 1,000,000 acres of timber land in Washington from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. This had no immediate bearing upon the situation in Snohomish County, however, for the offices of the new syndicate were established at Tacoma, Robert L. McCormick being in charge, with George S. Jong as his assistant. It was not until the beginning of the new century that the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company began the great development which has made [verett known as the home of the finest lumber mills in the world. The shingle industry was much more prosperous, and by May the demand had exceeded the supply, and all mills were running at capacity with improved prices. Many new shingle mills were added during the year and were in constant operation until late in November, when the loval members of the association suspended work temporarily, in order to limit production. The ten-block shingle mill erected on the Pilchuck by G. K. Hiatt & Company was begun in December, 1897 and started operation the following February. In April, the dry kiln with 1,200,000 shingles, belonging to the W. H. Ford plant at Haller City, was destroyed by fire, as was his residence, and the dry kiln of Monroe Bros. This threw many weavers and bolt cutters out of employment and they turned to and helped rebuild the kilns. Ford's residence at Everett had been burned less than two years before, and in August, soon after the new kiln had been completed, the mill itself was fired and destroyed with the exception of the new kiln. In spite of this experience, which was much like that suffered by Blackman Bros. and E. D. Smith, Mr. Ford decided to rebuild at once. At about the time of the Haller City fire, eighteen small buildings owned by the Puget Mill Company were burned at Utsaladdy and the large, historic old mill was barely saved.

Improved market conditions stimulated work in the woods and called for more modern methods, and the ox team rapidly gave way to the donkey engine. A new boom law was enacted in 1897, as was also a scale law, which went into effect June 11. The boom law provided that companies might clear and improve streams for driving, holding and sorting, except in navigable streams flowing into Puget Sound north of 47° 40', providing a majority of the owners of adjacent land did not object. The scale law provided for two scalers, district No. 1 to include the western portion of the state and district No. 2 Eastern Washington. E. Johns of Puyallup was appointed scaler for the first district. This law gave the loggers much more protection than ever before and made their business much more profitable. <\ new record was made at Stinson's No. 2 camp when, with an eight-horse team, the extraordinary feat was accomplished of putting 204,050 feet of timber on the landing in one day. John Flanigan was the foreman and Tim Grady the hook tender. The rains were much belated in 1897, there being no high water sufficient to move the season's output of logs to market until late in November. The freshet came with a rush, however, causing considerable loss, especially along the Stillaguamish. Concerning this flood, it was said by the Arlington Times that 'the loss occasioned by the breaking of the shear boom at Stanwood during the recent freshet was much greater than was at first supposed. Hector McKilligan, N. K. Tvete and Joseph Ferguson have returned. from Stanwood, and they estimate that between five and six million feet of logs went into the Sound, and of this amount probably 500,000 feet will go out to sea through Deception Pass. The boom company has tugs out gathering up the logs, and they expect to be able to save all except those carried out to sea by the tides. The boom company has signified its intentions to make good the loss. In case the loss falls on the loggers, it will almost stop logging on the river, as in that case the risk will be too great."' The necrology of the lumber world of Snohomish County in 1897 included the death of Charles D. Morgan of the firm of Morgan Bros., owners of the first sawmill built at Snohomish City. He died of dyphtheria, and it was said that he was the third of the family to die on the seventh day of the disease. The most important new enterprise in the milling line in 1898 was the sawmill established at Wallace, now known as Startup, by G. G. Startup, F. D. and C. H. Black of Seattle and A. H. Gould. This plant was in successful operation until 1916, when it was destroyed by fire. The firm then purchased the plant of the Sultan River Lumber Company, changing the name to the Wallace Lumber & Manufacturing Company. This plant at Sultan covers fifteen acres, has a capacity of 80,000 feet of lumber and 100,000 shingles daily, and employs 200 men. Charles H. Black is the secretary, and George G. Startup remains as manager and treasurer of the company, which he founded nearly thirty years ago.

Another man destined to be prominent, who embarked in the logging business in 1898, was Joseph Irving. Prior to this time he had filled contracts for pulp wood for the paper mill, but in 1898, he went into the logging business proper on the Snoqualmie, operating at Sisco, near Getchell. He went into the business on a large scale and built four miles of railroad and employed ninety men. Later the business was removed to Irving, named in honor of its founder, and the Standard Railway & Timber Company was formed in 1903. Hiatt & Brian erected a new mill on the Pilchuck in 1898 and this construction was quite an advance over the old-time mill and logging camp. The bunk and cook houses were finished with rustic, and for almost the first time were made attractive as well as useful. The Arlington Logging & Lumber Company furnished the 100,000 feet of lumber necessary for this construction. Jack Irvine, one of the prominent lumbermen of that day, predicted that the Spanish-American war, in which the country was then engaged, would prove highly disastrous to the lumber trade, but, happily, his prediction proved to be wrong, and the industry flourished as it had not for a number of years. The shingle manufacturers of the state met at Seattle in May and resolved to suspend the manufacture of shingles from May 2 until such time as improved conditions might warrant resumption. It was said that Eastern dealers and yardsmen had attempted to use the war scare as a means to keep down prices, which had already dropped about 25 cents per thousand. It was thought a general shutdown would speedily restore prices, and it was stated that the victory of Admiral Dewey at Manila had already served to strengthen the market. About 75 per cent of the shingle mills of the state shut down for the midwinter season in December, explaining that this was not due to hard times, but to a desire to maintain the market in a healthy condition. It was expected to resume about January 15, 1899. The timber estimate made by the United States Survey and made public in December, 1898, gave the total of the standing timber of Washington as 103,- 594,376,000 feet, which included 66,208,861,000 feet of fir, 6,403,405.000 spruce, 16,192,276,000 cedar and 14,699,843,000 hemlock. The estimate for Snohomish County was 7,708,770,000 feet.