Medford mail tribune., August 14, 1955, Image 14

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.FOURTEEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Sunday, Auguit 14, 1955
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Estimated $20,000,000
Annual Business Done;
Payroll of $7,500,000
i By EARL H. ADAMS
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
The White City industrial area, on what was once the almost
worthless Agate desert, has become one of the Rogue valley's
major economic factors. Employment totals some 1,500, with an
annual payrol! estimated to be close to 57,500,000.
The area, developed on the old Camp White site after World
War If? is still rapidly expanding. About 20 firms connected with
the lumber industry do in excess of a conservatively estimated
$20,000,000 worth of business annually.
The total amount of business may be judged from the 500
to 600 box cars which are shipped from White City monthly, and
expansion in the future is expected to increase the number con
siderably, according to John Laden, manager of White City Realty
company, which owns most of the land and leases it to the firms
in business there.
Telephone Service
Indicates Expansion
Another indication of expan
sion is increased telephone ser
vice offered by3 the Columbia
Utilities company.. Recently the
company installed central office
equipment at White City to pro
vide 50 more lines for the area,
and last month added two toll
circuits to Medford.
D. O. Hood, president of Col
umbia Utilities, said service
probably will be increased by
four more toll circuits to Med
ford about Oct. 1. Several trunk
lines were installed recently be
tween White City and Central
Point and Medford. The com
pany has about 600 telephones
in the industrial area aioiic.
Expansion ?of service. Hood
said, is done as the need arises,
and service has been extended
at a faster rate than company
officials anticipated when ser
vice firft was initiated.
Tn line with expansion at
Wrhite City is installation of a
Central Pont Rural Fire Pro
tection district station, construc
9 tion of which has started. The
s Ogtation was approved by voters
of the district when they ac
cepted the 1955-56 budget,
o Land and building to house
'J equipment was furnished by
White City Realty com
pany, (Which probably will
award a building construction
contract next week. The foun-
dation has been poured, and
ground cleared for the station.
Two Paid Employees
The station is located at the
northwest corner of Avenue G
and Agate rd. Two additional
paid employees will be retained
by the district to maintain
equipment in recently acquired
use of shops in the northwest
corner of the Oregon National
Guard base nearcWhite City.
Fire protection is now avail
able, but directors of the Cen
tral Point Rural district believe
more adequate protection could
be attained with the new sta
tion. Protection now is inade-
quate because of distance be
tween White City and the pres
ent station south of Central
Point.
The White City industrial
area originated when White City
Lumber company obtained
about 1.300 acres of land after
World War II. Some 90 acres
was sold to W. H. Daugherty,
?nd in December, 1952, the
White City Lumber company
sold out. The White City Real
ty company then encouraged in
dustrial development.
Starts Tomorrow
One of three concerns under
construction in White City is
expected to start partial opera
tion tomorrow, and begin full
production sometime after La
bor day. Empire Plywood conv
pany construction is almost com
plete with only minor work re
maining.
The company was formed by
L. G. and V. C. Engwall of Eu
gene, and is expected to employ
between 60 and 70 men with
an estimated payroll of between
S2o0,000 and S300.000 annually.
Empire, located near the recent
ly constructed Fir-Ply, Inc.,
plans to purchase lumber from
contracted sources, and do an
o estimated $2,500,000 worth of
business annually.
Plywood production is ex
pected to run about 3,000,000
feet on a 3-8 inch basis annually.
The company was formed by
the Eugene brothers when the
Associated Plywood company of
Eugene, with which they were
connected, merged with another
company recently.
Another new firm expected to
start production in late Septem
ber will have one of White
City's most modern plants. The
Oregon Veneer company, accord
ing to Loren Haugen, general
manager, has installed the latest
in electrical equipment to re
duce production costs.
To HaveO Employees
The company expects to em
ploy about 60 men during initial
production with an annual pay
roll of approximately $150,000
annually. About 10.500,000 sur
face feet of one-tenth inch
veneer is anticipated per month
vh an annual $2,000,000 worth
of business estimated.
Machinery in the Oregon
Veneer plant will be automatic,
including an electric eye which
w operate a veneer clipper.
List of Companies
Doing Business at
White City Given
Here is a list of companies
doing business in the While
City area:
E and B Lumber company.
Burrill Lumber company.
Cascade Wood Products.
Industrial Lumber Products
Fir Ply, Inc.
Laughlin Alloy Steel com
pany. McCartney. Clark and La
den, Inc.
McGrew Brothers Sawmill.
Medford Door Corporation.
Medford Veneer and Ply
wood. Walter A. Nourse (Superior
Lumber company).
Oregon Veneer company.
Paciric Pine Products.
Pad?ham Glass and Mill
work. Red Blanket Lumber com
pany. Ross Lumber eompany.
Trail Creek Lumber com
pany. White City Box company.
W. F. Cowning Jr. Lumber
company.
Columbia Utilities eom
pany. Medford Mouding company.
Scott Lumber company.
Empire Plywood.
Daugherty Associates.
Mogan Lumber company.
Ross Moulding company.'
Ross Lumber Sales.
Crater Wholesale.
Olsen-Ross Lumber eom
pany. White City Realty com
pany. White City Sales company.
Logs are being purchased and
stored in the company's 19-acre
pond.
OregonVeneer originally was
formed by officials of Elk Lum
ber company and Medford
Veneer and Plywood corpora
tion. Since organization, how
ever, Elk Lumber has sold its
share of stock and has with
drawn from the corporation. '
Steel Firm Work
Still in early stages of con
struction at White City is the
Laughlin Alloy Steel company
structure. Construction of a
crane runway for the new 200
foot addition started recently
after foundation concrete was
poured. The addition is to the
present structure on land which
formerly was a heavy equipment
maintenance shop for Camp
White.
The company, located at Agate
rd. and Avenue G, will specialize
in high-quality alloy steels, using
principally scrap metals and
local , low-grade ores, chiefly
chrome and managnese. Laugh
lin will purchase most of its ores
locally on the open market.
The new steel building, which
is expected to be erected soon,
will house an electric arc melt
ing furnace, tooling equipment,
and dies, patterns, jigs and other
items for steel production.
The company is capitalized at
51.500,000, and expects to start
production with employment of
about 65 men. At full capacity,
some 256 men will be employed
with an annual payroll of some
$1,250,000.
J. N. Laughlin is president of
the company, Thomas Laird is
executive vice-president, and
David Trudeau, who arrived here
recently, is melting and foundry
department manager.
Others Start Operations
Several corporations started
initial operations recently in the
White City area.
Fir-Ply, Inc., located across
the street from Oregon Veneer,
went intp full operation recently
with a total employment of
about 150 men. The annual pay
roll ranges between S400.000 and
S500.000 for the firm, which
manufactures plywood sheathing
only.
Carl Jacobson. manager, said
the company expects to produce
about 45,000,000 feet on a 3-8
TYPEWRITERS &
ADDING MACHINES
Repaired
MEDFORD OFFICE
EQUIPMENT COMPANY
41 S. Grape Phone 2-4100
INDUSTRIAL AREA'S GROWTH RAPID An estimated pay
roll of about 57,500,000 annually comes into Rogue valley from
the White City industrial development, shown in this aerial
photograph. More than 20 firms, most of them connected with
the lumber industry, do in excess of an estimated $20,000,000
worth of business annually. Recent additions to the develop
ment include Fir-Ply, Inc., at the bottom, center of picture,
and the Oregon Veneer company, at the site of the largest log
inch basic annually, and expects
to spend approximately S500,
000 for logs for rough plywood
manufacture annually.
The company was incorporated
here by former officers of the
Southern Oregon Plywood cor
poration in Grants Pass
who resigned to form the White
City company. Officers include
Robert Van Duker, officer man
ager; Ernest Clark, production
manager; Ray Henry, logging
manager; and Arthur Michelson,
maintenance superintendent and
engineer.
Box Company
Aother new plant which
started production recently is
the White City Box company.
which is now operating at about
one-half capacity. The company
is manufacturing pear boxes to
meet demands of Jackson county
orchardists.
White City Box employs
about 20 people, the majority .of
them women, with a payroll in
excess of $30,000 annually. The
company began operations about
two weeks ago, and at full
capacity will employ between
30 and 35 people, L. G. Adams,
manager, said.
Adams said the corporation
uses trim ends of pine and white
fir from nearby saw mills, and
converts them into not only pear
boxes but also other types of
crates and boxes used by fruit
and vegetable growers.
The company plans to use be
tween 12,000 and 15,000 feet of
trim material per day, or be
tween 430,000 and 530,000 feet
annually. Adams ' pointed out
one of the prime purposes for
incorporating the company was
to use material which previously
was burned by saw mills. .
" After full production starts,
company officials said, the mar
ket is expected - to extend to
California and other southern
points.
Moulding Produced
Production of douglas fir and
incense cedar moulding started
about three months ago at Med
ford Moulding company, of
which Paul Wray is owner and
manager.
The company employs about
eight persons at present with an
annual payroll in excess of $30',
000. Wray said the company
produces between 7,000,000 and
8,000,000 lineal feet annually
which totals from 5150,000 to
$200,000 worth of business an
nually. Another recently established
business is W. F. Cowning Jr.
Lumber company, which manu
factures studding. The company's
36-inch gang saw . mill started
operations recently near Oregon
Veneer and Fir-Ply, Inc.
The E and B Lumber com
pany started operations near the
Cowning plant recently. Hans
A. Edwardsen, Medford, is in
charge.
Along with . development of
new establishments, several
older concerns have expanded
extensively.
Ross Lumber company, one
of the largest in the White City
area, recently started producing
whitefir and douglas fir mould
ing in a completely new plant.
The company also has estab
lished a new gang saw mill, a
pole mill and constructed a new
kiln.
Major Expansion
The moulding operation is
perhaps the major expansion
at Ross, and future plans call
Would You Like to Form a
ROSICRUCIAN
A.M.O.R.C. CHAPTER?
All Rosicrucians interested please write Mail Tribune
Box 4488 or phone the District Commissioner at
Shady Cove 2171.
for construction of a 100 by 50
loot building along a ' railroad
siding for storage and loading
moulding, according to Bill
Burt, manager for the company.
The moulding plant employs
15 men per shift, and went into
full operation earlier t h is
month. Burt said another shift,
which is planned, will double
the present output of about
eight box cars of moulding per
month. Total output per month
is estimated to be about 2,400,
C00 board feet per shipment.
The new kiln brings Ross'
total number to three, and a new
planer put into operation last
year brings to two trie number
of planers. Log storage facilities
at Ross' have been tripled in the
past year. Logs are banded by
the truckload before being
dumped into the pond, to con
serve space.
300 Employed
About 300 men are employed
by five companies wtth which
Ross is affiliated, with a pay
roll of about $2,000,000 annual
ly. During the past two years
the organization has doubled
both in payroll and employ
ment, Burt said.
Finished products bring an
estimated $7,000,000 worth of
business into the White City
area annually.
. Another established concern
Medford Veneer and Plywood
company recently expanded
operations and added between
40 and 50 employees. The com
pany is expecting delivery of
a new dryer, which is expected
to be in operation by Sept. 15.
More than $250,000 has been
expended by the corporation for
installation of modern plywood
machinery in the past year.
. The new dryer will more than
double present production of
the plant with an estimated op
eration of between 6,500,000
end 7,000,000 board feet per
month upon completion of in
stallation. Total employment when pre-;
sent expansion plans are com-,
plete will be about 150 men
with a payroll in excess of
$1,000,000 annually.
75 Million Feet
The company expects to pro
duce about 75,000,000 feet on
a 38-inch basis for plywood
per year when in full produc
tion. -
Ed Moir is president of the
organization, which was pur
chased recently by employees.
Haugen, former president of
Medford Veneer, and Plywood,
is chairman of the board of di
rectors for the new employee
owned corporation until stock
purchase installments have been
completed.
Cascade Wood Products, Inc.,
also has been expanded to in
crease manufacture of window
and door frames. The company
now employs about 110 people
with an annual payroll close to
$500,000. Total annual business
is worth about $2,500,000.
The company is one of the
largest on the Pacific coast
which manufactures finished all
pine window and door frames,
which are marketed nationally.
Capacity Doubled
Recently the corporation pur
chased a tenoner, which is used
in the manufacture of frames,
and constructed a sheet metal
cutting house this spring. The
cutting house facilities almost
doubled cutting capacity.
Cascade uses about 1,000,000
pond. Ross Lumber occupies most of the area between Agate
rd. and Crater Lake highway in the V at the right of the picture.
Offices for White City Realty company, which leases land to
firms establishing in the area, is located near the Veterans
Domiciliary center toward the top, center of picture. Avenue
G, where many of the industries are located, extends from the
left corner of picture to the center at top. White buildings at
picture's left are those of Burrill Lumber company.
board feet of shop grade lumber
per month, and most of it is
purchased locally, according to
company officials. The value of
lumber is almost tripled as it is
processed into approximately
30,000 units per month.
The company ships about 15
carloads per month with an ad
ditional five carloads of sash
material. ' .
Wright Scoville is manager of
the company, and Howard
Brooks is secretary. . ,
Burrill Lumber company is
another firm which recently
constructed drying kilns to ex
pand. Red Blanket Lumber com
pany of Eagle Point has in
creased its log storage capacity
at White City, and McGrew
Brothers Sawmill has increased
its facilities in the White City
area.
Land Cleared
Along with industrial expan
sion, land has been cleared north
of White City along Crater Lake
highway by C. C. Hoover for
a possible residential develop
ment. Another new company in the
White City industrial area went
into operation March 10 this
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year with the express purpose
of eliminating railroad service
charges to firms which lease
land from the White City Realty
company.
The corporation is the White
City Terminal and Utility com
pany, which maintains tracks,
installs new spur lines, and does
yard switching. The company
purchased two gasoline powered
35-ton locomotives to handle
the 500 to 600 carloads of manu
factured products which are
shipped monthly from the area.
Southern Pacific delivers and
removes box cars from an inter
change siding, while the Term
inal and Utility company swit
ches cars and spots cars to com
panies. The monthly saving is
estimated to be about $3,000.
Officials of the Terminal and
Utility company anticipate con
siderable increases in traffic
when mills now under construc
tion are producing, as well as
from future expansion of the
White City industrial area.
The Army has five forms of
discharges: Honorable, general,
bad conduct, undesirable and
dishonorable.
HOME FOO-FREEZES
'
Largest Hopper Dredge
To Work on Columbia
Portland U.R) The world's
largest hopper dredge has been
assigned by Army Engineers to
deepen the Columbia river
mouth next summer, according
to word received Saturday from
Sen. Richard L. Neuberger (D
Ore.). Neuberger said Brig. Gen. E.
C. Itchner, assistant chief of en
gineers for civil works, had told
him the dredge "Essayons"
would be berthed at Astoria
from April 15 to October 15,
1956 to do the job.
The last Congress appropriated
$750,000 to start deepening the
channel entrance to 48 feet to al
low passage of large. ocean-going
vessels. Present channel depth is
about 40 feet.
NEW OWNERSHIP
BURGESS PAINT
& WALLPAPER STORE
6th and Holly Diagonally Across from Post Office
Mr. & Mrs. Erhardt J. Blind
of Klamath Falls, Oregon
have purchased Burgess Paint and Wallpaper fre
and will continue to provide Treasure-Tone Paints
and Wallpaper to this area.
"We have been in the paint business for many
years and we will endeavor to use this experience
to maintain the fine quality of service that Mr.
Burgess has given you in the past. We cordially
invite you to come in and get acquainted!"
... Erhardt and Gertrude Blind
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MAIN STORE
115 EAST MAIN
Phone 3-5395
BARGAIN STORE
303 SOUTH FRONT STREET
Phone 2-5595
Boy Hit by Car;
Driver Cited
John Stroup, 12, of 2974
Buckshot Hill rd., suffered a
fractured small bone in his leg.
about 10 a.m. Saturday when
he was struck by a car operated
by Charles N. Saltus of Ash
land. The accident occurred on
North Riverside ave. at Jack
son st. Medford police said
Stroup was either getting on
his bicycle or pushing it when
he was hit.
He was taken to Sacred Heart
hospital by Medford" ambulance.
Stroup also suffered minor
cuts and bruises, police said. Po
lice said Saltus was issued a cita
tion for failure to stop at a red
light.
2-9321
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