Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 28, 1957)
TOUSTCTW MZDFORD (OREGOrT) MAIL TRIBUNE Sunday. July 28, 1857 r Average Day arlly for Lg Inlay Deir Starts Arf Coulter Starts Work at 4, Ends in Early Evening Hour (Editor's Not: Lumbtr is Jiekiea eounty'i number on industry. The men who haul fallen tree from tha iorett to the mills are an integral part ef the multi-atep proem that ereatea usable wood products. The following is a rerisw ef one of thai man on one of his irips on a day early this month.) By DON ROBINSON Mail Tribune Staff Writer When Art Coulter, Medford log truck driver, started from the Kogap sawmill on Highway 99 south of the city, it was cool and dark. It was four in the morning. He stepped up one giant step and swung sideways into the cab of his yellow Mack truck. The empty trailer was nestled on the truck's back, and the reech jutted a black silhouette over the cab. A moment, and the 200 horse power Cummins diesel motor came to life. It's 200 horsepower is measured at 2,100 engine revo lutions per minute. Chryslers and Cadillacs sound bigger, but their lower engine rpm's offer no comparison for power. 27 Gear Variations The truck rolled into the highway, pointed south.' Between the mill and Phoenix, Art went through 12 of the 27 gear varia tions forward. Speed limit for trucks is 43. He held it at the limit. Through a sleeping Ashland, left on Highway 66, over a hill and left again. The Mack was now traveling up Dead Indian id. Art's destination was a log loading deck 28 miles away. ' The pavement wound through the hills east of Ashland. Outside a clear day's light was increas ing. Inside, the engine's roar filled the cab. At the wheel. Art glanced from time to time at the seven dials on the khaki colored dash board. He intermittently shoved forward or back the three floor gear shift sticks to accommodate tha rise and fall of the road. Rolls Up SleeTe Art was dressed in levis and a long-sleeved cotton shirt over a T-shirt. After a half-hour's driving he rolled the sleeves part way up his arms. By the end of the day, In a series of steps, he would have rolled the sleeves all the way, unbuttoned the shirt, pulled the .shirt tail out of the levis. Finally he would take it completely off and use it to wipe his perspiring forehead. Art measured about six feet tall, weighed perhaps 210 pounds. He bounced as he drove like a rider on a trotting horse. He passed a family of deer standing in a brook below the road. Soon he met cows grazing by the roadside. Their stares fol lowed the truck until it dis appeared around the next curve, la National Forest In the lower regions, patches ef oak scattered over the blonde hillsides. Higher up, the pave ment moved among tall na ' tional forest trees. Slopes were steeper, and dark green firs and pines covered them below and above the road. About 5 a.m. the big Mack headed to the left on a dirt strip. A road sign there marked the new direction of the truck, "Fish Lake 11 miles." This road was red dirt. The grader hadn't been over it in a day, and it was a washboard. The long, box-like yellow hood probed around the bends. On a straight section. Art saw the top of the sun bulging over the roll of distant mountains. In minutes Art's truck nosed in among three other trucks and a few smaller vehicles parked on each side of the road. He pulled over and stopped. Quick Cup of Coffee There was time for a quick cup of coffee poured from a thermos. Then Art threw the Mack into reverse, and it trun dled backwards down a 50-yard bulldozed runway. At the end of this was a circular clearing. A "heel boom" squatted in the dust there. This was the loading deck. A long cable with a hook at the end was lowered by a curv ing steel arm. The hook caught a loop of cable on Art's trailer. Up went the trailer, forward the truck. The trailer was low ered and the truck backed into the end of the reech. Two men secured the coupling. The ribbed steel boom arm hung above the ready truck. It curved down in a moderate "L" to a caboose-like cab on a steel base. Inside the cab. an operator worked the control sticks and a diesel engine responded with a well-oiled churning. Tongs Attached Steel tongs, oversize of the type the iceman uses, were at tached to the end of the cable. The men moved quickly. Art piled out of the seat to connect the air brake hoses under the trailer. The boom swung to the i LOADING TRUCK The diesel powered "heel boom" holds suspended a log that has been lifted from a deck in the forest. Tongs at the end of a cable grasp the log and hold AT THE SUMMIT Art I loaded truck is stopped at the summit on Dead Indian rd. as he walks around the trailer to see that water is hitting the brake drums properly. On the I t- ' . , - .. ' i POND SPLASH A load of logs tumbles off the truck into the mill pond at Kogap saw mill on Highway 99. The pond usually holds about 3 million board feet of timber, from which about 200,000 board feet per day are i ' PIGGYBACK TRAILER An electrically operated hoist lowers the unloaded log trail-, er to its position on the back of the truck. side and dropped the cable. A short man jumped in and spread the tongs over a log in a deck. The cable reeled in. Tong poults bit into bark and wood. One end of the log flew up wards, banging into the flat undersurface of the boom arm. More cable hauled in. and the free end of the log was hoisted until it was nearly level. The boom swiveled on its base and gently settled the log on the trailer bunks. A stecl-hattcd man, a "tonz kicker." ran out along the log ! and freed the tongs, it against the undersurface of the boom arm. The boom is ready to swing around and settle the log on the waiting truck. "5 processed. Logs pond into saw "peelers" logs lathe for veneer Swings to Other Side The boom swung to its other side now. and snatched a log from another pile. Soon, a mat ter of three or four minutes, half a dozen limbless, topless trees were packed tightly between the stakes. They ranged from about 20 to 50 inches in diameter. They were 30 to 34 feet long. As more logs were dragged by caterpillars from the forest be hind the clearing, Art hurried back to his seat and rolled the loaded truck into the entrance road. He stoobed to throw and clamp four chains around the Sri JkiM descent, the brakes are cooled by 200 gallons of water. Steam billows from the wheels when the brake drums get hot. are separated while in the logs, gang mill logs, and which will be turned on a is used in plywood. Seconds before, the hook and cable were used to dump half a dozen logs into the mill-pond. load. Then away. The first log was already on the next truck. On the upgrade going back, the truck engine chattered in a deep base. The speedometer needle jiggled between 10 and 13 on the dial. At the summit. Art checked to see that water was hitting the brake drums. He was using 200 gallons per trip to cool the brakes. On the descent, the hot drums turned water to steam. Art has been stopped by tourists who told him his "tires are burning." .Near ths bollom of the lull, '-----'j1- - L-"' - - -f m1iiiA Hiilf GETTING WATER Art Coulter, log truck driver for logging contractor Ray Offord, fills the 200 gallon tank on the back of his truck at the mill water pump. Art's dark glasses protect his eyes from the slanting early morning sun. SETTING TONGS Ernie Stephenson, Medford, a Ray Offord employee at the log loading deck, runs in and sets the tongs oyer a log. The cable is pulled taut, sinking the tong points into the wood. The log is then lifted and swung over and down to the truck. the truck pulled into a sids road that made an arc back to the main road. The three trucks ahead of Art's were parked there, waiting. In the middle of the road was a narrow five-foot-high board platform. A scaling deck. A forest service man, the scaler, arrived. Trucks were guided alongside the platform and the scaler scrambled over the loads with what looked like a yardstock. He paused at inter vals to write in a small metal covered notebook. Measure Board Feet - His job was to measure the number of board feet of timber in each load. Trucks hauling from lands bought from the U.S. forest service stopped at his deck. Art's load was checked, and the truck rolled on to the junc tion of Highway 66. Off to the side again. Art eased the Mack axle by axle over a cement plat form that was a weight scale. Inside an adjacent, shack, a county employee recorded the pounds. Beyond Ashland, Art would have to pass the state scales. Overload costs money, and truckers know the value of a careful checking of trailer scales while loading. Art's truck and trailer empty weigh 27,000 pounds. The logs, by law, can't add enough to bring the total to more than 76, 000, the state maximum. Those pounds are distributed over three axles and 18 rubber tires. ArriTei at Scaling Deck Art got a wave of approval The Antelope 4-H Pre-Fair is scheduled for July 31st at the Elbert Bigham Ranch on Bigham Road. There will be classes of Dairy, Beef, Sheep and Swine Judging, classes of Swine, Dairy, Beef and Sheep Showmanship. Swine showmanship will begin at 10 A.M. Lunch will be served at noon for a nominal fee. THE PUBLIC IS CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND tut from the county man, and also passed the state scales on High way 99. In a few minutes he was sidling up the load to the Kogap scaling deck. The scaler there did the meas uring that determines Art's pay check. He made out a slip that said Art had just brought in 6,620 board feet of wood. That's better than average. Art was satisfied. He gets $9 per 1,000 board feet. A short trip across the high way, and the truck moved around the edge of the millpond on an earth dike. At 'the unload ing dock, cables were fixed under the logs; the stakes on the p6nd side were lowered. Trailer oa Trucks Back The cables pulled. The log load tipped, then tumbled crash ing into the water. A quick op eration with a cable and hook set the trailer again on the truck's back. Art jumped into the cab, and was gone for a second load. He'd just driven 82 miles, used approximately 20 gallons of diesel fuel and 200 gallons of water. Wear on the tires was not to be measured, but none blew. If one had, it would have cost about $125 to replace. Art himself had consumed two cups of coffee and three sticks of gum. Heavier Traffie It was 8 a.m. The "working" people were moving out on the roads.' From now on traffic would be heavier, the day hot ter. Art planned for three pay loads a day. This was a con tinuous operation, and he would Confrere Bridge League Donates To Heart Fund New York IW The Amer ican Heart association has re ceived a check of $85,000 for heart research from the Amer ican contract bridge league. The gift represented profits from entry fees in "charity-of-the-year" bridge tournaments throughout the country. Driver Arrested for Hit-Run; Girl Hurt Daly City, Calif. OPi Po lice Saturday booked Richard Irvine, 20, of San Francisco on felony hit-run charges after he confessed to speeding away from the scene where his car knock ed 'a Sacramento girl from her motorcycle, seriously injuring her. The victim, Georgia M. Beck er, 26, was in good condition in a San Francisco hospital. Doctors said her left leg was so badly smashed they were forced to amputate. Police said Irvine turned him self in several hours after his car smashed into Miss Beck' er's cycle on the coast highway near here. Irvine told police he was pass ing anotlier car when Miss Beck er appeared unexpectedly in his path. He said he panicked and sped away without stopping to aid the woman. Pakistan Official To Visit in Oregon Portland HP) Kabir Ahmed representative of the Pakistan government, will visit the Portland-Columbia-Willamette river area this week for a close-up look at how river terminal op erators handle cargo movements on those waterways. The 34-year-old Ahmed is on a four-month tour of the United States to investigate inland wa terways operations under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Labor and the American Wa terways operators. Inc. be home to his family by 5 or 6. He wanted to keep as well as he could his position (now number four) among the other trucks. Thirteen of them were hauling from the Fish Lake area deck, all contracted through Art's boss, Ray Offord, who held a contract with Kogap. Art himself owned three trucks. Two brothers - in-law, each with more than 10 years driving experience, used the others. Art's Mack cost $24,000 in January, 1956. He hoped to drive it seven or eight years. The trailer, made in Portland, ran $6,000. Work Through October Barring forest closures from fire, or mill shutdowns,. Art would work through October. The season began in April. Art likes his job. He's been trucking for 11 years, four of them in the log hauling business. He sees a nice future for this county in the lumber business, and thinks Medford will become the main shipping point for lumber in Oregon someday. If it does. Art has cause to be happy. It means steady work, a secure means of living. And that is translated into food, a house, a car, an education for the kids, the material compon ents of what a practical man of the past called "the good things of life." The Arrangement Rooms Only i "Air Conditioned by Refrigeration Facilities in Southern Oregon WEST MAIN AT SIXTH Conger-Morris FUNkKAl DIRiCTOtS "YOUR TV WEATHERMAN" KttS-TV MONDAY THRU FRIDAY slS P.M. ASHLAND MORTUARY . MMeer Ntfco.il Wletiee1 McCormack Urges Ike To Speak Out On Foreign Aid Washington (IB House Dem ocratic leader John W. McCor mack Saturday urged President Eisenhower to serve notice he will "fight" members of his own party, if necessary, to prevent unsafe cuts in foreign aid spen ding. McCormack asserted that 'weak leadership" and the "shif ting" stands taken by Eisenhow er on the school bill and other recent issues have jeapordized congressional approval of a for eign aid program large enough to "effectively combat Commu nism." He urged the President to summon congressional lead ers to the White House for a conference on foreign aid. The veteran Massachusetts lawmaker said in a prepared statement that the President has failed or refused on a number of occasions to come to grips with his own party." He said no one really l.new where Eisen hower stood on the school aid construction bill, which was de feated by Republican votes on the House floor. "The President cannot vacil late and take chances on this (foreign aid) bill," McCormack said. "If necessary, he should be willing to fight with members of his own party and cooperate more effectively with the lead ership of the Democratic party." McCormack spoke out in ad vance of a Senate-House nego tiations to work out a compro mise authorization bill setting a top ceiling on the funds Con gress can appropriate for the foreign aid program for which the President requested $3,864, 410,000. Grants Pass Man Dies In Fall off Bridge Grants Pass HP! Leo Kor mendy, 35, Grants Pass carpenr ter died in a Grants Pass hospit al Friday from injuries suffered in a 40 foot plunge off the "Jump Off Joe" bridge on the Highway 99 freeway about eight miles north of here. Kormendy struck his head en a rock as he fell into water and sand beneath the structure, wit nesses said. He was a carpenter with the Tom Lillebo Construc tion company, the firm building the bridge. Portland, Corvallis Gf Safety-Check Awards Portland HP) Portland and Corvallis have won award! of "excellence" for effective ve hicle safety-check programs eon ducted last May, according to the Inter Industry Safety Com mittee, in Washington, D.C. Portland was one of eight cities of over 100,000 population to win the safety-check prize. Corvallis took the award in the under - 25,000 population class, along with 27 other com munities throughout the nation. DinkelsbuhL Germany, holds an annual pageant honoring the children who, in 1632, saved the town from destruction by a Swe dish conqueror. Tradition saya a youngster in the market place reminded the conqueror of hia own son who had died shortly before; so he ordered his sol diers not to loot and burn. 4 c . auw Mertweaj by Ma
