Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974, October 10, 1957, Page 5, Image 5

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    .’Ht fÄGLZ
•THURSDAY. OCT 1% 1*57
Vernonia Story Tells Problems Encountered by Committee
•Note The Vernon.» chamber
-•f m e si/w r e mdurtna! eoanszuttee
.-»pared the f'.kzwrmg ^nforma-
m relative to tn» area in ad-
aaee eg the state departmer.t of
p»mcmg and deieloptBent meet-
ng at TiLamcx. K Septe-mbe? 1?
An i W'- tic ot the brief was pee­
r-led verbally at that t.me and
■w ful. artx-ie wai tied with, the
■ parttm nt It » prvsier.ted here
give readers ar. idea ff s rr* of
•ne prubleshi faced try tía* «en-
-..ttee os the Mghly cumpetitive
' eld of seet-ng new mdur-ry
for the area I
Th’ following » a brief aun.-
- ary leading up t the present
natus of Vernama and the Upper
Nehalem Valley
There has always be»- a pah
• 1 peasirruTr. hanging ■jver the
Vpp« N ehalem Valley because
of the fact that rumors were al­
ways started to the effect that
toe mill would shut down maybe
.-»ext year, maybe the following
year, maybe three, maybe five
In the Spring of 1954 the Gen­
eral Manager of the Long Bell
ximber Company, Vernonia
Branch, along with the County
.-saetaor and a representative-
'rom the State Tax Commission
met with the Lions one evening
.r*d told the club of a thirty
month writeoff that they had se-
• ured from th? County, State
-»nd Federa; governments on their
/««it purchase of the Oregon
American Company This was a
. <XMuderab!e blow to the Upper
J»ehaJem Valley businessmen and
w orkers bec ause the fast write-
fl was ind.cative of th« amount
<d time that they felt they ha«f
•eft to operate
In the wake of
n» shocking news, a group of
swiainessm« ’. banded together and
1«»rwM-d the Vernonia Chamber of
Commerce
The Chamber has.
tn the Last four years, contacted.
^processed, dealt with any and all
types of buxnjess enterprises that
we he »rd ot or could find out
about ÍX the mgny contacts that
T-ave been made during this time,
we have met with very little
«»wecess, as all communities are,
likewise, vying for new industry
In th Upper Nehalem Valley
the whxk was more terrific than
,t .would be in other communitie
were they have diversified in­
dustry
The now Internationa!
J’aper Company, which bought
cart Long-Bell, hired at p-ak op
•rating Um? approximately 700
• mpieyees in the woods and m
»ill
This was the Upper
• M*e? ’g major payroll.
The Chamber has be -n success
Ito tn rtarting a candle factory
«■tact » progress.ng very nicely,
it does not h.re ov«
prop» and was. further
w—~srfu ». getting toe Smith- |
a«A Ccncrrte Products Campan?
to esBabLih their aggregate kik,
a: tta - te_r.mg ute clow to Ver-
•««-a which will tmpioy atx/u;
t ■ sit l
MeedLes’ to say. the two tria.
’Mwitnti lac* a whale t«t of
of
* X1
tn
*”* large r-
’^peratMOi
On WedntwUy Sept er- , be- 11.
v» te»?, jog *iu tteawn into tr>-
< mwwi ¡:. auj now the mill wiL
*«>•
twent y
mt- with
w .th XKr ew..
f^kyces f t one more
TTK»T> month
ttwfj no p^yroi]
Shurtiy after th* Chamber
L ormmejw wes fuel TH si. |f was
dch that a survey »as nr-cessary
to drtertrin« * hat resources were
■ »ailabie in the Vemonia area
Members of the staff of Lewi*
•nd Clark college were approach-
• d to help m mak-ng the survey
1 rtdew. ar Phillip J McAllister of
tar Business Administration D,
¡tartm-nt headed the survey
Aorking with the college group
uerr local volunteers. This group
prepared a survey which im ude»
■iformati n on manpower, raw
"»aienals and many other items
Thw survey cost th* Chamber ap.
THE VERNONIA EAGLE
Marvin Kamhv'x
Editor ari Publisher
Official Newspaper at
Vernonia. fttpn
Entered as second class mail
tatter. August < 1922 at the
post office tn Vernonia. Oregon
uader the act of March X 1ST»
fabrrpu.- price $3 00 yearly
m the Nehalem Valley
Else
where $3 50
NATIONAL
tOfTO> At
assoc F aî
I
Í
I
:
i
pe?x.mateiy $49? !»5
As a resort of tne xcroey «*
foutsd our area to be htekrng sr
oertau- areas.
It u tt.a r~.iuT
oefir iene»« wtnt we wist
to diacxus toda y
r'ties* are srmn
rf the »neue jrrç>.Truir t yr-.itof-rn.-
in our area tosuy anc IT H.lTTlf
measure have mao-
difficult it
attract -Mustr? K our urea
R'.teds at»d tagte*tky* IT nur a~t i
ci the Upper toe^iaien Vaiiry
I create * rr-a.K-r pnMen Th« tea
slate aad r:>unry -.¡aru a-i rue-
| row rough and :«tMi:>iru for mr-
terr. transgKimatjre requirements.
Verrr.it-* lies net- th* cer.ter
| of the prcTptisei Highway WW
Alternate which ru*^ freer Me
M-nn\. ie on tt>e
the South to Ktisci.
Wasmr.gton cm
on th? North
To
those of us 11 Tift g in the Upper
Nehalem Valley the proposed
highway means faster, better
trar.’portation to the North and
to the South To the ps-ople liv.
.ng in TiLamoox and Lincoln
Counties, it will mean a route
which will save many miles, and
dollars, when they are ¡»ending
their products North into Wash­
ington
Since this route inter­
cepts important arteries such as
the Wilson River Highway, and
the Sunset Highway, which run
in.and toward Portland from the
coast, it will tend to siphon off
from
the already extremely
crowded Portland area through
traffic which would only add to
the congestion.
With th-
improvement of
Highway 30. th» route would
also make possible easy access
from the Willamette Valley to
the Lxiwer Columbia River area
New and improved roads in
this ar?a would open to tourist
traff.c the beautiful Nehalem
Vailey and the mountain valleys
of the Coast Range
I
The key portion of this road
program in Northwext Oregon is
not an expensive highway. High­
way Commission estimates place
the cost of this 80 mile highway
at between S4.009,000 and $5.-
000,000 This money would build
up the deficient portions of the
highway to safe standards for
many years.
Industry which might locate in
th» area has looked at the lack
of roads and has left for other
regions. Only last week we were
informed that a certain industry
was settling in another location
where highways were better
The other location is farther from
many of the markets for the par­
ticular product than is Vernonia
but the roads wer- a major factor
tn its not settling in Verncnua
The counties in our area need
help m improving and main­
taining county road*. They are
abort cm funds and trained man
power
Perhaps th? state could
assist them in setting up con­
struction ¿->d maintenance p.ans
a inch would let the counties
K»ou Which IS most impnlOar •
m bringing the roads up to date
Or. county roads we find mast
of our transportation problems
It u r m.les from. Vernonia to
the county seat at St Hefei* 1«
'-**es one hour driving time
make the 27 tniitt
tr'.-rr. Vemcdia to F
miles Thu car t»e
m lew than one bom
When it a
easier to go to othe towns than
OUT CVODty
V m ec-orr-my of
the county we hve 1 > » suffering
due to the condition of the roads
A road such
i—*- as
- Highway 99W
Alternate would be t of consider-
able value as a mi iitary road m
case of National
J emergency Th»
route, for the most part, stays
clear of maji r military target
but is readily acres.ble to them
With th» in nind. it would be
valuable as
alternate mili-
tarv road far en. ugh away from
military targets to be out of
the way and *
close enough
to serve its requirements
I
Water is another item whta
needs greater study a-.d p-»s ■le
If1
¡aJ act.-on i
The Nel
River ». like all
i
rivers a U m
Coast range.
t, essentially a ram
river The •■vsu.t
n
» that we havr I
eitl
feast or
<x famine ) In wm I
ter when we need little t wat«.
we have too i much In summer f
»her. water » used m Urge
quantities fai r agr-culture and
other US's we dr not even ha»«
enough flow to pt^periy Mlp-
t r»h life
r agr- - * .re » to expand n
Nehalem Valley water » re-
th' farmers can
on compels or
sith crops from
areas The ■»-
iOQd r’ttw.remer ts of the
Insert Stat's will make it man­
datary that all agrxuiture areas
be developed to their fullest If
the water resources were to !>•
AerktdL tbe n umber of water
« .tskrswto p e r m t* on the Ne-
-itrtit wtwud undoubtedly be
fnuiii ta be greater than the
toto. amnur: of water flowing
I.’ kE r*4Xt were used at once
the?* wouid be no water and the
tea fisit ief: m th* low water
be dead in the stream bed
lr Jun*, ltd*, a F*e»d Exami-
ruiLinr « as maae of the Upper
'•ehtorm Watershed by a num­
ber rf >ocal state ind federal
*4fT<r/e* As is always done, this
Kurve? «as at a brief, two-day,
m wnxh a group of ex­
perts r-bocked jver th? area Es-
aentialiy the results arrived at
sadicated that tne existing law
_n3tr which the invest-gation
was mao* would not app.y. How­
ever the report indicates further
mvest.gat.c® should be mad-
L.ti> credit was g.ven in the
report to the benefit* accruing
to the area if a program of water
storage was inaugurated beyond
those from irrigation ar.d Good
controL
We have been told that this
area suffers from a shortage of
water
How-ever. annually ap-
ptximately 400,000 to 500.000 acre
feet of water flow past Vernonia.
A portion of this water properly
stored would provide sufficient
water for all agricultural and
industrial use needs for many
years.
Recreation possibilities in the
Nehalem Valley are numerous
and include such phases as un­
developed sites for overnight
parks and picnic areas, lock and
fossil deposits, fish and game and
areas suitable fur trail riding.
Som.- deve'opment has taken
place in establishing picnic areas,
but there is a need for more such
sites than those already in use
The if are no developed camp
sites such as the state has es­
tablished in other sections of
Oregon where campers can spend
the night or several days. Be­
cause of poor highway conditions
on the proposed 99W Alternate
route, this area does not partici­
pate to any appreciable extent
in tourist trade, Oregon's third
largest industry.
The d-velopment of recreation
i hindered again because of th
lack of water during summer
months which hindered abundant
fish life, which, in turn, would
be remedied by a dam on the
I pper Nehalem river designed
to resti am heavy winter flow
and permit gradual run-off dur-
ing the dry summer months.
Extensive rock and fossil de­
posits are located in the area
and considerable attention has
been given in encouraging "rock
hounds to avail themselves of
these deposits.
To properly develop the valley
mcreBtiunally a much improved
highway arid conservation of wa­
ter resources are necessary and
-n both instances th» comm un-
rtjr » in need of state leadership
because '.ties’ projects cannot be
handled from the local k-vel.
Forest
and forest product»
make up the most important
s-ng> item in th- Upper Nehal­
alley.
em Valley
In fact one might
say that all other types of enter-
prtse an secondary to the enter
prunes o.rectiy connected with
our forests To date these forests
bet-r ■ both a blessing and
The forests bless the
wi h its first large scale m-
dustry. In the valley are rt-
mainden of Clark and Wilson,
Oregon-
_
• .American, Birkenfeid
Lumti-r Co and many others
both large and sntal 1 We have
«bande >ed shingle mills and ter-
libie Signs uf forest f.res
All
this is behind us
A new class
°f forest operator has moved in-
to join us In this new group ai»
Crt-wn - Ze, 1er bach, Longview F.
bfY Ka.ier Gypsum (Firtex Di
rtlma) P^per and
Sitate oil ----
Qr*
J 1^/z. J it sr*f At
these new groups have abandon-
td the old * cut-out and get-odt”
technique They
the idea
tries forever Wi are in hearty
•graement with their slogan We
know what the old attitude did
U us However, we are not re ­
tain that they bring us all bless-
r.g- with the.r perations Theo-
. arlows groups own in excess of
7€ per cent of the land in the
Upper Nehalem Valley This 7«
per cent com« to the total of
171 90b acres of a total of 229.000
acre*. If they carried on then
prucos.ng in the valley we would
f' ■) mor? kindi.v toward such a
situat. w although wondering at
trie great control they have over
our ec-’Mtowiy
H wev«.
they
carry on the processing in other
<p«nr far .-vmov«d from our area
Therefore, we are subsid.ary to
tJ.eee areas and must be set .sited
to see cw industrial
and expenrti.'rc w.-irkr-"» drairwvi
away to ccber c.-romuriinei.
bave trees crtrtrtrtg or. «'« hsvr
experience« l*b.c ** h*vr ir
duct—a art?» nr>c ra.. sne truck
transgK ctati.nr. hut «r
nut
p.-'Tiirr-.i.. me «’tv. nut
Th» we awartt hsw tr h*x«r a
sound teaxaue future Mr nocc
help to detersnm? bow thr tim­
ber pr -resstni *r. this grrwt *.-<•*
car. be Kept rr. the vx-miry of the
t.mber growth When the m.tial
reps in phi«c«essui»g ar? amt a
whole .ndustry based or. timber
waste can be budit but th» can
not be dorse at the pressent tant
■.it.. ring wastes left in the for-
erts foUcwing ->ggmg We need
new processes to utilize the jog­
ging wastes so that profitable
industries may be established.
power is needed However, oth­
ers can de * much better job of
diwussmg the merits and de­
merits of such issues Our prob­
lem is »>ne of seeing our tradition-
*. «<? pf :dt which was wrap-
ped up in lumber disappearing.
We want to help ourselves but
we need help and ideas. Th**«-
can make ours a stronger arm
better community for the entile
state of Oregon.
C3 m > m See Fire Truck
Fire Prevention
Check Suggested
Wcanesds?
tnornutg. C
L.
Johnson and Rob Cur’, took the
rura. fine truck to the Washing-
toa schv< gre unds »here they
explained new it works to stu-
der.ts of the fourth grade »lasses
taught by Mrs Mathilde Berger-
son and Mrs Rose Steen.
Extension Unit
Officers Trained
The best time to think about
fire on your farm is before it
happens, advises County Exten
sian Agent. Don Coin Walrod
Those who give it some thought
beforehand are least likely to
have a fire, he says. And he
offers this special Fire Preven­
tion Week list of fire considera­
tions to think about:
1. Know how to call the fire
department; post your fire de­
partment number and exchange
at the telephone. Make sure your
fire department is familiar with
the layout of your farm, hous-
and barn exits, and location of
water supp :e
In Vernonia, the
lire department number is HA
9-3131
2. Check condition of heating
equipment including chimneys
and flues. Make all repairs ne­
cessary for safe operation.
3. Check electric wiring for
heat and loads—replace worn
and inadequate wiring; use only
15 ampere fuses unless a circuit
has been specially designed for
larger loads •
4 Your fire f.ghting tools should
be easily accessible in an emer­
gency. Have ladders always rea»
dy for escape and fighting roof
fires.
5 Have the right extinguish
ers in the right places. Check
them frequently and recharge;
protect from feezing where ne­
cessary.
6. Make sure water supplies are
accessible for fire fighting
Further resources surveys would
Eighty-six ujiit officers and
help us to know better exactly
committee chairmen representing
v. hat we nave to offer We have
the 19 home extension units in
collected and filed much mater-
Columbia county gathered a’
lal regard.ng our raw materials
Fern Hill Grange hall Septem­
and resources. This material is
ber 30 for a training session Mr.-
of great valu? in contacting and
Norman Hansen, Mist, chairman
discussing our Valley with poten- I
of the county home extension
t.al industrial developers. Th:
comm.ttee. presided.
Mrs. F.
problem we are faced w-ith is
Beeler, Warren, county commit­
that we lack money and help to
tee secretary-t reasurer, had
keep the information current and
charge of registrat.on.
valid. We know we have certain
The meeting
opened
with
raw materials but in most cases
group singing led by Mrs Ernest
we know nothing else regardin-’
Hams of Yankton accompanied
these raw materials. We know
by Mrs. John Rauch of Fem Hill.
Litt)? of the actual potential in
Mrs Hansen stated the purpose
mineral resources in our area.
of the meeting and th? county­
We know we have deposits of a
extension agent, Mrs. Margaret
large number of minerals. We
Allyn, spoke on the extension
have not besn able to gather in­
program as applied to Columbia
formation regarding the future­
county.
potential of these minerals. The
The group then broke up into
deposits we are most blessed
committees with a county com­
with are various ores of iron and
mittee chairman leading th? dis­
aluminum plus large amounts of
cussion in each committee. Thes°
low grade coal on which some
chairmen are as follows: Mrs
development work has taken
E. Avis, Columb.a City. 4-H; Mrs.
place. There are large deposits
Charles Mikesh, Scappoose. A.C.-
of shale suitable for the manu­
W W ; Mrs. John Rauch, Fern
facture of expanded shale for
Hill, Azalea House; Mrs. J. Mc­
lightweight concrete. T w - q of
Clung, Delena, Health and Safety.
these deposits have been develop­
Mrs. M. Meyer. Timber route.
Students to Hear Band
ed but a number of additional de­
Citizenship and Research; Mrs.
posits are available. We are will­
F Beeler, Warren. Secretary and
Wm. B. Johnson, band instruc­
ing to work for further know­
Publicity.
tor in the Vernonia schools, will
ledge regarding these items but
Each committee worked out take about 75 band students from
do not have the man-power or
suggestions and recommendations the grade and high schools to
money to properly study th-se
for its phase of the current years Portland Friday to hear the U.S.
resources.
home extension program.
Navy band.
Market surveys for possible
products are needed. Again we
run head-on into the problem of
bow to gather the information.
MAKE A PICNIC HAMPER
Much of the information regard­
Carrying food and utensils i on the outside edge of the bot­
ing specific products can be easily
for a picnic can be much easier tom with glue and No. 10 wood
if ail the items are placed screws, 2 inches long. The top
obtained but in some fields the
in one container. The hamper, is assembled with glue and No.
information is not so readily
shown is basic and can be I
available or has not been com­
modified with separators and/ ; 9 screws 3 inches long. The
screening is attached to the up­
piled. When this condition oc­
or compartments.
Make the hamper using 1 by per side of the frame. Use a
curs th? community has not the
12-inch lumber with 1 by 4-inch piano hinge to attach the top
resources available to gamble on
lumber for the top. Use a miter to the box. Add carrying han­
I
the cost of such a market survey
box for the angle cuts and to dles and a lock and hasp to
secure the top when closed.
help cut square ends.
We are in that position at the
When assembling the project,
Sand smooth and paint or
present time in the fieid of char­
fasten the sides and end pieces stain and varnish.
coal. General
indications are
that a good market is available
in charcoal but specific informa­
tion has not been available. Pre­
sent trends show a growing in­
terest in charcoal production with
a rapid market increase develop­
ing
Washington and California
interests show a strong inclina­
MITER
tion toward entering the market
45’
e *?t
but to date- we have not been
HIM.I
abie to compile sufficient infor
mation to attempt to encourage
available capital to enter the
field. The Department of Plan­
ning would help all small com­
munities if such information or
sources of such information were
compiled
Much of such work
*
could possibly be carried on by
research projects at the State
Colleges and University
HERE'S HOW.
.Most important to us at the
moment would bt- the calling to­
gether of a task force made up
of the various interested County.
State. Federal agencies and lo­
cal business leaders to study the
entire picture of the lost indus­
try in Vernonia. The purpose
would be to find methods to de­
velop replacement industry for
the area and to ease as much as
possible the dislocation resulting
in the closing of so much of the
community payroll. Such a group
could gather basic facts and in­
formation related to the situation
which would make possible a
quicker and bitter solution of
the problems arising from closure
of industry in other Oregon
towns
We snow other towns
will be so affected and a program
now toward
saving Vemonn
could help a number of other
Oregor town« now and in the fu-
tore
In closing w ? would l.ke to
state that along with the >ther
communities in the state we are
toterested in more cqu.table
freight rase? and ,n the best pos
s ble tax program which can be
laid out We also feel that mace
MAKE A SAW TABLE EXTENSION
A valuable addition to the the upper vertical member and
tiocn« workshop with a power join vertical memtor» with
table saw is an adjustable saw 5 16 by 44 inch carriage bolts
table extension or support for with large washers ami wing
Jong timber.
nut». Cut mortises S inch
Make the support from 2 by deep and assemble pieces as
♦ inch lumber. Cut the lower «how», with glue and 3 inch
vertical piece so that the sup-f Ne» 10 wood screws Attach
p<wt will be the sa.ne height as .-ertical member to base with
the saw table, with all»>wance 5 T6 by 5 <s -inch carriage bolt»
for adjustments up or down.
Install diagonal braces, cut
Cut a slot as shown in the from 2 by 4's. under the top
lower vertical member. Bore Mount twelve large rwller-ball
holes S 18 inch in diameter in casters «’aggered on the top.
CAjrfv
i