GREAT WORK OF
COL DISQUE’S
LUMBERJACKS
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 22.—With
in the span of fifteen months the
spruce production division of the
United States army was organized out
of thin air, bought ten million dollars’
worth of materials, stood sponsor for
far greater purchases by private con
tractors and was organized into an
army of 30,000 soldiers and 130,000
civilians who were sworn to as bind
ing a patriotic oath as that taken by
the soldiers themselves. It built,
wholly or in part, thirteen lines with
more than 300 miles of railroad,
shipped 174,000,000 feet of aircraft
timber for the allied air program and
opened 2,300,000,000 feet of spruce for
immediate railroad shipment. It was
just ready to double if not treble its
production record when the fighting
stopped.
xiu n iuid itucumpiisnea nas
been told from month to month by the
spruce production division’s bulletin.
Four railroad lines built and owned
entirely by the government for spruce
production, with their spurs, either
built or estimated, have an ultimate
production possibility of more than
33,000,000,000 feet of lumber, the bul
letin declares.
Of all the various branches of the
American army service, none possibly
but the flying sections of the United
States signal corps, had a larger pro
portion of volunteers than the spruce
section. War service appealed orig
inally to the men who wanted to get
out and do things; to be in front to
carry the flag; to sound the long yell;
to see the enemy first and to be the
eyes, ears, nerves of the whole army.
Rather curiously, the spruce produc
tion fell to men who had been among
the first to volunteer for extra hazard
ous service abroad.
The nation found it needed a vast
air navy. Before the war, when air
planes were merely expensive toys
in America, the aviation section had
been assigned to the signal corps on
the theory that if flying had any part
in warfare It probably would be tha
of signalling.
So the signal corps had to tak
charge of the infant branch of th
service, 6,000 miles from the sound o
a gun or the sight of a boche, am
must see it through to its presen
brawny maturity. The boys who er
listed in the signal corps to servi
with the telegraph and telephom
lines and motorcycles and spy-glassei
and pussyfoot scouting in advance o
the fighting front in France, were th<
first sent to nurse the aviation corpi
through its teething period in the
backwoods. With axe and maul am
wheelbarrow' and peavy and “tin’
pantB they worked in forests and or
hand-made logging railroads and lr
sawmills that they built in rainstorm!
almost as deadly as the bullets of the
boche. That they wet-nursed the in
fant to the point where it had a big
part in winning the war, was a tribute
to their adept ability.
Labor conditions in the lumber in
dustry were not good in the North
west at the beginning of the war.
Paid German propaganda is said tc
have been rampant, for the Hun knew
how vital it was to cripple the Ameri
can air program.
Captain Brice P. Disque, who had
retired from the regular army to ac
cept the wardenship of the Michigan
state prison, which he tried to trans
form into a model man-saving insti
tution, went back into the service
at the first call of war. He'had his
blanket-roll packed and aboard ship
for service in France when he was re
called and sent to the Northwest to
report on lumbering conditions. He
was judged to be the right man for
the titantic spruce job, was commis
sioned a colonel, later a brigadier
general, and was in charge of spruce
production throughout the war. He
assembled a staff capable to cope with
the military, legal, civil and social
problems which combined to hamper
him.
i ne Loyal Legion ot Loggers and
Lumbermen was conceived to bring
capital and labor together in one
great engine of patriotic service. Both
sides agreed to submit thir business
and social differences to the United
States army as final arbitrator; the
eight-hour day was agreed to; camp
sanitation and better living conditions
were made effective; a liberal wage
scale for all classes of labor was in
augurated. Matters at issue were dis
cussed by representatives of employer
t and employee, with General Dlsque ai
a court of last resort.
) Since the signing of the armistice
) representatives of the more than 90(
t locals voted to perpetuate the Loyal
I Legation and to invite General Dlsque
t to remain as its head. The member
- ship has been close to 130,000.
s While “spruce for the air" has beet
s the war cry, both fir and some Port
i Orford cedar have been used for air
r plane parts. A total stand of 2,300,
s 000,000 feet of spruce was estimated
i at the beginning of the work, in the
i territory served by the thirteen rail
roads projected and since built. A
total of 74,671,670 feet was removed.
At this rate the supply would have
lasted for thirty years. About an
equal amount of fir was cut for air
planes.
Lack of equipment forced the
spruce production branch to do many
things which, under other conditions,
would have been considered inef
ficient. On the Alsea Bay railroad, a
cut 100 feet deep was dug almost with
hand shovels and wheelbarrows,
where a 3team shovel would have
“eaten it up” with five per cent the
human labor cost. Miles of cuts anu
grades were so built. The great Van
couver, Wash., “cut-up” plant was
built in forty-five days of constant
wind and rain, to meet an emergency
demand. Soldiers at L. L. L. L.
woodsmen fought rain and snow in
the early 1918 logging—a most un
seasonable job.
Nearly 300 miles of railroad were
built, mostly without machinery, for
adequate machinery was not to be
(had at any price. Human labor alone
had to solve the tremendous problem
of getting to the spruce belts and get
ting out the timber. Only in some
future time of* great national stress,
according to Colonel Disque and his
staff, is it likely thaf the railroad
building record of the division ever
will be approached or equalled.
There were side features to the
work of the spruce army, as creditable
as the main endeavor. An emergency
hospital was manned by sixty officers
and men in Portland, who volunteered
to serve as nurses during the' influ
enza epidemic. They cared for 876
cases. Two of the nurses died. Re
cently the city of Portland gave
medals to’ those who engaged in this
dangerous and unselfish service.
A food conservation department
was established to standardize food
saving in the hundreds of forest
'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiin
1 CaT;Ju7°rk W,n be cont,oued
untiJ tbe '*;! *Prucer is discharged
The estimated gav|. . .
„» ng- based on known
quantit es food Berved> jg 30 00(J
tons or iwent,-five trainloadg of fOQd
worth five n,ili|0n dollars. From a
reported wastage of per cent Qf
all foods served jn the Nonhwegt
woods in AugUgti J91g the wagta
was cut to 14 per cent ,n 0ctober
The old army post at Vancouver
was headquarter for the gpruce d)
vision, though its general bu8lnegg of.
flees have beep at Portland Acre)| Qf
new buildings and tentg enIarged the
capacity of the post to 10,000 men.
Much of the camp is new, having been
cleared from the virgin forest since
the first of last year
For all that they wear an aerial
propeller as collar insignia and are
dressed in regulation khaki, perhapB
not more than one out of every ten
spruce soldiers has ever seen an air
plane "close up," any more tban be
has seen a battle, it is a strange
twist of the war that this should be
so, when they volunteered to fight.
I The war has not been more disap
pointing to the kaiser and his six extra
safe sons than the spruce warriors, so
far as getting what they expected out
of it is concerned. But the soldier
sprucers, having been assigned to
their part in a great cause, have car
ried it through like men, until the
Hun has begged lor mercy. And now,
having finished their job, they are off
for home.
Advertise in tbe Daily Times.
Auntie Keating’s
Wee
Shop”
has outgrown its original
location, and has removed
into the
WILLIAMS BUILDING
First Street
with a complete line of
Men's, Women’s and Chil
dren’s Goods.
Come In and look my
stock over.
aiiiiiiiniininiiniiaiiimaiiiiniinmniin!i]inii!miinH!iiniiiiiinn!iiinnnnnmmuiiiiii!iiiii
COAST BASEBALL LEAGUE
CONTAINS EIGHT CLUBS
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 (by Asso
ciated Press).—In the formation of an
eight-club circuit this season, the Pa
cific Coast Baseball League has
brought to fruition a plan that has
been considered, from time to time,
for more than twenty years. Propo
nents of the eight-club circuit have
maintained that the six clubs hereto
fore included in the league did not
represent a coast league. This, In
view of the fact that five of the clubs—
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland,
Vernon and Sacramento—all were Cal
ifornia cities, while the sixth club,
Salt Lake City, did not represent a
coast state.
With the admission of Portland,
Ore., and Seattle, Wash., all three Pa
cific coast states now are represented,
and the Pacific Coast league is a fact
as well as a name. With the injec
tion of an Interstate, or intersectional,
element in the contests, it is believed
by the officials of the league that an
added interest will be taken by the
public in the league’s schedule. It
also is expected that, with two North
western states represented in the
league, there wjll be a revival of base
ball interest in that section of the
country.
In framing the playing schedule,
the greatest problem consists in ar
ranging the games so they can be con
tested with a minimum of expense at
tached to traveling. In no league in
the country are the officials confront
ed with the great distances which
the teams of the coast league are re
quired to travel in order to play games.
--
MONTANA PLANNING
TO HONOR SOLDIERS.
MISSOULA, Mont., Feb. 24 (by As
sociated Press).—Plans already are
being made by the University of Mon
tana football followers here to make
the Montana-Washington State Col
lege game here next November 22 the
occasion of a home-coming day for all
former students of the university who
saw service in the military and naval
forces of the United States during the
war.
It is hoped to have reaaay for dedi
cation by that time a suitable memo
rial on the university campus to the
former Montana students who died in
the Service.
TOKENS OF RESPECT
A well conducted funeral le a
token of respect to the deceased.
Our methods of conducting a
* funeral have given us an oppor
tunity to,serve you In a manner
that will command respect. We
are equipped to serve you sat
isfactorily.
K. E. HOLDEN PARLOR
8econd Street, between
A and B Ave.
Windsor Hotel
L. Wain, Prop.
Where Yon Get
Comfort and Service
And the Bates Are Right.
Cordova Alaska
nr-:-:.i ■! i ,«■. ■■■■.*; j ■■ jt. : ii.nixa—r
i
MEET ME AT
THE
‘HORSESHOE’
383RSS
POPULAR RECREA
TION PLACE
Where we can always And »ur
friends
Finest Billiard and Pool Ta>
bias In Alaska
BE8T GRADES OF STAND
ARD BRANDS OF CIGARS
. If you do not receive your copy of
the Times regularly, please notify the
circulation manager.
“THE HOME OF GOOD CLOTHES”
Since war is over, merchandise began to drop, and we decided to do the same. Here is your chance to buy the highest
grade of Clothing obtainable at a reduction of 25 to 35 per cent. It includes everything in the house except contract
goods, such as Arrow collars, U. S. and Hippress paks.
HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR ALLURING PRICES:
1 MEN’S SUITS
I $25.00 Suits now ..$15.00
35.00 Suits now.. 26.75
40.00 Suits now.T. 30.00
50.00 Suits now. 37.50
~~ MACKINAWS
$1 3.50 and $12.00 Coats now.$ 8.50
t 16.00 Coats now. 12.00
LOGGER SHIRTS
$ 10.00 Shirts now. $7.50
8.00 Shirts now .— 6.Q0
1 1.00 Leather Vests now. 8.75
$6.00 Men’s Moccasins now.$4.00
WOOL BLANKETS
$15.00 Blankets now . $11.2$
20.00 Blankets now. 15.00
i 9.00 Blankets now. 6.75
■_ v _ _?_ _
Twenty per cent off on all Suit Cases and Bags
■ - -. .. ... 1
sox
Over 5,000 pairs Woollen
Socks at followinig prices:
75c Sox now.$ .50
$1.00 Sox now.75
1.25 Sox now.90
1.50 Sox now. 1.15
BATTERIES
2- cell Batteries now .. 20c
3- cell Batteries now .. 30c
$2.00 and $1.75 Flash
lights, with batter
ies .$1.25
All Batteries New
50c Bee, Bicycle, Free
Lance Cards, 35c, or
three for.$1.00
75c Ties now.50c
20 Per Cent Off on All
Down Quilts
$4.00 Medlicott & Stan
field’s Shirts and
Drawers now ....$3.00
MITTS
$2.00 Horsehide Mitts,
now.$1.50
75c Wool Mitss now. .55c
$3.00 Best Bib Overalls
now.$2.50
12-oz. Canvas Gloves,
per pair .20c
50c Leather - faced
Gloves, per pair .... 40c
25 Per Gent Off on all
Felt Shoes
Men’s Rubbers now $1.25
Ladies’ Rubbers now 90c
$4.50 and $5.00 Man’s
Four-buckle Arctics
now.$3.65
$6.00 Parkas now .. $4.00
25 Per dent Off on all Fur
and Cloth Caps
All Khaki Clothing
Reduced
All Union Suits Reduced,
including Silk and Wool
MEN’S SHIRTS I
$3.00 Wool Shirts now. $2.25 |
5.00 Wool Shirts now. 3.75 |
6.00 Wool Shirts now. 4.50 1
5.00 and $6.00 Silk Shirts now. 3.75 J
HATS |
$3.50 Hats now.$2.50 I
5.00 Hats now. 4.00 jj
6.0 and $7.00 Hats now. 5.00 '#
SWEATERS I
$4.00 Sweaters now ..$3.00 jj
8.00 Sweaters now. 6.00 jj
PANTS I
$ 3.00 Pants now.$2.25 I
5.00 Pants now.. 3.75 a
6.00 Pants now. 4.50 ■
10.00 Wool Riding Pants now. 7.50 ■
I NOTICE.—No charge* will be made for longer than thirty day*. All order* by mail filled promptly. I
I | McCarthy [ LAURIE BROTHERS | McCarthy [ I
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