THE BEND COMPANY
Deschutes County - Bend
December 13, 1912: "The local sawmill of the Bend company running steadily, the homesteaders who are coming into central Oregon so rapidly will have plenty of work to keep them busy this winter. The lumber company will employ about 75 men in its mill and logging camps.
This will be the first winter the mill has been kept in operation. Heretofore it has been hard to get logs to cut owing to the difficulties of driving them down the cold waters of the Deschutes river.
To relieve this, the company has just purchased a big traction engine and seven logging trucks, which will be used in transporting the logs from the woods to the mill." (The Oregon Daily Journal)
This will be the first winter the mill has been kept in operation. Heretofore it has been hard to get logs to cut owing to the difficulties of driving them down the cold waters of the Deschutes river.
To relieve this, the company has just purchased a big traction engine and seven logging trucks, which will be used in transporting the logs from the woods to the mill." (The Oregon Daily Journal)
July 30, 1913: "Employing on the average about 60 men and having an average monthly payroll of nearly $10,000, the lumbering and milling of The Bend Company is the most important industry here. The mill is located just west of the river on the south side of the town and is well equipped for a plant of its size. It cuts and dresses various grades and sizes of lumber, having a daily capacity of from 35,000 to 40,000 feet in ten hours. The following official average monthly figures for the past three months show the extent of the operations:
Logs sawed per month 4314 and lumber manufactured 1,005,800 feet. Carload shipments of lumber 24 cars or 584,628 feet. Number of men employed at mill 35, payroll $3740. The best month in exporting was April, with 32 carloads shipped.
In logging operations of the company the average number of men employed was 28 and the payroll $5705. Logs banked (that is, placed ready for milling), 6177, these containing 1,112,292 feet." (The Bend Bulletin)
Logs sawed per month 4314 and lumber manufactured 1,005,800 feet. Carload shipments of lumber 24 cars or 584,628 feet. Number of men employed at mill 35, payroll $3740. The best month in exporting was April, with 32 carloads shipped.
In logging operations of the company the average number of men employed was 28 and the payroll $5705. Logs banked (that is, placed ready for milling), 6177, these containing 1,112,292 feet." (The Bend Bulletin)
August 28, 1915: "A fire which started from sparks blown from a burning waste pile, completely destroyed the lumber yard of the Bend company on Wednesday afternoon, destroying approximately 5,000,000 feet of rough and finished lumber.
The loss is estimated at $75,000, on which there was $37,000 insurance. The fire was discovered in on pile in the eastern portion of the yard when the alarm was sounded. The flames were confined to one small pile, but were suddenly fanned by a high east wind, which took the blaze down the narrow alleys, and before the small equipment on hand could be assembled the flames were beyond control.
The fire swept with great rapidity over the finished lumber, and with a change in the high wind, almost every part of the yard was quickly covered by the flames. More than 600 men fought the fire without being able to get it under control at any time. In an effort to check the fire, piles of high grade finished lumber were dynamited.
The Bend company's sawmill was not damaged, although it is situated close to the yard, the wind blowing the flames away from the mill. For a time it looked as though the timber belt adjoining the yard was in danger. The fire will have no effect upon the construction of the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber company's sawmill, of which the Bend company is an allied corporation." (The Evening Herald)
The loss is estimated at $75,000, on which there was $37,000 insurance. The fire was discovered in on pile in the eastern portion of the yard when the alarm was sounded. The flames were confined to one small pile, but were suddenly fanned by a high east wind, which took the blaze down the narrow alleys, and before the small equipment on hand could be assembled the flames were beyond control.
The fire swept with great rapidity over the finished lumber, and with a change in the high wind, almost every part of the yard was quickly covered by the flames. More than 600 men fought the fire without being able to get it under control at any time. In an effort to check the fire, piles of high grade finished lumber were dynamited.
The Bend company's sawmill was not damaged, although it is situated close to the yard, the wind blowing the flames away from the mill. For a time it looked as though the timber belt adjoining the yard was in danger. The fire will have no effect upon the construction of the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber company's sawmill, of which the Bend company is an allied corporation." (The Evening Herald)
September 1, 1915: "Approximately five million feet of lumber, the dry kilns, sheds, tramways and several adjacent houses were reduced to ashes Wednesday afternoon by the fire which swept the lumber yard of The Bend Company. The loss is estimated to be about $70,000. $35,000 of which is covered by insurance." (The Bend Bulletin)