COQUILLE MILL & MERCANTILE CO.
Coquille
April 9, 1914: "The long struggle which D. D. Pierce and his associates of the Coquille Mill and Mercantile Co. have made to keep the mill running and work out from under the burden of financial difficulties has come to an end and the affairs of the company have been thrown into the hands of the court. The crash which for some time has seemed inevitable was precipitated when the Nelson Iron Works filed a suit and attached the lumber in the yard. Other creditors immediately began filing suits attachments and the matter bid fair to become a bad muddle. Then the Johnson Lumber Co., which holds a mortgage for $3000 on the property, acting through Attorney L. A. Liljeqvest, asked for a receiver to take charge of the affairs of the company. W. D. Newton, who has been foreman of the mill, was named as receiver yesterday and is now in charge of the property. Some of the heavier creditors are C. T. Skeels, C. E. McCurdy and Aasen Bros. The two banks of this city also have protected claims. The Lyons estate has a mortgage for $6500. The workmen have claims for wages but they are protected by the lumber in the yards. Altogether, the indebtedness is said to total about $36,000, while the assets may be estimated from $20,000 to $25,000. While not yet definitely arranged, it is the desire to operate the mill under the receivership and try to make the property pay off the indebtedness. The outlook for this is not encouraging, as the state of the lumber market makes outside shipment a losing game. The last two cargoes shipped to San Francisco failed to pay the cost of the logs at the mill by $1.06 a thousand.
This city has reason to deeply regret the suspension of operations of the mill, and much sympathy is felt for D. D. Pierce, who has made a hard struggle against adverse circumstances to keep the mill running, being also a heavy loser by the failure.
The closing of the mill interferes with the plans of the Oregon Power Co. in the matter of fuel, but Manager McKenna says that the people need have no fear of an interruption of service. Coal was procured from the Peart mine yesterday, and a supply of slab wood from the Smith mills was to be received today.---Herald." (Myrtle Point Enterprise)
This city has reason to deeply regret the suspension of operations of the mill, and much sympathy is felt for D. D. Pierce, who has made a hard struggle against adverse circumstances to keep the mill running, being also a heavy loser by the failure.
The closing of the mill interferes with the plans of the Oregon Power Co. in the matter of fuel, but Manager McKenna says that the people need have no fear of an interruption of service. Coal was procured from the Peart mine yesterday, and a supply of slab wood from the Smith mills was to be received today.---Herald." (Myrtle Point Enterprise)