26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Aujrust 25, 1921 



The Late J. W. Wells 



John Walter Wells Dies in Chicago 



One cif till' lilRK'-st lijiiM-PK In 

 the lumber Imlustry of the 

 Lake States, Jdlin Walter 

 Wells, president of the J. W. 

 Wells Lumber Company, Me- 

 nominee, Mich., illed In Chi- 

 cago the morn Inn of AuKust 

 17, at the Presbyterian hos- 

 pital, after an operation for 

 stomach trouble. Mr. Wells 

 was 73 years old at the time 

 of his death. Mrs. Wells and 

 two of his sons, A. C. and 

 R. W. Wells, were at the bed- 

 side In his last moments. 



The funeral was helil in 

 Menominee on August 21) from 

 the Presbyterian church, of 

 which Mr. Wells was one of 

 the most active members. 



.T. W. Wells' career as a lum- 

 ber manufacturer was a nota- 

 ble one and his Interests in the 

 Upper Peninsula and northern 

 Wisconsin were extensive. Mr. 

 Wells was a native of Daven- 

 port, la., and was the son of 

 Ale.xander Wells, of an early 

 New England family, and 

 Julia (Carter) Wells, of Cava- 

 lier Virginian stock. After 

 graduating from a commercial college, Mr. Wells in 1869 entered the 

 employ of the Menonnnee River Hoom Company of Menominee as book- 

 keeper, lie renmlned in the office only one season and spent the next 

 three years in various positions, which widely diversified his knowledge of 

 the lumber business. With this knowli'dge of the industry from both the 

 office and mill standpoint, Mr. Wells began to look about for timber lands 

 for himself and prospected profitably in the forests of the Menominee 

 river region. In 1,S7G he put up the second sawmill to be established in the 

 Hay Shore lumber district of Menominee. The year following he partici- 

 pate,! in the organization of W. C. Culbertson & Co., and was elected vice- 

 president and general nmnager. This company later became the Girard 

 Lumber Company, now at Dunbar, Wis., of which Mr. Wells was president 

 at the time of his death. The mill was built at this place in 1SS.8. Mr 

 Wells was one of the largest holders in the Bird & Wells Lund.er Companv, 

 which was organized in 1887 and was taken over by the ,1. W. Wells Lum- 

 ber Company in 1911. This company was organized in 1903 with the pur- 

 chase of the Menominee mill of the Oirard Lumber Company. In 1S99 

 Mr. Wells aciinired an interest in the I. Stephenson Company of Wells, 

 Mich., and became vice president of that company. He succeeded to the 

 general managership of the company, and it was during his administration 

 that a large part of the present huge plant was built. 



Mr. Wells' activities extended to nearly every important commercial or 

 industrial undertaking in his district. Among these were the Ford River 

 Lumber Company, the White Pine Lumber Company, the Llovd Manu- 

 facturing Company, tbi. Wisconsin & Northwestern Railway ' and the 

 Menominee River Sugar Company, of which he was president when he died. 

 Mr. Wells retired as general manager of the I. Stephenson Company in 

 1907 because he was then largely interested in operations in Ontario. Of 

 late years he had been curtailing his personal activities in many of the 

 concerns in which he was interested. For the last few years the actual 

 management of the ,T. W. Wells Lumber Company had been in the hands 

 of his son, A. C. Wells. 



Mr. Wells was a public-spirited citizen, and his private affairs never 

 became so pressing that he could not devote time to civic enterprises. He 

 served Menominee several terms as aldernuin and was three times mayor. 

 His interests in charities were considerable, and he had always been par- 

 ticularly concerned in the welfare of deserving boys and young men. The 

 D. A. R. Boys' Club of Menominee is today a memorial to bis philanthropic 

 Interest in boys. He financed this club five years ago and It now has a 

 membership of 700 boys. It is said that as a result of the work of this 

 club Menominee's Juvenile Court has gone out of business. He was active 

 In Masonry and was a Knight Templar and Shriner. He was also a mem- 

 ber of the Rotary Club of Menominee. » 



In his immediate fandly Mr. Wells Is survived bv his widow and five 

 children, as follows: Mrs. C. H. Small. Menominee, Mich., wife of the 

 secretary of the J. W. Wells laimber Company ; Daniel Wells of Detroit, 

 Mich., vice-president of the Thompson-Wells Lumber Company ; A. C 

 Wells, vice-president and general manager of the J. W. Wells Lumber Com- 

 pany ; Mrs. Arthur Walsh of Houghton, Mich., and R. W. Wells, president 

 of the Automatic Welding Company of -Menominee, Mich. 



Huntington Mills Destroyed 



Fire destroyed the Ditzler & Schoek Mill :,| Huntington, Ind.. and several 

 thousand feet of lumber in dry kiln the night of Aug. 4. The loss was 

 about $12,000. partially covered bv Insurance 



Fire at Morgan Liunber Company 

 I'lre in the power plan „f tl„. Morgan I.uMiber Company, Columbia 

 avenue, Charleston, W. Va., did n,rAM worth of damage on August 2. 

 This was the third flre the company has suffered in seven years, the first 

 of which totally destroyed the plant and the se<uiHl the dry kilns. 



„„ ,. , Parkersburg Company Gets Big Raft 



I he larkersliurg Lumber Company at Parkcrslmrg. W. Va., has Just 

 receiv.Ml another large and valuable raft of hardwood timl)er from its 

 operations in Tyler county, W. Va., in the hills ba.k from the Ohio river. 

 The raft came down from Sarrlis in tow of a gasoline boat. The tract 

 from which the yellow poplar, oak and other hardwood timber in the raft 

 was taken is extremely dilflcult to get at. The companv set up a portable 

 mill on the tract and cuts the logs into convenient lengths before hauling 

 them over a divide to the river. This is the second large raft the company 

 has brought down since it began cutting on the tract. 



500,000 Feet of Lumber Burned 



lire destroyed ab,,iii half a million feet of hardw I piled in the yard 



near the mills of J. J. King of Huddleston, Va.. on July 31. The loss was 

 from *12,000 to .fl,5,000, partially covered by insurance. The fire was 

 started by a bolt of lightning during a storm which passed over the town 

 early the morning of the fire. 



,. „ r... Huntington, W. Va., Inspector Resigns 



1'. 11. Wheeler, deputy National inspector, hitherto in charge of the 

 Huntington, W. Va., district, has resigned. For the present applications 

 for inspection service in that district should be addressed either to Robert 

 L. Orr, P. O. Box 527, Elkins, W. Va., or A. S. Orr, 208 N. Sprague avenue, 

 Pittsburgh, Pa., this depending, of course, on whichever of these points 

 is most convenient and available to the member concerned. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



Belleville Lumber Comp.any, Belleville, III., burned out ; loss $100,000. 



At .Mishawaka, Ind., Russel Downey bought a controlling interest in the 

 Franks Lumber Company. 



At Barbourville, Ky.. the Barbourville Planing Mill Company was incor- 

 porated ; capital $25,000 ; incorporators W. B. Riley, C. C. Smith W G 

 Riley. ' 



At Salem, Ohio, the Wilhelm Lumber Company was incorporated with 

 a caiutal of $100,000. Incorporators J. C. Devine. A. M. Wilhelm E E 

 Dyball, M. C. Anderson. . • ■ ■ 



The Lanz Furniture Company, Allegan, Mich., is now operating under 

 the style of the Adawagam Furniture Company. 



The Lumber Sales Corporation has been incorporated at Kansas City, Mo. 



The Thompson-Ross Lumber Company. Fa.vetteville. Ark., has changed 

 its name to that of the Arkansas Tie & 'Hmber Company. 



The Singer Phonograph & Furniture Company h,is succeeded the Menin 

 Furniture Company at Camden. N. J. 



The New England Chair & Furniture Manufacturing Company will manu- 

 tacture furniture novelties, toys and chairs at Northboro, Mass. and has 

 been incorporated at $50,000. 



A. (iuarino, L. Christen and A. Salvatore have incorporated the Royal 

 Art Empire Company at New York City; authorized capital $20 000' will 

 manufacture furniture. 



CHICAGO 



T. E. Jones of the F. E. Dooley Lumber Company, Memphis, was in Chi- 

 cago the second week o£ this month. 



Charles H. Barnaby of Green Castle, Ind., visited the trade in this city 

 on August 10. 



Frank llandeyside. sjUes manager for the Chas. W. Fish Lumber Com- 

 pany, visited Roy Smith, manager of the firm's branch office in Chicago 

 on August 11. For about three weeks previous to his visit to Chicago 

 Mr. llandeyside was laid up with a badly scalded leg. 



R. (J. Haxton, owner of a hardwood saw mill in Greenville Miss was 

 a recent visitor in this city. 



A. L. Ruth of the G. W. Jones Lumber Companv spent the end of the 

 second week in August at Saugatuck, Mich., with Mrs. Ruth who was 

 visithig friends in a cottage on the lake. On his way back to Chicago 

 Mr. Ruth, stopped over in Grand Rapids to call on the trade there. 



Joe Thompson of the Thompson-Katz Lumber Companv, Memphis, vice- 

 president of the Lumbermen's Club of Memphis, arrived in Chicago on 

 August 18 to meet Mrs. Thompson, who was enroute South after having 

 spent a month at Lake Geneva, Wis. While here Mr. Thompson discussed 

 the petition for lower rates which the Southern Hardwood Traffic Asso- 

 ciation has filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission. He said the 

 southern manufacturers are pretty confident they will win the suit, for 

 there is no logic to sustain the confiscatory rates the railroads are now 

 charging. 



F. W. King of the King Mill & Lumber Company. Paducah. Ky.. was 



