HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



Guilders of Lumber History 



(See Portrait Supplement.) 



In tliis special Cincinnati issue of Hard- 

 wood Record, it is timely that particular 

 reference be made to that city's foremost 

 lumberman,' Clinton Crane. Mr. Crane is 

 not only a builder of lumber history in the 

 particular section where his gigantic opera- 

 tions are carried on, but is also one of the 

 chief, if not the foremost, hardwood lum- 

 ber producer in the United States. While 

 Cincinnati boasts of a number of men of 

 note in hardwood affairs, Clinton Crane, a 

 striking and lifelike picture of whom forms 

 the supplement of this issue, is preemi- 

 nentl.y foremost. His life history is closely 

 interwoven with that of the Ohio valley 

 during the past thirty years. He is recog- 

 nized as a man of forcefulness, clear per- 

 ception and almost unerring judgment. 

 These attributes, combined with his in- 

 defatigable energy, have placed him in the 

 front rank in the lumber industry of this 

 country. 



Clinton Crane was born on a farm three 

 miles southeast of Eaton in Preble county, 

 Ohio, October 11, 1844. His father died in 

 the old Black Bear Hotel, in the fall of 

 1845, while on a business trip to Cincin- 

 nati. His mother continued to live upon 

 the farm, operating it herself. Here Clin- 

 ton spent his early childhood, attending 

 school during the winter months, and work- 

 ing on the farm during the summer. When 

 just past eleven years of age, in the fall 

 of 1855, he first began to earn money by 

 buying cattle, sheep and hogs at Eaton, 

 and selling them in Cincinnati at the old 

 Brighton stockyards. 



In the fall of 1857 he stocked with hogs 

 and sheep the Sam Smith slaughter house 

 at John and Findlay streets, Cincinnati. 

 He sold his product on the Cincinnati mar- 

 kets and disposed of the tallow to the 

 soap factory of Procter & Gamble, at that 

 lime located at Central avenue and York 

 street. 



In the spring of 1861 Mr. Crane removed 

 to Grand Prairie, northwest of LaFayette, 

 in Benton county, Indiana, where he estab- 

 lished a cattle ranch, handling and selling 

 cattle for three years, and wintering at 

 Peru, Ind., continuing in the stock busi- 

 ness until the fall of 1S64. 



In the spring of 1865 Mr. Crane entered 

 the log business in Indiana with his 

 brother, W. B. Crane, and continued until 

 the fall of the year 1870, when he formed 

 a partnership with James O. Cole of Peru, 

 Ind., in the lumber business. Here he 

 continued until the spring of 1880, when 

 he went to Cincinnati, on .Tune 15, and 

 started in the sawmill and lumber business 

 in the East End, his present location. 



lu February of 1894, the partnership of 



■ Nuntber LXXXV 

 CLINTON CRANE 



Cole & Crane was dissolved and an incor- 

 poration under the laws of Indiana was 

 formed. This was known as C. Crane & 

 Co., James O. Cole and C. Crane being the 

 principal owners. 



Cole & Crane, as a partnership, own large 

 tracts of timber land in West Virginia, 

 partly in fee and partly only stumpage 

 rights, in all about 300,000 acres. The land 

 is located on the Guyandotte River, in 

 Logan, Wyoming, Mingo and Raleigh 

 counties, and 60,000 acres on Little Cole. 



In Cincinnati C. Crane & Co. operate 

 three big sawmills on the banks of the Ohio 

 River, the operation stretching for a mile 

 along the river front. This is one of the 

 sights which is never overlooked by visitors 

 to the Queen City. The photographic view 

 presented with this issue was taken espe- 

 cially for Hardwood Record from the hill- 

 tojjs in Eden Park, which overlooks the 

 great plant. 



Three plants, which operate seven band 

 mills, are located on this propert}', together 

 with a large planing mill. The capacity of 

 the plant is 250,000 feet per day of ten 

 hours, the mills being equipped with elec- 

 tric lights, so that in busy times two turns 

 are operated, when 500,000 feet of hard- 

 woods are cut per day. The mills are 

 equipped with the latest improved ma- 

 chinerj', and with every labor-saving device 

 which will expedite the successful opera- 

 tion of the plant. The great yards carry 

 on stick from 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 feet 

 of lumber. The stock at present aggre- 

 gates more than 40,000,000 feet, and con- 

 sists of oak, poplar, chestnut, ash and wal- 

 nut. There is also a good stock of West 

 Virginia hemlock and basswood. The yards 

 are equipped with numerous switches and 

 side tracks, as the Pennsylvania Railroad 

 runs directly through the plant. The yards 

 can load out from twelve to twenty cars 

 per day. The retail trade of the concern 

 handled by wagon-load locally reaches 

 about 150,000 feet per day. 



C. Crane & Co. are members of the Hard- 

 wood Manufacturers ' Association of the 

 United States. James O. Cole is president 

 and C. Crane is secretary-treasurer and 

 general manager of the house. 



Mr. Crane says the sawmill end of the 

 business has not been particularly profit- 

 able for the past two years on account of 

 the expense attached to getting timber 

 out of the forest, high wages and increased 

 price of stumpage. The timber purchased 

 by Cole & Crane years ago has been very 

 profitable, showing even greater profits 

 than was expected at the time it was ac- 

 quired. 



There are logs enough in the Ohio River 

 at present to run the plants at Cincinnati 



until Christmas, with about two-thirds of 

 next year's cut on the banks of the Guyan- 

 dotte River, ready for the spring run. On ac- 

 count of having a heavy stock of logs on 

 hand this spring the firm has not arranged 

 for a large crop for next year. 



C. Crane & Co. own sufficient timber to 

 run their mills for twenty years, all of it 

 \irgiu growth in West Virginia. In fact, 

 it is the finest poplar, oak and walnut ever 

 logged in that state, as it stands ten to 

 twenty miles back of the main floating 

 streams at the head of creeks and on rich 

 coves, where the finest [)oplar and walnut 

 grow. Heretofore it has been considered too 

 expensive to build and maintain tram roads 

 so far into the woods. About 100,000 acres 

 of the timber land owned by the concern 

 contains some of the best beds of coal in 

 West Virginia. 



Clinton Crane is a big man, physically 

 and intellectually. He is thoroughly demo- 

 cratic and mingles on terms of familiarity 

 with his humblest employe. A visit to Mr. 

 Crane is a matter requiring no formality; 

 there is no liveried sentinel at his office 

 door who requires the presentation of a 

 card to gain access to his presence. Dig- 

 nity is an unknown element in his make- 

 up and he does not in the least resent be- 

 ing called "Clint" by any of his famil- 

 iars. The amount of work of which he is 

 capable is astonishing to the average man. 

 He rises early, and often he can be found 

 about his mills or yards at six o'clock in 

 the morning and rarely closes his day's 

 work before six or seven in the evening. 

 He carries his years well, and appears ten 

 years younger than he really is. He is a 

 man of marked characteristics, strong 

 prejudices, and decided personality. While 

 regarded as a man of the strictest integ- 

 rity, whose word is as good as his bond, 

 he has always been credited with a shrewd 

 trading ability. He makes close bargains, 

 but if by any chance he gets the "hot" 

 end of a deal, he laughs good-humoredly 

 and "takes his medicine." 



The great and varied interests which Mr. 

 Crane handles would be appalling to the 

 average business man when handled on the 

 lines that he employs. C. Crane & Co. is 

 essentially a one-man institution. Mr. 

 Crane is absolutely czar. He personally 

 handles every detail from making the 

 plans for buying a 50,000-acre tract of tim- 

 ber, logging a hundred million feet annu- 

 ally, getting this immense quantity of tim- 

 ber to his mills, the details of the manu- 

 facture, and the employment of labor, 

 down to the selling of a single carload of 

 lumber. All these things come within his 

 personal care and these transactions are 

 often handled without contract or memo- 



