Page 8 THE TRIBUNE, WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. Thursday, September 17, 1953 Plywood Manufacture Key Manufacture of plywood is rapidly ry in the Quesnel area and at the same time becoming the key ind it is a development of considerable economic significance for the entire Cariboo, for it now creates payrolls in the Macalister and Williams Lake dis ricts. Biggest single boost came with the estab] ment of the Western Ply- Woods (Cariboo) Ltd. mill at Ques- nel, but even before that the company provided employment both directly and indirectly for a substantial num- ber of workmen. Western Plywoods Ltd., parent company of the operation now located | in Quesnel, first became interestea in the Cariboo-in 1944, as a result of @ provinee-Wwide search for an area ie would yield birch in commer- 1 quantities sufficient to maintain | their mill in the Vancouver area. | YOUNGEST MANUFACTURER | Youngest of all the B.C. plywood manufacturers, Western Plywood Ltd., at that time was specializing in the production of bireh ana cot- tonwood veneer. Mr. A. L. Patchett, now senior member of A. L. Patchett & Co. Ltd., Was engaged by the new company to | log birch peelers in the Quesnel area | jn 1944 and two years later the firm expanded its operation to include the logging of cottonwood. This came under the charge of Mr. Ian Mac- Queen who is now forest manager of the company’s widespread interests in the Central Interior. Bulk of the cottonwood shipped to Vancouver came from a limit located at Long Bar on the west jis Fraser River about six north of Quesnel. In 1949 it was decided that interior fir should also be utilized and this was logged from a stand some 12 miles south of the town and also on the west shore. In the initial opera- tion all Cariboo fir was used as filler material in the Vancouver plant. Log dumps were established at two points in Quesnel and gondola cars part of southbound PGE trains. When the decision was reached that a plant should be erected in Quesnel log shipments tapered off until today they have ceased entirely from Quesnel. Instead, supplies of interior peeiers are now being rout- ed to the coast from Macalister and Williams Lake. Progress at Quesnel was rapid from the summer of 1950 onward. It was in July of that year that sod was bro- ken at the site of the plant now lo- cated about three miles_ south of town. WORKED THROUGH WINTER Baynes-Manning Ltd., the con- tracting firm engaged for construc- tion of the building, shattered all precedent by continuing construction righ through the winter months with such success that the first veneer was ARAGON * Evan B.C. Records by B.C. Artists * Heray Reagan RECORDS Kemp on month site was started. Planned first as a veneer mill, to supply the Vancouver plant and te po-sibly provide a supply for export; peeled seven January fter the new plant was soon‘enlarged to produce finished plywood. Despite a strike in the summer of 1951 whieh tied up operations for six weeks, plans for the installation of a bonding press were hurri-d along and the mill w: producing plywood ilate t year | ce then capacity has been en- larged by the installotion of a second ; loaded with peelers became a familiar | !ath and dryer unit and the mill now rates three full shifts five days a A plent shut-down this sum- | mer to afford staff holidays and allow a general overhaul put production behind and the mill has been work- ing extra shifts each weekend since then to get back on schedule. OVER 300 MEN | From the handful of men employ- ed only in logging operations, when the company first ventured into the Cariboo less than ten years ago, the staff has grown to the point thai over 200 are now in the company employ | and it has become the largest single operation in the entire Caribou. Last spring a long term labor con- tract was signed with the IWA which ensu uninterrupted operations for a period of three years. It is the first | contract of its kind ever signed in B.C. and at the time of signing was hailed by both maagement and Union as a great step forward in the field of labor-management relations. Besides being the operators of the only plywood mill in the interior of B.C., Western Plywoods was also the first company to gain a forest man-| agement license in the interior of the! province. HIGHLINE INSTALLED Most recent development has been | the installation of a cable system to ndustry In North Cariboo Port logs across from the manage- ment license area to the west shore of the river, thereby saving approxi- mately 21 miles a trip in hauling. An all-weather road from the horthern cable cros ing was construe- ted th miner and is now reaay for use. The operation at Quesnel has, in the space of a little more than two mushroomed to the point where it is actually larger than that of the parent plant in Vancouver. There cottonwood and bireh ply- wood is still being produced in addi- tion to standard fir plywood sheeted with coast veneer. Material from the logs shipped in from Macalister and Williams Lake is still being used as filler. John Bene, president of the com- pany makes no secret of the fact that further expansion is planned. Cur- rently the company is building a new wmill that will operate in conjune- tion with the plywood mill. But a sawmill is not the ultimate answer. Waste from both the sawmill and the plywood plant is a vexing problem and eventually there may be some addition which will be able to utilize this waste. Meanwhile the plant of Western Plywood (Cariboo) Ltd., seems to be something like “Topsy.” It just “growed” and its keeps on growing, providing more and more jobs for Cariboo’s increasing population. Forestry Is Life Blood Forestry is the life blood cf the province of British Columbia and must remain so as far into the fu- ture as we can see. You see the truth of this statement from the following fact: For every acre of land in Brit- ish Columbia which is suitable for agriculture, there are sixteen acres not suitable for agriculture but yet capable of producing commercial COYLE QUALITY BATTERIES The Leader In British Columbia For More Than 30 Ye Suppyling Storage Batteries for tle Logging and Sawmili Industries COYLE BATTERIES LTC. 8650 Barnard St. KErr, (571 Vancouver 14, B.C. Look For “Made in B.C.” -Products Help yourself to a, g’eater future when you support home industry Some B.C. Products You'll Find In Our Store HEAVY WORK BOOTS & LOGGERS B Be Piere Paris - Dayton - Johnson Heavy All-Wool Cruiser Coats, Jackets & Shirts Yukon Sleeping Bags Waterproof Clothing by “PIONEER BRAND” Jones Tent & Awning Summer and Winter Caps and Commercial Caps By Western Cap Co. Ltd. OTHER PRODUCTS MADE IN B.C. Sport Shirts -- Coats - Jackets Dress and Work Socks Denim and ‘Whipcord Work Clothes swing logs across the Fraser River | timber. (Incidentally, the total area to feed the plant on the east shore. [ot forest land and agricultural lana The highline saves miles in truck | is only one-third of the area of Brit-| haul daily and within the course of ish Columbia. The remaining area of | the next few weeks a similar querg-/ the: pgofince is made up of lakes, tion will be put in service at the head. swamp, /serub; mountaih, and barren * Buddy Reynolds Wilkinson’s Radio: & Electric Borkowski’s “car of the Cottonwood Canyon to trans-| areas. _ WESTERN PLYWOOD (CARIBOO) LIMITED QUESNEL, B.C. : Manufacturers of Structurply’ and Cariboo Sheathing % Inland Douglas Fir Waterproof Exterior Grade As a local B.C. Industry employing 600 British Columbians, we are 100% behind the B.C. Products Bureau’s efforts to build and maintain employment for our British Columbia‘citizens. We urge all citizens to turn out for the big B.C. PRODUCTS DISPLAY at the ElKs Hall, Williams Lake Friday, September 25, 7:15 p.m. “po HEAD OFFICE: - WESTERN PLYWOOD COMPANY LIMITED 900 East Kent St, Vancouver Manufacturers of Fine Plywoods with the unique balanced. construction %* Genuine Sliced African Mahogany * Northern Poplar : ss * Douglas Fir (P.M.B.C. Ext.) : * Comb Grain White Oak %* Western White Birch % Plywood Manufacturers Association of British Columbia Exterior Grade Buy B.C. Products Build B.C. Payrolls