Phil Weyerhaeuser by Charles E. Twining

Author:Charles E. Twining
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2017-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

A Time for Tree Farming

As had become the custom, Bob Wolf and Phil received Christmas messages from Dr. Schenck, although the 1939 greeting came in card form, with personalized handwritten thoughts attached. Bob inquired of Phil just what his message from the German forester meant: “Try and find flowers at the edge of the desert.” Phil assumed that their friend was expressing his unhappiness in a manner that would pass censorship. Herr Schenck’s rationalizations of previous years were not repeated.

Far more cheering were the birthday greetings to her “Philip” from Aimee Lyford, now an elementary school principal in Elgin, Illinois. Almost forty years had passed since Miss Aimee had joined the family at Lake Nebagamon, and she recalled those days with fondness. Elizabeth wrote to her at least twice a year, and Aimee expressed pleasure at having received “Christmas greetings from all you three children—you are still children to me.”

At the end of January 1940, Phil reported to the Timber Company directors that the final steps had been accomplished, and the company now had a controlling interest in the Washington Veneer Company of Olympia “on a basis which we believe will make it a good investment.” Business had generally improved far faster than even the more optimistic projections, and the cash balance grew substantially. Laird Bell foresaw trouble in this and suggested that they consider “putting it away in governments where it doesn’t look so big and tempting.” Phil interpreted this as an indirect objection to the plywood deal, responding, “it may be that too much money on hand provokes attempts to spend it—and evidently you consider the plywood venture in that category.” But Phil assured him that he was convinced it was “a good deal, and hope that you will think so, too.”

Early April was a busy time. C. S. Chapman, the first graduate of the Yale Forestry School and chief forester with the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company since 1924, died suddenly on April 3, his sixtieth birthday. Negotiations were under way to purchase some 36,000 acres of Northern Pacific land for $400,000. As Phil explained to Uncle Fred, this was a “fine area of reproduction,” and the ownership would “give us the logical preference in acquiring intermingled sections of Forest Service timber.” It was located conveniently to “our Upper Deschutes railroad,” and was a logical investment in every way. Within the week Phil had received word from all members of the Executive Committee, all in support of the purchase, and the thing was accomplished.

The war had first been felt in a direct fashion in the shipping end of the industry. Bill Peabody had been approached by brokers representing the British Ministry of Supply, and in early March Phil heard directly from a representative of J. F. Rafailovich and Company, whose cable address was ONEMIND. The message was short and to the point: “to find out whether you would entertain an offer to sell the S.S. Pennsylvania, or any of your steamers.” As Phil would admit to Bill Peabody,

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