Frank Connolly Visits Philippine Mills and Makes First-Hand Report---'!(/as Royally Received and Entertained

If you \vant to knotr, about conditions in the lrhilippinc Islands, rvith particular regarcl to the lumber situation 6ys1 fhslg-ask Frank J. Connolly, President of Westerrr Hardrl.ood Lnmber Company, of Los Angeles. He returned to Los Angeies on December 2nd, after one of the most interesting and opportune luml>er investigatir-rg trips anv man ever macle. that covered almost all the lumlter manufacturing territories of the Philippines, u'ith an adcled look-see at the siluation in Tokvo, Japan.

Sir.rce there is an armr- of people lvho are intensly interested in the l'hilippines and their lumber production, THE CALIFORNL\ I-UN[BER l,{IIRCHANT intervieu,ed Nlr. Connolly on his return in order to give our reaclers a ruu-dou'n on his tri1l.

IIe left Los Angeles by plane on C)ctober 23rcl, flen'to San Francisco n'here he changed to l)hilippine Airlirres, which carried him on a DC-(r, to Nfanila, in the Philippine Islands. He stayed 29 days in the Islands, then flen' to Tok,yo, stayed there one u'eek, and then flerl' to Alaska by Northrvestern .\irlines, ancl arrivecl back in I-os Angeles on December 2nd, af.ter a most amazing trip. I)uring his D days in the Philippines he n'as the guest of the Government at all times, and he rvas royally rvelcomed and entertained bv evervone from President Quirino dorvn. Everyr,vhere he rvent he u'as met .ivith official courtesy and personal hospitality on the part of Government oflicials ; and his entire itinerary \yas arranged by the forestry department of the Irhilippine Government. Florencino Tamesis, Director of the Bureau of Forestry of the Philippines. accompanied and conducted Mr. Connolly on his entire trip over that mighty archipelago.

This rvas no childs-plav, this visit to sal'mills in all parts of that mighty groul) oI islands. Wherever there u,ere air fields, they traveled by plane. When there rvas not air transportation available, they used rvhatever modes of travel pls5snted themselves, ocean steamers, river boats, trains, automobiles, trucks, and in one case a considerable trip by u'ater in a big dugout canoe. They encountered rnuch rain, and rvinci, and bad u'eather during the trip, 'rvhich added to their difficulties. Yet their Philippine hosts made all plans and arrangements. and all in all tlid a magnificent job of sho.rving the Philippine forests and the Philippine milling industry to their guest.

\\lith Nfr. Connolly and Forestry Director Tamesis orr this trip rvent Col. A. G. Jacobson, of Manila, rvho represents \\restern Hardrtood Lumber Company in the Islands, making his heaclquarlers in tl.re ofllce they opened in NIanily a little over a year ago. A large and interesting voluure might be u'ritten about Col. Jacobson. Heis a graduate of the College of Forestry of the University of Michigan, ancl before the recent u'ar he was a manufacturer of hardrvood lumber in the State of Arkansas. During the t'ar he u'as a Lieut. Colonel under General MacArthur, commanding Battalion No. 1002, a Forestry Battalion. He landed u'ith his battalion rvith MacArthur on the Islancl of Le,vte l.hen the Magnificent N{acArthur returned from Australia, and proceeded to do valiant service to his departrnent. One of the first moves rvas to take 34 of his men to Fabrica on the Island of Negros, to try and save the big sau'mill plant of the Insular Lumber Company at that place. The Japs rvere destroying every industry from u'hich the Americans were driving them. Col. Jacobson made a hard drive to get to the mill before the Japs could burn it. Due to misfortunes in transDortation.thev arrived

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WAREHOUSE STOCK of hardwood and Douglas fir plyuoods. And thot's not oll you'll find in our worehouse. There's o slock of Simpson Insuloting Boord, Formico, ond Mosonile Brond Producls. The best in their fields thot's why we corry them olong with "the besl in plywood." too late. The Japs had word of their approacl.r and had burned the great plant with the exception of the planing mill facilities u'hich were on fire .ivhen the Americans arrived. but they put out the flames and saved that part of the plant. The rest of the biggest harcln'ood mill on earth r,vas destroyed.

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When Col. Jacobsolr g()t out of the arn-ry l.re came back to the Unitecl States for a short tir.ne, and then rvent back to the Islands to o;ten the \\restern Hardrvood Lumber Company office there. Not onl1- is he a brryer and business representative for his employer, but. as an expert hardrvood r.nanufacturer, he l.ras been able to render specialized advice and assistance to the prostrate sau'r.nill industry in its efforts to rebuild throughout the Islancls. Manl' people have gone into the salvmill business in the Tslands since the u'ar rvho had no previous experience in lumber making. ar-rcl rvho are therefore .rvoe{ull}' short of the kr.rolr.-horv re<luired in that business. Col. Jacobson has been of great help to such people.

So he arranged for this specialll'conducted visit of lirank Connolly to the Philippines. Follorving the close of the n'ar the U. S. Armv u,ent to u'ork to rehabilitate as far and fast :rs possible the prostrate lumber industry, and in dciing so they introcluced and pnt into commission about 110 I)iesel clriven circular sau'mills. Nlost of those mills are nou' in private use under private ou.nership, and practically all the sar'.mills of the l)hilippines are still made up of these former aLrnry mills. Progress is being made. Ifere and there sau'r.nills are being nroclernized. Some are preparing to put st(ram po\\'er back in to supplant the I)iesels. Some are installing other nrachinery for making better lumber. I-unrber cut on one of these circulars is made u'ith a very r'ieelt kerf, l'ith mtrch loss of valrrable u,ood, and with a huge accrlllrrllation of sarvdust.

Xfr. Connolly found at nearlv all the mills he visiterl that their main problem u'as getting rid of their sal.dust, crlgings, ancl trimrnings. Burning Diesel arrd using no steanr, thev have no use for this sau'mill \\'aste. ancl have to scr to great difticulty and expense to haul it al'av frorrr thc mill. He arriverl at the conclusion that it \\'oul(l be jrrst about as cheap to install stezlm p()\ver plants as to keep orr hauling an,av the r.nill 'n'aste. "At one mill he sa\\' a most unusttal sight. A great Carabao lrrrll was use(l to haul thc sawdust from the rnain sas-. The r-ehicle used u-as a rlrrgout canoe tl-rat had been crrt in tt'o and made irrto a rr'l-rcclless rvagon r.r'hich rvas fille<l u'ith sau'drrst ancl dragge<l ar,vay by this porver{ul l>east. At the nrill edge the loatl was dumpe(l on the ground, and tl.ren a. pou'erful bulldozcr' came along and pushed the san'dust still farther a\\r:r_v. So here was a Carabao beast and a modern bulldozer conr' bining their efforts to free this mill from s:rrvdust au<l nrill waste.

In the Philippine Mahogany forests there are threc rliiferent textures of r.rood, the hard, the meclium, an(t thc soft wood. One of his missions on this trip rvas to discover where the better and harder uroods \vere to be foun<I. He considers the softer type much less valuable anrl useful. He sarv magnificent forests in all parts of the Islands. The most impressive was one norv being cut near Fabrica, u'here Philil>pine \fahogany starrrls 40.000 feet to the acre on flat and open corintry. This forest gro\\'s much like a Pine forest on flat land in the United States. ifarr,e)' C. Pope, Resident Manager of the L.rsular Lunrber Conrpany before the rvar, rvas imprisoned by the Japs at Los lJanos. and kept there all through the u'ar. He is again uanager for the Insular sarvmill operations, and it n,as he l'ho rebuilt the huge mill.

Not only did the Director of Forestry conduct and accompany Messrs. Connolly and Jacobson on this inspectiorr trip over a great territory, but he had rnade arrangements far in advance so that every place they visited furnishecl them an organized meeting with all those in the vicinit_v interested in lumber and forestry. This provided the r.isitors 'n'ith a series of practical forums rvhere thel' could gathcr information, get their questions ansu'erecl, and thrrs seclrre practical information on the subjects in rvhich ther. rvere interested. Thev asked ar.rd ansrverecl questions, to the mutual adr.antage of themselves and their hosts. Lr this n'ay they securcci priceless informatiort not othertr-isc available.

We shall mention in this story several of thc r.nore iurportant milling operations visited b1' X{r. Connolly arrcl party. Already rn'e have mentioned the tragedy that ovcrtook the great plant of the Insular T.unrber Company, at Fabrica, on the Islancl of Negros. Before the Japs move<l in this u'as the biggest harchvood san'mill plant on earth, cutting 75 rnillion feet of lumber annually, and employing 3,00O men. The sarvmill that the Japs burned before thel. fled from the returning Americans, \\'as ecluipped rvith tu'o big band heaclrigs, one heavv-dutv ponv headrig, two (rfoot resalvs, a gang, trvo edgers, trimmers, and otl.rer equipment that made it a rvhale of a n-rill. The planing mill u,as of like size, ancl there rvere 13 double Nloore cross-circulation drr- kilns. .All this has lteen rebrrilt as before, except thesal-mill llroper. u'hich is smaller than the old mill. It is equippe<l u'ith three circular headrigs, arrd the rvhole plant is non' electricall-'- driverr. It nou- ltrriduces about 4.000.000 feet ur month.

The next largest lumber l)roducing corlcerlt ir, the I'hilippines today is tlie St. Cecilia Sau'mills, Inc., n'hich operates 6 separate and individual sau'rnills oi the circular tvpe. Some of the mills have just circular headrigs, anrl others har,e additional pon1. rigs for resar,ving the lumlrer ln<l flitches. These mills are located arounri Tagkar'vayan. u'hich is on a railroad line running direct to Manila. This concern norv manufi,.ctures about 3 million feet of lumber a month. and contemplates manv impror-ements to its mills and eriuipment in the near futnre.

At Xfercedes, on Luzon, he s:rn' the sarvrnill of the North L--amarines I-umber Companv, rvhich is equipped with a heaclrig and resarv.

At Diaet, on Luzon, he sal' the sarvnrill of the \[arsmarr Development Company, 'rvhich is a heaclrig and pony-rig, and t,hich runs trvo shifts seven days a rveek.

At Davao, on the Island of Mindanao, a city of one million people and second in size only to Manila with its 1,800,000 population, the Consolidated Investment Company is operating a two headrig sarvmill that belonged to Japs before the war. This mill rvas badly bombed by the Americans cluring thc rvar, and is recluiring much rebuild- ing, which is norv going on. It will soon be a very modern mill. The logging is done by railroad. The mill has a great ocean dock that rn'as damaged by bombing and must be rebuilt.

On North Mindanao Mr. Connolly visited the mill of the Nasapit Lumber Company, near the torvn of Butuan. It is a trvo headrig mill in one building, and is being modernized and improved. There are three other srnaller ltut substantial mills at this same place.

Also on Mindanao he visited the single headrig mill of the Santa Clara I-umber Company, at Gingoog, and the Anakan Lumber Co. sau'mill at that place.

The Soriano interests, one of the great industrial groups of the Philippines, are now developing a big logging operation on the Northr','est coast of Mindanao. Thev mav build a mill later on.

It rvas reported to 1\{r. Connolly that there are almost countless small and inconsecluential sawmills cutting Philippine on Luzon, Nlindanao, and other islands.

Mr Connolly and party did not visit Basilan Islar-rd on the Southern tip of the Islands, but it 'ivas reported to him that there are trvo large mills dorvn there. The Santa Clara Lumber Company has a mill on that Island that is perhaps the third lalgest sar,vmill in the Philippines. The Elliott Bay Lumber Company also has a rnill of major importance there.

At Batangas on Luzon, Mr. Connollv visitecl a spler-rclirl ne\v remanufacturing plant being operated by the National Development Companv. There is no sarvmill here, but rather a finishing plant to rvhich lumber is brought in frorn many sources. In this big factorv they shorvecl him

Willcnnette Vcrlley Lumbermen's Associcrtion Holds Monthly Meeting crt Eugene

The monthlv meetir.rg of the \\rillamette Valley Lumbermen's Association lvas held at the Osburn Hotel, Eugene, Ore.. Friday evening, December 17.

Thc guest and speaker \\ras Ralph T. Moore of Coos Bay rvho is a member of the Oregon State Legislature, also chairman of the Interim Committee appointed by the late Governor Earl Snell to investigate, study and make a recon-lmendation aiming to solve the highu'ay problem throrrghout the State. The title of I\{r. Moore's talk n'as "The Challenge of Oregon's Highn'ay Needs."

a sash and door plant, a battery of straight-line rip sarvs, smooth-end trimmers, sanclers, stickers, moulders, and a nerv Yates-American 4-62. They have nel' and modern Moore cross circulation dry kilns capable of drying one million feet of lumber a month.

Altogether Mr. Connoly and party visited about fifteen of the better sawmills in the Islands, and had reports or.r many of the less important mills. E,verywhere they t'ent they were entertaincd by the local officials and citizens. Tl.reir report on their trip lists dozens of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, as u'ell as a very interesting visit u.ith President Quirino. All the lumber people and lumber and forestry ofificials were eager for Philippine Mahogany neu's from the United States. and also anxious for advice and information regarding the marketing and use of their product.

On November 2lst Mr. Connolly flerv to Tokyo, t'here he stayed a lveek, looking into the lumber situation there. He found that the Japanese plyrvood industry is greatly in need of Philippine Mahogany logs for their factories, and there is a very {air market there also for Philippine lumber, just as there has alu'ays been. Japanese oak today costs more delivered in the United States than the best American oak, and is therefore plaving no protlirrent part in the market on this side.

NIr. Connolly left Tokyo on Nor-. 29th and flen, home b)' way of Alaska, and got to Los -tngeles on December 2nd, a 'll'iser, but much more tired man. He savs he wouldn't have missed the trip for a million, and rvouldn't make it agair.r for ten. If you could read the trials ancl troubles they encounterecl getting to and frorn a lclt of those Island mills, you rvould understand t,hy.

Next Dubs, Ltd. Tourncrment

At Millbrae, ]cnucry 2l l)ave Davis, president of Dubs, Ltd., San Francisco s,rcial organization for lumbermen and allied industries, announces that the next golf tournament and get-together u'ill be held at noon on Friday, January 21, at the Green Hills Golf & Country Club, Nfillbrae, Calif. Chairman of the day rvill be Art Evans.

The February tournament u'ill be held February l8 at Peninsula Country Club, San Mateo, Calif. Chairman of the day will be John Frey.