Plywood 0n The Bogue River

structed. "She is 2O feet 2 inches from stem to stern. with 7 f.eet 4 inches of beam and plenty of flare and rake in the bow. I used S/lGinch Exterior type fir plywood for the sides and fi-inch plywood for the bottom. I gave her sturdy ribs and a heavy stem."

The craft was constructed ih his shop during spare time betrveen guide trips last winter and drawn to his own specifications especially for the hazardous trip. In recounting the "impossible" run that was completed, the river guide comments, "It was a grand experience, and it gave us a great deal of personal satisfaction. Without the combination of a rugged boat and a reliable, porverful motor, horvever, we would have been in constant trouble."

Rogue Woter. For this lirst up-river trip ever uccomplished on the Bogue river lrom the Pqcific Ocecn to Gr<rntg Pqss, Ore., River Guide Glen Wooldridge selected c boctt oI Exterior Douglcs fir

Turbulent, treacherous Rogue river, knorvn to sportsmen throughout the nation for tl.re fighting salmon rvhich it spawns, for some 20 years has presented a chailenge to Glen Wooldridge of Grants Pass, Ore., river guide and boat builder.

Wooldridge, who as a youth fished the river commercially, in recent decades has made hundreds of successful down-river trips through the rushing, boulder-infested waters of the Rogue guiding fishing and hunting parties. But until this summer, neither he nor any other man had ever made the up-river trip Trom Pacific Ocean to his Grants Pass headquarters.

The racing *at.t., which drop 950 feet in the 120-mile circuitous route to the sea, had always ,been a one-way lvaterway.

Nolr., however, Wooldridge's burning desire has been accomplished. He, together with river guides Chuck Foster and Bob Pritchett, accomplished the hazardous journey this summer in a specially built river boat of Exterior type Douglas fir plywood. They completed the up-water trip in l4l hours running time in a rugged but light 20-foot craft pushed by a 221 h.p. outboard motor. The trip, lrorvever, consumed three days-May 14-17, 1947.

Having long calculated the dangers and the moods of the Rogue, Wooldridge had insisted, "With the proper motor, the right equipment and a specially constructed boat, I can make the run."

He did. And here is his olgn account of the boat he con-

\\rooldridge is to use the same plyrvood boat zgain this summer on a similar experiment in up-river travel, probably on another challenging stream. It weathered the terrific beating with scratches and minor scars but without any major damage. "I have used just about every kind of boat material I know of in building craft to brave the Rogue, and I will settle for fir plywood. It's good enough for me," the conqueror of the Rogue and able guide said after the trip.

Incidentally, others of his guide boats are of plywood construction, three of them having traveled 3,250 miles each in guided down-stream expeditions on the river last summer and fall. This represents considerable "mileage" througll the very rough 'ivater of the boulder-strewn river. "All the craft are in good condition after the terrific pounding of the water, on rogks and along the bottom in rapids. We will continue to use these plywood boats in the years to come."

Construction oI Cloverdale Plywood Plcrnt Delcryed

The plywood plant of Coastal Plywood & Timber Co. at Cloverdale, Calif., will not be built until after the company's nelv sawmill is completed, according to a recent announcement.

J. W. Norberg is president of this company. Bert E. Petersen is vice president. F. A. Johnson is secretary and K. E. Burkes is treasurer.

Oldest Panels on Displcry

The first manufacturer of commercial plywood made from Douglas Fir was the Portland Manufacturing Company, of Portland, Oregon. Samples of their first products are now on display in the Forestry Building in Portland. They were made in 1905, and were shown at the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition that year. They rvere strictly for door making.