Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, March 27, 1909, Page 30

constitutes one of the potentials which an- nually add to Bemidji's greatness as a city and general prosperity, The Bemidji Lum- ber company requires no introduction or further magnification, inasmuch as its busi- ness methods have long since won for it the exalted position it now occupies in the business world. Personne]l of its officers, its field trade, its high grade products, its promptness in filling orders and its status as an indus- tria] institution withal do not stand in need of superlatives. Suffice to say that the of- ficers of the company rank among the first business men in the county, they use their help after a humane fashion, paying them living wages and providing every conven- ience demanded for safe and profitable work, and in every other way they strive to live up to the live and let live plan. The members of this concern, Messrs. W. A. Gould and John Richards, are ‘boosters” of their home city, and influential factors in the commercial and financial life of this state. They never withhold assistance from any move which has for its aim the furtherance of the aims of Bemidji, and The Pioneer, in this vast edition, is more than gratified to allot the brief space here given to the enumeration of the Bemidji Lumber company. GRAND FORKS LUMBER COMPANY. Bemidji is the headquarters for the log- ging department of this prodigious lumber- ing concern, which has the incomprehen- sible annual capacity of 20,000,000 feet of finished product. The chief mill of this con- cern is located at Grand Forks, N. D., al- though Bemidji has been the recognized fountain head for its general operations for over ten years. The Grand Forks Lumber company has extensive holdings in Beltrami county, and they long ago realized the mani- fold advantages this city and county had to offer as a point of ingress and egress, owing CHARLES GARDNER. to its railroad facilities as well as to its unlimited volume of water. This company is also exceptionally active in Itasca and Koochiching counties, and the way they have conducted their business is prima facie evidence of their fairness and enterprise. The Grand Forks Lumber company also offers another illustration of the fertility of this “‘cut-over” section, as well as reflect- ing the fact that Bemidji is a most available point for unequalled transportation facili- ties, elements which are daily contributing M. E. SMITH. in a material manner to the growth of our thriving city and county. Mr. C. H. Gardner, local manager of this mammoth concern, is an experienced lum- ber office manager, having come here from Stillwater, Minn., where he had been in the employ of William Kaiser, one of the heav- iest and most influential independent lum- ber operators in the county. By his tact and knowledge of the lumber industry, by the training acquired with every day contact with this specific line of building material Mr. Gardner has become a valuable adjunct to the company’s affairs, and he is to be commended for the record he has earned by dint of hard, and conscientious work. The people of Bemidji are indeed elated when they contemplate that the headquar- ters of this vast concern is located within the confines of the city which they are so persistently Dboosting from half a dozen points of vantage, inasmuch as its presence means widespread advertisement, recogni- tion of the city as a wholesale and railroad center, and an element of prosperity which cannot be disputed. From the day of its organization, the Grand Forks Lumber company has pro- gressed and prospered. They have built up a business which touches hundreds of cities and many estates; they stand upon the rec- ord they have made as business men and competitors and The Pioneer is profuse in its laudation of a firm so large, so just and so beneficial. M. E. SMITH RETAIL LUMBER COMPANY. This lumber concern is a strictly home institution, and one which deserves the un- stinted patronage of our thousands of readers. The company are extensive deal- ers in lumber, lath, shingles, ties, posts, sash, doors and blinds, and they also fur- nish mill work of every description, whether it be for bar, bank or office fix- tures, interior finish, special work or mold- ings. They also handle cement, plaster, coal and wood in quantities to suit, and impose prices merely commensurate with a safe business policy. Mr. M. E. Smith, the manager of this im- portant business house, is an experienced lumberman of years standing. He has been engaged in this line in Bemidji for nine years, hence he can lay claim to being one of the oldest resident lumber experts in this section. agement of this concern the business has expanded to such an extent that the com- prany was compelled to enlarge their build- ings to a mammoth scale. This circum stance indicates the popularity of the M. E. Smith Retail Lumber company, and also strengthens the contention of The Pioneer that Bemidji is an adaptable field for every known class of business. Mr. Smith is among the foremost men in Bemidji interested in commercial pursuits. He is liberal to a fault, patriotic as a citi- zen and as a first-water “booster” he has no peer. Since he assumed the man- ° . A | .: h ’S < £ RTINSt e it A