HILLCREST LUMBER COMPANY LTD.
EMPLOYEES REUNION NEWSLETTER - THE LAST WHISTLE
THE SAHTLAM SAWMILL 1917- 1943
Carlton Stone started up the Sahtlam sawmill in 1917 after moving from the old Fairbridge location where it had been since 1912. This is the location where he really started to expand, not only machinery wise but also markets in the East and the prairies and the British Empire
On the left is the Swede Mill or gang mill with the booming grounds in the forefront. The two storybuilding was 36 feet wide by 204 feet long. It employed 7 men and produced 30,000 board feet in an 8 hour shift,and 40,000 in a 9-hour shift.
On the right is a frontal picture of the gang mill, with the bee hive burner in the background. The gang mill and the Main mill each had a bee hive burner.
On the left is a picture of the main sawmill with it's beehive burner and smoke stack in the back. The lumber is loaded onto steel tired carts and then pulled away by a hard rubber tired Jitney.
On the right is a trestle approaching the main sawmill where the train dumps it's load of logs.
On the left workers are loading flatcars with lumber
On the right the workers have finished loading the flat car and are strapping the load down.
These machines are called Jitney's. Note the hard rubber tires, and most were chain driven using a Ford motor. Many Jitney drivers had to wear wide leather belts around their kidneys, because the roads were so rough, often wood planks that were uneven. The Jitney on the right is at an old gravity feed gas pump.
On the left is a picture of logs being dumped off the trestle into the booming grounds. Note the spray of water when the logs are dumped.
On the right is the old 10 spot pushing a train load of loads onto the trestle for dumping into the booming grounds.
On the left is the old steam crane. It is loading flatcars with lumber. George Cleough and Bob Walton operated the steam cranes even after the move to Mesachie Lake.
On the right is the dry kiln. It dried all the lumber for shipping to Great Britain. Even today the massive concrete base is still on the original property.
On the left is a picture of the gang saw inside the gang mill. A log was loaded onto a moveable carriage and then pushed through the saws that moved up and down.
On the right is Harold Peterson standing beside the gang saw. Harold was the gang sawyer at Sahtlam and then later at Mesachie Lake for many years.
Left photo.Sahtlam mill crew, June 1940. Jack Ashley 3rd from left on top row. Shorty Wright sitting 3rd row down 3rd from right. Joe Robertson 3rd from left bottom row.
Right photo.circa 1935. In photo on extreme left Slim Ashley standing. Also Gerry Griffin seated middle row extreme right,, Shorty Wright, Herb Cross, to the left of Gerry Griffin.
Sahtlam 1935. From left: Shorty Wright, Jack "Slim" Ashley, Jack Strougler A Campbell..
Photo on right: Sahtlam Swede Mill No. 2 shift. June 1940
THE LOGGERS - SAHTLAM 1917 - 1943
Left: Hillcrest loggers on an old steam donkey. Lem Traer is seated on extreme left. Lem was woods manager for many years both at Sahtlam and at Measchie Lake.
Right: Donkey engine bringing in a turn of logs to the landing.
Left: Loading flatcars using tongs on each end of the log.
Right: bringing in a turn of logs to the cold deck pile.
Left: Steam donkey cold decking logs.
Right: Steam donkey loading railway skeleton cars.
Left: Two steam locies with a heavy load of logs heading to the sawmill.
Right: Many of the men in this old newspaper photo went on to work at Mesachie Lake as mill workers and loggers.
MT. PREVOST SCHOOL SCHOOL - Carlton Stone built a multi national school house for all the children living in the townsite. White children, Japanese, East Indian and Chinese all went to the same school house.,
Left: 1934 - 1935. Ruth Buckham 2nd row down 3rd from left. Ruth;s father was the planer mill foreman for many years.
Right: 1942 Division 1-2
Left: 1941
Right:1940
Division 2
The photos below were all taken at Sahtlam Hillcrest and were sent to me by Al Stone from Norman Stone's collection. Thanks Al.
Norman Stone sitting on his old truck, photo taken at Sahtlam.
A great photo of an old style steam donkey, with winches and fairleads. Looks like the loggers are splicing cable.
Spar tree by track side.
"RIG UP GOAT" This machine was used to raise much higher spar trees.
"10 SPOT" unloading logs at the booming grounds at Sahtlam Mill.
George Grant at the throttle of the "10 SPOT" with a whole load of logs on skeleton cars heading for the Sahtlam mill.
Hillcrest loggers. Rigging Crew June 1940
Sahtlam mill crew. Probably in 1940
This is an interesting photo. Taken at Sahtlam probably in the late 1930s or 1940s. Selling war bonds.
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MARY JOLIN (POLLOCK:)
MY MEMORIES OF HILLCREST ~ MARY JOLIN (POLLOCK) My father Jim Pollock was the book keeper first then General Manager of Hillcrest until he died in October 1936. I was about five years old and remember our house caught on fire. We lived close to the mill site. They figured that a spark from the burner landed on some pitch on a stump very close to the back of the house. I can't remember the extent of the fire but that was when the decision to build a house for us on the hill across from the mill site was made. Eventually many houses were built there. I remember on our side of the road were the Popes, Dicksons, & Westons. On the other side were Traers, Bortolottos, Andersons, Portlances & the Drews. There were a few more but cannot remember the names. The children from Grades 1-8 had to walk to the school in Sahtlam. We would walk through a trail just behind our house through the woods which took us to the Lake Cowichan Road. Otherwise we would have to walk 2 or 3 miles on the road. When we left the trail it was not far on the road to the school. It was a one room school with a pot bellied stove. Miss McConnell was our teacher. Eventually, Hillcrest built a school right on the hill next to our house.
By this time my older sister and brother had to cycle into Duncan to go to high school. The school of course, again was one room but much larger than Sahtlam. Mr. McDonald an Englishman, was our teacher. We had a Girl Guide Troop & a Boy Scout Troop. Colonel Dopping-Hepenstall, Commissoner for the Boy Scouts in our area, referred to our Scout Troop like a league of nations because we had Chinese, Japanese, East Indians included in the troop as well. There was a gully between the mill site and the hill where we all lived. The Japanese built a foot bridge over it. My dad could walk to work and we used to go to the Japanese store, run by the Inouyes, to buy candies, etc. Now, again looking over from our house, we could see the log pond and just beyond the pond was the Swede mill. I don't remember what year it was built but I do remember 2 Swedish gentleman, Mr. Sunbomb and Mr. Sunderquist, who came over from Sweden to oversee the construction of the mill. They visited us at the house a few times and were very interesting. I'm sure you have all remembered certain words or sayings in your early life that you still remember. Today, I can't remember what I did yesterday. However, when you are young ( I would have been about 10) and in grade school, Christmas is so exciting, school concerts and festivities at home, etc. Well, till Easter seems an eternity away. I must have said or complained that Easter was a long way off. Mr. McDonnell said, "Mary as you grow older, you will find that time passes very quickly". I have thought of that so many times in my later years. Then in Hillcrest, the Drews were over visiting one summer evening. We often sat out on our front porch to relax. Well, Jack Drew's sister and husband were visiting from Vancouver, Chester and Aida Swain. They were telling us about a drive-in restaurant that just opened in Vancouver, Granville & 57 called the "White Spot" !! Time moves on quickly. My dear father passed away in October 1936 and we moved to Duncan but I'll always remember our happy days in Hillcrest. Sincerely, Mary Jolin (Pollock) ***
Below is a school photo that Mary sent to me and was taken in 1934/1935 school term. Note the poster on the school door. "CENTENARY VICTORIA AUSTRALIA 1934"
Top Row: from left: 5th boy is Stewart Pollock, 6th boy is, Bill Pollock. Next row down: from left: Viola Portlance is first, 3rd is Ruth Buchham (Dickson) Georgina Portlance is 5th. Laura Harvey is 6th, and Mary Pollock (Jolin) is 7th. Next row down: June Weston is first, Ella Holden is 4th, and Helen Pollock is 5th. Front Row: Cal Traer is 4th from left, On the far right side, second boy in is Charlie Dickson.
Teacher is: Mr. Jim McDonald