This fella pretty much was Elizabeth during his tenure. He was the definition of a company man. The places mentioned where he was the boss are on my map of Elizabeth. The ice company was near the depot. The turpentine plant was on the north road in from La.10. The Calcasieu Manufacturing Company was in Oakdale on the mill property, right next to today's Hardwood Mill Restaurant. Yes, I have a picture of it on that page. Here's a condensed rap on him.
"Mr.'Smith', who has been identified with every phase of the lumber industry since boyhood, is general manager for the Industrial Lumber Company, with headquarters at Elizabeth, in Allen Parish, and has a number of other prominent business connections in Southwest Louisiana......... He was born near Lake Charles, in Calcasieu Parish, June 1, 1877..... Lee attended public schools in Newton County, Texas, and at the age of fourteen went to work and since then his experience has given him a knowledge of everything connected with the manufacture of lumber, beginning in the woods and continuing through the mills and business offices. His experience was in logging operations until March 1914. Since that date he has been in the service of the Industrial Lumber Company, one of the largest manufacturing Companies in the pine woods 1n the South. At Oakdale he had charge of timber cutting, was then assistant woods superintendent, and then put in entire charge of logging operations.
In 1914 he was promoted to general superintendent, and since February, 1922,
he has been general manager in charge of operations of the Industrial Lumber
Company at Elizabeth. He is also vice president and a general manager of the
Calcasieu Manufacturing Company, is a director of the Producers' Turpentine
Company, and is president of the Elizabeth Ice Company".
Of course that was copied to a degree from below. The personal stuff was removed.
A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p. 282, by Henry E. Chambers.
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.
Then I found this. How progressive can you get for 1914!
Electric Tractors in 1914 in Louisiana.
The ride in pictures next. Open up that map in a new window so you can follow along.
Before going back into historic Elizabeth, I turned south off of La.10 at the flashing light and went on down to the Little General Dollar Store. Behind the Little General Dollar Store I saw this, the rightof way going into Elizabeth. Mike, you remember what you said you expected to happen to you if the broadband connection works out, well, seeing that right away had the same effect on me.
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Doesn't that leave you breathless, wanting a cigarette and a moment of reflection?
Follow the white line from La.10 south. The bend in the road is reflective of the fact that it followed the spur that left the J&E and headed north join another spur that came from the west. Along that east spur was the turpentine plant and Black quarters. The bulk oil tanks were near where I have "Park" written. To the west of that road was this open ground, now a baseball park. The fisherman I mentioned, built it.
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Then I turned west. I was on the tracks headed to the yard and depot. My imagination was in overload.
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How obvious can it get.
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Notice the gas line inside the fence.
My guess, this is where the ice plant was.
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This picture was taken as a reference point. What I failed to d was to see if the trestles were still there. Duh. So far we've been east of the creek. This was where the lumber mill was, north of the tracks, office building, commissary and park. I got a reprieve from my duh moment. The tracks would not have crossed the creek, it turned west after the road bridge, whew.
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This is the present day health clinic. It sits near one of the entrances to what I believe was the paper mill.
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Or a landing site for extraterrestrials.
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The mill had just been torn down last year because of asbestos poisoning within it.
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And I believe those are the gas valve sheds for the mill.
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That's it for this evening.
I'll tell you about the union war later.
Fire was a huge threat to the mills. Below are list of locations for gas valves, fire alarm boxes and directions for cutting the valves off. These were taken off a map. Click them to make them larger.
I'll add a few more pictures before I have to get to work.
The ROW stretched westward.
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While I was standing here, a young fella pulled up and asked me if I was lost or needed help. I radiate that especially with my helmet off. On his work shirt was written "Spooky" as his name. I, seeing slightly potential information source (slightly, because of his age), I began asking questions. Asking questions elevates the interviewee to an esteemed height, one of knowing more than the interviewer. Interest in the history of the interviewee's past ingratiates the interviewer, or not sometimes. Suspicious people may think the intervieweer is a "revenuer". You can't blame them in this age of presidential revenuers. Back to Spooky.
Spooky was the grandson and son of a mill worker. He said his relatives had told him a lot about the mill. I really messed up here. I was intent on finding tracks and didn't go into detail questioning about life in Elizabeth. He did say the town was named after the owner's daughter. I asked him about the cement structures and he said he'd wondered about them too. I think I got the idea Spooky didn't know much. I asked him about where I could see the right of way. He told me 3 times and I still got it wrong. He even offered to lead me there and I turned before he motioned. Finally I got it. Click the map.
Where you see "9" on the map is where he wanted to lead me.
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Looking back toward the mill.
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Looking west on the grade and Buddy Doyle Rd. crossing.
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This trellis work was put there as an attractive block for anyone wanting to go ROW riding. I can't imagine who would want to do that?
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