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This week:

Milton makes —

his decision

nough of pecking at other

people’s mail. We've got

the picture. Milton Jovial,
sitting in his New York office,
decided Northwestern B.C. might
be a good place to invest some
money. A sawmill was one possi-
bility, so he -contacted Herby
Squish, a Terrace forester, and told
him $40-50 million was the maxi-
mum he wanted to spend.

' Herby looked around the area

and advised Milton that there were
two areas where they could apply
for Forest Licences. One was near
Terrace, the other was near Hazel-
ton, and half-way between would
be a good place of Milton’s saw-
mill. Milton liked the proposal and

asked for more information. Last

week, therefore, Herby submitted a
"Timber Profile’ for . Milton’s
perusal, and that left the ball in
Milton's court. There was a small
problem, however: Herby gave
Milton the best information he

. could, but it was. out of date.

Just a reminder. Milton and
Herby aren’t real people, but they
are doing real things.

When Milton received Herby’s
Timber Profile he was impressed.
The profile outlined two areas: a
60,000-hectare site southwest of
Hazelton and a 40,000-hectare site
southwest of Terrace. Each had a
20-year supply of. wood fibre and

an Annual Allowable Cut of

300,000 cubic meters of timber,
for a total annual harvest of
600,000 cubic meters of wood.

Herby had noted that the infor-.

mation provided was based on data

that was a decade or two old, but.

this didn’t really concem Milton.
How much can an unused forest

change in 20-odd years? So Milton

forwarded Herby’s report to some
US. mill design and marketing
professionals, the people who
could tell him what products
would be the most marketable,
what type of sawmill he needed to
produce that produci, and how
much profit he could expect to
make on his investment of $40-50
million.

A short time later, both the mill
design and marketing firms con-
tacted Herby for more information.

They needed to know the ratio of
trees over and under 14 inches in
diameter and the quality of the
timber.
_ Herby looked at data available
from adjacent logging operations
and did a little on-site "destructive
sampling" (cutting and examining
trees on the two sites) in order to
provide the following information:
an average of 35 percent of the

trees on the two sites are between

six and 14 inches in diameter,
while 65 percent are over-size
(over 14 inches), and 55 percent of
the timber is saw logs while the
other 45 percent are pulp fibre.
Based ‘on this information, Mil-
ton’s consultants made some pre-
liminary recommendations. His
marketing people told him that
considering the quality of available

|Down by the River

Ef watching the issues flow by-

: f Commentary and analysis by Terrace Review staff and guest writers “

~ SLEEP TIGHT —

How many nights we sleep
peacefully in our homes without
thought to the world outside.
We probably know that we are
guarded by vigilance of our po-
lice force but give very little
thought to their efforts and the
world of crime.

On a recent evening, however,
that vigilance and that world
errupted abruptly into my con-
sciousness.

There I was, snuggled under
my eiderdown quilt, totally ab-
sorbed in the mysterious adven-
tures of my latest detective
novel that was keeping me
awake past the midnight hour.
An unusual sound worked its
way into my consciousness—a
car coming into my driveway?
At this time of night? It must be
someone mistaken or lost.

I put down my book, donned
robe and slippers, and poked my

head cautiously round the door
where I could see the front drive.
Wonder of wonders, the flood-
lights had come on as they are
supposed to, there sweeping into
my drive was the familiar blue
and white vehicle with the enor-
mous lights. The only member
of my family who had been in
the Force was now retired —
could it be a friend of his? At
this time of night?

These thoughts flashed
through my mind in seconds,
and in those seconds the car
ground to a halt and large. uni-
formed men erupted from the
vehicle and sped off toward the
back of the yard. Mouth gaping,
knees shaking, I crept to the
window and peered out cau-
tiously. More large men and
powerful flashlights were com-
ing from another direction.
Another car was on the road be-
hind. Oh my, oh my, what was

Pifer ===" continued from page AG

23-member Caninet; nor is it
known if he has managed to
convince a prominent B.C. law-
yer to become attorney-general.
Solicitor-general Russ Fraser
has been filling both roles since
Bud Smith exiled in disgrace in
July during the tapes scandal.
. Changes made in the last big
shuffle, on Nov. 1, 1989,
should remain mostly intact;
and the only backbenchers seen
as likely to enter the fray are
the Okanagan’s Larry Chal-

mers, Lillooet’s Jim Rabbitt, or
Cowichan’s Graham Bruce—
but it would appear there is on-
ly room for one of them.

Betting on the timing for the
mini-shuffle suggests it will be
just before or after a two-day
Cabinet retreat on Nov. 20/21,
and certainly before a Social
Credit caucus meeting in
Vancouver ‘on Nov. 27.

Pil resist any reference to
shuffling deckchairs on the Ti-
tanic.

happening in my backyard?...

Heart pounding, knobbly
knees knocking, I crept upstairs.
Perhaps if I was above the scene
I might be able to see what was
going on. Dim figures thrashed
around the brush, flickering in
and out of the beams of the
powerful flashlights in eerie
silence in the black night... In
my backyard?

Difficult to see, but the move-
ments were urgent.

And finally, voices were rais-
ed, someone was being dragged
out of the bushes toward the ve-
hicle at the back. It looked as
though someone was apprehend-
ed.

At last they all got in their cars
and drove off into the night.

And there I was, shivering in
my night clothes. Time to creep
back to bed. Sleep? What a
hope. How many times did I get
up for a final look, for a final
check on all the windows and
doors. Did they get everyone,
was there another person out
there hiding, or worse, looking
for’ somewhere to hide? What
should I do? Phone the police?
Take the poker to bed? It isn’t
every night that you have a
chance to be part of a TV dra-
ma, I told myself.

Finally I phoned that number
and a very nice voice said ‘‘oh,
yes, don’t worry, there are no
more villains out there, they got
them all.”’

And then those infamous

- words, ‘Don’t worry. Go back

to sleep’’
Hah.

OTR Rr ve dee iat

bier A

_ Ferrace Review — Wednesday, November i4, 1990 ‘AT

timber and the distance to markets
compared to competing sawmills,
he should avoid producing nothing
but commodity products (2x4, 2x6,
etc.) if he was going to make any
money. Instead he should be pro-
ducing "small clears" (value-added
lumber products). Recommended
by the marketing consultants were
products like clear (free from knots
and other defects) window frames
and door jambs, as well as
specialty lumber cuts for the
Japanese market,

Mill design people considered
both Herby’s information and the
preliminary marketing strategy and
offered Milton two options: a
commodity mill that would cost
around $40 million to build and an

added-value mill that would cost

between $65 and $70 million.
And to help Milton make up his
mind, they provided some addi-
tional information. The commodity
based mill would provide a fast
profit; Milton could write off the

by Tod Strachan, in consultation with Rod Amold and Doug Davies

cost of the mill in about seven
years. A value-added mill would
cost more, Milton would need to
add things like a dry kiln, and it
would take longer to break into the
market; he could expect a three
percent return on his investment
after about three years, would start
making a profit after about five
and could write off the cost of the
mil! in about 10 to 15 years.

Milton had no difficulty making
his decision. He told his mill
design consultants to start drawing
the plans for a $40 million com-
modity mill. There was no way he
was going to invest up to $70
million when it was going to take
five years to show a profit and
possibly three times that long to
write off the mill.

Next week, the mill designers
Start planning and Herby begins
working on bid proposals, the
actual applications for the . two
Forest Licences, But Milton still
has to make a few more decisions.

— Letters to the Editor —
Article renews old _
family connection

To the Editor;

A friend sent me a clipping
from your paper dated May 16,
1990 with the title ‘‘Dutch bell
rings out at last from Knox Unit-
ed Church tower.”

I am the husband of Madzy
Brandis who donated this bell in
1949 as is described by Ed Harri-
son in your paper.

In memory of my wife, who
died in 1984 after a very long
suffering, I wish to thank Knox
United Church for re-installing

this bell and Ed Harrison and
your paper for writing (correct-
ly) and printing the story of the
bell.

At the time I served as steward
and elder of the church, and I
am happy that the contact be-
tween Knox United Church and
my family has been restored.
May I ask that you publish this
letter in your paper. Many
Thanks!

W.B.A. Brandis,
Carlisle, Ontario.

Good for the heart

To the Editor;

The Dance For Heart was held
on Sunday, Nov. 4 to raise
money for the Heart and Stroke
Foundation of B.C. and Yukon,
1 would like to thank the fitness
instructors, Parks and Recrea-

Attend the All-Candidates
Forum November 15 in
the R.E.M. Lee Theatre,
starting at 7:30 p.m.
Remember, |
this is your election.

A message from the Terrace Review

tion, local merchants, the school

board, Thornhill Junior Secon-

dary School and all of the par-

ticipants for making it a success
this year.

Jennifer Smith,

Terrace.

te, an TR Tr