291118 - Topic: Longview (WA) lumbering story

 

This is one more episode of the series for which we do not as yet have a continuity, so we don’t know the detail of the broadcast. However, a complete press release was located, and the pertinent passages are transcribed here:

The great lumber mills of Longview, Wash., and the forests which furnish the huge logs, afford the locale of a western romance which Empire Builders will broadcast Monday night (November 18).

A modest industrial miracle, the transformation of a group of dairy farms into the lumber milling center of the world and the planning and development of a model city all within six years, is unfolded during the course of the story.

The romance reaches its dramatic climax in a thrilling rescue which unites two lovers.

Andy Sannella and his orchestra, Bob MacGimsey, the three-part harmony whistler, and Harvey Hays as the Old Timer are other features of the half hour sponsored by the Great Northern Railway.

In contrast to the copy above, here’s what appeared in a number of newspapers on the eve before the Longview broadcast:

... A melodrama of the logging town of Longview, Wash., in which a brave young Easterner rescues his sweetheart from certain death beneath the branches of a falling sequoia, will be portrayed in the sketch which the Empire Builders will broadcast at 10:30 o'clock tonight from WJZ, WBAL and WLW.

What jumps out about this write-up is the reference to a “falling sequoia.” If such a species of tree was actually mentioned in the continuity for this broadcast, it is hoped the action took place in California. Sequoias don’t normally grow in southwest Washington. Nor would it seem likely they would be transported up to Longview from California (or even Oregon) for milling. It may well have been another of the many faux pas that GN management cringed over whenever such mistakes appeared in hastily written press releases by well-meaning copy writers who didn’t really know what they were writing about. Having said that, it’s my understanding that sequoias can in fact grow in the state of Washington, but they just aren’t all that common.

The city of Longview, Washington, was founded in 1924. It was a planned townsite, built up around mills operated by the Long-Bell Lumber Company. The principals of this company were Robert A. Long (1850-1934) and Victor Bell (1856-1905). The communities of both Longview, Washington, and Longville, Louisiana, were founded by R.A. Long. A high school in Longview is also named for him. [Much more information about the life and legacy of R.A. Long is found here:  http://www.ralonghistoricalsociety.org/]

Here’s a publicity photo of an ensemble of Empire Builders actors, musicians, and others. The photo is undated, but judging by the individuals who can be easily identified, the photo appears to have been taken in New York City during the second season of the series.

 

 

 

Below is another copy of the publicity photo with selected individuals highlighted in silhouette and identified in the caption.

 

Individuals identified: (A) Raymond Knight, producer; (B) Andy Sannella, musical director; C)  Harvey Hays, actor; D) Bob MacGimsey, harmony whistler; E)  Edward Hale Bierstadt, continuity writer and editor; F) Virginia Gardiner, actress;  G) John S. Young, announcer.