A Rail-and-Timber Empire Offers Its Workers a Cut
A new corporation tied to former governor Elisha P. Ferry acquires the Mason County Central railroad and Shelton sawmill, plans a Grays Harbor line, and sets aside $50,000 in stock for employees.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Articles of incorporation were filed in the office of the secretary of state this morning for the Ferry Lumber Company, of which Edward P. Ferry, of Park City, Utah, a cousin of the governor of this state, is the leading spirit and promoter, and the members of which include Governor Elisha P. Ferry of Olympia; T. B. Wallace, of Tacoma; Eben Smith, of Seattle; Allen C. Mason, of Tacoma. They have purchased of Mr. Mason the Mason County Central railroad, including the Shelton sawmill and the timber lands owned by the railroad, and also incorporated the Puget Sound & Pacific Ocean Railroad Company, proposing to build through to Grays Harbor. A branch road will be built from Shelton to connect with the Northern Pacific. Mr. Ferry anticipates a continual demand for lumber at a fair margin of prices.
In speaking of the plans of the Ferry Lumber Company, Mr. Ferry said last night that the company will dedicate $50,000 of its capital stock for the benefit of employes, they to share in proportion to the stock dedicated in the profits of the company. This profit-sharing feature of the company was originated by Mr. Ferry. Length of service may be considered in adjusting the profits of employes. The company will immediately complete the Ferry saw mill at Tacoma, and use it to saw cedar exclusively.
“The company will dedicate $50,000 of its capital stock for the benefit of employes.”
The Ferry company's railroad-and-timber deal shows how thoroughly Gilded Age Washington tied transportation, land and political power together. Its $50,000 employee stock pool was an early profit-sharing experiment—rare enough to advertise—and a reminder that debates over who shares in corporate wealth are not new.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.