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George Neiss George Neiss lived in Seneca from 1946 to 1963. He is the grandpa of Cheyenne Valade, who interviewed him over the telephone for us. The life he lived in Seneca was very interesting. The things he did varied from different logging jobs to swimming in the pool and playing ballgames. He also shared some pretty funny stories with us. George worked in Seneca for the Hines Lumber Company. George met Charlie Hines and talked to him a couple of times when he was visiting. For wages, George earned $1.28 per hour in 1946. He said that was pretty good money back then. The lowest scale available at that time was $1.09 per hour, gandydancing for the railroad. Gandydancers were usually young men or high school boys who would repair the railroad. George definitely was a working man. George was 16 or 17 years old when he first started working, and he loved all the many different jobs he worked at in the logging operations during his time in Seneca. He said they were a lot of fun. He set chokers, worked on the loading crew, drove water truck and cat skidder, and worked as a timber faller. On these jobs there were a lot of tools to use, like axes, power saws, measuring poles, and big 2-man 12-horse Diston power saws. The most fun part of George’s jobs in Seneca was always the guys that he worked with and his friends: Andy Radinovich, Doug Cyrus, Chick Cyrus, Duce McKrola, Ronnie Benner, Rod Barrott, and Butter Shields, just to name a few. There were many other jobs available in Seneca at this time. In the Hines shops alone there were mechanics, pipe fitters, cable splicers, welders, and blacksmiths. George didn’t live in Seneca when the temperature reached the record low of -54º, but he was here when it was -50º and he said they wore 100% wool pants, shirts, and socks! George described the Hines Mill as BIG, BIG, BIG, and FAST! He enjoyed watching the men cut lumber. He said that at one time there were 1,000 men employed in Seneca between the mill and the logging operation. George shared a funny story from his logging days with us. Hines Lumber Co. had an agreement with the union that before they could hire any gypos, all of the Hines men had to be back to work. One time Hines did not honor that agreement, so the workers went on strike. Duce McKrola and George were sent out to Summit Prairie to set up a picket line. When the gypos showed up, Duce said, “What are we gonna do, George?” George told Duce, “You lay down in the road and I’ll do the talking!” Duce didn’t quite agree with that, so he told George, “Baloney!” When George worked here he saw the railroad. He said that it was quite a deal. There were tracks out to the landing and a Y to turn the trains around. George rode the train once in a while with his friends from work, usually at night. The engine on the train was a steam engine in the beginning, and then they got a diesel engine. He said the train would transport 40 loads of logs a day, with about 1,000 board feet of lumber to a tree. George Neiss did not go to
George Neiss lived in Seneca at the old hotel. George said that the old hotel lobby was grand. It had big wooden furniture and in the evenings the guys would come down and shoot the breeze or play cards. George’s room was upstairs on the end. (If you stand looking at the front of the old hotel, his room was on the top left.) Harold Merkel and Andy Radinovich were down on that end also. The rooms were small but cozy. They had a bed, a dresser, and a chair. The rooms were steam heated, so they were nice and warm, even when it was -50º outside and the wind was howling. When the midnight train came through, it sounded like it was going to come right on in the hotel! There was no drinking or cooking in the rooms, and the people who ran the hotel were very strict about that. Many a man was asked to move on for violating one or another of the rules. Down the hall from George there were a couple of guys from another country. They had a sheep hanging in their closet, and they were cooking it up on a hot plate. They got caught and got the boot! George also owned the lot where Sheri Deming now lives. He didn’t live in a cheesebox house, but after he moved out of the hotel, he lived in a bunkhouse behind the hotel for a while. Each bunkhouse housed four guys. The funniest story George remembers about living in Seneca involved a man by the name of Louis Zeke. Louis liked to take a nip of whiskey now and then. He used to flag on the highway for Hines. Back then, everyone had a whiskey bottle under the seat of their pickup, and Louis would hit them up for a snort. Louis also had a habit of coming around if he knew you had a bottle. He’d take the cap off and throw it out so you would drink the whole jug with him. One time, George’s dad, George Sr., brought out one of the big two or three foot tall jugs that was on a rack so you could pour out the drinks. Ol’ Louis showed up sure as shootin’. George took the cap off that big ol’ bottle and tossed it out! He thought Louis’s eyes were going to pop right out of his head. George said that they celebrated all the holidays up here in Seneca. The cook shack, which was a little diner in the store building that served the Hines workers, always had traditional meals for the single men. On Labor Day, the town had a big picnic. The mill people and the logging people had ball games and other contests for entertainment.
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