,ffir i',ruffij

Flush With Success

A device that extends the toilet horn and fits into any 3" or 4" drainpipe is new from Better Mousetrap People Ltd.

DOMESTIC SALES: Jerry Long, Michael Parrella, Lynn Bethurum. Janet Pimentel, Pete Ulloa, George Parden, Vince Galloway.

INTERNATIONAL SALES: Nestor Pimentel, Oscar Portillo.

Toilet Pipe Extender reportedly provides up to 4" of extension ensuring that water reaches connecting pipes without leaking or backflow.

Circle No. 825

Retiring After 75 Years

After three quarters of a century buying and selling hardwood, Charlie Wilson has decided to retire at age 93.

Despite offers over the years from Lane Stanton Vance Lumber Co., City of Industry, Ca., to shorten his work week, Charlie was always at his desk buying hardwood five days a week, from 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. He also commuted in the notorious California traffic 30 minutes each way to the office.

He says hardwood is "a good business, with nice people, most of whom are fairly honest." He ascribes his longevity, in part, to his work. "If you don't like the business you're in, you won't live long. It affects your health."

Material handling has undergone the greatest changes in his 75 years. "Trucks had solid rubber tires, there were no lift trucks-it was saddle trucks then-and the rail cars were unloaded by hand. The last 10-15 years have brought the biggest changes, mixed cars, containers and computers, which have made more, not less, paperwork." As for the future, Charlie says, "You've got to change or you'll be out of business."

His first job in 1924 was as a commission salesman with Mox Lumber Co. in Los Angeles. A big distribution yard, they sold sash, doors, windows and some hardwood lumber. In 1928 he joined L.W. Blinn Co., which had a 43 acre yard at the Los Angeles harbor. In 1934 he moved to E. J. Stanton & Sons, which had been founded in Los Angeles in 1896. In 1970, sister companies Lane Lumber Co. and the Vance Lumber Co. bought the Stanton inventory and the rights to use the name. The resulting firm, Lane Stanton Vance Lumber Co., was where Charlie would toil until last month. The firm was acquired in July by Hampton Affiliates of Portland, Or.

For the first time in 75 years, Charlie Wilson is now relaxing with his two children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Exchange Arranges Shipping

Buyers and sellers at B2B lumber exchange YardConnect.com, Seattle, Wa., can now schedule materials shipments with their online transactions.

YardConnect.com is partnering with eflatbed.com, an online logistics source for the flatbed shipping industry, to provide rate quoting and logistics management services so that buyers can base their purchasing decisions on the delivered cost of products on the exchange, calculated automatically to their location.

Orders will be moved by eflatbed.com's network of more than 1,600 qualified carriers.

Dream Home Develops Online

Channelinx has been named exclusive B2B transaction provider for the "dotCOM dreamHOME," the first home building project to be conducted online, with every step from conception through completion being performed on the Web.

The provider will help connect contractors, distributors, e-tailers and others during the home's l8-month construction.

Real-world construction of the house is slated to begin September in Las Vegas, Nv., with 24/1 live and ondemand Web casting covering every aspect o[ the building project.