NTWS BRI ETS

Aruotlrcr 1/4 point redw:tion in the prime rate is expectecl by many, it woulcl drop the big ba,nks' lowest corporate lending rate to 5lz% . other speculation concerns a drop in the fetleral leserve discount rate below 57o; it would make it cheaper for banks to borrow from [-'ncle Sam; First Nt'I. City Bank, the U.S.'s 3rd largest, went to a floating rate to be reviewed rveekIy...

'Ihe Fecleral Home I.,oan Bank Board has lrroposecl new legs. that would shurply incrcose home bu1'ers' chances ot' getting lower priced loan rates . . net savings inflow in'to S&Ls in '71 may double the high reached last year .

The summer's sensationuL rate ot' housing slarts slil)ped in Sept. )"2/o helow Aug., to 1,958,000; starts were still well ahead of last Sept.'s 1,509,000 pace Oakley Hunter, head of Fannie Mae, the Federal Ntl. h'Iortgage Assn., has officially t'orecast an alL-time high ol 2,000,000 starts in '71 antl that '72 will break th,at record

Euans Protlucts is building a 50,000 sq. ft. distribution center in Denuer; completion is set for Spring, '72 . Angels Do-ltYourselt' Stores opened their 6th in So. Calif., in Huntington Beach . Western Door & Sash, Oakland, recently hosted 40 visiting wholesale bldg. mtl. dealers lrom Cermany

Boise Cascade is in court following charges that three of their land sales subsidiaries made "misrepresentations" in four land development projects in,

Calif. . . OSIt A lisht residential construction reg.s. from the feds have been delayed indefinitely; elTorts are underway to lilock adoption of any firm rule-. for that part o[ the inclustry . .

Arcata Ntl., parcnt ti{ Arr:ata Reclwoorl Co., hos sued the fed.eral gou. f or an adrlitional 8(t3,835,000 for 11,000 acres of land taken for the redwood ntl. park following (ln independent appraisal which lrut the lands' value at $121,585,000; the firm ear'lier received $57.750.000 in compensation, including 10,500 acres of gov. land.

Croran Zellerbach is closing its Peachlancl, 8.C., mill because industry conditions have rnarle it uneconornical Io oper{ite Pope & Talbot Development, In,c. has mouerl from Seuttle to Portland, where the cor'p. HQ. are located.

BeI-Air Door Co.. Alhambra. has completely taken over the old Gordon Plywood warehouse, giving them an ent.ire blot:l; lor warehousing, manufacturing anrl of{ices Douglas Fir Lu,nber, San Francisco, recenlly closed a deal in Pittsburgh, I)a., for 1,600,000 ft. o{ fir" retardant treated Doug. f.r

Battelle Institute plans a worLd-wide stutly of sTs/ems building to see if it really is adaptable to L.S. conditio,n,s . American Wholesale Hardware Co. had over 175 exhibitors at their Long Beach Sales Galaxy Dealer Show; not to mention record attendance and exhibitor sales.

The International Council of ShoppingCenters surveyed 36 retail chains operating 666 shopping center,q that stay open Sun" days; selling on the seventh day brcrught an aDerage soles increase of 9% . ft. F. Nikkel Lumber is joint-uenturing rvith an insur- ance firm on a new $650,000 bldg. in Sacramento lo scrve as l{Q for each co. .

I. E. Higgins Luml,tr,5./., is nciw distributing Roseburg Lumber's line o{ vinyl coatecl particle ancl hardboard . . . Capital Lurn6er has solcl 2 acres and a 2,000 sq. ft. bldg. near the Sacramenlo airlrort ful uiuthy [.um ber, Tucson, Ariz., hrs gone out of business ut,.,1. ,.lfi years .

Bernice llI,,r'ush. 11, daughter of Marvin S'{orash. foreman at Waller Lumber, Sparks, Neu., ruas crushed to death recently when she was accidentally caught in a roller press . . lumlter trades on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange iol the lst three-quarters of '71 were 76,677 compared with 43,lBl in'the year earlier period .

Ceorgia-Pacific has uon the "0scar of Inclustry" award in its category for the excellence of its latest stockholder annual report fram Financial World, a business weekly . Potlatch International ( w o o d pr o ducts group) is the new name for their old mahogany importing div.

Earnings and sales reports for the 3rd quarter came on strong for many of the big corporations, G-P reparted sales up 169%, income up 5.3/o; U.S. Ply.-Champictn Popers had record setting sales, earnings nearly doubled; Potlatch Forests had increased sales and earnings as did Euans Produr:ts which also declared a 2-for-l stock sJrlit effective L)ec. 28 .

Masonite had record sales and earnings; Diamond I nternational did the same; Palmer C. Lewis Co. in Seattle gained 22/a in sales and 37/o in earnings; Bo' hemia Lumber, Iiugene, Ore. nearly doubled both sales and earnings.

W€slern Lumbcr ond Building Moicriols MEICHANI

Best wishes for speedy recovery go to the following dealers and associates: Louis Eblen, Eblen Lumber Co., Manhattan: Phil Baxter, Montana Lumber & Hardware Co., Harlowton; Leonard Gorseth, Builders Supply Co., Great Falls; and Al Dyksterhouse, Amsterdam Lumber Co., Amsterdam.

By R. V. PETERSEN executive secretary

WIITH the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the forefront of concern for every dealer, a series of indoctrinational meetings were arranged in co-operation with the State Industrial Accident Board to bring some fundamental information on the act and its requirements to all employers.

Meetings have been held in Missoula, Great Falls, Billings, Glendive, Miles City, Bozeman, Butte, Libby, Kalispell and Helena. In spite of efforts to stimulate interest and attendance at these meetings, many dealers have demonstrated disinterest and apathy about this legislation which has been called the most far-reaching, all-inclusive ever enacted for the pro- tection of the welfare of all employees.

Every employer and every employee has ttre duty of compliance with the act. The penalties to employers for non-compliance can be severe, No dealer's obligations under the act can be ignored or treated lightly. MBMDA has made and will continue to make every effort to provide the membership with essential information, interpretations and advice on application of this legislation to the dealer's every-day operation, to answer questions and requests.