EDITORIAL

Ready for the worst case scenario?

I T'S been about two months since the New York I Stock Exchange had its Monday meltdown, losing 508 points in a single day. Since then we've read about 508 different explanations as to what happened, why and what will happen next. We get the distinct feeling that nobody really knows what's going on.

Given that situation, it seems prudent to do a little mental planning in the event a worst case scenario becomes the one that we have to deal with in real life.

While we are not necessarily forecasting that America is about to suffer another Great Depression like in the 1930s, that is not to say that we think it couldn't happen again. After all, who thought the stock market would drop 508 points in one day, losing half a trillion dollars in a single sickening slide?

Today, many companies rightly pride themselves on surviving the recession of 1981-1982, running mean and lean since. But that slump was a comparative piece ofcake alongside the hopelessly grim days

DAVID CUTLER editor-publi sher

of the 1930s. In those days business didn,t just slowdown, it virtually disappeared. Let one statistic suflice: In Detroit in 1926 construction was running at a $183 million annual pace. After the bank collapse of 1933, construction fell to $4 million.

Coping with that kind of a crash was often impossible and businesses died by the hundreds of thousands. Yet a few survived, somehow, to go on to what were to be the most prosperous times in U.S. history. The ways they did it were varied, ingenious, sometimes lucky, but always involved hard work and lots of it.

We've heard all the arguments as to how a replay of the 1930s can't happen. We don't buy it. We'll go along with the philosopher who said that those who ignore the lessons of history are condemned to repeat its mistakes.

It seems smarter to us to put in a little time preparing for something that supposedly will never happen again than to gamble on being unprepared.

Erecting buildings to fit on odd-shaped parcels of land or around existing structures is no Problem for San Antonio Pole Construction.

In this job for Frost Hardwood Lumber Co. in San Diego, Ca., we built a hardwood storage building in the shape of a flattened out L to fit around the blower system in an existing mill build' ing. The 11,000 sq. ft. pole building runs 195 {t., makes a 35 degree turn and runs for another 50 ft. It has a concrete floor and a hot mopped roof supported by strong glu' lams. Redwood plywood siding provides it with a handsome exterior.

Like all San Antonio buildings, this one was custom tailored to the special needs of our customer.

Whether your needs are involved or straight forward, San Antonio can build the structure you need.