THE CATIFOR)-IIA LUMBERMERCHANT JackDiorne,pfrlislw,

How Lumber Looks

Lumber shipments of 487 mills reporting to the Natio,nal Lumber Trade Barometer in the week ended December 10 were I4.5/o below production, u'hile new orders rvere 13.1r/c above. Unfilled orclers amounted to 35/o of stocks. For the year to date, shipments were O.l/o and new orders 0.8/o below production.

National producti.on of lumber in the first ten months of 1955 totaled an estimated 33,103,000,0C0 board feet,9o/o above the similar 1954 period, reported the National Lumber Manufacturers Association. Softwood output was up ll/o and hardwoods were about the same level as the corresponding 1954 period. Shipments and new orders for both soft and hardwoods exceeded production by 2% in the first ten months of the year. During October, lumber production totaled an estimated 3,431,000,000 feet, clown 3/o from September 1955 but 2/o above October 1954.

West Coast Lumbermen's Association reported for 169 mills (157 operating) in the week ended December 10: production, 716,496,367 feet ; shipments, 93,258,744 feet (20.0% under production) ; orders, 134,146,479 feet (15.2/o over production). For the year to date, shipments were l.)a/o and orders were 2.5/o under production.

The weekly average of west coast lumber production at Douglas fir region sawmills during November was 163,139,000 b.f. or 87.1% of the 1950-54 average, reported Harris E. Smith, secretary of the West Coast Lumbermen's Assn. Orclers averaged 149,751,000 b.f. and- shipments 155,103,000 b.f. The ln This lssucRiverside Hoo-Hoo Sponsors Decrler Trcining Clcrss Lumber Looks Ahecrd

Hoo-Hoo Gives Woodwork Shop to Boys Home

"The Flrst Wood Preserver" by Jock Dionne

Golden Anniverscry lor Lounsberry & flcnris

1955 Plywood Production Tops 4.8 Billion Feet

Lumber Monulocturers to. Spur Promotion . .. .26

Fun-Fcrcts-Filosophy .......34

New Products Informotion .. .....46-47 Colif., Arizono Buildinq Permits Ior November ....66 .54, 59, 63 Obituories 16. 68 Personqls

25YeorsAgo ...........32 Wont Ads .....70-71

The ADVERTISERS INDEX will be lound on Page 72

1t-months cumulative production was 8,923,651,000 b.f., compared to 8,0i1,382,000 b.f. in the same 1954 span. The industry's unfilled order filg stood at 584,759,000 b.f. at the end of November, gross stocks at 1,004,981,000 b.f.

(Late production, shipment and order figures from the Western Pine Association were not available at press time.)

Southern Pine Association reported for 99 mills in the (Continued on Page 72)

Excrusive sqres o pLANKT 1m5ERS, Representotives in RAILROAD TIES, Sourhern Colifornio INDUSTRIAT CUTTINGS WH O t ESA tE for: Foirhurst Lumber

. DOUGIAS FIR' Co. of Californic . .

REDWOOD, plNE, 824 $filshire Boulevard, Los Angeles 17, cali(.

WHIIE FlR, SPRUCE Harry Vhittemore, Gen. Mgr. MA. 6-9134 - Teletype 763

Riverside County Hoo-Hoo Sponsors lmporlont Refail Troining Closs for Dealers

The first semester of one of the most important and worthy Hoo-Hoo projects ever attempted in Southern California-a Retail Lumbermen's Training Institute-starts

January 9. The course will be held in the classrooms of Riverside College on Monday night of each week for 16 weeks. They will be three hours, from 7:00 to 10 p.m., with Dr. Wendell Close, former head of the Columbia University Night School Dept., moderating the course with top instructors from both the school and the building materials field.

The cost for this course is only $25 per student, per semester, of which there will be two. Additional information may be had from these men who have worked with Dr. Close in setting up the course':

Gerry Westphal, Colton-TRinity 7 -20OI

Jim Tipton, Riverside-OVerland 3-8410

Don Oakes, Colton-TRinity 7-2424

Bill Davidson, Riverside-Rlverside 9000.

There is a tentative limit of 4O students for the course. Lumberyards which have good standing in Riverside County Hoo-Hoo Club 117, which is sponsoring this outstanding project, will have the first choice, after which it will be on a first-come basis.

Club 117 is very proud to be able to present this training opportunity to lumber dealers of the area and feels the study will be of great aid to dealers individually and the industry as a whole, said B. H. Holdren, the club president. The course has been given a lot of thought and almost a whole year's preparation. A committee of lumberrnen has designed a course strictly for the benefit of anyone in the industry.

Tailor-Made for Retail Trade

The course is tailor-made, consisting of study subjects pertaining to the retail lumber business only. The complete course of two semesters will be enrolled one semester at a time; however, to complete the course, attendance for the two full semesters is necessary. Yards sending employes to the classes will be kept posted on the progress of the students and sent a transcript of each student's attendance record. Following is the Curriculum:

Construction and Estimating

Blueprint Reading, Design and Construction, Building Codes.

Business Administration

Orientation, Human Relations, Salesmanship, Customer Relations, Consumer and Telephone Selling, Merchandising, Store Display and Yard Arrangement.

Products

Commercial Lumber Properties, Millwork, Building Materials.

Administration and Office Management fmmediate registration will be necessary for the ferv remaining enrollments available for the start of the first semester early this month. The attendance is expected to be full because of the interest in the outstanding Hoo-Hoo

Business Law, Credits and Collections, Bookkeeping and Bookkeeping Systems.

wErcoME !

'trn this issue, we welcome these new advertisers into the family of Califorriia Lumber "Merchant-isers":

Big Town Lumber, Inc. (Page 43)

' Brown Timber Co. (Page 32)

'' Iferman A. Smith (Page 58)

Timber Engineering Co. of Calif. (Page 31)

T. V. Walker & Son, Inc. (Page 9) project and the importance present-day merchandising of such help and instruction in and retail yard operation.

Soufhern Colifornio €onstruction Tops $Z gillion in | | Monrhs

The first 11 months of 1955 saw construction activity of $1,182,923,303 ($l%,170,525 more than the similar span in 1954) in 74 Southland cities, and $593,428,469 (compared to $540,319,951 last year) in the nine unincorporated county areas, putting the Southern California building total well on the way to $2,500,000,000 for the year when all the 1955 figures are in.

The strike against the rock, sand, gravel and concrete mix industry has caused a sharp decline in new-home construction in Los Angeles county, the L. A. Chamber of Commerce said last month. Quentin W. Best, chairman of the chamber's construction industries committee, said the $67,513,311 total valuation of permits issued in November represented a 28.5/o drop from the same month last year.

"The most disturbing effects of the strike were in the decline of new dwelling units and the valuation of residential permits." Best said. "Compared to November 1954, the number of new dwelling units r,vas dor,vn 51.1/o and the residential valuation was off 43.8/o," he said.

Northwest Hqrdwood Associqtion Gluorterly Meering Jqnuaty 2l

Seattle-The next quarterly meeting of the recently formed Northwest Hardwood Association. Seattle. will be held in the auditorium of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, January 21. The major subject will be Recommended Grading Rules for Logs and Lumber. Reports will be given by the officers, directors and committee chairmen on progress and developments since the first annual business meeting. Talks rvill also be given by experts on hardwoods. Persons interested in the promotion of alder, maple and other hardwoods of the region, in tl,e expansion of markets and new utilization of these woods, are urged to attend the meeting this month, said E. J. Nist, president. Harry O. Mitchell, 3253 Commodore Way, Seattle 99, Wash., is secretary-manager.

Fell lumber Go. Opens New Yord

Indio, Calif.-The Fell Lumber Co., Banning, Calif., has opened a new yard on Highway 99 near the drive-in theatre here. William E. McDaniel will be the manager. He lives in Palm Desert and has been with Fell for the past year after ten years in the lumber business. Don Rozell, owner of the main yards at Banning for 17 years, is alse 61y11s1 of the Sav-On Lumber Company at Palmdale.

ED

Fountain Lumber Company

()2 1,\ South Itooher Auutttt Itx A u.geles ti-2.1].31 ,r 7'cletyl>c LA 1097

\^/HOLESALE LUMBER Distribution yard, Los Angeles Concentration and planing rnill, Medford. Oregon Branch off ices: Fortuna, Redding a nd Sacranrento

*LAM-LOC PFIOE,UGTS

Laminated structural timbers Arrtrqrre f)erlar boards, panels