NSSOGINTD Plywood Mills' Inc.

GENERAT OFFICE -EUGENE, OREGON

MILLS: Eugene, Oregon, ond Willomino, Oregon

BRANCH WAREHOUSES: Eugene ond Willomino, Oregon; 925 Tolond St., Son Froncisco 24, Colit.;4814 Bengol St., Dollos 9,Tex.i 4268 Utoh St., 5t. Louis 16, Mo.

SALES WAREHOUSES: Bessonette & Eckstrom, 2719 S. Compton, Los Angeles I l, Colif.; Pscific Mutuol Door Co., 626 Tocomo Bldg. (Home Off icc), Tocomo, Wn.; I 407 Fleet St., Boltimore 3 l, Md.; 2l 4l Throop St., Chicogo 8, lll.; 516 South Ave., Gorwood, N. J.; Adoms ond Shownee Sts., Konsos City; 2235 Territoriol Rood,, St. Poul 4, Minn.

Ducks and Dollars (Corltirltrccl fronr I'agc

ll{) to l;e a spread of just a feu' bttcks."

"Tinres have changed." I said.

"Hm-m. Just the sanle, not yotl ()r auv other jokcr calr tell rne that you can build a r,vhole house out of No. 3."

"Nobody's trying to. We've si)ent a lot of money firrclirrg out n'here vott can ttse No. 3 ztncl n'herc You can't. There are ltlaces u'here it'll do the job firlc-arltl <Lln't f<lrget it's costing the builcler less urotreY."

"What places ?"

"For sheathing ancl sttll-floors atrd roof Lroltr<ls, to stlrrt rvith. The basic FHA re<lttiremeuts irr all of thc 53 FIIA districts permit Douglas fir No. 3 for those uses."

"That's something," Jim said. "Any other places?"

"Sure. In all average ()ne-story construction No. 3 is more than adequate for yottr studs. Basic FHA reclttirements perrnit it in all bttt seven of the fift1'-three FIL\ districts. Then yott've got your plates au<l yortr lire stops and your bridging and your cripples-for thosc No. 3 is as good as anything else."

Jinr didn't say anything. He sn'itcherl ottt thc light ltrrtl tramped back through the shed. Irrsi<lc hc hitchc<l otrc lcg up ()n a counter. Ilehind him a panel of cklorkuolls cartght little gleams ,,f liglrt.

"Norv, son," Jim said, "I've lrectr irt this llrrsincss a lotlg tir.ne, and I dicln't stav in it bv g<iing off half-cockc<l oll someltodv else's scret'y ideas. Nlaylte Yotl cilll tcll tlre |6*' it rvould help nry bttsiness if I n'crc to sttlck sotlrc No.3."

I shook mv hcad. "Jinr, T carr't tcll vou atl,r'thitlg alrrtttt ).Our ltusirrcss and you knorV it. llut I clrr.r tcll vorr lr'lritt I see happening other Places."

"C)kay. Shoot."

"Even nttu', rr'hetr -\'t.rur cttstolllers c()l-llc itt. tlott't vtitt fincl the-v're a little more choosy? The1. look aroutrcl a littlc longer, ancl they're paying irlcrlty oi attcrrtitir.r to the pricc tags ?"

"The price tags get lookctl at first," Jinr s:ritl.

"-{ll right. l-et's say things get a littlc tiglrtcr. \\'hrrt's the next steP ?"

"I reckon I knt.ru', llttt let's see if vott do."

"There's nothing ncn' abottt it," I saitl. "A llr:ilt c()lllcs in ancl tells yott he's going to build a hrittse. He's got a bill of materials he u,ants you to bid <-,n. And most likelv he'll say,'Jim, I'r'e alu'ays hacl a sqttare rleal frotri vou zttlcl I'm not forgetting it. But dollars are a little scarcer tharl they u'ere, and I'r-e got to u'atch them a little closer' I'm going to get bids on this same jtlLr from Ecl arouncl the corner, ancl Harry's yarcl, o\rer oll "Fl" Street' I l-rrlpe you get the orcler, Lrttt vou can sec this is the u'av I'r'e got ttr do it.' "

"Yes," Jiur saicl. "that's gcrrcralll' tl.re rvav it gocs"'

"Nlavlre that r-arcl arotttltl thc corner stocks No' 3' -\ntl they Sho$. vOUr CUStOntCr Nhere he Can Save Some 111ol1c\' :rncl still get a top-llotch <1ualitr. house that ll'ill last hirlt as long as he or all)'olle clse'tvants to livc in it' Maylrc right then and there he stops lleing your cttstomer'" i"I-h"."', atrother arrgle that's n'orth thinkirrg alrottt," I said. "If there r,r'eren't any l91y grade lumber availableif the mills burned it, say, instead of putting it on the market-the u'hole load n'ould have to be carried by the higher grades, and lumber would cost iust that much more than it does now."

Jinr <li<1n't say anYthirrg.

Jim sat for a r,r'hile and rhen threrv do,n.n on me again u'ith his eyel)ro\\,s.

"N'Ia1'be you can tell me something else," he said. .,\\/hy does lumber selling have to get all foulecl up like this ? Used to be a dealer handled nothing but fine lumber. He ne\.er saw anything else and nobody ever asked him to handle anything else. What's rvrong?"

"I don't knon' u-hether you could say something's \\rrong or not," I said. "Competition is a lot tougher today than it rrsed to be. \\'e have to get the best utilization .we can out of our product. Maybe the most you can say is that it's different."

"Then rvhat makes it different?"

"Tr,vo things. The need to cut down the cost of house btrilcling and the need for sensible forest conservatior.r.,'

"Just how does conservation come into it?"

"We're not u'asting the timber that rve used to. \Ve're getting more out of our forests. The {act that there rvas a market for the product has made it possible to harvest trees that were considered of doubtful value even ten vears ago."

"Horv does that help conservation?" Jim r,vanted to knovr,. "It's been estimated that in the Douglas fir region rve're bringing in trventy-five per cent more timber per acre than u'e did a decade ago. That means we're stretching our forests by tu'enty-five per cent. We're putting that much more of the timber crop into circulation."

"As I get it, then," Bill said, "this lorv grade is coming from trees you didn't used to harvest, but are harvesting now."

"A lot of it is."

"Just horv much of this lorv grade lumber have you got ?',

"Our over-all production in the Douglas fir region will be about eight and a half billion feet this year. Six and a half billion of that is high grade lumber. Maybe we should do our talking about that, but we're not. We're talking about our t.ivo billion feet of low grade because tl-re proper use of lorv grade is the biggest thing that is happening in the lumber business today."

Jim gave his eyebrow another tug. "I don't think I'm going to like it."

"N{aybe it's just a question of looking at it from a common sense point of view," I said. "In the past we've mostly judged lumber by its appearance. Sometimes the best looking piece of lumber rvon't be worth a pail of sawdust. We're starting to judge lumber, and grade it, on the basis of its utility value."

"That makes sense," Jim said, "but it won't be easy to switch a lot of people's thinking."

"We don't expect it to be easy. I've never had anything come easy yet that r,vas worth a damn."

Jim brought his fist down hard on the counter. ,,Blast

(Continued on Page 22)

E. J. STANTON & SON, Inc.

PIONEER WHOLESAIE Hordwood Lumber Disrribulor of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA hos moreriol qvoiloble for EVERY Requirement. For the post fiftyfive yeors we hove combined modern fociiities wiih oggressive soles representolion ond now thot we ore focing on ero of reol competition we ofier this service to our cuslomers ond mills olike.

We now hove lN QUANTITY ond reody for immediofe delivery to our trodeSHOP ond BETTER pONDEROSA ond SUGAR PINE, IMPORTED ond DOMESTIC HARDWOODS, PACIFIC COAST SOFTWOODS, MAPI.E FLOORING, PHILIPPINE MAHOGANY, PLYWOOD, HARDWOOD PANELS, STANWALL, PHILWALL, SHADOWALL ond SPECIATTY LUMBER PRODUCTS.

We ore SOUTHERN CAIIFORN|A Distributor for ARMSTRONG CORK CO., hondling their Lumber Deoler moteriols - TEMLOK, TEMWOOD ond INSULATING WOOL.

DucJcs and Dollars

(Continued from Page 21) it all I I forgot those ducks. They'll sure as hell be lorv grade by the time I get to eating then.r."

He heaved himself off the counter and struggled into his overcoat. \Ve u,ent out together, n'itli the night light burning behind us.

"We11," I said, "u,hat do you think I ought to do?"

"What do I think you ought to do?" Jim growled' "I think you ought to do just rvhat you're doing."

"I'rn glad to hear you say that."

"I clicln't say I liked it. N{aybe I'11 get so it doesn't bother me so much. Notv scram out of here or those ducks will be so case-hardened I'11 hal'e to carve them rvith a hatchet."

E. L. (Ted) Connor Heads Stained Shlngle Association

E. L. (Ted) Connor, president of the Coloniai Cedar Co., Seattle, rvas elected president of the Stainecl Shingle and Shake Association at the annual meeting of the Asso* ciation. Other offrcers electe<l n'ere John Nfartin, l'erma Irroclucts Co., Cleveland, C)hio, vice president, and Philip Bailey, president of the West Coast Shingle Co., Seattle, treastlrer.

Frayne Gordon, Capilano Timber Co., Vancouver, B.-C., and Paul Puffer, Creo Dipt Co., Buffalo, N. Y., rvere elected trustees.