THE CALIFORNIA LUMBER MERCHANT

Jack Dionne, Publisher

Iacorporctad under lhe lqws

Sil$'?st,1T,.3l1t"t.,"JltY"o' Los ANGELES 14, cALrFoRNrA, FEBRUAR y r, rssz

How Lumber Looks

Lurnber continues its comeback in the first weeks of the new year. Shipments of 497 mills reporting to the National Lumber Manufacturers Association in the ueek ending January 19 were 1.6/o and new orders were 0.4/o above production National production of lumber in November totaled 2,975,000,000 board feet, estimated the NLMA irr a Januarl. 11 release. This was 73Vo below October, and 4/o below Novenrber 1955. S.hipments and orders were 6Vo below production in the month.

West Coast Lumbermen's Assn. reported shipnents of 111,649,026 feet were 0.7/o above production of 111,486,118 feet in the week ending January 19. Orders of 105,356,893 feet were 5.5% below. In the r,r'eek errded January 5, orders rose 15.1/o and shipments 8.6/o over production The weekly average of west coast lumber production in December u'as 150,740,000 b.f.; orclers,161,679,00A, and ship- ments, 144,630,000 b.f., reported WCLA Secretary Harris E. Smith for the Douglas fir sawmill region. Total 1956 production was 9,140,392,000 b.f ; orders, 8,980,181,000; shipments, 9,043,482,000.

Western Pine Assn. reported for 111 mills in the week ending January 19 that orders of 70,589,000 feet were l2/o higher than production of 62,913,000 feet. Shipments were 68,321,000 feet. In the previous week ended January 12, orders had climbed 17.6/o and shipments 6.5/o above production.

Douglas Fir Plywood Assn. reported orders of 105,959,00O feet in the week er-rding January 19 were about the salne as the previous week but were nearly 5/o ahove the corresponding 1956 week. Production was 107,721,000 feet and unfilled orders amounted to 319.926.000 feet.

Wetcome

In this issue, we welcome these new advertisers into the family of California Lumber "Merchant-isers":

ENTRANCE to ?he "Products in Action" show ot the rhird onnuol Exposition of fhe Notionol Retqil Lumber Deolers Associqtion in Chiccgo, December l0-13. This big evenl of thc retoil lumber deolers' yeor wo3 covered in person by The CALIFORNIA TUMBER MERCHANT, ond our Exposilion reporting cnd picloriol coverdge will be found in the speciol 8-poge saction stdrting on Poge 4l

In This Issue

Vogobond Editoriols . 6 25 Yeors Ago ., My Fovorite Story . 12 Obituqries

Personqls .24, 58 New Products

Fun-Fqcts-Filosophy . 38 Wont Ads

Remodeled Woodlond Yord Is Modern M,erchqndising Mochine . ..

Merchondising Colilornio Redwood in I957

Now Deolers Ccrn Sell'One-price Buildings'to Fqrmers. "Whot Enthusiosm Moy Do"-An Editoriol

NHLA Convention Adopts New Groding Rules

Kenneth Smith Speoks to Pocific Logging Congress

The CALENDAR of Coming Events

The ADVERTISERS'INDEX will be lound oa Pcge 88

Stimuloting Progrom Lined-up for SCRTA-Hoo-Hoo Conference Feb. 5

A stimulating Membership Conference, rvith something for everybody, has been lined up for Part 1 of the annual event at the Ambassador hotel, Los Angeles, February 5. The Conference, planned by the Southern California Retail Lumber Assn., in cooperation with L. A. Hoo-Hoo CIub ?, starts with a noon luncheon, followed by a business meeting and closing with a social mixer. The local industry meeting rvill be the forum type allowing questions from the floor.

SCRLA President Wayne F. Mullin will preside and open the session with a welcome to members of the two groups. Joseph R. Jones, vice-president. Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, will talk on "Real Estate Trends." HHFAdministrator Albert M. Cole is coming from Washington to tell "What's Ahead in Home F'inancing tor 1957'" James Forgie, Snark of Hoo-Hoo Club2, will award plaques for outstanding industry cooperation. Robert Inglis and Herb Geisenheyner will represent the Southern California Lumber Seasoning Assn. in "What Is Seasoned Lumber?" Erik Flamer will report briefly on progress of the Lumber Grades program.

SCRLA Vice-President Hal A. Brown will moderate a panel discussion on vital industry matters, with questions from the audience to be answered by the Panel members' 'rvho will be: Robert }Ioover, A. L. Hoover Co., San Marino -The Redwood Market from the viewpoint of a non-inventory wholesaler; James Forgie, Robert S. Osgood Co., Los Angeles-The Western Red Cedar Market; Charles Clay, Clay Lumber Co., Inglewood-The Lumber Market for Rail and Truck Shipments; A. C. Penberthy, Tacoma Lumber Sales, Arcadia-The Lumber Cargo Market for Retailers; William Hanen, Al Pierce Co., Long Beach-The West Coast Lumber Market and the Future of the Cargo Market; LeRoy H. Stanton, Sr', E. J. Stanton & Son, Los Angeles-The Hardwood Market and \[rholesale-Retail Cooperation; John T. Northam, Ilarbor Plywood Corp', Los Angeles-The Plywood Market and Distribution Problems and Policy, and Don L. Braley, U'S. Ply'ivood Corp', Los Angeles-New lJses and General Outlook for Plywood Affecting Retail Lumber Dealers'

Following the cocktail hour closing Part 1 of the Membership Conference, it adjourns at the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles to reconvene February 25 in Honolulu, Hawaii' Late last month almost 100 members of the SCRLA and otl'rer industry people had made reservations. As the list continues to grorv, it appears part of the Conference's flights to the Islands may be made by daylight hours' Norman P. Mason. Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, Washington, D'C., and his wife will join the retail and wholesale members of the SCRLA on this unusual meeting.

Woyne Mullin Elected C. C. Director

Wiyne F. Mullin, president of the Mullin Lumber Co' yards, Los Angeles, and current president of the Southern California Retail Lumber Assn., was elected a director of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in the annual balloting on January 10. Charles E. Ducommun, president of Ducommun Metals & Supply Co., was elected the nerv president of the Chamber for 1957.

Going!-Going!-Gone!

Southern California is running out of land at such a rate, W. Herbert Allen, board chairman of the Title Insurance and Trust Co., told a luncheon meeting of the Associated Building Managers at the Los Angeles Biltmore hotel last month, that by 1975 when the state hits its predicted 21,000,000 population there will be no vacant land from the mountains to the coast between Santa Barbara and San Diego.

Curron Brothers Lumber Co. Chonges Hqnds Affer 54 Yeqrs in Pomonq

Ownership of the Curran Bros. Lumber Co., I'omona, Calif., changed hands January 1 after 54 years rn hen the brother-partners, Gerald V. and Phil J. Curran, sold the business to a new corporation, Garey Lumber Co., heacled by Herman I\fatisoff of Pomona. The Curran {irm name on the business landmark on North Garey avenue more than half a century was replaced by the name of the new o\vners.

Herman Matisoff has been in the lumber industrv since 1942, a Fomona resident since 1955, and was until recently general manager of the Jameson Lumber Co. of Los Angeles. He will be general manager of the nelr. Garey Lumber Co. The personnel of the retail yard rvill be retained, it was stated. They include Mrs.'Joan Curran Tate, office secretary; Frank Hope, yard foreman, and Yard Men Enrmett Riley, Jess Willoughby and Norman Young.

Couil Rules Owner-Builder Lqw Involid

San Diego-Judge John F. Martin of the Encinitas \Iunicipal Court recently ruled that an individual may build and sell residences rvithout a contractors license, in the first ruling by a Southern California court thus declaring invalid this portion of the Contractors State License Lalr'. The decision came in the charge by the Contractors State License Board that James R. Boggs of La Jolla had built a residence in Leucadia and sold it lr'ithin nine months in violation of the allowances of the orn'ner-builder provisions of the above law.

The judge's decision, as handecl dorvn, said the restriction was in violation of private rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

Wqrren Heods Portlqnd Gemenf Group

George E. Warren, president of Southwestern Portlanrl Cement Co., Los Angeles, was elected board chairman of the Portland Cement Association at its annual meeting last rnonth in Chicago. The t,. A. man has servecl on the board sincc 19.1.3 and on the Executive committee the past year. Mr. Warren has been president of Southwestern Portland Cemcnt since 1949, having joined the firm in 1933 as vice-president and manager of its eastern operations. Before 1933 he was assistant general manager of the Portland Cement Assn.

NHIA Nomes Coudill f. A. Inspector

The National Hardrvood Lumber Association, Chicago. has appointed E. G. Caudill its deputy inspector for the Los Angeles district. His address will be 1021 S. Montecito Drive, San Gabriel, and his phone: ATlantic 4-2339.