PROIIIPT SERYICE QUALITY sAYrlrcg

Distribution Yard

13307 Burbonk Blvd.

Von Nuys, Colifornio

Slqre 5-8873 o STonley 7-t129 during the 20-year period amounted to cnly l/2}th of 1 percent.

"This assistance ." he said, ,,has helped turn the tide in our countrv from rental occupancy to home occupancy. It may be that this is one of the really important social de_ velopments in our history.

"Twenty-seven million Americans are now homeowners an increase of 16 million over 1920. The proportion of orvner-occupied homes is now 57o/o, if. not higher."

Nearly 6O/c of the nerv home mortgases insurecl by FHA last year u.ere utilized in homes costir.rg $[3,000_$12,000. More than a third n'ere used in l-romes in the $8,000-$10,000 bracket. The average income of purchasers of homes costinp $9-$10,000 u'as $431.52. In the gt0-911,000 range it na,s $44b.83 per month.

Mason also said that FHA has built a reserve fund of $441,700,000 out of its income surplus.

Bueno PqrkTripled in Area

Buena Park, California, celebrated the thircl anniversary of its incorporation January 28 and feu, cities have had such sensational grou.th. It has tripled in :rrea, u,ith 3000 acres adcled in 20 arrnexatior.rs in just the lzist year. Srrb_ division maps filed in 1955 call for 5800 more homes an<l 23,000 people. It rankecl eighth in builcling permits in the Southland last year, its 3707 permits at $38,84(r,g43 being a 35O/o gain over 195.1.

Cleor

Western Pine Hif All-rime Highs

(Continued from Page 18) due t<-r higl.rer costs. A11 of the increase and mtlre, he said, rvill be in non-residential building, particularly commercial and industrial' Itesidential anrl utilitl' c<lnstrttction are expected to sht-ru' a drop, but exllerts vary in predicting the size of this expected decrease.

C)ther speakers at the big annual meeting included l-arvrence I). Kelkrgg. of --\lexandria, I-a., president of the National Lumber N'Ianufacturers Associatior-r; Leo V. Bodine, executive vice-president of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, and Charles A. Gillett, managing director of Arnerican Forest Products Industries, Inc., nationrvide public relations arm of the forest industries.

J. D. Bronson, Cascade Lurnber Co., Yakima, Wash., voiced a plea for continued heavy emphasis on safety education in the industry, both in the mills and woods.

Association officers re-elected and elected \\'ere : President, Mr. Helmer; vice presidents, Nlr. Bronson and A. B. Hood, Ralph L. Smith Lumber Co., Anderson, Calif.; treasurer, C. T. Gray, American F'orest Products Corp., San Frar-rcisco.

Directors-at-large : E. C. Rettig, Potlach Forests, Inc., I-erviston, Idaho; R. A. Murphy, McCloud River Lumber Co., McCloud, Calif.

National I-umber Manufacturers Association directors and executive committeemen: E. C. Olson, E. C. Olson Lumber Co., Spokane, Wash.; Hcin.rer B. Jamison, BylesJamison Lurnber Co., Fresno, Calif. ; Mr' Bronson; \\r. N{. l-euthold. Deer Park Pine Industries, Inc., Deer I'ark, \\rash. ; \\ralter S. Johnson, American Iiorest Products Corp., San Francisco; U. I{. Armstrong, Hallack & Holvard Lumber Co., \\rinchester, Idaho.

Approximately 50O attended the session, u'hich marked the silver anniversary of the association' Western Pine rvas formed in 1931 in a merger of tu'o operator groups 'ivhich at that time l-rad been in existence some 25 )'ears.

Western Pine First Quqrler Production, Shipments Up

The follorving report of the first quarter, 1956, production and shipments of Western Pine Region lumber products ancl estimate of probable second quarter' 1956, shipments, u'as released N arch 31 by W. E. Griffee, assistant secretar\.-manager of the Western I'ine Association:

"There have been m:rny complairlts about the unusually severe l'eather this pzrst r,virlter. Loggers an<l sawmill operators in the \\restern Pine region have had their full share of u'eather-causecl difficulties. Neverthelcss, preliminary estimates indicate that they managed both to produce ancl to ship slightly more lumber in the first quarter of this year than in any otirer first cluarter on record.

"Production of 1684 million feet was up 2.6/a from last year. Shipments of 1821 million feet rvere 1.6/o above 1955's record first quarter. Mill stocks at tl.re end of the quarter are about 1665 million feet, up from 16O1 million a vear ago. They still are conservative because the bulk of the stocks is lumber rvhich is not dry er-rough to ship'

"It is encouraging that this volume of shipments $'as made during a period rvhen nerv housing starts r'vere dorvn from a year ago. The 78,000 units started in February \\'ere 15/c belou' the number started in Februarl' 1955. Holever, the annual rate, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, rvas only Sft below the seasonally-adjusted rate for the entire year 1955.

"The demand for lumber is holding up better than the rate o[ housing starts. New homes average a little larger than last year. There has been an increase in the imprclvement of existing homes. Industrial clemand is at a peak. Housing starts may increase later irr the spring. Mortgage rnoney is more readily available than it r'vas last f:rll and applications for federally insurecl tnortgages have shou'n :r good increase in recent rveeks.

"The industry's second quarter shipments rvill be reduced to some extent by the fact that quite a {erv log decks that