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Truck or Rail & Trailer Shipments

Cloy Brown & Compony Opens

Ooklond qnd Ukioh Offices

Clay l3ror.vn & Company opened Northern Caiifornia sales offices in Oaklancl, and buying offices at Ukiah, on April 1. Named to head the Oakland office, at Foot of Ninth Avenue, r'vzrs Ed J. I-aFranchi, formeriy presi<lent of Pacific Forest Products, Inc., u,hich operated at that location until the end of Nlarch. Ralph J. Dales, forrnerly in charge of Pacific Fcirest's Ukiah buying office, u'ill head Clay Brown & Company's Ukiah olhce, located at 501 Stella Dr.

The dissolution of Pacific Forest Products, Inc., marked the completion of over ten successful years in the r,l-roiesale lumber business. the entire tirne u.ith Ed LaFranchi at the helm. his brother Dick LaFranchi as vice-president, and George Hull, norv entering business in Dutch Guiana, :IS SeCretarv-treastlref.

Februory Construction Below 1955

Construction contracts in the Unitecl States in February totalled $2,161.009,000, 3% belorv Febmary of last year, according to F. \\r. I)oclge Corporatiorr. This decline offset a small increase in January, so that the first tt'o months together shou, no change from the same period of 1956.

The February clecline u'as entirely in the private-orvnership sector of construction. Contracts for pultlicly-on,ned projects increased substantially. The dollar rtolume of residential contracts in Februarv rvas $875,4136,000, a decline ctf 7/o lrom the same month last year. The nurnber of du'elling units represented by tl'rese residential contracts l-as 68.632, or 7Z/o below February 1956.