As Modern As Tomorrow

By Robert E. Mohoffoy Advertising Promolion Monoger West Coost lumbermen's Associoiion

The word indispensable is defined as meaning "absolutely necessary or requisite." Not many things fall in that limited category. Oxygen does, and water. Without sunlight there could be no food. What about lvoodlumber? How "indispensable" is it?

As a matter of fact, lumber is as imperfect as the man who manufactures or sells or uses it. A man may lack perception, show stubborness, be niggardly or rude, possess a quick temper. A piece of lumber may contain knots, may shrink or expand, have a tendency to split.

But, like the man, lumber may have balancing qualities -strength, resilience, good appearance, toughness under stress.

Just what has lumber done for us? Why do we continue to use it ? Why not pitch this imperfect product out the window and rely for our requirements on the marveis developed by modern science ?

To begin with, wood is by far the most versatile of all the things we need and use. Every important part of our lives is touched by wood.

In the past, water wheels to catch a river's power were made of wood. Today the huge hydro-electric dams which furnish power and life to distant farms and cities require lumber to build forms strong enough to mold these massive installations.

For a thousand years and more the farmer has relied on wood to produce and store the food we eat. He uses lumber for barns and fences and dairy buildings. Lumber builds the farmhouse and all the other structures of the farmstead, such as the chicken house and chicken pen. Lumber builds huge storage facilities to hold wheat for the winter months.

The old and well-worn school house has given way to a new style, functional, built of wood, easy to expand or alter to meet changing requirements. Experience has shown that the resilience of wood frame construction makes it capable of withstanding earthquakes. Wood sheathing provides insulation, strength and stiffness, while the finished layer of siding adds texture and beauty to the exterior-and more strength.

A century ag'o our forefathers built churches of wood of familiar design. Today new churches are rising throughout the countryside, structures of wood with laminated arches made possible by research. Designed rvith imagination, these are dramatic departures from the conventional -churches which convey a sense o{ Modern Gothic with their steeples reaching high. fn communications, too, wood has always played an important part. Before the time of Gutenberg the Chinese used movable type made of wood. Today the forests which provide lumber supply 37,000 tons of newsprint each week to inform America of the world's happenings. fn some instances the wagons of pioneer days traveled on wooden roads. Today our highway engineers use great quantities of lumber for guard rails, for concrete forms, for shoring and bracing, and for bridges. fn contemporary building, soaring arches of glued laminated lumber lend themselves to a great variety of architectural achievements.

From the forests have come more than four hundred and fifty million telephone and telegraph poles. and the crossarms which support the wires.

The building of a modern freeway requires more carpenters than any other type of construction rvorker.

American timbers, because of their strength and economy, are used throughout the world to bridge streams and gullies for the safe passage of trains.

Survivor from the past, the covered bridge is still found in use today, and will always be remembered for its picturesque beauty. Modern highway bridges, built of timbers, can be dismantled and moved or widened as traffic increases.

Heavy construction depends on structural timbers for trusses, beams, joists, posts, and decking. The strength of these modern structures is such that they vvill withstand severe exposure to fire.

Along the highways of the land a new industry-motels to serve the traveling public-has sprung up, and again lumber makes its contribution.

From early history man has used wood in waging war. Ulysses devised a wooden horse to conceal Greek troops. In the great but dangerous days of the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci designed ingenious wooden instruments of war-wooden guns and troop bridges, portable assault drawbridges to lower over the enemy walls.

Today our modern armies use wood more than ever before. Lumber builds barracks, bridges and machine gun barricades. Portable sarvmills follow the troops close to the front lines. Almost everything a modern army carries-food, cl'othing and munitions-is packed in wood. In World War Two, our armed forces used a greater tonnage of wood than steel.

Lumber has always played an important part in trans-- portation. It furnished wooden wagons and ships. On the Mississippi it r,r,'as the mainstay of the fast flat-bottomed steamboats. And almost three million board feet of lumber were used in the construction of the all-metal superliner, the S. S. United States.

\\rood serves in boat building for hulls and masts, spars and oars. Ships of wood, with beautiful lines and proportions, have the strength to safelv,cross the seven seas. Timbers are used to build wharves which serve the fleets of the u'orld. Piling, treated with preservatives, has defied underl'ater decay and marine borers for decades.

Railroads earn millions of dollars each year carrying timber products. They use wood for box cars, docks, trestles, right-of-rvay buildings and always for cross ties. Major railroads in the United States are using nearly a billion 'n.ooden cross ties today.

In recreation wood also plays a role. At Hollyrvood Bov"l the Symphony performs to an audience of 25,000, seated on ll,ooden bleachers, while the musi,c is magnified by the famous Blue Half Moon made of wood.

The motion picture industry relies on wood for many phases of production. Lumber supplies the framework for enormous sound stages. From the studio lumber yard comes material for a large part of production. Skilled carpenters duplicate whole streets and towns, building realistic stone pillars and brick walls of wood.

The most rvidespread use of lumber is in building homes, .houses of beauty and originality. During the past fifty years America has taken the lead in architectural design. Men of vision have found better ways to use our basic materials, in novel as rvell as traditional .ivays.

Lumber provides the essential structure, at the same time lending gracefulness and charm .to interiors, blending richness s'ith 'rvarm comfort.

Lumber is the rart' material of homes. Wood is ever moclern, ever new. Today's builder uses specially-designed tools, and has at his disposal centuries of accumulated experience. Builders are devising new ways of doing old things. Yet fundamentals remainhammer and saw, bolt and nail-and lumber.

Nerv homes are rising by the tens of thousands. New residential sections, new towns and communities are changing the face of America. They are the pulse beat of a nation-a nation which is a stranger to defeat, ever growing, challenging, striving.

Lumber combines the traditional and conventional, and still is as modern as tomorrow.

los Angeles Hoo-Hoo-Etfes Meet

Hoo-Hoo-Ettes Club No. t held their monthly meeting on Monday, April 12, at Taix French Restaurant, Los Angeles. The meeting was devoted entirely to business, and nominations were made for new officers to be elected for the vear 1954-1955. Ann Murray reported on the new Club formed at San Diego, Hoo-Hoo-Ettes No. 4, a report of which appears elsewhere in this issue. The next meeting r,vill be held l\{ay 10, in Chinatown, the exact place to be announced later.