This One-Mcrn Lumber'Firm' Operoted With All-Profit ond Procticolly No Overhecld' Until-'

Wendell T. Robie, president of the Woodland (Calif.) Lumber Company and general manager of the Auburn (Calif.) Lumber Company, informed The CALIFORNIA LUMBER MERCHANT on May 15 that Gordon Howell, the secretary and manager of the Woodland Lumber Company, had the previous u'eek trapped a man rvho had been making a successful business of stealing lumber from lumber companies-as he attempted at the Woodland yard.

Manager Howell mentioned that from some other companies in Northern California the thief had gotten away with some. $3,000 worth of materials. Under the circumstances, The MERCHANT believes its dealer subscribers would want to be informed-so here are the details on how one alert retail lumberman trapped his thief :

A profitable, one_-man lumber firm which was all profit and practically no overhead was rudely and abruptly put out of business by Lake and Yolo county sheriff's officers with the arrest of Theodore Layne, 43, an ex-convict who lived at Clearlake Highlands and was employed at the Crane Lumber Company at Corning, Calif. Layne, who has a long and impressive record of prison terms for forgery and other of- fenses, admitted pulling his lumber-business hoax in several other counties, including Glenn and Colusa.

Manager Gordon Howell of the Woodland lumberyard, who said Layne obtained 4500 feet of Douglas fir from him under false pretenses, gives this account of the events leading up to the apprehension of the criminal:

On a Saturday, a man who gave his name as Robert Wayne said he represented Dr. Malcolm Jones,440 Post St., San Francisco, who wanted to buy lumber to build a gun club on the Madison-Winters cut off. "Wayne" asked for a bid. Monday he returned with a truck and said Dr. Jones wanted the lumber. After it was loaded and "Wayne" was leaving, Manager Howell noticed the truck had no license plates.

Howell became suspicious and asked William Sharp, an employee, to follow the truck. Sharp followed "Wayne" to Lower Lake in Lake county, where the truck turned into a driveway. Lake county authorities were notified after the lumber was unloaded in front of an unfinished residence and further investigation showed the suspect was really named Theodore Layne, wanted for defrauding other lumber dealers in California, according to Chief Deputy John Monroe, who returned him and his stolen property to Woodland.

The wary lumber dealer in Woodland who "sold" a load

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SoId by lumber dealers acoustical and decorative tile to Layne was the cause of the thief's latest downfall. Layne had long been suspected by Lake county sheriff's officers because of the cheap sales of lumber he had recently been making in the area, but they could pin nothing on him until the warrant came over from Yolo county.

In his "deal" with the Woodland yard, Layne, alias "Wayne," had asked for estimates on a quantity of lumber to build a duct line for the S. F. doctor. He had the yard load the lumber when he returned for it. He took off but didn't know he had been followed until his shadow returned to the Woodland yard, reported, and the sheriff's office closed in on him. Layne, who served time in San Quentin in 1952, had even added a room to his home at Clearlake Highlands with lumber he "bought" on similar phony deals.

Willows, Calif.-Sheriff Lyle Sale said a 42-year-old exconvict, Theodore Layne, who bilked a Willows lumberyard owner of $400 worth of lumber Apri| 2, will face charges of grand theft in Glenn county. He was arrested at his home by Yolo county deputies after trying to cheat a Woodland lumberyard of about $415 worth of lumber, Sale said.

"My department has seen all kinds of rackets, but never one exactly like this," the sheriff reported, adding that Layne, married and father of six, is a four-time loser released from San Quentin in 1953 after serving a term for passing fictitious checks.

According to the sheriff, quoted in the Chico EnterpriseRecord, Layne worked weekdays at the Corning yard and spent rveekends with his family at Clearlake Highlands. The sheriff refused to identify the Willows lumberman who had been cheated by Layne in order to spare him embarrassment, but he related that Layne r,r,'ent to the lumberyard April 2, represented himself as B. Brown, an agent for Dr. Malcolm Jones of San Francisco, who, he said, intended to build three houses at Stonyford, Calif. Layne claimed he had been asked by the doctor to purchase lumber for the construction of the houses. The sheriff said the following then took place:

Layne said he didn't know how much lumber he would need trut that he would "take a load today, return with carpenters tomorrow for the rest, and pay the entire bill." A smooth talker, Layne convinced the lumberman of his sincerity and was allowed to take the load rvithout a down payment.

When Layne failed to return after three days, the Willows lumberman checked in the Stonyford area, found no new houses were to be built there, and notified the sheriff of the hoax. "Layne sold the lumber he had obtained in Willows for $205 to the Govan Building Materials Co. in Lake county," the sheriff was quoted in the newspaper, adding, "The wood was recovered yesterday."

The sheriff said he did not know if Layne has bilked other lumberyards in similar deals.

Herb Meier Elevotes Andy Jones

Andy Jones of the Herb Meier Lumber Company, Arcadia, has been named salesmanager of the wholesale concern, announces Mr. Meier. Jones will also handle the San Diego territory accounts, in addition to his new duties, Meier adds.

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Low-cosl, brown, p e ntochlorophenol wood preservqtive. Western Pine Assn. Specificotion.

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