?ac"t,*ce INSECT WIRE SCREENING

Doyle explained that this could "cut the handling of both retailers and manufacturers and, at the same time, reduce the damage sustained by lumber and wood products during shipment."

Most lumber shipped by rail today is loaded and unloaded piece-by-piece with hand labor. Although fork-lift trucks and other vehicles are used to move stocks from the sawmill to freight cars and from freight cars to the storage bins of wholesalers and retailers, considerable time and manual labor is required to transfer the lumber to and from these vehicles and cars.

"Packaging the lumber at the sawmill-that is, using steel strapping or wire to hold the pieces together in a unit-should eliminate the need of loading and unloading lumber-conveying vehicles and railroad cars by hand," Doyle emphasized. "Another potential advantage of this system is that it should minimize damage during transit."

About August 1, sawmills cooperating in the program are scheduled to begin test shipments of packaged or "unitized" lumber to retail dealers and other distributors throughout the country.

The test shipments are expecte<l to continue for an eightto-ten-month period, during which time any lumber manufacturer or distributor interested in the program may participate. Full details are available from the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, Washington 6, D.C.

Distributors and manufacturers participating in the program will keep records of loading and unloading procedures and the condition of the shipments upon arrival at their destinations. Such information irill be reviewed bv special committees of NLMA and NRLDA to determine ihe^most efficient methods of packaging and mechanical handling.

Already underway are tests by the Timber Engineer- ing Co., research affiliate of NLMA, to determine the most practical method of packaging mixed lumber items, such as boards, flooring, trim and dimension.

Meanwhile, both NLMA and NRLDA have called on the railroads to make available more cars with doors wide enough to accommodate the packaged lumber. The cars, according to lumber manufacturers and distributors, should have at least a lZ-foot door opening and preferably one of 15 or i6 feet. (See other stories Pages 6 and 38.)

"DURO" BRoNzE

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Pacific lUire Products Go. COXTPTON, CALIFORNIA

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Mcrsonite Wins Awqrd

A certificate of merit has been awarded to l\{asonite Corporation by the American Institute of Architects for its new booklet on sidings, "For Modern Exteriors." Masonite also received recognition for the "outstanding attractiveness of its booth" in the product exhibition at AIA's centennial convention at Washington, D. C. A free copy of the award-winning booklet may be obtained by writing the Home Service Bureau, Suite 2037, lll West Washington St. ,Chicago 2, I1l.

(Tell them you sazu it in Tlte Califonia Lnmber Merchant)