Lumber Personalities L. t. (tes) GARR

Lester J Carr, general manager of L. J. Carr & Co., wholesale lumber distributors, Sacramento, and president of the newlyformed Sacramento Plastics, Inc., has had an interesting career. He started in the lumber business in Chicago in 1923, but soon decided to go u'est, and came to Pine Ridge, Oregon, where he worked in the sawmill of Forest Lumber Company until March, 1928, learning the lumber business. He then began selling the trade in California and Oregon and became sales manager for Forest Lumber Companv- This concern quit operating in 1932, and Mr. Carr then entered the wholesale lumber business in San Francisco. ln 1934 he became sales manager for Buzard-Burkhart Lumber Co., pine manufacturers.

In May, 1936 he formed L. J. Carr & Co. in San Francisco, and in 1937 moved his headquarters to Sacramento. In 1938 he formed a partnership with P. V. Burke and G. J. Thompson of the Sacramento Box & Lumber Co., and since that time L. J. Carr & Co. has handled the sales of Sacramento Box & Lumber Co. In 1940 Mr. Carr established the Mount Hough Lumber Co., with sawmill at Quincy, Calif., and this mill was sold in October, 1946.

In 1943 Mr. Carr entered the Army and served for,three years, retiring with the rank of Major. He organized the Covelo Lumber Co., after coming out of the Army and is vice president of this company which has a mill at Covelo, Calif.. and will build a second mill in the near future.

Mr. Carr is married, and has two charming daughters. His hobby is aviation. He learned to fly about 20 years ago, and took up flying again a few years ago. He norv flies a Beech Bonanza, a 4-place ship with a cruising range of. 170 miles per hour. When he visits the mill of the Covelo Lumber Co. he makes the trip in 50 minutes from Sacramento. The driving time to this mill is just five and a half hours. A pretty good argument for flying !

Socialized Housing Goes To Vote in California November 2

The movement to bring socialized housing into existence under Government operation in the State of California, comes to a focus when "Housing Amendment of 1948" goes on the official ballot November second as "Proposition No. 14." fts sponsors secured over 227,AOO signatures and thus qualified to be voted upon in regular election by the people of California. The move in this direction has been under way for the past several months, and now comes to a head, and California will vote whether or not we will have socialized building under Government operation.

The purpose of the "Housing Amendment of 1948" is (1) to provide 100,000 new rental units in California through the efforts of local housing authorities with the assistance of a state housing agency; and (2) to rent these units below the prevailing rates for standard accommodations to individuals and families that cannot afford housing currently available through private endeavor."

It is planned to create a revolving fund of $100,000,000 through a state bond issue, and an assistance fund of $25,000,000 to be made available annually by the state from its general revenues.

The lumber dealers and other professional builders of California are lining up right now to fight this proposition and try to beat it at the polls. The Northern and Southern lumber dealer associations are taking the lead in the fight. They take the stand that private industry is rvorking to full capacity, both labor and materials are being fully utilized, and no public agency could do anything but harm the situation and retard building, in addition to creating another huge bureau to prey on the public. The new prop' osition gets most of its backing in Southern California. Lumbermen generally are confident that the "Housing Amendment" wduld retard building and hurt the cause of home building on sound and economical basis.

Government Reports on Plywood Production

The Bureau of the Census reports that during the month of May, 1948, plywood production was estimated at 150,-7l7,Om square feet, the lowest month of the year to that date. The April production was 164,%2,W. Heavy floods in a large part of the plywood area was blamed for the decrease.