Crane Shifts Planing Mill to Planr Site

A FTER OPERATINC their planing mill 1r for 17 years in Corning. Calif., Crane Mills Inc. recently moved this phase of their operation to Paskenta, where their sawmill is located. Paskenta is situated lB miles west of Corning at the foot of the Coast range.

The change was made in July "to save thousands of dollars a year," according to company officials.

Since Corning was chosen for the planing mill site in 1948, labor costs have increased over 200 percent, the firm reports. This, in effect, has greatly increased the cost of moving lumber from one location to another.

Furthermore, as California has grown, the firm's truck ,business has g.o*i p.oportionately, making the need for a railhead location much less important.

In addition to eliminating a duplication in lumber handling, savings are also effected by better coordination between the sawmill, the planing mill and shipping.

MR, REIAII DEAITR:

An effort will be made to lease the Corning facilities, except for a small portion of the storage facilities and loading dock which will be retained for the firm's rail shipments.

Crane Mills was founded in 1932 by Walter Beane and Harold R. Crane, who built a sawmill at Bly, Oregon and later a second mill nearby. The Bly operation was sold in l9M in favor of the Cali{ornia location with the purchase of a sizeable block of virgin timberlands just west of Paskenta in the Mendocino National Forest. Walter Beane and Harold Crane died several years ago and the firm is now owned and operated by Harold's sons Ray, Wes, and Don and their sister, Madelyn Mason.

The company processes approximately 32 million feet per year of timber from their own lands, federal lands, and private holdings in the area.

D. C. ESSTEY ond SON mointoins o well bolonced SHED INVENTORY of . QUATITY DRY REDWOOD

O AYE & CTEAR PATTERN STOCK

O BEVEIED SIDING & S4S reody for immediote delivery-or pickup

No Order Too Smoll

Just try us for PRICE & SERVICE ffi$

Willils Redwood Producfr Willits, Colif.

Monufoclurerc of: Certified Kiln Dried Redwood .

Bevel Sidings o Foctory Primed o Wropping Lqth o Rough & Milled Commons o Timbers o Member of c.R.A. & R.t.S.

Pockoged Lots r Truck & Trciiler Shipmenis r Less

Thon Corlood Lols o Mixed Cor Shipments o Dry Kilns o Ploning Mill r Ponderoso Pine r Boords. Siding al

FOR PROMPT EFFICIENT SERVICE CA[L: RAynrond 3-1147 or PArkvieur I-758O

Wood Products Associotions Win Boy Areo Building Code Bqttle

l\JO IIETTIIR illustration o[ the saving. r \ '"Cood things do nol come easilv." erists than in lhe recently won battle in San Francisco, where permissive use of "approved" fire rctardant trt-ated wood for studs, plates and blocking in onr:-hour fire-resistive permanent partitions in highrise o{fice and apartment buildings is now a part of the local building code. A four year fight, begun in 1961, by thc huilding code stafi of the National Forest Products Association nith comlilete cooperation and help from the Western W'ood Preservers Institute and a late assist from the Bay Area Wood Council. lras resulted in a changed San F rancisco building code.

Right now, as a re-.ult of cooperative efforts, this permissive use is now incorporated in four national model codes and in the codes of 25 of the 40 largest U. S. t:itit's, which includes Seattle, Portland. L)enver, Phoenix, Honolulu, and the Cali' Iornia cities of Long Beach, Oakland. San F rancisco. Sacramcnto and Los Angcles. What this means to San Franci-.co alone is a prospective market for several million Ieet a year, and possibly a billion feet on a national basis, of 2 x 4s in reasonalrlt' length specifications in species heretolore somelvhat handicapped by Iesser strength characteristics. Sure, the wood preservers rrill benefit, and God bless'em for helping create this new market for lumber.

There is no doubt that code restrictions are one o{ the biggest lactors in limiting Iumber's use. Producers of alternate building materials, lruilders. and labor, facing intrusion of u'ood and t'arpenters into formerly protected markets, have and will t'ontinue to {ight t'ode revisions. This is "dog eat dog" r:ompetition in its most lethal form, and {ew are aware of the scope of man()uvers behind the political fronts to olrtain or maintain a preferred position.

The lumber industry highly commend-* John Fies of National Forest Products Association, who with unstinting help from Marx Hyatt of J. H. Baxter & Co., repre. sentins the Western Wood Preservers Institute, have r:arried this battle to a satisfactory conclusion. Retailers and suppliers in the Bay Area u-ill soon be thanking these gentlemen for providing them with this expanded anrl new market.

Wesihqrd Nome Chonge

W'csthard Importin g Corporation has chaneed its namc to \Vestern Hardwood Lumber Co.. according to an announcemt'nt lronr Phillip Latasa. pre-sident of the wholesak: distribution firm.

"Nothing has changed but the name," reports Latasa. The firm will continue to operate from its Beverly Hills. Calif. office.