Our Best Wishes to You A

Consfruction Up in October

Outlays for new construction cleclinecl seasonally in October to $4.5 billion, but was slightly above the previous October high set in 1956, according to preliminary estimates preparcd jointly by the U. S. Departments of I-abor and Cornrnerce. On a seasonally adjusted basis, ner.l, construction activity thus far in 1957 has been at rates which indicatc the total for the year u'ill be a little over $47 billion, corr-rpared with $46 billion-last ycar. Actual expenclitures for the first 10 rronths of this ycar ($39.4 billion) wcre 2/o above the corresponding 1956 figure. Private outlays for public utilitics construction reached a new nronthly peak, exceeding the half-billion<lollar mark for the fifth consecrrtive tirr-rc. Expenditurcs for offrccs anrl warehouses also u'ere at an all-time high, rvhile those for rcsidential aclditions and alterations were greater tl-ran in :tny prcvious O,ctober.

The value of work put in place or1 ne\\r private clwelling units, after allowance for seasonal changes, continucd the gradual advance that began last Junc. Thus, the gap betrveen present and year-ago levels has been reduceil from l4/o in April to 6/o in Octobcr.

'fotal privatc construction activitl, so far tl-ris ycar ($27.6 billion) just about equallecl last ycar's record for the first 10 months. Declines from 1956 in expenditures for new dwelling units and stores rvere iargely offset by aclvances in all other types oi private construction, exccpt school building.

Andrews in for Stevens ot N-AWLA

Portl:1r-rcl.-I)onald S. Aridreu.s has succeeded Paul Stevens :rs n'estern nrirnager of the National-American Wholesale Lumber Association but the .i'eteran Stevens r,r'ill continue as a staff consultant to the association he served .'so rnany vears. Andreu's joined the N-AWLA western staft in mid-1955 and s<ion strcceeded John F. Miller, rvho hacl resigned, as assistant \vestern mallager. t.'.rfi:

VV. P. A. Sees Better Yeqr for lumber

(Continued from I':rge 167 stafi. Kiln instailations have set such zr pace that totlay rnorc than 7O/o of t:apacity production can be seasoncri r'vithorrt beingirt the mercv of u,cathcr. At the sanre time, air-cirying techniqnes have improvecl, too.

San'ing toclay is more accurate ancl planers <lo a bettcr job. It n'as an nnusual plancr l-reacl 30 years ago that boastc<l rnore than ior.rr linives;tclday they have up to 16. I'acliaging of lun-rber units, protcction of shipments, vigil :rlong the shipping line :rrc steps in the dctermineil effort to get l<non:n clualitv protlucts into thc hands of the customer.

Progress in Standardization

Just sirrce 1950, huge stridcs have been ma<le in stanclardizatior.r of paneling and moulcling patterns. NIuch of thc rrultiplii:ity of patterns ancl names for then-r has been unravele<l and simplified. Old, obsolete pattcrns have been cullccl out in the publication of stanclard rcference books for nationu.idc use. Half of the old rnoulcling patterns have becn scrappcd and thc active ones havc bccn made casier of identification.

Tr.r n-roulding ancl general millu''ork, improvcments in fingcr- joint precision are evcn no\v causirrg something of a new dav. Nearly 30 Wcstern I'ine n'rills l'ravc alreacly installetl fingerjointing equipmer-rt to trrrn orrt itcms in hancly, popular lengths fror.n short pieces of sclcct. This has rvorke<l r'r'onclers at sorne dealer yards in solving invcntory problcms. The olrl cry of "too nrany shorts" is heard no nrore at such yalds.

Sheathing Panels Make Bow

A rccent clcvclopment of special intercst to dcalers an<l lruilclcrs is the advcnt of Shect-Roard, lumber sheathing irr hanclv pancls faced rvith strong paper. Trvo \\'cstern I'ine nrills arc alreaclv prodr-rcing Shcct-Iloar<I, rvl.rich u,as clcvclopetl at thc \Vcstern l)inc lab. Its slrong poirrts in the urarl<et placc are

Disobling Work Iniuries ln Retcril lumber Yords

HO\\' NIANY? Nlore than 1,100 employes of retail Iumber yards n'ere clisabled on the job irr California in 1955.

WIJAT OCCUI'ATIONS?-

30/o Nerc 1'ardnten, ortlertnett, loatlers. or luurbet 1-randlers.

25V n'ere truck rlrirers.

WHERE?-Of the u'orkers injured on the 1>rettrises of retail lutnber y:rrds :

79'y'. u,ere l-rurt in acciclents irr the \'-\li1).

9/, in the N{ILI-. S(y' tn the \\'AlLI'-HOUSI'1.

()f those injured off thc premises: cconomv of installation, ('asc of stoclring- artrl h:rrrdling. Integrity of gratles is fttn<lanrental in \\-estclrt I'inc plirns. With 30 Association it.tspt'ctors litling her<l ott tlttr inclttstry's iong-stanrlarclizecl gracling l)rogritrrr, this rtitlLl phasc of clualitl' control is jealously rvatche<l. FIou'cvt'r, tht' industrf is not colrtenl with status clttt't. Gracle nrectittgs ar.rd grariing schools arc being hel<l all or.er the 12-statc regirtn to train 11s\4' graclers at_rd .u,,ii .on,,.r'rill crewmcn ir-r thc fine ltoirtts of lrrmbcr. In 1957 nrorc than .50 classcs rvere stitrtt'tl, n'ith total :rttcnclance of ovcr 1,200 stuclent graders, reprcsenting sorrre 120 n.rills' In atl<lition, I.5 grorrp grade nreetings, ;rttcnrletl bv nrrlr-c than 1,400 mcn fronr 2.50 rnills, havc given on-the-jrib training to mill llcrsonnel.

79%, ll'ere hurt on the crlstomer's Pretnises. 2l/t on tl-re highu,ay.

\\'HAT HAI'l'FlNIiD ? The largest number of rvorkers OVIIR-EXL,RTEI) in lifting, carrving. or otheru'ise handling Iumber.

A close seconcl rvere those STITUCK lrv f:rlling lunt' ber or collapsing iumber piles.

\\rHAT \\rAS THI] IN-JUli\'?-The nrost irecltteut single injurv reportecl in retail lltmlrcr vltrcls rvzts lt .1r.iit-r, .i.aitl, oi disloc:ition. Ncarly 25i,i ,tl thc injured enrployes strainerl thcir back u-hile lLt rvork.

\\rHAT WAS TIILI -\GIr-NC\-?-I-Uil,l1:]IrlL u,:rs thc :rgencv inr-olved in 29'y', of thc cascs. \\'C)lililN(; SL, ltFAClllS u'its the secourl leaclirrg agcrrcl'. irrvolvecl in 21J/c of the cases.

H()\\' NIANY I)l L-D?-'liortr orr-the-jolr tlczttlts n,ere recordecl during 1955. A ITEDULITION OF'ONI-\' 1/10 OF ONLI'lrRCENT IN ANY TYI'E Otr lrXI'ENSli ltlr.\NS $300, .{ND FI\rtr SUCII l)IFIr!llil,,NCIiS ADD LIP TO $1,500, lrased ot.t sitles of $300,000. \\rher-r is lour next safctl conrnrittce nrccting? :tsks the Lumber Merchants "Association 'of Northern California.

Association itrspectors ar(' collstantll' checliing up lit the lrrills to r"nzrlic surc size and clualitv arc accrlrtling- to stan<lard rrrles ir-r the graclc borllr. \tcars of application havt' t'tlaclt' \\resterrr f ir.re grading pretty rluch of an exact science ' They s;r1'- now that ii 100 ungradecl, nnselcctc<l boarrls rverc t.nrlvctl past the 30 Association irispcctors, it lvoul<l r.rot bt' tttrttsttal for 98 of thenr to gert thc samel Inark from all 30. ()nll'on u'hat the irltlustrl' cali.s "lincrs" (borcler-litrers lrettl-ectr graclcs) lvill ccrtified graclers var)r to anv extct-tt.

BRqdshqw 2-8644

For \\'tcsicrn I'ine pro<h.tccrs, 1957 rnltrkcd thc' "conring of lrge" of seven tirttber spccies that grou- irl the l2-state region i,r'cotnpany i,vith thc \\restcrn Pincs. Douglas Iiir, White Fir. Larch,-Eng'elmann Spruce, I-oclgcpole Iritre, Incense Cedar anci Red Cedarl are no longer "young l<ir1 brothers" of Pondcrosa Pine, Iciaho \\Ihitc Pine antl Sugar ['ine, brrt full-{lc<lged nrembers of thc region's lttrnbt'r family, accountius fot about half the rcgion's ltroduction and titnbcr stlppl\''

\\'ith 620'billion board feet of standir.rg sawtirtrber in the r-egion. ar-rcl the sa$'tiu-rber voluntc in each of the colr-rmert:ia1