CHEERII{G NEWS FOR L924

There was no cheer in Volstead mince pie. Neither was there cheer in Volstead e$$no$.

-but there's a world of cheer for the retail lumbermen in Callfornia, for Redwood-sales for 1923 went "over the top", Setten Million Feet-that's Redwood's 1923 $ain. It is an encoura$lng record, when one looks back over the year that Father Tlme has just pi!,eonholed.

Many retail dealers eay that Redwood Seryice" and its 300,000 "Sllent Salejmen" helped them materlally ln making this increase posetble. We hope eG-because that is what our service is for.

There are many indications of national prosperity for lgful.

For the new year we are $oing to help make Redwood sales even lar$er than in 1g23. Our "Redwood Service" to the retail dealerwlll embrace all that was furnished during the past twelve months, supplemented by many new features.

A prosperous new year ls indlcated for the Callfornia Retall Lumber Dealers who tell their customers, tnaintained, then stable basis ancl easil-v avoidecl. the Douglas Fir market rvould be on a these rapid fluctuations could lte verv

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Personally, I am of the opinion that this r.ery essential point will receive more consideration from the rnanufactrrr_ ers in the very near future

The unstableness of the Douglas Fir market ancl tl-re rapidity with rvhich prices fluctuate reminds me verv much of the story of the old darky, u,ho, u,hen asked to give his opinion of the price_of _cotton, gave this r,ery illudinating and convincing prediction.

"Well, Boss, it's jes dis-a-rva1'. De price nla,\, g.o up ancl den agin hit may go dorn,n. Brrt nros' tikety it's-jes naichal_ ly gwine to fluctuate."

And that is exactly our feeling torvarcls the Douglas Fir rnarket for 1924. "It's jes natchally gu'ine to fltrctirate.'.

Our Foreign Markets

l)robabl,r'one of the greatest changes that has taken place cluring the l'riter'.s experience in the lumber businesi has lieen in the foreign markets. Australia, New Zealand,, South Africa and the West Coirst of South Arnerica have ahvays lteen large consulrers of Douglas Fir ancl they are rising more ancl nrore e'ery year, but there ha'e been cruite I gooa rnan)r nelv fields opened rvhich har e harl a great effect in stabilizing the market.

1 Japan is norv one of the largest users of l)ouglas }.-ir dnd her influence has been felt for the last three or four yeals. China, another ne\vcorter. is beconrirrg a great fac_ tor in the Douglas Fir rnarket and it is only ieasonable to suppose that as China cotnes nlore to the fiont as a u.orlrl I)o\\'er, she rvill need Douglas Fir to help der.elop her great resorlrces. This is a fielcl that bears close u.atchirg.

The East Coast of South America has scarcelv lteen scratchecl. What the people need there is more knon.ledge hone Sutter 398 of Douglas Fir and while the shipments seem to be getting larger regularly, still this is due to the fact that afTer thE initial shipment Douglas Fir sells itself.

Central America is another territory that has harclly been touched. CuLra scarcely knorvs what Douglas Fir is. They are handling large quantities of Spruce ani white pine but so far Douglas Fir seems to be an unknorvn rvood.

It does seem to the u'riter as though a more energetic campaign should be rvaged in these nerlrer territories. T-here is no wood quite as good as Douglas Fir and these various countries are just lr,;aiting for us to prove it. When you stop to realize that practicalll. the r.vhole world is waifing to be shorvn just lvhat. Douglas Fir is, you can readily see horv great the possibilities are and how great a future the manufacturers of Douglas Fir have. Where other rvoods are -practically on their last lap, Douglas Fir is starting on its first lap.

Atlantic Coast

The opening of the Panama Canal lr'as one of the greatest factors in extending the scope of f)ouglas Fir. On u.count of the lorv freight rate in shipping-by vessel to the Atlantic Coast, practicallv arr entirCll' niw-fielcl has been opened and this is grorving in volume every year.

The tvriter has the greatest adrniration foi tirose llioneers rvith a vision-those men rvho sara. the possibilities of the ^{tlantic Coast ancl lvho u'ere rvilling to stake their entire fortunes in _hope of oper'.ing up this terriiory for Douglas Fir. It took rnen rvith .a good ltackltone and a stiff upper lip to sort ol blaze the trail for the rest of us. Thev ctirld v-ery prop€rl1" adopt the famous fighting cry of the oid Irish Kings, i'.Clear the u'a.n-. u'e lead, others follor,v." It .is to their courage. foresight an<l vision that the Atlantic Coast stands today as one of the largest consumers of Douglas Fir, and this field is grou.ing every vear.

It has nou. passed out of the sphere of speculation as, with reg'ular lines of steamers plying bettveen the two Angeles and the surrounding territory use from one huncoasts, shipping to the Atlantic Coist iJjust as safe as ship- dred twenty five million to one hundred and.fifty million' ping to Cititornia. Every year we see new lines of steam- feet per month. During July and also during November ers being added rvhich insure the manufacturers of Doug- when the lowest prices prevailed, this territory rvas still las Fir a steady demand from this section of the United using its one hundred and tt'enty five to one hundred and States. fifty million feet per month. Rusiness rvas good, in fact.

In 1922, shipments througl-r the Panama Canal lvere business is good all over California, and it looks like busimore than two and one half times as great as during 1921 ness will continue to be so during 1924. There is no reaand 1923 will no doubt be rnore than t'ivice as much as dur- son rvhy there should be any break in price dorvn here uning 1922. less some other territory falls down and it is necessary for

With the increasing knorvledge of the various uses to the mills to throrv their excess productions dorvn this way. rvhich Douglas Fir can be put, the specifications from the The Northern part of the state, particularly that section Atlantic Coist are becoming more and more desirable, that around San Francisco l3ay, gives every indication of comis, more of the lower gradeJ are being accepted. The mills ing greatly to the front during this coming year. We feel are hoping that shortly this section together with Califor- the manufacturers can safely bank on California to do more nia rvill solve the problem of these lorv grades.

California than her share tou'ards the consttmption of Douglas Fir.

Our Attitude Towards Douglas Fir

The .rvriter feels California has done more torvards stab- In closing, I wish to t'elate a little incident that occurred ilizing the market during 1923 than any other section of the during one of my visits to the San Francisco World's Fair. country. The Atlantic Coast has not yet fully arrived. The I had as my guest a fellorv lumberman from Astoria rvho. Ivliddle West has been a. disappointment for almost the en- .as sooll as we entered the gate. rushed me across the tire year but California held its orvn from January l,1923, grounds until u'e stood at the foot of that rn-agnificent untif January 1,1924. dagstaff presentetl to the Fair by Russel Harvkiirs of The

There has been several extreme drqps in price here but Whitney Conrpany. in not one instance was it due to the California market Torvering trvo hundred and twenty five feet in the air falling off. It was simply a case of over-production. We and flying at its peak the flag of the greatest nation in the rvere laking more lumber than any other section of the world, here rvas indeed a lvorthy representation of that United Staies but enough is enough, and when we were great tree whose forests furnish the principal industry of asked to absorb 33 1-3 per cent more than we could, then C)regon and Washington. something had to happel. And- it did. The market broke Reverently removing his hat and speaking almost as twice during the last six months but even that failed to though in piayer, t''y -o-p"t'tion very slowly repeated the have any effect on general conditions here. rvordi thai I have chosen as the title of this article-

We will take the city of Los Angeles as an example, "Douglas Fir, the greatest.tree God ever grew." simply because of the fact that its lumber is brought in by Thii is the thought that should become a part of our verv vessel, the footage is more easily tabulated. We find Los being.

900,000 FeetDailv