How Lumber Looks

Shipments into California, water rhipmentr, were 9x!ra heavy in December, piling up an unurually high total for the tast montrh in the year and leaving a rather high amount of unsold stocks on the docks, to welcome in t'he first day oC 1926.

Now we find a compenrating condition for the first two weekr in January, herddins the general curtailment at the mills, and evidencing the tight condition t'hat no1'- prevaile up north in buving stocks at ttre right pricee. Shipmerrts into the port of San Pedro, up to the night of lhe lat!, will rrm sligttly leas trhan forty million feet, and if there ir no decided increase for the next two weelc we will have a month at thir port of less than a hundred millionr consider' ably lesr.

From aII reportr, lurnber is setting harder and harder to buy at the millc and they are sitting firm on their lic-t prices. Randoms are not as plentiful as they were rixty days ago and northern buyers report an unprecedented condition. Weather conditions have been favorable for logging and the mills are well supplied, but are not cutting their normal ernount. There has been a persiatent rumor of an advance in logr, in January.

Thir month will undoubtedly see a thinning out of the rtockr on tte docks and we will enter February under very favorable conditionr.

The yardr have placed a fair amount of orders, starting on tte morning of the recond, and as this ia rrritten the attitude of the mill men and wholesalerc EeernE ve'ry optimistic on the outlook for tte next few weeks.

One good point that makes for better conditions is that the retail ren are not holding out for lower lists, ar they were in many cases before the first of tlre year. If the re' tailerr will accept stocks at a fair list price, without the wholesde pricer being materially advanced, ttren we will ree better timer, and before very long.

There ir no doubt that 1926 will see a large amount of