Earl Minton Back in Retail Most Dwellings Cost Under$zOOO Lumber Business

Announcement has been made that the Minton Lumber Company at Mountain View, Calif., is resuming operations again under the management of Earl D. Minton, well known California retail lumberman. The Minton Lumber Company, of which Mr. Minton was president and manager, was sold in the spring of 1931 to a corporation who operated the business under the name of the Builders' Service Company, and at that time Mr. Minton went into the construction business exclusively with offi'ces and headquarters at Palo Alto.

The new ,company will take over the Builders' Service Company and will operate the yard under its original name. Mr. Minton plans to retire from the construction business and devote all his time to the lumber business. Associated with Mr. Minton will be Alfred Olson who will have charge of the plant operations.

E. E. Ellsworth

Elmer E. Ellsworth, well known Pacific Coast lumberman, passed away at his home in Eugene, Ore., on December 23. He was sixty-six years of age.

He was born in Indianapolis, fnd., and ,came to California with his parents when a boy where he attended school at San Francis,co. On leaving school, he became associated with the lumber business, going to rvork for the Scott & Van Arsdale Lumber Co. Later he went to Oregon, where he was connected with the lumber industry for a long period acting as manager of several of the larger mill operations there.

Besides his widow, he is survived by a daughter, Mrs. W. H. Anderson of Portland, Ore., wife of W. A. Anderson, Portland wholesale lumberman; a son, Harris Ellsrvorth, editor of the Roseburg News-Review of Roseburg, Ore.; two sisters, Mrs. H. A. Stockwell of Berkeley, Calif., and Mrs. A. D. Richardson, of San Rafael, Calif.

Visit Bay District

W. R. Spalding, 'of the W. R. Spalding Lumber Co., Visalia, and Mrs. Spalding returned to Visalia January 5 after a 10-day visit to San Francisco.

Washington, Jan. 11.-Of approximately 7,000 one-family dwellings erected in accordance with building permits in 10 cities in various parts of the country in 1931, 26 per cent cost up to $3,000; 38 per cent from $3,000 to $5,000; 23 per cent from $5,000 to $7,000. The remaining 13 per cent included 8 dwellings costing $50,000 or more. These ,comparisons, made by the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, are based upon data derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the same cities, permits for nearly 13,000 one-family dwellings were issued in 1929, of which 22 per cent cost up to $3,000; 45 per cent from 93,000 to 95,000 each; 19 per cent from $5,000 to $7,000 each. The rest or 14 per cent were of greater cost, 23 of them being $50,000 or over.

More dwellings in 1931 of the $4,000 to 95,000 class than in any other cost range, were authorized in the cities of Philadelphia, New Haven, Richmond, St. Paul and Denver. In Brooklyn and Cambridge more dwellings cost g6,000 to $7,000 than any other amounts; in Milwaukee and Cambridge $5,000 to $6,000; while in Los Angeles the greatest number cost $2,000 to $3,000.

The survey explains that within the same cost range the drvellings differ greatly as to size and type, influenced by climate, popular taste, material and labor costs, also that the estimates being based upon building permits, may not be identical with final costs of construction. However they indicate clearly the variations within and between cities as to the 'cost of housing construction.

Fannie B. Park

Fannie B. Park, daughter of D. F'rank Park, rvidely known Southern California lumberman and owner of the Park Lumber Co. at La Mesa, Calif., died on Sunday, January 8. She was 19 years of age.

She attended college at Flagstaff, Atiz., and was spending the holidays with her parents when she was taken suddenly ill with pneumonia. Besides her father, she is survived by her mother and a sister, Julia Park. Funeral services were held at La Mesa on Wednesday afternoon. January 11.

Yea Verily

This old world has not grown decadent; Why spend useless hours in remorse?

There's just as .much horse-sense as ever, And it's still all possessed by the horse.

He Needed That

"'What's the idea of the fly in this soup?"

"That ain't a fly-that's your Vitamin 8."

A Friend

A friend is a person who is for you always, under all circumstances. He never investigates you. Whatever kind of a coat you are wearing, whether you have on a dress suit or a hickory shirt with no collar-he thinks it's fine. He likes your success, and your failure endears him more. He wants nothing from you except that you be yourself. Anybody stands by you when you are right; a friend stands by you when you are wrong. It is he that keeps alive your faith in human nature; who makes you believe it is a good universe. When you are vigorous and spirited, you like to take your pleasures with him. When you are sick you waqt to see him. When you are dying, you want him near.

Pride

The man who has nothing to boast about but his illustrious ancestors, is like a potato; the only good thing belonging to him is under ground.

Real Stuff

It's the bumps you get

And the jolts you get

And the shocks that Your courage stands; The hours of sorrow

And vain regret, The prize

That escapes your hands, That test your mettle And prove your worth; It isn't the blows you deal, But the blows you take On this good old earth That shows if your StUfr iS REAL.

Jerry Building

The manager of the local building firm stared at thc wrecked structure. "Whatever happened?" he asked his foreman.

"The whole thing collapsed when we took the scafrolding down," replied the puzzled foreman.

"Foolr" said the o\ rner, t'didn't I tell you not to take the scaffolding down until you got the wall paper on?"

Curses

A preacher who picked up a hurnet, Could only say 'lGracious !" and "Durn it !"

"\fifhat a pity," he mused, "That when young, I refusedWhen I heard a good cuss word-to learn it."

A Smile

Nothing on earth can smilg but man. Gems may flash reflected light; but what is a diamond fash compared to an eye fash, and mirth fash? Flowers cannot smile. This is a charm that even they, cannot claim. It is the prerogative only of man.

He Doubted

"Providence," said the Sunday School teacher, "is very wise.tt

"Yeah?" said little Johnnie. "Then why wasn't the mosquito made a vegetarian?"

THE EASIEST \[/AY

Nothing is easier than fault-finding; no talent, no selfdenial, no brains, no character are required to set up in the grumbling business.-Robert West.

Building

It's a good thing to remember, It's a better thing to do, To work with the construction gang, And not the wrecking crew.

A man asked to ftfil:::Xll .r,",""t",istics or a gentleman-using the term in its broadest sens*would probably reply: "The will to put himself in the place of others; the horror of forcing others into positions from which he would himself recoil; the power to do what seems to him to be right, without considering what others may say or think"-John Gdsworthy.

Home Ownership lncreases

Washington, Dec. 28._1f. better and more stable citizenship is to be found in a land where families own their own homes, the United States has taken a big step forward in the last ten years. Of the nearly 30,000,000 homes in the country in 1930 (D,904,63 according to the Census Bureau) 46.8 per cent were owned by their occupants compared with 44.6 per cent in 192C1.

In Wisconsin, 61.8 per c€nt of the homes of the state are owned, a larger proportion than in any other state. Michigan with 58.1 per cent and Minnesota with 57.7 per cent home ownership give a fine record to that section of the country. The New England states show a wide range in home ownership, Maine being second of all states with 60.6 per cent of its homes owned by occupants, Vermont with 59.2 pe6 cent, while Massachusetts shows only 43.0 per cent, and Rhode Island, 4O.8 per cent. Of the homes in Washington and Oregon, 57.8 and 57.9 per cent respectively are owned. Eight southern states and New York are at the bottom of the list with percentages of home ownership ranging from D.8 to 4O.4 per cent.

The proportion of owned homes in the towns and cities of the country, as compared with rented homes, accounts for home ownership increase in 1930 over 1920. This urban gain was from 40 per cent in l92O to 45.2 per.cent in 1930. The decline in home ownership on the farms in 1930 as compared with 1920-52.5 per cent against 56.7 per cent-attests to the plight of agriculture even during a so-called prosperous period.

Of the 30,000,000 homes in the United States in 1930, 6,668,861 were farm homes-presumably nearly all onefamily dwellings-and 23,335,982 were non-farm homes, of which l6,l&,4D were in one-family dwellings; 3,456,174 in two-family dwellings; the remaining, 3,615,379 in multi-family dwellings, mostly apartment houses.

That the trend is toward the single family dwelling is shown by the record of new construction in the past few years. From1926to1929, apartment construction held top place. In 193O the tide turned. New multi-family dwellings in 311 cities gave a home to only 4O.8 per cent of the families; new single family dwellings to 47.2 per cent. In 1931 in 359 cities the proportion was multi-family units, 36.5 per cent; single family units, 51.7 per cent. For the first eight months of. 1932, in 353 cities, the building records show an even more striking divergence; multi-family units only 16.6 per cent; single family units,7l.2 per cent; two-family units, 12.2 per cent, of the new residential construction of the period.

Central Club Has New Secetary

Chas. S. Tripler, formerly with Van Arsdale-Harris Lumber Co., San Francisco, and recently secretary 'of the San Francisco Retail Lumbermen, has been appointed secretary-' manager of the Central California Lumbermen's Club, succeeding T. L. Gardngr, who resigned to devote all his time to the affairs of the Stockton group.