A. B. Hammond, Pioneer Lumberman and Business Lead er, Passes

Andrew B. Hammond, lumber industry leader, and one of the last of the great business pioneers of the West, died at his home in San Francisco, January 15, at the age of 85, after a varied and colorful career filled with successful accomplishment in the fields of lumber, banking, railroad building and steamship operation.

Mr. Hammond, until he became ill a short time ago, was intensely active in the management of the Hammond Lumber Company properties, in which he has been aided by his son; Leonard C. Hammond, vice president and general manager of the company.

At his bedside when he passed away were his son, Leonard, and two daughters, Mrs. Frank B. King and Mrs. W. S. Burnett, of San Fran'cisco. He is survived by two other daughters, Miss Daisy E. Hammond of Beverly Hills and Mrs. Florence Whiteside of Santa Barbara. and a sister, Mrs. George W. Fenwick of San Francisco.

The funeral services, held at the family residence January 17, were private.

Mr. Hammond was born in St. Leonards, N. B., Canada, on July 22, 1848, the son of Andrew B. and Glorianna Harding (Coombes) Hammond. He came west to Missoula, in 'Western Montana, in 1867 at the age of 19. Here he organized the Missoula Mercantile Company, the First National Bank and the Bla,ckfoot Mill Company, and was active for many years in the up-building and expansion of these important enterprises.

As a further outlet for his activities he built the Bitter Root Valley and Philipburg Railroads, rvhich afterwards became a part of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

In 1895 he went to Oregon, where he became the associate of Collis P. Huntington, the railroad builder, the Mark Hopkins Estate and John Claflin of New York, in the construction, ownership and management of the Astoria and Columbia Railroad, which connected Astoria with Portland, and in the acquisition and reconstru,ction of the railroad from Yaquina Bay through Corvallis and Albany to Mill City, Oregon, where one of the Fir mills of the Hammond Lumber Company is located.

These gentlemen also became identified with the Hammond Lumber Company, which acquired timberlands in Oregon, began the manufacture of lumber in that State and also entered the Redwdod lumber business in California. This step was brought about by the formation of the Vance Lumber Company, which took over the manufacturing plant at Samoa, Humboldt Bay, and timberlands of

Edgar H. Vance and his brother, whose father, John Vance, had carried on there one of the earliest Redwood operations in California. This company was later succeeded by the Hammond Lumber Company, and in February 1931 a merger of the Redwood interests of the Hammond Lumber Company and of the Little River Redwood Company was consummated, the new company being called the Hammond & Little River Redwood Companv, Ltd.

Credit for the modernization of the Redwood industry is given to Mr. Hammond, and he was regarded as the dean of the industry. It was he who introduced large steel steamers to replace the small wooden lumber carriers. Of more importance, however, in the up-building of the State of California was his development of the practi,ce of manufacturing at the mill highly-finished Redwood products such as sash, doors, etc., which had formerly been made in the locality of the ,consumption of such products outside California.

The Hammond Lumber Company properties include the Redwood mills already mentioned, which have a daily capacity of 600,000 feet, two large Fir mills in Oregon, vast timberlands in California and Oregon, with their railway systems and logging equipment, a huge wholesale yard at Terminal Island, Calif., distributing and millwork plants in Los Angeles, and numerous retail yards throughout California.

Lumber Code Authority to Meet

Washington, D. C., Jan. 9-A meeting of the Lumber Code Authority has been called for January 29 at the Wardman Hotel in this city. The full program for the session has not yet been prepared, but C. Arthur Bruce, executive officer of the Code, says that matters to be considered will include proposed changes in established minimum prices, and the establishment of additional minimum prices, the code ,of forestry practice aimed at forest perpetuation, reconsideration of amendments to the rules of fair trade practice, permanent formulas for allotments of production quotas, amendments to the charter and by-laws of the Authority, code fees, and appeals from decisions of the board of complaints and appeals. The Control Committee will meet January 27 at the Lumber Code offices 1337 Connecticut Ave.