LAMOII ,BO]INI]IGTO]I GOMPA]IY {umbe, Wlr"lnmlert od Wefi Coafi

16 California St., San Francisco 11 Telephone GArfield 6881

Order Ll50-c Amended; Softwood Plywood

Purchase of softwood plywood under blanket maintenance, repair and operating supplies ratings has been prohibited in order to curtail the use of this critical material for relatively non-essential purposes, the War Production Board announced todqy. The action was taken by an amendment to Order L-l50-a and is expected to conserve an estimated 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 square feet of softwood plywood per month, which has been passing through distributors' hands on blanket MRO ratings.

Hardwood Lumber

General price increases at the mill level averaging $3 a thousand feet board measure on hardwood lumber produced in the Southern region were authorized today by the Office of Price Administration. The increases, efiective February 9, 1945, are the minimum required by law. They will permit a 75 per cent minimum of output to ,be produced without financial loss. OPA said.

(Amendment 16 to Revised Maximum Price Regulation

97-Southern Hardwood Lumber.-effe,ctive Februarv 9. 1945.)

Adds New Equipment

lMestern Lumber Company, San Diego, has added some new equipment at its plant, including a Ross lift truck, Vonnegut moulder, and a Mereen-Johnson resaw. The yard is all paved and fenced. The company's business is over 95/o in the war effort, and its employees are practically all old timers having been rvitl-r the firm from 5 to 50 years.

New Logging Tomccrt irs Crecrting Interest

The "Tomcat," new 46,000-pound tractor and logging arch, an interesting innovation in the logging field, is now being tested at the operations of the Simpson Logging Company at Shelton, Wash.

It takes the place of the tractor trailer, and does the work more efficiently and saves many young trees, ac.cording to Newell Wright, senior logging engineer, Region 6 of the U. S. Forest Service. Mr. Wright is the originator of the idea of the Tomcat, and this experimental one, built at the F'orest Service's shops in Portland is the only one in existence.

It is claimed the Tomcat is more maneuverable in the woods, as the trailer is eliminated. It is 2f tons lighter than the trailer-tractor combination, and has proved itself more useful in wet weather. Patents have been applied for w'hich will give equal rights to all manufacturers that wish to make the machine after the war.