"Bill" Hart Is In Los Angeles Helping Ted Lawrence Sell Hart-Wood Stock

"Bill" Hart has come to town.

Not two-gun, chap-wearing, bad-man-busting Bill Hart of the screen. This is another fellow entirely.

His regular name is William Hart. He graduated last May with plenty of honors from the University of California, and then he went back home to Portland where he has been living with his dad, who is Fred A. Hart, executive head of The Hart-Wood Lumber Company, of Portland.

For the past six months he has been at Raymond, Wash- 'ington, at the company mill, getting the feel of the lumber as it comes from the saws. Not that lumber is any novelty to "Bill," for being lumber born and bred he has naturally been sort of brought up in the industry.

Now he has come to Los Angeles to get into the game in the selling end, and his father could think of no better school to put him in than under the wing of their Southern California Manager, Ted Lawrence. With the Los Angeles office as his headquarters he is traveling and calling on the trade of this territory.

He won't make anything but friends for the firm, this young man. You'll know that when you meet him; He is a veritable "chip of the old block," copying his father very closely in size, looks, and gentility. You'll like him the minute you meet him.

A mighty keen young man, this "Bill" Hart, and a fine addition to the Southern California Lumber gang.

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The Manufacturer's Position

"'Why is the manufacturer entitled to the underweights?" is often asked by purchasers of Wcst Coast lumber and shingles, some of whom fecl that underweights are'trnearned increrncnt " the title to which is a rnoot question.

As the manufacturcd product of the Pacific Cest log comcs from the saw, it is gcnerally dead gteerr and usually well saturatcd with water absorbed in its journcy from the stump to thc mill-in some cases carrylng as high as fifty per cent moisture. fn order to avoid a material'increase in freight charges on this cnorrnous moisture content; to compete with othcr woods in thc principa.l markets; to reduce thc wcights on thc _various grades and sizes to those universally accepted guarantced wcights on cach item, it is necccsary to remov€ as great a percentage of moisture as possible-within ccrtain limits.

Air-drying of lumber in this district is a seasonable operation confincd to only a few months of the year and limited largely to the common grades. The cost of the various elements which enter into the air-drying process vary considerably with thc difrercnt operators, but among them must be considered the heavy initial investrnent in propcrty on which the lumber is piled; tracks, roadways, pile bottoms, maintenance and replaccments; labor costs of sorting, hauling, piling, taking down; breakage, waste, the capital tie-up in the lumber being seasoned; interest, depreciation and insurance; all of which add their toll to the total cost of prcparing the lumbcr for market.

Shingles and the upper grades of lumbcr are almost universally dricd in stcam kilns under modern scientific methods-a slow and highly expensive process. To attcmpt to fairly estimate the actual coet of kiln-drying lumbcr and shingles, it is nccessary to start at thc initial investment in modern dry- kilns and the additional steam plant to op- erate them (which rcprescnts, with somc plants, from twenty-five to thirty-fivc per cent of thc total plant investmcnt), the prgperty tfiey occupy; equipment, trucks, repairs and replacements operating wages, piling, sorting, gradrng, breakage, chccking, kiln sticks; to which may be added depreciation at six per ccnt, rnterest at seven per cent and insurance at two per cent; which will give some idea of thc total cost per thousand on that part of thc product passing through thc dry-kilns.

The removal of moishrre from Wcet Coast lumber and stringles is one of the most c:pensive and pcrplexing problems faced by manufacturcrs. Even a cursory cxamination into the many dctails involvcd should convince the most hardcncd skeptic that the manufacturer is certainly entided to any partlal returns hc may derive fron cvery ourcc of moisture rcmovd-vcrrr frcightdollar saved-as a rcsult of his trcmendous expenditures and the eternal vigilance ncceesary to properly scason the lumber producte produccd in Olis section of thc country.

Lumber Yard Changes Hands

The Lemon Grove lumber yard has been purchased by the Park Lumber Co. of La Mesa. A. S. Kerfoot, the former owner, who has operated the Lemon Grove lumber yard since 1915, plans to devote his time to his two citrus orchards. The new owners plan extensive improvements to the yard and will also carry a larger stock of lumber. John Sigler of La Mesa is in charge of the plant.

STANISLAUS LUMBER CO. ACTS AS HOST TO LUMBERMEN AND THEIR WIVES

The occasion celebrated the anniversary of the birth of three of the Stanislaus Lumber Company's office force: J. U. Gartin, President and Manager; R. L. Ustick, Assistant Manager, and Anna Gartin, Secretary.

The frolic began at 8 P. M. when the club house was filled by lumbermen and their wives from Modesto and the adjoining towns of Newman, Turlock, Waterford, Oakdale, Ceres, Escalon, Hughson and Modesto.

Music for the dance u'as furnished by Polly Watson's Cinderella Ball-Room Orchestra of Stockton.

Dance numbers were interspersed with several splendid musical numbers, among them two solos by Mrs. George Raddue of Modesto, whose voice is always so much appreciated. A French horn and trombone duet by the Schrock Brothers, violin and piano duet by Dorothy and Margaret Gartin and two interpretive dances by little Jack Hayes and Sammy Zeff.

A midnight supper was served to the sixty-five guests. The dining room tables were beautiful in the soft glow of candles and the lovely spring flowers in the pastel shades.

Many stories and jokes made the time pass only too quickly. The hour had reached 2:3O A. M. when this happy "Lumber Family" said good-bye, and all hoped it would only be a short time until they met again.