Men With Long Memories

BY JACK DIONNE

A mqn wqs once discoursing io a group on the subiect oI human ncrture, humcrn beings, cnrd their lcrulis cnd lrcrilties. He scid thcrt when trials ccone clong is when the Iiber oI the mcn shows up; thct big men show their bigmess, crnd smcll men their littleness. A rcilrocrd mcn in the crowd spoke up: "Yep. Thct's right. The smcller ihe stction, the bigger the crgent."

It's <r fcct thcrt trying times nol only "try men'a souls," cs Tom Paine so brilli<rntly stcted it during the Revolutionqry Wcr, but it likewise brings out the best cnd the worst in them. It is fire thct demonstrcles fiber.

These are times when we hecrr c lot ol tclk lrom lumbennen about lumbermen. We heqr cr lot ol tclk, pcrrticulcrly, Irom retcril dealers about lheir sources ol supply. They speck olten of Scrles Mcrncrgers, Sometimes these remcrrks are highly cornplimentcry. Sometimes they cre not. One colored boy told cnother that he had been riding horsebcrck lor the first time in yecrs. "Did il mcke you' hcidcrche?" crsked the second boy. "The opposite-ius' the opposite," scid the lirst.

And so it is with this subiect. Some ol ihe decrlers who tell us their tqles oI woe crnd unrequited business crllectioru specrk very dispcrcgnngly crbout some of their Sales Mcrncrger lriendg They scry thei hcrve shorl rnemories. They scry old crligmments, cnd old crrcngemeats, and old relctionships seem to count for nothing, cmd thct some oI the boys hcve become crbitrcry cnd hcughty, to stcte the ccse mildly. One retciler writes ua:

"A Scles Mcrncrger todcy ccrn sit crt the end of tihe green chcrin crnd <rlloccrte every loot oI lumber the mill mcrkes. II he's q smcrll man, the situcrtion spoils him, cnrd he shows it in the wcy he trects his old customers. Some of them cre grect guys' and in spite oI conditions tretrt their old customers with every courtesy thcrt conditions will crllow. That's cll crny dealer asks, is lcrir trecrtment. It is well lor both the thoughtless <rnd the thoughilul scrlesmen to remember thct no mcrtter how long the roqd there is alwcrys cr turning sgoner or lqter, crnd that memories crre long."

This is cr subiect thct long diEcussion would not help. Humcnr nqture being human ncture, there will clwcys be men who will become thoughtless when things come very strongly their wcy; and there will clwcys be rren who become even more thoughdul oI iheir lriends under thoee conditions. It is no wcrste ol spcce, however, to remind <rll men in the lumber business thqt in times like these it is the better pcrl ol wisdom to be pcriiculcrly mindlul of the other fellow<nd ihct of course goes lor every mcn, whether retail or mill<rd that the reclly wise mqn will lecrn over bqckwqrds to grcrsp the viewpoint oI the other lellow, and nrcke crllowance therelor.

Thus there will be lewer wounds to hetrl qnd lewer grudges to lorget in ihose dcrys thqt crre coming sometime, when business will <rgcdn qssume something oI c bqlqnce between supply crnd demcrnd-between buyer crnd seller.

Beccruse men who consider themselves ill-treated, invcricbly demonstrcte long memories.

Tenth Annual Reveille April 24

East Bay Hoo-Hoo Club's 10th Annual Reveille of Central and Northern California lumbermen, sponsored by the wholesale lumber dealers of the San Francisco Bay district, will be held at Hotel Oakland, Oakland, on Friday, April 24.

Dinner will be served at 7 :N p.m. Tickets are $2.50 each, including the dinner and entertainment.

Entertainment co m m i t t e e chairman Charlie Gartin says his committee has arranged for a first class variety show, the kind that makes a fellow forget business troubles for a while.

The golf tournament, sponsored by the East Bay retail lumber dealers, will be held on Saturday morning, April 25 at the Sequoyah Country Club, Oakland. There will be many valuable prizes, including defense bonds.

Register for the golf tournament with D. Normen Cords, golf committee chairman, 110 Market Street, San Francisco. Green fee and one free ball, $2.00. General chairman of the Reveille is Tom Branson, and Jim Overcast is secretary.