The Retail Lumbermen

"The Quick and the Dead"

By JACK DIONNE

I have cause to-and DO-rejoice quite frequently, con_ cernin-g the increased liveness, iinprovia vision, etc., of tne retail lumber business since f startid publishing this'punch- rur Journal.

And the oth_e_r day I got a letter from a retail lumberman, and he said: "You're talking entirely too kindly to these re_ f.it9T:, and you are in dang-er of sp6iling them. Give them fits like you used to do. Most of them ieed it still."

RlShto ! f've been thinking myself a great many times Iately that the old gag about iitciing moie fies with rnan- wrtn- vrnegar wasn't entirely true as applied to the retail lumber business.

The fact of the matter is that there are many thousand retail lumber dealers in the United States who ire just as good merchants as they are MADE TO BE, and no- more, and who, because they are not FORCED to become build_ ing me^rchants, continue to be the deadest things i" iliei, respective communities-too all-fired dead to skin. . 4"d Ijm going out gunning for these birds, just as I used ro co. I wtsh there was some practical and direct method of FORCING all these dead ones to come to life or set out. because there isn't a community in these United S;"t"" ;i ours that does not NEED and -DESERVE a live buildine merchant, nor one that hasn,t a right to be protected fiorf, the moral delin-quency of the .,old timey" iumber a;G; who either won't or can't but at least DON,T perform the proper functions of the PROFESSIONAL BUILDER in lig_pg1licular community, and so is guilty of the sin of OMISSION for failing io live up to Eis lireat opportuni- ties, and to be a stalwart asset t6 his town.

When a man occupies the position of retail lumberman ir .^!gyl,_"tjy, o" hahlet, in ihis day and age, he assumes or SHOULD assume, the duties ind resfonsibitities of properly SERVING that community. And when he does .\pf asrsurye that position with th6se righteous responsi- bilities, he becomeJ a drag-anchor to thJprogress oi that community, because he is occupying the -molt important position IN that community so-far- as its prospects for groveth _and development are concerned, and- is frailing to do his duty.

I wish- it were possible in some way to directly advise the people of the entire United Statei just what a retail lumber merchant of today ought to do, just what service l: o$]tt to give, a-nd how much the town- should expect of him if h_e is doing his- duty. Then the people of each local- ity could measure their own local dealer3, aid judge whether they were an asset or a liabitity, and act acc6rdingly.

The locality where there is not an active buildin'e mer- chant today, is to be pitied, because it is being deprived of a deserved blessing. A REAL lumber merch-ant'is a dis1co

..K L D'' BRAND

"Philippine ltlahogany"

For your protection we brand the end of every board manufactured in the Philippine Islands from our own timber in our up-to-date Band Mills.

Inguiricr rolicitcdUnlimitcd crpacity- Superior rcrviceCargo end Rail Shipncntr lfg Squere PacL, \ilirc.ticd LathMenufacturcd to Strict SpccificatioarErpccially for Celifornie Trede.

Old Growth ClcerrGrcca or Kiln Dricd Spcciel Cutting Ordcrr-TimbcrrBoardr rnd Dimcn. rion.

Sold by responsible dealere all over the United States.

Take no substitutes.

Findlay Millar Tinber Co. AND Kolambugan Lbr. & Dev. Co.

Hcad Oficc: Manila, P. I.

Millr: Manila, P. I, and Kolanbugan, p. t.

U. S. O6ccr: 28ll Broedway, N. Y. - 910 Ccntrel,Bldg, Lor Angclcr, Crlif. W. G. SCRIM, U. S. Rcprcrcntativc