THE CALIFOR}-IIA LUMBERMERCHANT

Jack Dionne,prltlish,er

W. T. BI.ACK

Single Copies, 25 centg ecch.

How Lumbcr Looks

As we go to press over 50 logging operations and a number of sawmills, plywood and shingle plants in Washington are still closed due to the loggers' strike.

On June 9 at Olympia, 'Wash., 600 delegates, representing 12,000 striking C. I. O. International Woodworkers of America, voted to recommend rejection of the National Defense Mediation Board's proposal that the strikers return to work at once. The action of the conference will be submitted to the local unions involved.

Lumber production during the week ended May 31, 1941, (containing Decoration Day) was 12 per cent less than in the previous week; shipments were one per cent greater; new business 16 per cent less, according to reports to the National Lumber Manufacturers Association from regional associations covering the operations of representative hardwood and softwood mills.

During the week ended May 31, 455 mills produced n2]83,W feet of hardwoods and softwoods combined; shipped 253,O57,W feet, and booked orders of. 251,837,ffi feet.

Lumber orders reported for the week ended May 31 by 376 softwood mills totaled 239,6I2,W feet, shipments were 239,248W feet, and production was 21O,U7,000 feet. 95 hardwood mills for the week gave nerl' business as 12,225,000 feet, shipments 13,809,000 feet, and production 11,336,000 feet.

Seattle, Washington, June 10, 1941.-The weekly average of West Coast lumber production in May (4 weeks) was 153,167,000 board feet, or 96.2 per cent of estimated capacity, according to the West Coast Lumbermen's Association in its monthly survey of the industry. Orders averaged 183,965,000 board feet; shipments, 171,583,000. Weekly averages for April were: production, 171,335,000 board feet (87.0 per cent of the 1926-l9D average) ; ord,ets, 172,863,000 ; shipments, 17 5,O72,m.

The industry's unfilled order file stood at 787,z99,ffi board feet at the end of May; gross stocks, at 866,829,ffi.

The volume of West Coast lumber produced during May directly reflects the effect of the closing down, by strike, of some fifty logging operations and a nurnber of medium and large manufacturers. Additional mills, where no labor disturbance exists but where log supplies have been exhausted, have been forced to close, contributing to the effect of the forced discontinuance of production by struck mills.

In the meantime, volume of new business shows an increase over the totals of a month ago, partially due to seasonal trend, rvith weather conditions throughout the West Coast distribution area favorable to general buildirg.

The Western Pine Arro"iution for the week ended May 3I,92 mills reporting, gave orders as 88,151,000 feet, shipments 77,985,W feet, and production 77]4O,W f.eet. Orders on hand at the end of the week totaled 398.483.000 feet.

I.'G H T TLOORIN

Here's flooring that's machined to straighf, parallel lines and square edges throughout. lmproved tongue and groove permif snug fitiing without {orcing. Strips, loosely assembled on floor, are pulled together and nailed in place with minimum efforfResult-maximum saving in iime and maferial, plus beauiiful floors which complimenf the skill of layer and finisher alike.

No wonder, then, that Bradley's Straight-Line Oak Flooring is so heartily endorsed by leading architects, coniractors and property owners... or thai dealers everywhere are including Bradley Straight-Line Oak Flooring in their orders for Oak and Gum Trim and Mouldings, Arkansas Soft Pine Finish and Framing Lumber.

You, too, will ffnd Brodley's Sfroighf-tine Ook Flooring o consisfenl prolil eorner. For quofalions, coll fhe neore st Brodley represenlolive, or oddress,

Saw a picture of a huge lot of wooden posts piled high in Canada. They go to England to be used for various purposes, one of them being supports for air raid shelters. With her normal volume of lumber, timber and other wood products from Scandinavia cut ofi by the war, England has to look to this continent for her timber supply.

Of what has happened to the Scandinavian output of timber products which were formerly shipped to England and other countries, we can only surmise. That they have been commandeered by the invaders is a foregone conclusion. And Scandinavian forests can supply a very large volume of excellent quality timber products, mostly softwoods.

That the sawmills are taking their part in the national defense program seriously is evidenced by the special care they take of the lumber that has been bought in advance by the Government, and which is piled while awaiting shipping orders. All such lumber is well covered, weeds and rubbish are cleated away from beneath and around the piles, and, at many mills special guards and watchmen keep protective eyes on the lumber night and day to see that no one with evil design gets close to it. Wise precautions.

It was remarked i" th; ;t; months ago when the first rush of defense lumber orders swept like a tidal wave over the lumber manufacturing industry, that additional facilities for quickly drying lumber would be in great demand. It has worked that way. Dry kilns are being built and re-built in large numbers throughout the industry. Nat_ urally with most mills straining to produce a ma:imum amount of lumber, to meet the emergency, there has been a "bulge" in every department of sawmilling. Few are the mills that are not making a lot more lumber than they were a year ago. Which has rneant lots of new equipment, additional housing facilities, and a world of additional working time.

There utas a ti*u *fr"rr*-*, "r*" sawmills were equipped for night-shift operations. That was long ago. During the last few months innumerable sawmills have gone on double and even triple shift operating schedules to get out Government lumber. That required not only a lot more men, but a lot more equipment of numerous kinds. And a lot of special preparation. In the old days they used to claim that a mill built and equipped to run double time, did so at a cost that made single-shift operations uneconomical. They would build the entire plant to handle a double-shift product. Few mills have been built and equipped that way in late years. So, when a lot of mills all over the country decided to put on an extra shift in the past season, they had to do lots of special equipping not previously contemplated.

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One of the outstanding phases of the first World War, so far as the lumber industry of this country was concerned, was a tremendous effort to construct wooden ships to replace those the German subs were sinking in such numbers. All along the Gulf Coast timbered areas, and the Coast of the Pacific Northwest, old and new shipyards began hastily constructing wooden freighters. V/e were still building them when the war ended. Official launchings were of frequent occurrence. When the collapse of Germany came, those still under construction were never equipped for operation. A world of wonderful timber went into the construction of those wooden ships, for naturally

Port Orford Cedar

only the clearest and strongest wood was used. All mills 'were cutting virgin timber in those days, and the big, clear stuff was easy to get. Those wooden ships did not play much of a part in the war' but they furnished a lot of men employment for some time.

In the Pacific Northwest they were building a lot of large wooden ships when the war ended, that had been ordered by the Australian government. They launched one just before the war ended that was 281 feet long, 48 foot beam, and 4,2(X) dead weight tonnage, that made nearly 12 knots per hour on her trial spin. The end of the war stopped work on others like her.

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When the United States got squared away in its mighty preparations for the first World lVar and the War Industries Board called on organized industry for concerted assistance to help win the war, the retail lumber associations of the country met and organized the Retail Lumbermen's War Service Commission for the sole purpose of helping the Government in its needed relations with the retail lumber industry. The services of this Commission was tendered to the War Industries Board, and gratefully accepted. Its work was in full swing when the war ended. It aimed to keep.the entire retail building material industry in touch with Government requests' orders, etc., that had to do with ordinary building, and this was important work. On various occasions when the Government had a message of importance for the retail lumber and building industry, that message would be sent to all retailers through the Retail Lumbermen's'War Service Commission.

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The Commission would pledge itself to see that every retail lumber and building material dealer in the country got the message. Advice regarding building rules and restrictions, priorities, etc., was sent in this fashion, as were notices to the public to be displayed on office walls, pledge cards, etc. Jim Moorehead, of Kansas City; C. C. Harper, of New York, and A. C. Johnson, of Dubuque, Iowa, were the powerful steering committee of the Retail Lumbermen's'War Service Commission when the war suddenly ended. The work and life of the Commission terminated with the war. But it had done some very valuable service to the Government in time of need.