My Jeremaid

By Mrs. Adeline M. Conner, Sacramento

When Elizabcth Barrett Browning wrote Thc Drama of E:(ile, shc created two pessimistic, woe-beset spirits whose principal claim to notoriety was thcir ability to wail. Indee!, t-hey wailed so persistently that Eve, laying her apple- stained fingers upon her consort's brawny shoulder,-was moyed to remark in gently sympathetic tones, "Adam, they wiil."

But'still they wailed-wailed in season and out of season. wailed without rhyme or reason if Miss Barrett's moving account of the circumstancc is to be believed, wailed ad libitum, ad nauseum, and by so doing raised the ire of Edgar Allen Poc, who, some time later, criticized with caustic wit the Drama of Exile in general and thc wailing spirits in particular.

Time was when I wondered at their public display of uncontrolled emotion and considered it distinctly iil-timed, uncalled for, and out of place. Careful research, however, amgnded my opinion, and I came to know that the two mys- terious and noisy ghosts were the departed souls of lumber advertisers confronted by a situation over which they had lost control. ,Since then I have greatly desired to join thcir kgening and augment the hopeftss wailing until it should arise to high heaven and trouble the lyric song of the morning stars.

Think, brother lumbermen, and sympathize with these two forlorn lumber advertisers who year after year sought, with no shadow of success, for a calendar whiih would-re- rnotely suggest the business of the retail lumberrnan. Is it any wonder that unforgetting, they wail on for all etern- ity? Is it any wonder that those of us who have engagedengaged annually in this restless and futile search are ready and witting to give up in despa.ir and mourn for that which seem- whi ingly can never bc? Lo, Mr.

Dionne, we wail!

The calendar man comes tripping in with the glad New Year, and wonderful are the warei he brings. ealendars without number, calendars of all shapes and sizes, calendars beautiful and otherwise, calendars inspiring and depressing,,calendars for every mortal who walks the earth Cxcept the lumberman. With great assurance and a thinly veilid air of superiority he shows me handsome pictures -of pale, sweet Indians, spotlessly clean, immaculately groomed and becomingly_ garbed. They remind me quitJ forcibly of Fenimore Cooper's tribes of Indians that niver existediand add to my respect for the human imagination-but what have fndians to do with us? What relation do they bear to the business of selling up-to-date homes to the unprimi- tive men and women of a progressive community? 'None whatever.

-.Th"l he displays the perennial "famous painting" replica, depicting a landscape that a monstrous elk may pose against a cloudless expanse of blue-green sky. "Beautiful!" says the calendar man, "just the thing for Mr. Lumbermerchant to send his delighted petrons."

- "But-why.moose?" I wail, "lumbermen do not carry them in stock, builders do not buy 'em. There is really riothing about a moose which suggests the joy and pcace of tromJ nothing about a moose calculated to create in the eyes of the beholder an overwhelming desire to ortyn a five room bungalow,

Still paticnt but slightly supercilious, the C. M. hauls out one after the other, a hunting scene, a gorgeous marine with a full rigged ship in the middle distance and a thunder storm coming to a head in the ofring, a mountaineer scaling the Swiss Alps with infinite hazard to life and limb, an adorable basket of long haircd kittens, a noble dog lying pathetically on his master's grave, Washington Crossing the Delaware, Mount Lassen in violent eruption, Sunset in an Affrcan jungle and a Cock Fight in old Spain.

.Any onc who has ever attempted to select a suitable cdendar for a retail lumber merchant knows that what I have written is not idle fancy but grim redity. There scems to be absolutely no appropriate, thought-provoking, desirecreating calendar for the genus lumberman, therefore f wail.

Now, the calcndar is an important part of our yearly advertising-a rather expensive paft too, and it should be made constructive if possible. If it could be selected with due regard to the'end we seek to serve, it would tie in with our daily round of duties and produce its share of advertising results. If artistic and not too large it would perhaps hang for a year upon the walls of office, shop, or home, and those who treasured it, together with the guest, client, or customer would see our name before them and be frequently reminded of our particular line of industry, and led to think of home and the delightful independence and comfort of home ownership.

We take pride and pains 'with our newstrxrper advertis- irg. We constantly endeavor to make it attractive, educational, and productive. IJnless we are hopelessly indolent and inefficient we change the copy each week, at least, in order that it may not become static and valueless; why then are we content to go on year after year selecting our calendars from a pictorial grab bag, charmed out of reason by bright colors, clever reproductions, and far-fetched subjects that harmonize with our business no more than do the latest rag time melodies with the symphonies of a'Beethoven?

Since the coming of our wonder magazine, the "California Lumber Merchant" to the state, the lumbermen have become noticeably more aggressive. They do not always take with the old time nonchalance just what fate sees fit to hand them. They have even been found resenting the unfair methods of unscrupulous competitors, they are growing proudly jealous of their business, and are beginning to seek and find their own. Therefore, while continuing to wail, I refect that even the calendar problem may in time be solved and hope that a few emphatic and well timed kicks, judiciously administered, may awaken the calendar manufacturer to the necessity of producing for the lumber merchant, a calendar which shall speak of home and home flelights, and truly and effectively represent the wonderful industry which has for its particular aim the building of artistic, convenient, and comfortable dwelling places for thc children of men.

Timber Scene of THE BOOTH.ISELLY

LUMBER GO.

Eugene, Oregon

General Sales Of6ce: 1207 Gaaco Bldg., Portland

San Francisco Of6ce: 4O2-/|i!,4 Marvin Bldg. Douglac 2513

Loe Angelcr Office: 730 Central Bldg. TUckcr 9260