Hardwood "Specialties" Offer Opportunities, Says Roy Stanton

That there are opportunities for profit that are not com- nary avenue of sales. In many cases the dealer is already monly tal<en advant?ge of -by most of the retail lumber selling lumber to these cotrce.ni but has, himself, overlooked yar{s and planing mills is a fact emphasized !y Mr. _Lq Rqy the possibility of taking care of the specialty business at H. Stanton, president of E. J. Stanton & Son, wholesale the iame timi. lumber dealers of Los Angeles.

Several customers of this comDanv have built uD a considerable trade in specialties by^ letiing it be known that they.can supply lumbe-r for the unusual-purposes as well as for the more common forms of construction.

A recent example is the success one retailer has had in the sale of hickory spring boards to Southern California plunges. Rarely did the orders exceed two boards but the business was easily obtainable and the profit well worth the effort.

, From their huge stock of Hardwoods and Pine, E. J. Stanton & Son can supply practically any demand, arid dealers who have taken advantage of this iact have made money over and above that realized from normal activities. The sale of oil well timbers, mining timbers, airplane lumber, reach_ and pole stock, bending oak for ship building, panels and plywood, and similar items does rot-require an investment in stocks on hand, for the retailer can secure them on short notice from the Stanton yards when the sale is made.

Dealers and planing mill operators who take the trouble to check up on the users of lumber in their territories will undoubtedly find some that are going far afield for certain specialties , which they would 6e delighted to purchase locally if they were only aware of the possibility bf doing so. Once sold, these concerns or individuals become steadi customers and .frequently their purchases grow to quite slzeaDle proporttons.

As a rule, too, this type of business is less highly competi- tive and carries a higher percentage of profit ihan the ordi-

Compton Caught Him

In a recent issue of the National Real Estate Journal a Mr. H. R. Bingham wrote on the wisdom of substituting other materials for wood in the building of homes, and giving many figures fo back up his suggestion.

Dr. Wilson Compton, Secretary-Manager of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, rep,lied to him with strength and dignity in a succeeding issue, and drove home many very interesting facts concerning the present stand, cut, growth, and future of the timber resources of the country to refute Mr. Bingham's suggestion that the timber of the country is about gone.

But one hit he made on Mr. Bingham was a notable one, as regards the inflammability of wooden homes. Mr. Bing-

"From the retailer's point of view," said Mr. Stanton, "the supplying of lumber for special uses should be well worth while. Wholesale dealers like ourselves have the material on hand for. prompt delivery and it is unnecessary for the retailer to tie up money in stocks. It is simply a matter of searching out the prospects and frequently-they will be found on territory already covered bv- the ietailer's sales force. An extra *oO, " pfioned order..and the ledger shows a pieasrng profit from a new source."

E. J. Stanton & Son carry a stock of hardwoods that is sa_id to be unsurpassed for -variety and completeness any- where in the Wist. Practicallv el,.rv kind of hardwoocl even to the rare woods of the Orient ar-e represented. They are able to supply any demand that is likely to arise. Thi! con-cern iorygllr large quantities of Philippine Mahogany and other Philippine hardwoods and is also mill distributor of California Sugar and White Pine.

Under the direction of Mr. Le Roy H. Stanton. son of the founder,_E, J. Stanton & Son hai achieved prominence not only in California but throughout the country for excellence of material and prompt service. Branch- offices for the handling_of Eastern business are maintained in Chicago, New York, St. I-ouis and Norfolk. Va.

As announced in a recert issue of the "California Lumber Merchant" this company is planning still further expansion and details are now being worked out for new main yards on a site recently purchased at Alameda Street and Tweedy Road. Covered storage will be provided for stocks in eicess of 20,000,000 feet, an amount hitherto unapproachecl in hardwoods anywhere this side of the Rockies. - ham made the statement that in a single year 162,42Z lrame homes burned, as compared with 37,53L brick homes. Dr. Compton accepted these figures as facts, and then called attention to the fact that according to the best figures of the United States Department of Commerce there are more than four times as many frame homes in the United States as there are brick. Since Mr. Bingham's figures showed that the number of frame fires were slightly over four times the number of brick fires, it would tend to show a.pproximately the same proportion of fires in brick as in wooden horrnes. Wonder what Mr. Bingham thought of that?

..Portland, Oregon, June 18.-Henry Schott, manager, West Coast Lumber Trade Extension -Bureau, Seattle. iai announced the appointment of John B. Fitzgerald, foi five years editor of the Four L Lumber News, this city, as pub- licity-manager for his organization. Fitzgerald-ieft'here lune 12 to take up his new duties at Seatti-e.