Lumber-The Industry With a Personality

By Arthur H. Hood, Cady Lumber Corporation, El Paso, Texas, Snark of the lJniverse, Concatenated Order of Hoq-Hoo Written expressly

for the fifth anniversary number.of THE CALIFORNIA LUMBER MERCHANT

Industries, concerned with the production of raw materials, such as steel, cement, coal, brick, oil or agriculture, lack the appeal to the imagination of the public that is the glory of the lumber industry.

Like the seafaring man, another product of the great outdoors, the lumberman carries an indefinable something about his person, that is a mark of his profession-the expression of the Personality of his Industry.

The circumstance that lumber is produced outdoors does not explain this fact of industry personality. Other industries fin<l their products on the mountains, and carry them to the uses of rrran on the rivers, but there is a virility and ruggedness to the lumber industry that is not found elsewhere.

Perhaps our distinction arises from the fact that we lumbermen deal in living, growing, self-perpetuating trees, and there are moqe sights and sounds and smells in the production of lumber than other raw materials possess. The tang of the pine-scented breezes, the rush of the mountain streams, the strength of the towering trees, the majesty of the virgin forests, the crash of the falling timber, the whirr ahd song of -the mills, the infinite detail of translating the forest giants into homes for the families of men, are all permeated and colored rvith the fragrant odors and sheen of the wood itself-all of these become a part of the distinctive personality of our industry.

Consider the lumberman ! Whether he is a timberman, logger, producer or distributor he stands, as a type, broadshouldered; manly; strong hands showing the marks of axe, saw and splinters; clear eyes facing fearlessly the exigencies of time and circumstance; a sportsman; a good fighter, not gloating in victory, nor whimpering in defeat; clinging to old traditions, old methods and old friends; slow to accept the new; loyal to his company, his mill, his yard and his coworkers; independent in thought and action; seeking but simple objectives, like health, happiness and long life; craftsman-woodsman-timberman-forestergood citizen-he stands among his fellow men-a Personality !

Tenacity is not the least of his attributes. Once a lurnberman, always a lumberman-is perhaps more true of ours than any other industry. The fact that there are comparatively speaking fewer failures and at the same time fewer great fortunis in the lumber industry than in other businesses indicates the conservatism and stability of thought among lumbermen.

Truly the lumberman and the lumber industry have Personality !

And the. lumbermen sense this personality among themselves without admitting it. There is a deep fraternal spirit among lumbermen, born of mutual trials and tribulations as inuch as muttral joys. They know they are brothers without talking about it.

In fact that's just the trouble with our industry. The lumberman and the lumber industry are like a marvelous orator who has the personality and power to sway the minds of millions-but has never been on a platform.

It is our plain duty as lumbermen to capitalize our industry personality-to make full use of the powers that are glven us.

There are literally untold sermons in trees, and the first one is that the use of wood means the preservation of our forest crop.

Added to our personality as lumbermen.and our personality as an industry we have the best sales argument of any industry in creation. Why the bi-products of our industry are beauty, comfort, relaxation, reireation and continuous service !

When will we awaken? We have startet to arouse ourselves among' a little g'roup of men in the lumbermen's fraternity of Hoo-Hoo, but we have scarcely scratched the surface in utilizing its possibilities.

Hoo-Hoo, with its membership of industry executives and leaders, its unique rites and insignia, its nine-fold ties of brotherhood, its distinctive black cat pin, its .service organizations reaching from Montreal to San Diego and from Florida to Vancouver Island, stands today a giant industryservant, employed but a fraction of the time.

Hoo-Hoo is more than a lodge, more thah a fraternity, more than a service-club, more than a group of men with a common philosophy or a common bond of thought-it contains the best of all of these 3nd msls-it adds to these the personality of an industry, the lumber industry. The black cat pin speaks for the lumber industry and for that alone. When a lumberman sees that little black cat pin on the lapel of a stranger, an immediate bond is established, enabling him to grasp the other's hand or slap him on the back without hesitation or reservation. The black cat pin for lumbermen is an immediate starting point for conversation, acquaintance, friendship, confidence, mutual interest and understanding.

Every Hoo-Hoo should wear with pride this lumber insignia that speaks of a lumber consciotrs'ness, loyalty and unity which are inherent parts of the PERSONALII'Y Ofr OUR INDUSTRY.