Vagabond Editorials

By Jack Dionne

No one has to sell me on the things that advertising and publicity can do; the miracles they perform. I'm working that side of the street myself. But now and again something happens that staggers even my believing soul. Take the case of Joe Louis, the prize-fighter, as an example.

The sports writers t lnJrriton performed a miracle. They took an ordinary colored boy and by reason of the printed word alone, they created the most formidable giant the world has lrnown since Samson pushed over the pillars in the temple. I am satisfied Joe Louis must have been the thought behind that well-worn popular song-"I'm building up for an awful let-down."

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They told us that he carried six months in the hospital in one hand, sudden death in the other, and a brief epitaph in his blasting "one-two." No one could hit him, no one could hurt him, and he just toyed with the mastodons of the ringed circle until he got the signal from his trainer, at which moment he rocked the unfortunate into dreamland, and went on his way rejoicing. Nothing like it in the shape of a build-up has ever boen done since tho genus strrort writer was born. There was no disagreement. It was utterly unanimous, the only competition being in the extravagance of their estimates of the Detroit darky.

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Then one day a stolid, stout-hearted German decided it wasn't so. lle didn't believe in Santa Claus or in super-men. He wasn't a mighty fighter, nor a mighty clouter, even in his youthful fighting days; and those days are years back. But he always had intelligence, and he never fed from a shadow, as some of our American so-called fighters have done in the past year. He just had a heart and a head and a right fist. And in a few minutes-almost before the first round was over as a matter of fact-he had exploded the super-man theory. He didn't lick a wondrous fighter. He just knocked down a straw man that had been built of words.

I'll say for most of the lt*-rnlr,, writers that they have taken their licking well; for it was THEIR licking more than Louis' and don't doubt it. Most of them have eaten humble pie in their own columns. And I feel certain that all of them have made to themselves deep and definite promises that they will do no more giant building. publicity made the great Joe Louis. A courageous man exploded the fallacy. That was all.

Henry Ford recentr, nrlaiJ,"J that there witt be greater progress along scientific lines in the next fifty years in this world, than there has been in the past one thousand. I believe it. And I believe that the remark may be true about lumber. This column July first showed some of the mighty possibilities that arise when the man of science steps in.

Long ago that great

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said: "The man of science simply uses with scrupulous exactness the methods which we all habitually and at every moment use carelessly; and the man of business must as much avail himself of the scientific method, must be as truly a man of science as the chemist, the physicist, or the biologist." That's been the weakness of wood. Until recently we have only used the huckle-buckle and the happenstance method of making Progress.

And Francis Bacon, -rl*J.nlking capacity is and will always be a by-word among thinking people, described the attitude of the research man as: "The desire to seek, the patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to reconsider, carefulness to dispose and set in order, and hating every kind of imposture.', From such an attitude must come truth.

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We hear a lot about money and the science of money lately, but personally I'm inclined to agree with the embryo financier who said-on that very entertaining and interesting subject; "Speaking of money, infated or defated, consecrated or cremated, dated or undated, it's all the same to me; I'LL TAKE IT!"

Speaking of money, O""r an" signs I read I gather that prosperity-so far as the lumber trade press is concernedis still around that fabled corner we have heard so much of. If there are any lumber journals making money it fails to show in their advertising columns; and that's the only place I know of where income can show on a lumber journal. Circulation is, as it has always been and always will be, a liability.

The building material t;Jt;"s not started advertising on any reassuring scale, and that goes for all its departments, lumber, roofing, paints, wall boards, flooring, cement, etc. Until they do,lumber journals will continue on a rather rigid diet.

There are really ,o." oi*Jou*ru""ons why the buitding material folks should get going with their advertising. To begin with, their products need advertising to keep up with the many other things that fight for the consumer dollar. And in the final analysis advertising is a legitimate expense and cuts down your income tax; and the income tax is going to get most of what you make from now on, anyway. Every day specific cases are brought to my attention to demonstrate that fact. The money you lost through the lean years is gone; you can't use what you make in the future to replace it, because the old taxes will have their claws on that. And taxes haven't really started yet, even with the new tax law. The bill for the billions is yet to come'

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I haven't attempted to check exactly on the income of the various lumber journals as compared with what it used to be, but I would say, just as an off-hand conclusion and based on my own experience with what used to be two of the best patronized lumber journals anywhere, that any lumber journal that has 25 per cent of what it formerly called a normal income, is doing mighty well.

Speaking for all lumber;;J I would say that through the long lean years they have worked hard, struggled manfully, and done their best to help the lurriber industry hold its chin up during times when chin-upping was well-nigh impossible. They have a fair right to expect a fair share when prosperity comes back to the building industry. In this I believe the building mateiial folks will agree with me. *** on the last day of anu*r.Jrra**"rrion of Congress there was passed and the President has signed the Walsh-Healy Bill. Few people knevr its contents then, but they are getting plenty of reading now. The law applies NRA rules to all those who would sell the Government of the United

And speaking of states' rights reminds me that we have a brand new author in our midst. Yes sir, Henry Wallace, doughty Secretary of Agriculture, from good old Ioway' mind you, has writ and published himself a book that he calls-"Whose Constitution?"-the fixed purpose of which is to throw rocks at those who insist on states'rights. In this book he lists among the undesirables who defend states' rights "the huge corporations, the Republican Party, New England, the Liberty League, and most of the newspapers of the country," and he adds to that list "at least part of the time the Supreme Court." The book calls for the "establishment of a COOPERATM COMMONWEALTH"' (All Russian newspapers please copy.)

55,000,000,000

With more than 55 billion jeet ol Commercial Rcdwood now standing, and thc natural propagation, endles3 oPcration ol ths industry is assured.

The Redwood industry, with its 10,000 employes, $12,OOO,@0 annual Payroll and huge tax payments, is one ol Calif orna's grcatest industries.

The use of California Redwood as a building material began with thc earliest settlcrs, and structur€t built of this material a century ago ar€ in cxcellent condi' tion today.

States ten or more thousand dollars worth of goods or materials. A forty hour work week; the local prevailing \ilages; and rules and regulations which the Department of Labor shall prescribe, are compulsory to those firms who would sell the Government.

The Secretary of Labor is given power to enter factories, investigate conditions, subpoena witnesses and force them to produce papers, penalize violators of the law, withhold contract money for violations, etc. She can fix minimum wages according to local conditions, and can suspend her own rules and wage schedules "lrrhen justice and the public interest will be served thereby."

Lumber shipping toil." Jr .1" l""rr" Coast, who had experience with Madame Perkins in their labor troubles last year, will realize that-with this new law for a shilalah -our Secretary of Labor is really going to start enjoying herself.

The lumber business ,*"*U, has been disappointingly slack through the month of June. The demand has fallen below expectations, and price cutting has been general, Once a lumberman always a lumberman. As in days of yore I have watched again while men cut prices to sell stufi they didn't have-or at least had little of.

I am hoping that the bonus money, now in full and general circulation, will pull up the present slack. That it is going to do a world of building and repairing, f have not the slightest doubt. And we are needing it. Right at a time when I thought the lumber demand would be swinging high, it sagged. +,F*

Building costs are having considerable to do with it. The cost of building is up. Materials have gone up some, but labor took the lead, and got most of the benefit. Lumber usually lags. It has done it again. Right now lumber needs a determined drive, a display of initiative, a campaign of selling, from one end of this land to the other. ft needs a whirlwind campaign in every hamlet, town, and city, to interest people in building and improving. r hear on every rrarra tri"t L".n.r*"rrt of the bonus has created a marvelous market for second-hand cars. Some of the things I hear may be exaggerated, but there's bound to be some fire where there is so much smoke. Which means that the lumber and building folks have got to hit the ball double hard right now if they are going to get any substantial benefit from the bonus cash wave.

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Sell your soldier friends, who are wondering what best to do with their money, on the idea of building. If not a home, then an addition, an improvement, a refinement for their present home. You can think of plenty of them. Work your territory for the next few weeks with a fine tooth comb. *t*

Sell a new floor, a new roof, a new closet, a new built-in something for the kitchen or bed-room, a new lining for the closet, a new fix-up for the attic.

What this countr, ,r""1" :rr; ".* is a buirdins campaign. With the lumber folks it must be an individual effort. But if every lumbErman, everywhere, marshals his forces TODAY and goes into the highways and byways to see who NEEDS his services and materials, things are going to quit sagging. Waiting won't do it.

Northwestern Lumbermen To Visit Coast

Members of the Northwestern Lumbermen's Association will tour the Pacific Northwest and Redwood Empire in August. They will leave Minneapolis August 2, and u'ill visit Glacier National Park, Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Longview, Eureka, San Francisco and Los Angeles, returning to Minneapolis by August 18.

The lumbermen will leave the train and travel by motor bus from Grants Pass., Ore., to Eureka, in orcler to see the Redrvoods and visit a number of Redwood lumber operations.

Philippine Mahogany lmporters Meet "Built-Up" Doorg Said to be Devised at Chicago---Elect Officers About the Fifth Century

The adjourned annual meeting of the Philippine Mahogany Manufacturers' Import Association, Inc., was held at the Palmer House, Chicago, on June 29 lor the purpose of electing officers for the ensuing year, hearing reports of officers, and transacting other business of importance to the Philippine mahogany industry.

W. G. S,crim, Findlay-Millar Timber Co., Los Angeles, was re-elected president, H. R. Black, Black & Yates, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., was elected vice-president, and G. W. Cheney, Dant & Russell, Inc., Portland, Ore., secretarytreasurer. G. W. Purchase, Los Angeles, was re-el.ected assistant secretary-treasurer.

W. G. Scrim and Roy Barto, Cadwallader-Gibson Co. Inc., Los Angeles, were re-elected dire,ctors. Other directors elected were H. R. Black; G. W. Cheney; Harry D. Gaines; Thomas E. Powe Lumber Co., St. Louis, Mo.; J. K. McCorm,ick, Henry J. Winde Company, Charlestown, Mass.; T. B Bledsoe, Brown-Bledsoe Lumber Co., Inc., Greensboro. N. C.

Association Head In Los Angeles

Carl Bahr, president of the California Redwood Association, San Francisco, recently spent a few days visiting Redwood mills in Humboldt County.

Mr. Bahr is paying a visit this week to the Association's Los Angeles office.

An interesting early application of the "built-up" principle of constructing doors was given by W. M. MacArthur, vice-president, Wheeler Osgood Sales Corporation. Mr. MacArthur stated that in the fifth century, a door made from a single board or section of wood was found unable to resist the effects of moisture. In countries having a damp climate, the inconvenien,ce of warped doors was a problem. Necessity being the mother of invention, the pieced or builtup door u'as developed. trt is described as being made from several sections of wood. These might be a series of vertical planks held together by dowels, or horizontal braces; another method was to form a framervork of stiles and rails. and place a thinner panel between them, this panel being held in place by grooves or mouldings.

It is interesting to observe, Mr. MacArthur said, that even at this early date, a crude application of the Laminex principle was developed, as lvell as the use of dowels, which are an important part in the construction of a door today. In Laminex and Woco lGPoint Doors, s,cientifi,c methods of door construction are used to provide exceptional resistance to the same problem of dampness that confronted the home owners of the early centuries. The Laminex principle, of soundly engineered design, is based upon the fact that stresses caused by the natural shrinkage of wood must be balanced. Laminex stiles and rails are built up of separate ,core blocks with the grain so crossed that expansion and contraction are neutralized.

C. D. Johnson lumber Corporation

PORTLAND, OREGON

SoCt Old Growth Tettow Douglar Flr .nd Sltk Spruce

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Mills-Toledo, Oregon. Capacity 47 M pet hour, largeet in Oregon, of combined Liln-dried and green lumber. Over 50 years' supply virgin timber.

Cargo and Rail Shipmentc-Weekly sailings to California ports-Packaged lumber, stowed even lengths and widthr -Shipmento made as pronrised.

Note:

CoJi,f ornia lumberrnen es peci,ally are i,nvited to ztisit our operations in Toledo and our ofices i.n Portland, zahen tnotori.ng North this surnru,er zti,a the Rednpood Highzuay. Toled,o is just of the Coast Highway at Newport, Oregon, and, in di,rect.route to Portland.. In Toled,o, go to mill office and, ask tor Dean, Johnson or Bob Richardson.