THE CALIFOR}.IIA LUMBERMERCHANT JackDionne,publbhu

How Lumber Looks

Seattle, Washington, July 14, 1939.-The weekly average of West Coast lumber production in June was 130,433,000 board feet, or 6.2 per cent of the weekly averag'e for 79261929, the industry's year of highest capacity realization. Orders averaged 142,8%,W b.f.; shipments, 133,811,000. Weekly averages for May were: Production, 121,885,000 b.f. (61.9 per cent of the h.c.r. index); orders, 132,064,@A ; shipments, 126,806,000.

First 26 weeks of 1939, cumulative production, 3,056,652,W board feet; same period, 1938,-2,380,637,C00; 1937

-3,446,68,6,W.

Orders lor 26 weeks of 1939 break down as follows : rail, 1,290,890,000 board feet; domestic cargo, 1,233,786,W; export, 228,697,W ; local, 453,803,00O.

The industry's unfilled order file siood at 436,74O,@0 board feet at the end of June; gross stocks, at 950,000,000.

Positive influences on the market position of West Coast lumber in June remained the demand for homebuilding lumber, with public construction the second strongest factor. The main flow of orders from consuming centers was for small sizes.

Negative influences, reflected in the lag of production behind orders in June, were the continued feebleness of the industrial, railroad and export markets, the slowness of private nonresidential construction, and a narrowing outlet for the lower lumber grades.

Unbalanced production was a result of this lopsided market. For example, tidewater mills dependent upon mar- kets for structural lumber of large sizes and upon export trade, report no prospect for market improvement on the basis of home building demand. Eight large mills in one tidewater production center are entirely closed down.

The outlook for improvement of the industry's general market position is confined to low-cost housing, public construction, and a possible increase in British demand beyond the capacity of British Columbia to supply it. This last factor is also a temporary measure of protection for West Coast lumber in Atlantic Coast markets aga,inst imports from British Columbia. The European situation clouds this phase of the industry with uncertainty. Developments restricting Canadian lumber exports to Great Britain would divert this trade to U. S. outlets. This is one of several prospects that compel a short view of West Coast lumber trends. All lumber markets are affected by world-wide unwillingness to purchase for other than immediate sight demand.

Lumber trend indicators, from reviervs of Federal Reserve Banks dated July 1 : San Francisco: Nerv residential building undertaken in the Twelfth District during April and May, slightly lower than earlier in the year. Boston: Total contracts for all classes of construction declined 18 per cent, compared with May, 1938; with residential building up. Philadelphia: May residential building contracts, 69 per cent over April; nonresidential, 33 per cent under

(Continued on Page 8) r just heard of a sure *"ri" lo.rrru your money at the races. You go to the races, take out your roll, fold the bills over once, put them back in your pocket, and go home.

Little bankroll ere we part, LEt me hug you to my heart; All the year I've clung to youI've been faithful, you've been true ! Little banlroll, in a day, You and I will start away, To a good vacation spot, I'll come back-but you will not.

Someone offers a mighty good piece of advice on how to make a speech. He says: "Be sure you have a good beginning, a strong ending, and that you keep the two as close together as possible."

The man who snears at the "rugged individualist" is snearing at the type of guy who gave this country all that it ever owned in the line of 'greatness. When the "rugged individualist" gets back in the saddle, there will be work and happiness for all.

The more we study, the more we know, The more we know, the more we forget, The more we forget, the less we know, The less we know, the less we forget, The less we forget, the more we knowSo why study? ***

Any man who has lived his life and has not learned to be kind is a dreadful failure. Never mind his bank account.

"Figures never lie" emphatically declared the Professor of Mathematics to his class. "Don't they, though," spoke up a lumberman's son. "Then explain these, please. If one man can build a house in 12 days, 12 men ought to be able to build it in one. Right?" "Right" said the professor. "Then" said the lumberman's son, "288 men ought to be able to build it in one hour, 17,280 men should build it in one minute, and 1,036,800 men should build it in one second.

But can they?" While the Professor was still gasping, the boy handed him another. "If one ship can cross the ocean in 6 days, 6 ships should be able to cross it in one day. But can they? And if they can't, then figures WILL lie, won't they?" And he sat down.

Speaking of salesmanship, the young real estate agent showed a prospective home to a man and his wife. She looked about the neighborhood and said: "fleavens ! What a neighborhood ! There's a gas works on one side, a rubber works on another, a vinegar factory on a third, and a glue works on the other. What can you possibly say in favor of such a neighborhood?" "Well," said the real estate salesman, "you can always tell which way the wind's blowing."

**{<

One sad truth we have proven to the satisfaction of all men in this country in the last few years, and that is that confidence can neither be bought nor conscripted. {<*{<

The principal trouble with most of the politicians who spout so volubly about capital, labor, and business, is that they never had any capital, never performed any labor, and never transacted any business.

Gas kills thousands of Americans every year. Some of them die from inhaling it; some from lighting it; but most from stepping on it. *** why worry and "rr.,u*;": the cost of living. rt's just what it's always been-all you've got. ***

The motto of the founding Fathers was: "Give ne liberty or give me death !" The motto of the present generation is just "GIMME!"

History abundantly demonstrates that few men have ever lived who could be clothed with great authority and not become tyrants. It is lack of individual authority that makesDemocracy

"My son has reached the awkward stage," said a friend to me one day. "\ll/hat do you mean?" I wanted td know. "Too old to cry, and too young to cuss," said my friend.

Never criticize a restleJs iarl The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease; men who are unwilL ing to follow in the footsteps of plodders. I sometimes think that the universe in which we live must owe its existence to God's restlessness. Had He been content with things as they were, He would never have gone to the trouble to create it. ***

"The Federal minimum wage law is a damnable plan for benefiting the strong at the expense of the weak." Thus spoke Dr. Gus Dyer, Professor of Economics at Vanderbilt University, and one of the Old South's most eloquent orators. True, Brother ! When men are plentiful, and employers must pay a minimum wage, who will hire a weak man? Or a mediocre man? Or any but the best man available? And what becomes of the others? Think it over. *t<*

How wonderfully hospitable wene the old monks in the early days of California ! They built their wonderful missions to help the occasional traveler of those days. They were founded in the same general fashion as the old monasteries of Europe. They afforded lodging for wayfarers, resting places for travelers, were a radiatory center of civilization and education. In California they were set about forty miles-a day's journey-apart.***

If you could gather in a pot all the mroney that labor strife has cost the lumber and building industry of thet Pacific Coast, you could make a fair start on paying off the national debt. Employers and employes alike pay for it through the nose. And there is no end in sight.

Coast Hardwood Distributorg to Meet in San Francisco Sept. 14-18

The annual convention of the Pacific Coast Wholesale Hardwood Distributors Association will be held at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, on September 14, 15 and 16. An interesting program is being prepared, details of which will be announced in the near future. I

The officers of the Association are W. T. White, White Brothers, San Francisco, president; Norman Sawers, J. Fyfe Smith Company, Ltd., Vancouver, B. C., vice-president, and Don F. White, White Brothers, San Francisco, secretarytreasurer.

H. B. HEWES ON EUROPEAN TOUR

H. B. Hewes, well known lumberman of Jeanerette, La., and San Francisco, left New York on June 30 and met his son, Clarence B. Hewes in London, July 5. They will tour various European countries and will be away for several months.