Draperies of Wood Fibre Seen Boon to Housewives

It will be pleasant news to the ears of most housewives to learn that they are going to be able to have fresh, new, colorful draperies at their windows as often as they want and at a cost much less than cleaning the old ones.

Laboratory researchers have just announced the achievement of this goal by learning how to make the draperies of pressed wood-fibres, but they are already in production and it won't be long until you'll find them advertised bv the retail stores.

They'll be availabl" -ir, . wide range of colors-,- includin!' mountain green, buttercup yellow, woodford wine, ipple red, na[ural wheat, and winter white, and they'll include a wide variety of equally colorful desigirs. Moreover, it is claimed the colors will be waterfast and sun-proof

In addition to their good looks, they'll make a strong appeal on the basis ofeconomy. This, the researchers riy,*"r achieved by obtairiing their basic woodfibre material from ihe abundant resources of the American forests. Inasmuch as the commercial forests already are being put upon a perpetual basis by their owneis for the growing and harvesting of such crops as lumber, the laboratory men figured the foresters might just as well "have the trees grow draperies, too."

At the same time, the researchers point out that the wood-fibre drapes will help to conserve the wartime use of wool, iilk and raybn, all of which are in demand for Army and Navy uses

Of course, they cannot be laundered or dry cteaned but upon the basis of replacement costs, the makers of them point out that this is no handicap. For occasional dusting, however, they may be wiped clean by the use of a damp cloth.

Any wrinkles in them disappear as soon as they are hung, and they can be cut and fit easily to meet an unlimited variety of window shapes and lengths. They're being manufactured in Vermont and already are on display in numerous stores along the Eastern seaboard. Increasing production, it is said, will make them available nationally soon.

Something new in home decorating are these-wo-od-fibre draperies rhown abovd. Made from pressed hbrer obtained from the everreplenishins resources of the forests, they ate designed to conservo tbi war-tirne uge of wool, rilk and rayon. Already popular in many homes in the New York area. they'll soon be in sufficient production for national distribution, and will cost less than thc expense of dry' cleaning the old ones.

Enlists In Navy

Jimmy Gauthier, son of Gene Gauthier lumberman, has enlisted in the Navy. duty on August 14.

Carlsbad, Calif

He reported

Purchase Yard At Flagstaff

Wayne and Russell Mullin, Mullin Lumber Company, Los Angeles and Burbank, have purchased the Hayward Lumber & Investment Co. yard at Flagstaff, Ariz. The name has been changed to the Flagstaff Lumber Company, and Bill Pruitt will continue as manager. They also operate yards in Arizona at Cottonwood, Jerome and Prescott.

Hits The Spot

Mr. Jack Dionne, Publisher The California Lumber Merchant Los Angeles, California

Dear Jack:

Your page in the August 15th LUMBER MERCHANT, "The Sky's The Limit," certainly hits the spot.

I think it is one of the best pieces of advice that I have seen for retail lumber or so far as that is concerned, for a great many other small business concerns. All around us we find small shops as well as some large ones hollering their heads ofi because they cannot get steel and other critical rnaterials to continue along in the same old channel that they have followed for the last twenty to forty years, instead of adapting their business to something that they can get and get without priorities and in many cases still help to "keep them rolling and flying."

It is editorials like this that get people thinking and I was very much interested in this issue of your paper, also the write-up with regard to our old friends, Wilsons of Central Lumber Company at Stockton.

I notice now that you have passed the twentieth milestone with your California LUMBER MERCHANT. Jack, it seems only a few years ago when the first issue came out. I well remember it and when I begin to think back how short the time twenty years has passed in, I think that you and I must both be getting old.

With best regards, I remain

Yours very truly,

C. .W. Buckner, Sales Engineer, Harbor Plywood Corporation, Hoquiam, Washington.

Jim Farley In Washington

San Francisco, August 25.-Word has been received from Jim Farley of The Pacific Lumber Co., who is in Washington as representative of the Redwood mills, that proofreading of the Redwood Ceiling Price List will be completed this week, and it is expected the printed list will be in the hands of the trade by the middle of September.

Red Cedar Shingle Chart Available

A chart giving the covering capacities and nail requirements for red cedar shingles has been published and .is available without charge to interested lumbermen and builders, according to an announcement by the Red Cedar Shingle Bureau.

The new finger-tip guide is proving to be of much help to estimators and contractors in determining the amount of shingles and shingle nails needed to cover roof areas. The figures, which are broken down into both the four-bundle square and single bundle classifications for 16-inch, l8-inch and 24inch shingles, set forth the number of square feet covered by various shingle exposures as well as the nail sizes and quantities required. The chart also includes shingle and nail requirements for over-roofing and for double-coursed sidewall work.

Free copies are available to all interested lumbermen and builders who write the Red Cedar Shingle Bureau, 5508 White Bldg., Seattle, Wash.

New Plastic Plane

San Diego, Aug. 21.-On contract for the United States Army, the Ryan Aeronautical Co. has completed a new plastic-bonded plywood military primary trainer, believed to be the nearest approach toward almost complete elimination of strategic materials in military aircraft.

Aluminum alloys and all strategic materials have been eliminated in the new ST-4, excepting the engine cowling, which represents less than 2 per cent of the total weight.

No forgings, castings, extrusions, or critical steels are used.

..DOC'' SNEAD IN THE AIR CORPS

J. C. "Doc" Snead, who has been handling the work in the Pine department of Wendling-Nathan Co., San Francisco, since W. H. "Bill" Nigh left three months ago to join the Army Air Corps, has also been accepted for the Army Air Corps with the rank of First Lieutenant. He left August 18 for Miami, Florida, to train for the position of administrative officer in the Air Corps.

D. Normen Cords is now in charge of the work of the Pine department.