Obituaries

Edwin Lawson Bruce, Chairman of the Board of E. L. Bruce Company of N{emphis, Tenn., died on August 17 at his home in Los Angeles, Calif., after a brief illness. He was 89.

Mr. Bruce was one of the pioneer lumbermen. As a child he was taken by his parents from his birthPlace, Niles, Mich., to Lawrence, Kansas, in the year 1857. There his father, Charles Bruce, operated a sawmill and retail yard, and later took his son into business with him.

In 1884, after the death of his father, Mr. Bruce moved to Kansas City and built and operated a barbed wire plant until he was bought out by large interests. He then opened up a retail yard but his business was wiped out by the flood of 1903, and again in 1905. He re-established himself, however, as a lumber retailer, expanding gradually to three yards in Kansas City and 12 line yards in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Mr. Bruce's first hardwood flooring plant in Kansas City was destrgyed by fire in 1909. He then abandoned retailing and built a flooring plant at Little Rock, Ark. This was the beginning of the E. L. Bruce Company, presently the world's largest manu{acturer of hardwood flooring, with sawmills and plants at Memphis and Nashville, Tenn'; Little Rock, Ark.; Bruce and Laurel, Miss.; Cairo, Ill'; and Reed City, Mich.

The company's total employment is about 3,500, and annual shipments are between 15 and 20 million dollars in value.

Mr. Bruce is survived by his wife, Mrs. Eva Glenn Bruce, Los Angeles, and three sons, C. Arthur Bruce, Robert G. Bruce, and Edwin L. Bruce, Jr', who are officers of the E. L. Bruce Company at Memphis, Tenn.

Funeral services 'ivere held in the Little Church of the Flowers,'and interment was in Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Glendale, Calif.

Amendment 5 to MPR-381

Amendment 5 to MPR-381, effective August 17, has to do mainly with freight charges. The change will increase the prices of some retailers but decrease the prices of others.

Retailers who increase their prices are required to submit to the Lumber Branch of the OPA by September l, 7944, a report of shipments of screen goods and combination doors received from July l, 1943, to June 30, 1944, including the names of the regular suppliers, the origin and destination of inbound shipments, the freight rate per 100 points, and related information.

Edmund Lockett

Edmund Lockett, pioneer Pasadena business man, passed away at his home following a heart attack on Sunday, August 6. He was 90 years of age.

Born in Farmville, Va., Mr .Lockett was graduated from Hampden-sydney College of Virginia in 1872, and came to Pasadena in 1888. He managed the L. W. Blinn Lumber Company's yard at Pasadena for many years. In 1907, he founded the firm which became E. Lockett & Son, dealers in building materials. IIe was president of' the company at the time of his death, ,but had retired from active business several years ago. He served on the Pasadena Board of City Directors for three years, resigning in 1901.

He is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Neal C. Hotaling, Mrs. Carrie L. McDowell, and Mrs. Herbert Sykes, and two sons, E. A. Lockett, vice-president of E. Lockett & Son' and Ar,chie Price, Patten-Blinn Lumber Company, Los Angeles.

Funeral services were held in Pasadena, Wednesday afternoon, August 8.

Pcrul A. Wcrrd

Paul A. Ward, 48, vice president and general manager of Wood Conversion Company, passed away suddenly in St. Paul, August 14, after an illness of two weeks.

He joined Wood Conversi6n Company in 1923, and in 1930 became assistant sales manager, and a yeat ago was made vice president and general manager. He was president of the Insulation Institute in 1942. He was an aviator in World War I and a member of the American Legion. Ife is survived by his wife, his mother and a sister.

Robert N. Cords

Robert Normen (Bobby) Cords, five-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. D. Normen Cords, passed away in Oakland on August 10.

Mr. Cords is manager of the Pine department of Wendling-Nathan Company, San Francisco.

Private services were held in Oakland on Saturday, August 12.

Herbert E Milliken

Herbert E. Milliken of the firm of Viney-Milliken Lumber Company, died at his home in Covina, Calif., on August 24, after an illness of four months.

With his business associate, William A. Viney, he came to Covina from Nevada, where they had been engaged in the lumber business. They established the Covina Lumber Company in the fall of 1910, and later opened the Baldwin Park Lumber Company, and established Viney-Milliken yards at several other points in Southern California.

Mr. Millikan was a charter member of the Covina Rotary Club,. and at the time of his passing was secretary of that organization. lfe was also active in civic and social life in the community, and was a director of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association.

Appointed California Division Manager

Fred B. Smales, who has,been manager of the San Francisco branch of the United States Plywood Corporation for the past six years, has been transferred to Los Angeles where he will be manager of the California Division, effective September 1, succeeding N. Jules Sorensen. He is thoroughly acquainted with the Southern California territory, having been at the Los Angeles office for six years before going to San Francisco. The California Division territory includes California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

Mr. Smales is one of the best known young executives in the plywood industry on the Pacifi,c Coast. A graceful tribute to his popularity was the testimonial dinner given to him at the Bohemian Club, San Francisco, on August 24 by the hardwood dealers and plywood jobbers of the San Fran,cisco Bay area.

He was secretary of the Pacific Coast Wholesale Hardwood Distributors Association in 1942.

Mr. Sorensen is resigning to go into semi retirement to look after his personal interests. He has been directly and indirectly associated with Lawrence Ottinger, president of the United States Plywood Corporation since the organi- zation was founded in 1914. He opened the California branches in 1930, and has been a prominent figure in the plywood business since that time.

\Testern Pine Semi-Annual Meeting

The semi-annual meeting of the Western pine Association was held at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, August 17. A. J. Voye, Big Lakes Box Co., Klamath Falls, Ore., president of the Association, presided, and made his report. Secretary-manager S. V. Fullaway, Jr. gave a brief report of the period since the annual meeting.

Assistant manager W. E. Griffee spoke on the industry outlook.

The grading committee, W. G. Kahman, chairman, and the staff presented a review of the Western pine grading activity.

The various committees met the previous day ancl their reports and recommendations were given at the afternoon session. The committee reports were given by the chair_ men as follows: Executive, A. J. Voye; Forest Conserva_ tion, J. F. Daggett; Promotion, A. J. Glassow; Research, W. P. Marsh; Statistics, D. E. McDuffee; Traffic, R. R. Veldman.

Sells Two Ycrds

Two of the yards of Hayward Lumber & Investment Co. that were 'closed for the duration have been sold by Art Twohy of the Twohy Lumber Co., Los Angeles, who makes a specialty of selling lumber yards, to J. W. Copeland of the J. W. Copeland Yards, fnc., portland. Mr. Cofeland intends to re-open the yards, which are located at Santa Ana, Calif., and Banning, Calif.

Art says that his success as a lumber yard broker is due largely to the use as an advertising medium of The California Lumber Merchant.