California Yards Clamor For Lumber Lifts

The harder it is to get men, the louder becomes the clamor for power equipment that will take the place oi human labor.

So it is that at the present time the lumber yards, retail and wholesale, of California are clamoring for permits to purchase lift trucks for handling lumber in units rather than in boards. During the past two years many a California yard has entirely changed the character of its lumber handling by the installation of power trucks that handle, lift, and carry heavy units of lumber at a rate not equalled by a small army of men. To do this they have to pave their runways and shed floors, and entirely remodel their sheds. These splendid machines unload lumber from gondola cars, pile it in yard or shed, carry it about for unloading or milling, and finally prepare it for loading out of the yard.

With such yards there is of course a great demand for

Smcll Repcirs Should Be Mcde Now

In a bulletin issued recently by the NHA, emphasis was placed on'the importairce of making essential property repairs in order that the nation's supply of existing homes be maintained in a sound and habitable condition. No authorization is needed for such work that does not exceed $200 nor involve the purchase of critical materials.

Supporting this government policy, Henry W. Collins, The Colotex Corporation vice-president in charge of merchandising, declared in a recent interview: lumber to come into their yards on open cars, so that these power trucks may be employed in the unloading. Man.y yards make definite arrangements with mills shipping them lumber to put it on gondola cars in lift units, so that one of these machines can unload in a few minutes a shipment of lumber that would take a crew of men many hours.

"Little business is big business today in the housing industry. Hundreds of thousands of small repair and maintenance jobs should be done right now on the home front from coast to coast if more serious and more expensive jobs are to be avoided in the fall and winter months ahead.

"Due to the u'artime emergency, manufacturers cannot always supply even non-critical materials as rapidly as they are ordered or needed", Mr. Collins said, "so each order gotten through to the dealer and applied to strengthening the home front is of vital importance. Consequently, home owners should have their repairs made right now, and not take a chance on waiting until later when certain needed products may not be easily available."

With this change has come the banishment of the type of lumber sheds that used to be standard in every California lumber yards, namely, the end-stacking sheds. Where the power lift truck comes in, the end-stacking shed g'oes out, and the high-roofed open shed that takes its place will store and shelter several times as much lumber in lift units as it formerly did in end stacks.

Time, indeed, marches on. And changes in lumber handling marches with it.

Mitls Cut Extrcr 250,000 Feet Sept, 9 lor Victory

An extra 250,000 feet of lumber was cut at the Fresh Pond and Lake Valley mills of the Placerville Lumber Company, Placerville, Calif., on Labor Day. According to Harvey West, manager of the company, the cut at the Fresh Pond mill on August 27 was 235,690 feet, at the rate of 13,000 feet an hour, a record. George Williamson and Harold Downs were the sawyers. The company's cut this season up to September 1 was 25,000,000 feet, a 38 per cent increase over the same period last year. Prospects are, he said, that the total cut this year will be about 4O,00@,000 feet.

W. W. Forrest Promoted

W. W. Forrest, formerly lumber buyer at Richmond Yard No. 2 ol the Permanent Metpls Corporation, has been made chief buyer in charge of lumber purchases for the four Kaiser Company Richmond Shipyards, with offices in the Central Purchasing Office at 14th and Clay Streets, Oakland.

Mr. Forrest was until laly, 1942 a partner in the TildenForrest Lumber Company at Richmond, Calif.