Vagabond Editorials

(Continued from Page 6) day wisely explSins our divorce situation in this fashion: "A modern youngster acquires a rnate much as he does a new automobile. Attracted by first appearance, urged by a lust for immediate possession, and infuenced by the importunities of the salesman, he frequently winds up with a sport model, entirely unsuitable for family use.,' on the other hand, *";; ,lo, n".," changed so much from our very beginning. Several hundred years ago two Europeans sailed Westward seeking a new world. Columbus the Spaniard was a man of high ideals. He believed ttre world was round and went forth to prove it for the sake of mankind. He succeeded.

From the North ""** ,,J.rrlroran. He was a sort of old-timey gangster, and went Vlfest to see what he could grab. He, likewise, struck land. But he was possessed of none of the high ideals and purposes of Columbus. And what was the result? We named lwo great continents after Americus, and a hick town in Ohio after the idealist, Columbus.

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The newspapers remind us that all business has not gone to pot of late. Coca Cola, a nickel drink made in Atlanta, Georgia, had the biggest quarter year of its hietory, and distributed an additional dividend among its stockholders. t+a a'lri

Which splendidly backs up a story that has been going the rounds. A ,man called on Williarn Wrigley, the gutn king, and tried to interest him in a business investment. Wrigley ia teported to have answered: "Your propositiolr sorurds good, but I am not interested in financing the salc of any article that the public pays more than a nickel for."

Depressions pass by the popular nickel article, and leane it unecathed, while destroying its more expensive competi- tor. The present depression has done no harm to nickel thlngs to eat and drink and smoke. Perhaps we'd better start rnaking and selling lumber in nickel units. *t*

The lumber,rnen of.the Chicago territory have just had a run-in with their leading newspaper, the Chicago Tribune. A famsus cartoonist drew a two-phase cartoon which the Tribune published. Number One showed the steel men all cast-down by loss o{ business through the depression. Number Two showed them on their toes and shouting with enthusiasm. The enthusiasm was due to a plan created by their research department to manufacture houses out of steel.

The Chicago lumber fraternity raised merry Hades with the Tribune. The Tribune answered editorially. The defensc of the cartoon was more of an excuse than a reason. But in conclusion.the Tribune ofrered the lumber industry some very sage advice. ft suggested that the lumber industry would be far wiser if, instead of trying to hold the public to following the same old rouGs and ruts, it got busy like the steel industry and developed new uses for wood. And to that we say Amen, with a large A-M-E-N. r|r|* atf tf*

When this depression ende, the decisive test of the lumber industry is going to come. In the swing upward that follows the low spell will come the opportunlty of the industry to save itself, When it again has funds to do things with, it must incorporate those funds into a carnpalgn to develop n€w uses for lumber, and new ideas for using wood, and for manufacturing and re-manufacturing wood. And on the quality and quantity and ultimate success of that campaign will hinge the entire future of the lumber, in dustry.

Not to tell the public the valuc of boards I Not at alt t There would be nothing now, or appealing, or constructiVc about that. \Mhat we need is more and more and etill morc idcas as new an'd as novcl, and as appealing to the public mind and pocket as ply-wood (the greatest progressivc idea the softwood industry has evolved); the variors pressed woods made from ground wood fiber; and the ready-cut-for-use products of the hardwood mills during the past few years.

Those mentioned, and a ferr other lesser developments, are almost the sum total of lu,rnber advancement in, a gcneration. And all of t-hem were individually discovered, sponsored, or produced. Steel develops new ideas for all the steel industry, ccfirent for the entire cement. industry, and they are of continual occurrence. The other great industries do likewise. Electrical, automotive, and aero industries are fair samples. Something new evcry day. Some radical change always in the offing.

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We've got a splendid supply of commercial trees left in this country. But when this depression is over we've got to get into the thick of the fight and cooperatively and coordinately lift this industry by the injection of CHANGE and VARIETY-or ure may as well let the trees stand for shade and birds' nests. It is to be sincerely hoped that the period of reaction that follows the depression does not again-as it has in the past-lull this industry into a feeling of false security. For false it wiU certainly be.