THE CALIFOR}-IIA LUMBERMERCHANT

JackDiorrne,publ*hn

W. T. BI.ACtr Advertising

How Lumber Looks

Seattle, Washington, November IO, 1944-The weekly average of West Coast lumber production in October (4 weeks), was 150,113,000 board feet, or 95 per cent of 194G 1943 average. Orders averaged 139,074,000 b.f.; shipments 150,446,000. Weekly averages for September were: Production, 149,736,m board f.eet (94.7 per cent of the 19'101943 average) ; orders, 154,156,000; shipments, 150,089,000.

Forty-three weeks lor L944 cumulative production 6,627,908 board feet; 43 weeks, 1943, 6,530,951,000; 43 weeks, 1942, 7,n9,159,000.

Orders for 43 weeks of. 1944 break down as follows: ratl, 5,4O2,420,W board feet; domestic cargo, 791,503,000; export, 168,5B0,00O ; local, 625,300,000.

The industry's unfllled order file stood at 982,510,000 board feet at the end of October; gross stocks at 477,952,0m.

The definite low spot in Central Procuring Agency buying, which featured the West Coast'lumber situation during September and up to the very end of October, has been ended by an unexpected upturn in military demand. CPA West Coast lurnber takngs for the two fall months were down to less than 80 million board feet per month, or only about 14 per cent of production. The industry ventured to think of reconversion and to plan for the return to normal trade. Then the new war demands swung into the picture, in the way of a top sergeant's sudden order "As you were ! Fall in !"

The West Coast lumber industrv believed it had finished its job on airplane lumber. Now it has to supply an urgent need for 7 million feet of Sitka spruce and Noble fir aircraft lumber for troop gliders. There has been surprise shift on Douglas fir lumber for military truck bodies. This supply assignment was apparently completed. Now from Detroit comes orders for several million feet more of Douglas fir truck body material. November 1 saw a round half-dozen "must" orders for cargo shipm'ents of lumber from West Coast ports, placed on extremely short notice. The Signal Corps has discovered a serious shortage of crossarms for essential extensions of telephone lines-and here again several million feet of a specialized grade of Douglas fir lumber is an almost immediate demand. Another program, one previously unheard of within the industry, projects a prodigious number of prefabricated warehouses which will be shipped knocked down for urgent if temporary needs.

The items cited simply emphasize the point that West Coast lumber has apparently passed through a low spot of government requirements and is again working under the tremendous pressures of the urgent wants of war' However, the lumber and construction controls that have been liberalized remain so. There has been some increase in retail yard stocks. All elements of the construction industry, including lumber, will be ready to resume private building when the orders for reconversion are given.

Meanwhile, the West Coast lumber industry faces some (Continued on Page 30)

Simpson Employee3 \(/in Army-N avy "E" Award

Employees of ths Simpson Logging Company and Reed Mill divisions of Simpson fndustries, Inc. were presented with two Army-Navy "E" production awards at a ceremony held recently at Shelton, Wash. The awards were in recognition of the excellent work of these men and women in the production of logs and lumber for the war effort.

C. H. Kreienbaum, executive vice president of the Simpson Logging Company, in his speech of acceptance said that the men who formed the company almost 50 years ago, Sol Simpson, A. H. Anderson and Mark Reed would have been proud to see their old friends and employees being so highly honored. He introduced three of the older members of the organization whose record of service with the company totaled 133 years, and in conclusion assured Colonel Fred G. Sherrill, of the Procurement Division, Office of the Chief of Engineers, Washington, D.C., that the members of the organization are eager to ,continue to do their duty.

Convclescing

George Young, vice president, Friend Co., Sacramento, is recuperating at home in the Sutter flospital, Sacramento, early

Bcck from Ecrstern Trip

Bill Stewart of Whiting-Mead last month from two weeks' trip

Burns Steamship Co. Receives \f.S.A. Merit Award

At the recent Victory Fleet Day luncheon held at the Hotel Biltmore, Los Angeles, 17 operating companies received the War Shipping Administration's Merit Citations.

Among those receiving the award was the Burns Steamship Co., Los Angeles, the only dry cargo general agent to be honored. Val Larsen, vice president and general manager of the company accepted the award.

The affair commemorated the launching of the first Liberty ship, September 27,1941. Burns Steamship operates 11 Liberty ships. The total of Liberty ships in operation is now 3600 plus. The War Service Certificate bears a message of "recognition of meritorious service to the United States of America in time of war."

S. F. Bcy Arec Lumber Decrlers Meet With Peter Stone

& Terry Lumber from an operation in November.

Co., San Diego, returned to Eastern cities.

, Peter A. Stone of the Office of Price Administration, Washington, D.C., met with a group of lumber dealers at the offices of Wood Products Co., Oakland, November 15. D. N. Edwards of Wood Products Co., presided.

The dealers listened with close attention to a brief resume by Mr. Stone on various subjects of interest, after which a list of 17 questions was presented. Mr. Stone discussed the questions and either gave answers or suggested remedies.

The Outlook for Lumber Supplies After the \(/ar

Seattle, Washington, November 15-"The present rate of national lumber production is about 33 billion board feet," Wilson Compton, secretary and manager of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, states, in a new publication, "The Outlook for Lumber Supplies After the War." The annual rate of consumption is close to 34 billion feet, he says, pointing out that over a five-year period consumption of lumber has kept ahead of production.

Within this period national lumber inventories "have declined from an initial national aggregate of about 18 billion Jeet to about 7 billion. Unfilled orders have increased to a point nearly equal in total national volume to the total lumber stocks on hand," Dr. Compton reports, in commenting on the reasons for the drastic restrictions which the government has imposed on lumber purchase and sale.

The national lumber spokesman believes that annual lumber production will be no more than 30 billion feet per year after the war. Sawmills will then stop "overtime" operations, he predicts, many forest owners will reduce cutting to match growth on their holdings, quality rather than quantity will be the average lumber production goal, and the tremendous war pressure for lumber unlimited will be taken from the industry.

With no problem of plant reconversion, the industry will be able to meet all lumber demand except that for seasoned items in the first months of peace, Dr. Compton declares. He cites federal figures on the vast untapped supplies of sawtimber for postwar lumber needs, and concludes, "The surest way to keep the forest growing timber is to keep fires out of the woods and to keep buying and using forest products."

Scn Diego Lumbermen's Dinner Dcnce

The San Diego Lumbermen's dinner dance which was held in the Gold Room of the U. S. Grant lfotel, San Diego, Saturday evening, November 18, was an enjoyablq party and was attended by fifty couples. There were several excellent entertainment numbers during the dinner hour. The party was sponsored by the San Diego Hoo-lloo Club.

Govetnment Sets Aside Hardwoods For Military Use

The War Production Board issued on November 18, Bulletin No. 641, amending Order L-335, Direction 6, as follows:

(a) Who this direction applies to. This direction applies to every sawmill which currently produces 5,00O or more board feet of hardwood lumber per average day of eight hours, etc.

(b) Prohibition against sale, delivery or transfer of certain grades and species of hardwood lumber except on orders of CPA. After the 23rd of November, 1944, evety sawmill included in paragraph (a) above is prohibited from selling, transferring, or delivering to consumers or distributors any 5/4 or 6/4 No. I common and better white oak, including WHND, red oak, birch, beech, pecan, rock elm, hard maple and tough white ash except on orders covered by Memorandum of Purchase issued by the CPA, Procurement Division of the United States Corps of Engineers on ED f.orm 526, commonly known as "Purchase Allocation," or as permitted a result of an appeal filed with the War Production Board, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (y) (9) of Order L-335. The provisions of this direction are not to be construed as prohibiting sales, transfer or deliveries of hlmber between sawmills nor does it restrict the transfer of white ash to ash specialists under Direction II of L-335. I{owever, white ash specialists in selling, transferring, or delivering white ash to consumers and distributors must comply with the above provisions of this direction.

Wooden Boxes

OPA issues a revision of the regulation covering industrial wooden boxes, used for the packaging of products other than perishable fruits and vegetables. (Second Revised MPR 195,) effective Nov. 25.

Lumber Prices

An increase of. 2 per maple, birch and beech Increase does not apply Appalachian hardwood 432,\ efrective Nov. 23.

cent in the maximum prices of flooring was announced by CPA. in Southern, South Central and regions. (Amendment 5, MPR

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ECONOT Y

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...ITS WAR EFFORT5 TODAT ARE TOHEtPMAKE POSSIBTE

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DOTBEER & CARSON LUMBER CO.

Since1863

I've read L three thirty-five, Oh Lord, With all its clear writ pages, The law of the War Production Board And its bureaucratic sages; But the writings of that august board, With legal minds so fresh, Ilave made me fear that I, oh Lord, Am weak in mind and fl,esh. In simple language, oh, so clear, They amend Amendment C, While I, poor soul, have yet, I fear, To master Amendment B. So, let me ask you this, Oh Lord, It's just a simple feeler, How does a fellow buy a board, From a retail lumber dealer?

1t:* the "Re-Saw")

Ifowever, it has been officially announced by those in high aqthority, that not only the much cussed and discussed "L-335," but most other restrictions on lurnber distribution will be taken off as soon as the European phase of the war ends. In the meantime students of government regulations will be interested if not amused to learn that OPA (see Federal Register, Nov. 1, page 13,004) has placed a ceiling of two dollars a ton on all garbage and swill sold on the island of Kauai. in Hawaii. *** r was riding a train "r"rl .J,nl Mexican border the other day, and at one of the stops a man got back on the train with a whole carton of popular American brand of cigarettes under his arm, and proceeded to offer smokes to those about him, before he stuck the carton in his suitcase. Being unaccustomed to the sight of such a princely fortune, one of us asked him where he got them, and how. He said he bought them for a fancy price on the Mexican side of the river. That he asked the dealer how he got Amrerican cigarettes that Americans can't get, and the dealer said they were sent Lend-Lease to England, and resold by England to Mexico, and now the Americans who get across the river and are willing to pay a fancy price can get them in cartons.

Some of my well-informed friends seem skeptical about prospective regulation removals after the war. fn fact, one of the best inforrned men I know offered the other day to make me a little bet that not only will ceilings not be taken off, but that in addition we will have a FLOOR under prices in the reconstruction days that follow the war. Having made a number of sucker bets during the last year, I failed to take him up on his offer. f'm sort of cured of being over-optimistic.

T.t

I'm a great admirer of our Seabees. Don't think anything done in this war was wiser than the creation of this unit of the Navy. So I was tickled pink, as the saying goes, at what a youthful member of our Navy, just back from two years in the Western Pacific, told me the other day. Among other things I asked him how he liked the Seabees? "They're swell," he said. "They can do anything, those boys can. Why, anywhere we struck an island where they could get hold of some corn, or cocoanuts, or other things too, those Seabees would rig up a coil and run a batch of mash, and make some fr,esh whiskey in no time at all. And in places where liquor was not be had, or at best at prices no gob could pay, those Seabees sure were wonderful." Which goes to show that the viewpoint of ttr,e young and artless is sometimes a thing to be marveled at.

{<rF*

It has become worn and trite to remark that the wonders that this war is producing, shame the imagination of a few years back. Not many weeks ago a man was killed fying an experimental plane, rocket-propelled, so well informed men told me at the time. They said they did not think anything happened to the plane; simply the body of the man failed to withstand the pressure he was under. That this man had previously fown this plane from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and back to Los Angeles, a total of nearly 800 miles, in 58 minutes, was told me by a very sound man who seemed certain of his facts. The next time out he crashed. Do you wonder? How much speed a human body can stand, is sornething we are still trying to discover by experimentation. ,< *

The above I can only relate, but I believe it, because of the men I heard it from. But THIS f saw. 'I was driving recently near a plane testing territory, and suddenly a plane few over my head at such a rate that I stopped the car quickly and jumped out to look. And I saw a plane flying in a great circle, not over fifteen hundred feet from the ground, I thought, and at such a rate of speed that I had to keep turning on my heels like an axis, to watch itgo.f have been watching fast planes on frequent occasions since the war started; but I will swear that this plane I saw would make the next fastest plane I have seen travel, look like a heavy truck traveling on the ground. Rocket propelled, someone told me, when f related what I had (Continued on page 10.1

(Continued from Page 9) seen. Guess it must have been. I would never have believed itifI had not

It reminded me of the colored brother's description of the first plane he saw fly. He said it took two men to watch it, one to say, t'Here she comes," and the other to say, "There she goes." The plane I saw flying illustrated that remark exactly. * * +

For nearly thr'ee years lumbermen in this country have been wondering what happened to the sawmills in the Philippine Islands which, of course, fell into the hands of the Japs. Like everything else, a blanket of silence descended over the Philippine lumber industry. The lumber folks interested have been hoping that the Japs may have preserved the mills and operated them, instead of destroying them. Through the grapevine route the story has recently reached this country that the Japs did not destroy the mills, but have kept them in good working order, and are operating them and shipping the lumber to the shipbuilding industries in Japan. Now, if they will fail to damage the mills when driven from the Islands, one of the finest hardwood industries in the world will be ready to resum,e operations shortly after we win the Islands back. ***

When you look back to World War I and the time we took in those days to build and commission ships, /ou realize what miracles are being performed today. The Western Hardwood Lumber Company, of Los Angeles, which has been for three years fabricating the interiors of many scores of ships built for the Government at Los Angeles Harbor, is now doing that same work for a great fleet of high speed armored transport ships for the U. S. Navy. Frank Connolly, president of Western, reports that one of these ships they equipped, built by Calship, was turned over to the Navy one day, and just three weeks later she was under fire in the Philippines, while engaged in landing soldiers and removing casualties. Think of that! *:t*

Wonderful things developed in this war will come to the lumber industry when the war ends. I don't consider that I am even sticking my neck out when I predict that within two years from the time fighting ceases, the lumber industry everywhere will be utilizing everything in a tree,' from the ground to the tipof the trunk, including all branches. In Oregon today a marvelous plant operating with Government money is engaged in grinding all the leavings of the loggers into a pulp, and experimenting with innumerable products from such pulp. The wildest predictions are rampant concerning the things that can be done with these wood grindings. Plastic will be the main thing. They will be manipulated and mechanized and treated and prepared for a thousand useful purposes. So it is safe to predict that in all our woods operations, regardless of where located or what species of wood are used, we will soon be doing to trees what our modern packing houses do toa critter; use everything but the squeal. Don't doubt it, lumber friends. Get ready for it. The day of making only boards and planks from fallen trees belongs in the back ages with the Dodo Bird and the mustache cup. Miracles are coming. Help them along. ***

Talking about wooden miracles, wait until you see what is going to be done with plywood-and soon. Wise men are carefully planning and working today to see what all can be done with that wonderful material, and what they already have proven would startle you. Besides the flat plywood sheets of the past, you will see it treated, impregnated, bent, moulded, fabricated, made into a thousand di,fferent forms never even dreamed of .until now. A lot of this stuff is already out of the laboratory, and ready for postwar use. Watch plywood for miracles!

Penbe*hy Lumber Co. Moves

The Penberthy Lumber Company, wholesale hardwood dealers, who have been specializing for the past several years in aircraft lumber, have moved to a new location at 5800 Boyle Avenue, Los Angeles 11.

The telephone number, Klmball 5111, is unchanged.

The new site is five acres in extent. This company has been operating four other yards in Los Angeles in addition to tlreir former headquarters yard at 2O55 East 51st Street.

New Ycrrd in Ccrlimescr

Hale & Greenslade have opened a new lumber and building material yard in Calimesa, Calif.

Both principals were formerly with Holsinger T,umber & Hardware Co., Yucaipa, Calif.