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HARDWOOD RECORD 



care of in good shape, since the inspector could go ahead measuring 

 and tallying without getting a drop of rain on him, unless it were 

 a particularly hard storm. In ordinary rainy weather the men 

 would probably continue working, especially if they were paid a 

 small bonus. 



Here again is the matter of protection from the sun, which in the 

 South is a point worth special consideration. Inspectors on top of a 

 lumber pile, protected from the torrid rays of Old Sol by a tarpaulin, 

 would certainly not have to stop so often as at present to wipe the 

 perspiration from their brows or cuss the fate that landed them in 

 a lumber-yard. Better working conditions are being striven for by 

 those in many other lines; why not in the lumber business? 



A practical point in connection with this suggestion is that the 

 cost of boards used in covering piles is no inconsiderable item. A 

 few years ago cull lumber was so worthless *than nobody thought any- 

 thing of the use of the material for covering piles. But with prices 

 high and manufacturing costs also rising, it must hurt the prudent 

 man to see thousands of feet of lumber having a real, tangible, 

 market value being put to use in covering lumber piles. It takes 

 nearly 100 feet to cover a pile, and that means a cost of probably 

 $1 for material for everj' pile. 



This does not take into account the labor involved in placing the 

 covers, nor the damage to lumber which is left uncovered for a con- 

 siderable period, as happens in nearly every yard, where piles are 

 seldom properly covered until they are completed. Inasmuch as 

 board covers have to be frequently renewed, while a cover such as that 

 suggested would last for ten years or longer, a yard with any perma- 



nence of occupation would find this arrangement a good investment. 

 It sounds a little chimerical at present, because nobody does it; but 

 study of the proposition impresses one with the fact that there is an 

 opportunity here either in the direct application of the idea as out- 

 lined or in some adaptation of it. 



Another way to make use of rainy-day time is in the manufacture 

 of stacking sticks. One sawmill man who was running a new opera- 

 tion confessed that he used up half a day's time in the mill every 

 month making sticks for the piles; but after finding out that he could 

 not afford to do this he installed a circular saw in an unused part of 

 the mill and put yardmen to work manufacturing this material on 

 days when rain interfered with their regular occupations. In this 

 way he made sure of having plenty of sticks at hand all the time, 

 and also manufactured them at a much smaller cost than when the 

 work of the big mill was interrupted for hours in the petty job of 

 making them. 



In this connection it is worth noting that most successful yardmen 

 make a point of putting their stacking sticks under cover when not in 

 use, instead of allowing them to lie around alleys and be broken 

 and split, as they realize that the value of the material and the cost 

 of manufacture are now great enough to warrant attention to this 

 minor but yet important detail. 



Those who are considering methods of eliminating waste may profit- 

 ably turn from material to labor in this instance, at least; and 

 general study of losses because of rainy weather, and method of ob- 

 viating them, would doubtless result in additional suggestions of im- 

 mediate i>ractical value. G. D. U., Jr. 



.' C«i:;gtxmta;ty.A:i!H:>;x).^g^:\L<--tf>5vaiiatti;i;^j^^ 



The Lumberman s Utopia 



The end of the old time lumber manufacturer and wholesaler is in 

 sight. His days are numbered as sure as the flight of time. Yet 

 he is the cause of his own downfall. He has not kept step with the 

 times and with the newest methods. He has been content with 

 things as they were. 



Competition was never keener than it is today. If a manufac 

 turer has the stock and it is good lumber, but his correspondence 

 department and his representatives are not up to the modern ideas 

 of merchandising, the lumber will remain where it is. A great 

 many readers will take exception to this statement, but the writer 

 has been a close student of and has followed the practical lines of 

 modern merchandising, and having been on the "firing line" for 

 the past six years, he knows whereof he speaks. He has seen con- 

 cerns with but small capital start in the wholesaling game — men 

 who had the capacity — who have fairly shot ahead and acquired 

 mills and cuts of other mills and gone ahead of the older and estab- 

 lished concerns simply because the latter had not kept pace with 

 the times. 



Some of the older concerns do not realize the value of personality, 

 yet business in the future will be done more on this factor than on 

 any other. The second factor is service. Why is it that you, on 

 entering a store of any kind where you have been trading, select a 

 certain salesman to wait on you? Because that man has come to 

 know you and your requirements. He studies you (although in most 

 cases you do not realize it) and knows what will best please you. 

 He knows your tastes. You go to him because in your makeup 

 you have a slight touch of vanity (we all have) and because he 

 gives you service. We demand these two factors today, although 

 most of us do not realize it in that waj'. It is an unconscious 

 factor. 



In olden times, lumbermen put out anyone to sell their lumber 

 and because business was done iu that way, they sold the stock. 

 Some concerns still think the same way. It is a well-known fact 

 that the lumber business even today, with but few exceptions, is 

 the most poorly conducted of any large business. Lumber ranks 

 fourth in the business of this country and it ought to be a science. 



Can you think of any other business where the credit end is run 

 in the way it is in lumber? Anyone can buy lumber today — can 

 always get credit from some one. Lumbermen "guess" that this 

 man or that one can make good and offer him a line of credit. 

 True, they may get some of the agency reports but regardless of 

 that fact, the lumber is sold just the same. Or the reverse — lumber- 

 men refuse to sell some of the best concerns in the country just on 

 account of the reports. The whole trouble is lack of education. 



There are no himber schools at present, but the future will see 

 many. There is no systematic training of lumber salesmen. There 

 is no training of inspectors according to the rules by a competent 

 and recognized authority. There is no attempt to study the condi- 

 tions at a customer's plant in conjunction with an agency report as 

 well as the results of personal observation by a representative who 

 is capable of judging conditions. And why? Because all the lum- 

 bermen (or most of them) go by the " rule-of-thumb" methods and 

 are content with things as they are. Lumbermen look on advertis- 

 ing as a necessary evil and place their "standing-cards" in the 

 trade papers, and kick every time their bills come in, saj'ing that 

 they wish they didn't have to support this editor or that one. What 

 a power they miss in not making that space work for them and 

 bring them business! Then the waste at the sawmill. Little at- 

 tempt was made by the manufacturers to study this problem. It 

 had to be done for them. 



Take any other commodity, such as coal, steel or iron. Examine 

 their methods of distribution, of handling the manufacturing end, 

 of sales-methods and of organization. Every plant is trying to 

 "go one better" by elimination of waste, quicker handling, effi- 

 ciency in every department, scientific research by exiierts, .and is 

 striviug always to get the best men to better their organization. 

 Ever hear of anything like that in the lumber business? 



Probably one of the worst evils in the lunibor business is the 

 matter of inspection. There should only be one set of rules. How- 

 ever, the future will bring that to a head — it should have been done 

 long ago. It is just as bad to sell a particularly high grade of 

 lumber as it is to sell a particularly low grade. And do you know, 



