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j^ The Lumberman s Round Table 



Time to Consider Office Helps 



Now that liolp of I'viTV kiinl i- ^.i •.carci', tlic liiirilwood man 

 who liaH a liiri;e office and a lot ni' rmitiiu' (ipi-ratiuMit to take caro 

 of sliould (^ivc some consideration tn the niethods and equipment 

 that are in votfiie. 



Most of his attention, doubtless, Iuih been paid to mill and yard 

 ninnagrment, and every time a cliiiiu-f bus been seen to cut out a 

 laborer by the use of an improved metliod it liiis been taken advau- 

 tape of. But what about wasted effort in the oflicef 



A well-known hanlwood nianiifaot\irer, who employed an export 

 accountant some time a);o for the purpose of examining his offlco 

 systems, reported that dozens of steps had been saved by the use 

 of proper methods of bookkeeping, duplicating, typewriting records, 

 etc. By reason of the shortenin<; up of the routine, the ofBco was 

 recently able to loose several workers in the draft without being 

 "shot to pieces," as would have been the case under the old regime. 



The subject of modern office appliances is also an interesting one. 

 A great many hand operations arc probably being performed in 

 lumber offices which could be done more speedily and more accu- 

 rately as well by machines. The question is, why aren't these 

 machines put to workt 



The next time you have an opportunity have your office looked 

 into by a real accountant, who knows proper business methods and 

 efficient appliances. The chances are that his report will show you 

 the way to save time, labor and money. 



The Practical Sawmill Man 



There is one man who always has a job open, nnJ who never has 

 to worry about what he is going to do next. That is the practical 

 millman, who knows timber, who understands mill construction and 

 operation, and who knows how to lay out and run a yard, whether 

 in connection with a mill operation or for rchandling purposes. 



The man of this type frequently does not understand marketing 

 methods, and it isn't likely that one head could hold complete 

 information on both subjscts. He is so close to the mill that he is 

 out of touch with the consuming factory, and hence he often has 

 as partner a man whose principal business it is to sell the prodnct 

 and keep customers' accounts on the books. That sort of combina- 

 tion is usually very successful. 



The millman, however, is the more essential of the two. It is 

 possible to get along without the marketing assistance, especially 

 when conditions are as they are at present; but it is impossible to 

 run without the right kind of sawmill expert at the head of the 

 manufacturing operations. A lot of money has been lost in the hard- 

 wood business because of the lack of the practical knowledge of 

 how to organize, build and operate a sawmill, and- because of the 

 lack of one good man to handle that end of the business. 



A certain hardwood man from Kentucky recently went into a 

 southwestern state and established a mill. He has organized a com- 

 pany, and sold stock in it to other lumbermen — not merely to per- 

 sonal friends, but to people who know that the mill will succeed 

 because of the sound practical knowledge possessed by the man in 

 charge of it. That kind of management induces confidence, and 

 while it does not absolutely insure success, it eliminates a lot of 

 the hazards. 



The rising young lumberman can do no better than apprentice 

 himself to a practical millman of this type. 



Honesty in the Lumber Business 



The lumber trade has its troubles, of course. All businesses do. 

 Yet it is only fair to say that the number of failures of the kind 

 that make credit men pessimistic on the subject of human nature 

 is smaller in this business than a great many others that might be 

 named without any difficulty. But comparisons are odious, and so 

 none will be indulged in. 



In how many lines, for instance, would the following incident 

 happen? 



.\ lumberninn failed. He owed n good many people, and as tli- 

 (piickest way of cutting the knot that tied him commercially, h' 

 went into bankruptcy. Later he starteil afresh, doing business on 

 a more limited basis, but making some money. 



He is using most of that money to jmy the debts which he con 

 tracted in the old business, and from the obligation of which he 

 is now legally free. But he recognizes the moral obligation, and is 

 doing his best to meet it. He intends to continue on this line until 

 every cent of his old debts is paid, and then he will resume on the 

 scale that his natural ambition justifies. But not until then. 



This example is not so unusual as to be remarkable. Things like 

 that happen rather frequently in the hardwood business. If some 

 of the pestered credit mcu whoso lives are worn out in the various 

 mercantile lines in which failures and fires and receiverships and 

 bankruptcies are the order of the day could get a glimpse of the 

 clean and honest spirit which dominates the hardwood trade as a 

 whole they would be forced to revise some of their opinions, so as 

 to ])roviile at least for some special exceptions to the rule. 

 The Insurance Engineer 



The War Industries Board regards the matter of eliminating fin 

 losses so far as possible as im])ortant enough to justify the organi- 

 zation of a fire prevention committee. 



Fire insurance engineers are men whose work is not to repair 

 the damage caused by fires, but to assist in preventing them, by 

 indicating the hazards and the modes of correcting them. 



The engineer of this type is a comparatively new development 

 in fire insurance, and his worth is recognized by the assured as well 

 as by the carriers of insurance. 



The lumberman who can get the services of a qualified insurance 

 engineer in connection with fire prevention efforts around his plant 

 is fortunate, and should make the best possible use of this assist 

 ancc, by carrying out whatever recommendations may be made. 



Providing for Women Labor 



The increased number of women being used around veneer and 

 woodworking and lumber plants of various kinds brings forward 

 the proposition that labor regulations usually provide special facil- 

 ities for them, and that the employer must see that sanitary and 

 toilet provisions for female help are up to the standard provided in 

 the labor laws and in the factory regulations. 



This is not unreasonable, it should be noted, as it is necessary 

 that women workers be given the benefit of the facilities called for. 

 Their physical condition is such that they are more likely to succumb 

 to f atiguQ and disease than men, and therefore this should be taken 

 into account in making arrangements for their comfort and con- 

 venience. 



I'he matter of food provision is one of the most important that 

 experts on this subject insist on. Cold lunches are seldom palatable, 

 and usually contribute to the mid-afternoon let-down in labor 

 efficiency which has frequently been noticed. Lumber manufac- 

 turers are giving more attention to this subject, for the benefit of 

 help of both sexes, and it is certainly true that looking more closely 

 after the food consumed at the noon hour by employes will have a 

 bearing on the character and amount of work done in the afternoon. 



Advertising counts only when you really do it. Talk about ad- 

 vertising and speculation on the amount of returns that may be 

 obtained furnish some light on the subject, but it takes the actual 

 advertising to bring results. 



It is often found necessary to combine hardwood lumber and 

 veneer for shipping purposes and in many instances manufactur- 

 ing industries are finding it desirable to combine sawmilling and 

 veneer cutting to realize the highest value from their best logs. 



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