The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1916-12-08
IDAHO LUMBER
COMPANY SELLS
Mammoth Concern Sells to Bigger
One

The Idaho Lumber company has
sold out all their yards in Idaho to
The Boise-Payette Lumber company,
and the transfer will be made the first
of next month.
The Idaho Lumber company began
business at Blackfoot on St. Patrick s
day, 1904, at Blackfoot by the pur-
chase by L. r. Aldrich of the lumber
business then being handled by A, D.
Quantrell. Since that time the busi-
ness has grown to Is yards in this
part of the state, and Mr.. Aldrich re-
tires from business here to take up
something elsewhere not yet explain
ed.
Mr.. Aldrich has put in IL busy
years building up the business which
he has just sold, and while he and
his partners have done we'll flnanci-
ally, they have also witnessed the
building up of many towns and settle
ments housed with their materials.
In speaking of his work. Mr.. Aldrich
says the lumber business is under
going rapid changes in many respects,
and the study of it is very fascinating
to him. He has done much to help
standardize the lumber business, and
we recall that about 10 years ago he
was active in getting all the mills
in the northwest to adopt standard
instruments for making the tongue
and groove in flooring and wainscot-
ing, so that If man happened to lay
a floor or build waincoting from ma
terial that came from different mills
he would not have to match the diff
ferent makes of boards with pocket
knife or have ridge In the work.
Nobody ever has that trouble now,
for the reason that all the different
kinds of cutting machines for that
service were junked and the standard
ones put into use. What has been
done for tongue and grooves has been
done in hundred other respects to
improve the product and the service
in the lumber industry and make
building easier and more effective.
Efficiency tests are being applied to
all the details of numbering, milling,
selling and building, and Mr.. Aldrich
has been active in standardizing all
the product.
Inc puTCudSOIS dIO q Ul5 Ia III VIM
already own 900 yards in the north
west, and are still buying, intending
to become the owners of 1000 yards.
They operate something like 100 lum-
Der mills, and convey the products
from the stump to the customers
under one ownership. One OF the
changes that is coming in the lumber
business Is that lumber will be sold
more and more in the finished prod
uct than in the past. That is, the
customer will buy the materials for
a finished house rather than buying
all the individual sticks and boards
that go into the making of a house.
Individual pieces of lumber will be
sold at certain prices each at the re-
tail establishments just as cans Of
sardines and cartons of crackers are
sold at certain standard prices fixed
by firms or packers that make 1t into
an individual package. The school
boy of tomorrow may learn how to
figure board feet but when he goes
to the dealer to buy boards and scant-
ling they will quote him two-by fours
IL feet at so many cents each, and
one-by-tens twelve at so many cents.
The salesman will carry the prices
in his head and will transact business
SO fast that the buyer will laugh at
the stupidity of what he was taught
in school-unless the schools get into
the efficiency business too.