32 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



niture exposition to be held at the Second Regi- 

 ment Armory, from July 13 until August 1. It 

 will surprise many to know that in Philadelphia 

 alone there are eighty-nine factories devoted 

 exclusively to the manufacture of furniture, 

 beds and beddiug. 



James H. Cranwell, a wholesale hardwood lum- 

 ber dealer with offices in the United States 

 Fidelity and Guaranty building, was adjudged a 

 bankrupt in the rnited States district court on 

 June 2(5 upon his own application, tilcl througn 

 Robert E. l^rance, attorney. Pending the selec- 

 tion of a trustee in bankruptcy, Charles Lee 

 Merriken and Charles E. Cockey were appointed 

 receivers, their bond being fixed at $40,000 

 each. According to the schedule filed with Mr. 

 Cranwcll's petition, he has liabilities of $324,814 

 and assets of ,fli;3,022. Banks in this city and 

 out of town are his principal creditors, largely ( 



promissory 



Mr. Cranwell blames the dis- 



i effect of the times upon 



the lumber trade, 

 of transac- 



heavy losses in the ordinary 

 tions, slow collections and other developments 

 growing out of the financial stringency as the 

 causes for his embarrassment. He was also 

 actuated in applying for the benefits of the bank- 

 ruptcy act by a desire to conserve the interests 

 of all creditors and to prevent a wasting of as- 

 sets. He says the notes and bills which other 

 people ought to pay were paper received in the 

 ordinary course of business from creditors and 

 discounted by the banks. This paper, of course, 

 should be met by the makers. He adds that If 

 care is used in the winding up of affairs and 

 sacrifices are avoided, he will pay dollar for dol- 

 lar and come out with a fair equity. It Is his 

 Intention to continue in the wholesale business, 

 and to that end he has already made a trip to 

 I'ennsyivania and other adjacent territory. Mr. 

 Cranwell has been engaged in the hardwood trade 

 for many vcars. Some six or seven years ago 

 he also organized the J. H. Canwell Lumber 

 Company, which a.., "^"^t of tim- 



ber land In South' - ">d erected 



a sawmill. The vm • profitable 



and about eight m . ^' ' i:n.well with- 



drew. With regard to Mr Crumv.lls individual 

 standing there have been disquieting rumors 

 afioat for some time past, and the failure did 

 not come as a surprise. It was known that he 

 found himself in dltUculties and this fact made 

 11 all the harder lor him to straighten out his 

 entanglements. 



The meeting of U- i ' ' " Committee 



of the .National i Association 



called tor June 21 'l>;d and va- 



rious important im.h -ulered. The 



gathering took place iu H"' i nnii.iiltce room of 

 the Chamber of Commerce, Chairman Harvey M. 

 Ulckson of Norlolk presiding. Those present In- 

 cluded \V. E. Weakley, traffic manager of the 

 W. M. Ritter Lumber Company ; Richard W. 

 I'rice of Price & Heald, Baltimore ; U. L. Bow- 

 man of the R. E. Wood Lumber Company, Balti- 

 more ; John 1.. Alcock, president of the associa- 

 tion, I'.iiUiinun' ; A. P. NevlD, attorney of the 

 Nalional Association of Manufacturers, New 

 York; C. M. Ilaldwln of Swift & Co., New York; 

 Secretary E. M. Terry, Baltimore, and J. O. 

 Elmer, assistant secretary. New Orleans. One 

 of the principal matters taken up was that of 

 uniform ocean bills of lading, just as the bills 

 of lading on railroads have been made uniform. 

 It is not the Intention of the lumbermen to go 

 ahead on their own account. They will endeavor 

 to get the co-operation of otlicr shippers of 

 freight, so as to make the movement as strong 

 as possible. It was decided to form a tem- 

 porary committee consisting of representatives 

 of the various associations of shippers which 

 have written favoring the Idea. The members 

 for the National association arc Havery M. 

 I)i-kw>n and Secretary E. M. Terry. A resolu- 

 tlcii was ndoiitcd favoring further steps to as- 



certain the views of shippers. If a sufficient 

 number of favorable replies is received a Joint 

 meeting of representatives of the various or- 

 ganizations is to be called to formulate a plan 

 of action. A proposition was received from an 

 Insurance company which is willing to Insure 

 shippers against shortages and damage from 

 causes other than ordinary sea perils, covering 

 the shipments of members. The membership will 

 be canvassed to ascertain how it is impressed 

 with the proposition. Various other matters 

 were also taken up. Assistant Secretary Elmer 

 afterward went to New York to stay the balance 

 of the week conferring with the members of the 

 association and taking In the sights. 



W. H. Hallam of Sioux City, Iowa, has been 

 made manager of the hlg factory of the Balti- 

 more Sash & Door Company In South Baltimore, 

 succeeding W'. H. Waltz, who retired to look 

 after his other Interests. .Mr. Hallam. who Is 

 50 years old, has been active In the sash and 

 lumber business in Iowa for many years. 



Jl. S. Baer of the hardwood firm of K. 1'. 

 Eaer & Co. was on a trip to Philadelphia, New- 

 York and other eastern markets about ten days 

 ago and reports that business in Philadelphia 

 and especially in Brooklyn showed considerable 

 Improvement. He found the builders quite active 

 and calling for lumber In materially augmented 

 Tolume, and he learned that a much better feel- 

 ing prevailed at nearly all points, though the 

 two cities mentioned seemed to lead in the Im- 

 provement. His brother, R. I". Baer, has also 

 mot with considerable success abroad. He Is 

 traveling In Ureat Britain and on the continent, 

 and he secured a number of orders In Bristol 

 and elsewhere, though the situation still left 

 much to he desired In the foreign market. 



The R. E. Wood Lumber Company Is getting 

 Its operations at the Eagle Creek mill In Swain 

 county. North Carolina, fairly well untjer way. 

 and the output Is being steadily Increased. Re- 

 ports from there show that the quality of the 

 white oak turned out is better than that on any 

 other tract ever worked by the company, ex- 

 celling even the lumber produced In West Vir- 

 ginia, which was previously regarded as holding 

 the record. 'The company has a large tract In 

 Swain county and the supply of timber tliere 

 will last for years. All of It Is virgin timber. 



Just what will be done with the Inspection 

 rules adopted at the annual meeting of the Na- 

 tional Hardwood Lumber Association, In so far 

 as the Baltimore Lumber Exchange Is concerned, 

 seems still to be a matter of doubt. Though 

 John L. Alcock, who attended the Milwaukee 

 meeting as a representative of the Exchange, 

 has expressed himself as prepared to recommend 

 approval of the rules, considerable opposition 

 appears to exist In the Exchange. Some of the 

 members contend that the new rules do not go 

 far enough, and that nothing short of the resto- 

 ration of the 1905 rules will meet the situation. 

 The matter Is expected to come up at the next 

 monthly meeting of the managing committee, 

 when the sentiment of the Exchange may be ex- 

 pected to manifest Itself with sufficient distinct- 

 ness to Indicate the future ciiursc of the local 



PITTSBVRQ 



The Newell Brothers Lumber Company Is 

 handling a nice lot of hardwood from Its West 

 Virginia plant and has lately secured some good 

 business In the East. The company la doing 

 very little in the Jobbing line, but Is confining 

 Its operations to disposing of Its own product. 



J. M. Hastings Is at Jacksonville. W. Va., 

 looking ever the operation of the J. M. Hastings 

 Lumber Company, of which he Is president. 

 Oak and hickory are the leading products at this 

 camp. 



Bemls & Vosburgh have kept their force of 

 salesmen busy all summer and with the ex- 

 tensive advertising which they have been doing 

 are pushing right into the trade In a way that 



means lots of orders for them this fall and 

 winter. They note little change in general con- 

 ditions, but look for marked improvement soon. 



.r. L. Lytle, president of the J. L. Lytle Lum- 

 ber Company, reports that his company is se- 

 curing a nice lot of lumber from its West Vir- 

 ginia connections and is having fair success in 

 selling it. Mr. I.ytle is spending this week in 

 northern Ohio and western Pennsylvania among 

 the retailers. 



"Trade in mixed carload lots Is decidedly 

 better. Prices are film and the manufacturing 

 business Is looking up." This is a summary of 

 conditions from the W. E. Terhune Lumber Com- 

 pany, which is kept busy at Its spacious offices 

 in the House Building. 



A. F, Johnson, who is managing the export 

 business of the W. E. McMlllen Company, Inc.. 

 at Baltimore, Is losing no time in making mid- 

 summer shipments. The company loaded over 

 fifty cars of oak In June, nearly all of which 

 was intended for the export trade, and has 

 shipped some fine stock from Its mill at Wil- 

 liamsport. Pa. 



The ilead & Speer Company reports condi- 

 tions slightly Improved In the hardwood market 

 and looks for a readjustment of prices when the 

 fall trade fairly sets In. I'nless present indi- 

 cations are deceiving the amount of lumber sold 

 for manufacturing and general building opera- 

 tions will be larger In September and October 

 than In any former months of the year to date. 



The Pennsylvania railroad has ordered all of 

 its box cars to be repaired in time for the fall 

 shipping season. lt/« purchases of lumber will 

 have to be very large for the next few weeks 

 to enable the company to carry this work for- 

 ward quickly, and wholesalers are feeling good 

 as a result. 



The Wholesale Lumber Healers' Association 

 held its annual picnic at Ross Grove on the Al- 

 legheny river June 27. Sport was provided for 

 114 persons, and the cartoons of the ball games, 

 fat and lean races, etc., show that the event was 

 anything hut prosaic. 



The American Lumber & Manufacturing Com- 

 pany reports the hardwood business much Im- 

 proved. As J. N. Wooliett, general manager, 

 says : "Things are beginning to brighten up. 

 There Is more call for building lumber, especially 

 from large contracting concerns, and the yards 

 are starting to fill In their stocks." 



The L. L. Satler Lumber Company Is run- 

 ning its mill at Blackstone, Va., to cut on cur- 

 rent orders, and Is not branching out any with 

 the new trade. -Mr. Satler is convinced Hint 

 business Is Improving and that by September 1 

 things will be about normal again. 



The A. M. Turner Lumber Company also re- 

 ports that the demand for bridge timber Is con- 

 siderably Increasing. The company Is fairly 

 busy and notes a slight tendency to higher prices 

 on a few lines. 



The Germain Company, which has been oper- 

 ating as a wholesale himlier agency In Pitts- 

 burg for several years, has applied for a state 

 charter. The members of the company will be 

 Louis Germain. Jr., Albert Germain and Louis 

 (;crmaln, Sr., who have been with the firm since 

 lis start here. 



The West Virginia Lumber Company Is send- 

 ing in quite a lot of lumber from northern I'enn- 

 sylvanla In barges and boats which It makes 

 there and delivers at Pittsburg. This saves 

 the company a large item In freight bills and 

 its extra time except for loading. 



The C. P. Caiighey Lumber Company reports 

 white oak scarce and good timbers hard to get. 

 Manager S. A. Seaman has had some difficulty 

 In getting enough stock to fill his <irders for 

 river and harbor work this summer and Is keep- 

 ing several mills busy supplying them. 



A. M. Kinney has closed down his mills In 

 Washington county, Pennsylvania, and will not 

 resume until trade begins to Improve. He has 

 been making n specially of onk and mining 

 stocks and up to very recently has had a good 

 supply of orders. 



