HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



and family have gone to their summer home at 

 Annandale, Minn., to recuperate. 



A. S. Bliss of the Payson Smith Lumber Com- 

 pany went to Chicago with his young daughter 

 on July 4 and spent the holiday there with 

 friends. 



I. P. Lennan of I. P. Lennan & Co. says there 

 is evidently a stronger tone all around to the 

 hardwood market and prices are holding up well. 

 Stocks of northern hardwoods are light and the 

 southern supply has been limited. The manu- 

 facturers have been calling for stock only as 

 they absolutely required it, and this has kept 

 down the volume of transactions, but a fair 

 amount of hardwood has been going into con- 

 sumption and there is sure to be a better trade 

 in the fall on that account. 



The railroad committee of the Northwestern 

 Hardwood Lumbermen's Association has not been 

 active this summer in the matter of railroad 

 overweight claims, and has had no satisfactory 

 adjustment yet with the railroad officials. A 

 meeting on the subject will be held In the near 

 future and the grievance of the hardwood men 

 will be taken up with a determination to get 

 something near justice. 



The weather in this immediate section has 

 been excessively hot. accompanied with exces- 

 sive humidity, during the past two weeks, al- 

 though so far as has been learned no draw- 

 backs have been experienced in milling opera- 

 tions because of this, the majority of the 

 laborers employed being negroes, who are by 

 nature prepared for hot weather. With the 

 wholesalers in the city every opportunity has 

 been availed of to attend the seaside resorts 

 and get relief from the oppressive weather. 



Frank Betts of C. M. Betts & Co., Philadelphia, 

 was a visitor to the city June 30 on business. 



A. R. Turnbull of the Rowland Lumber Com- 

 pany left for -New York City last week, accom- 

 panied by his sister and father, R. W. Turnbull, 

 president of the Rowland company. Mr. Turn- 

 bull will be gone about a week or ten days. 



There is a strong rumor afloat that the Vir- 

 ginia railroad, which has been nearly completed, 

 Its financial end being managed by H. H. Rogers 

 of Standard Oil fame, and which taps fertile 

 West Virginia hardwood and pine timber lands 

 hitherto undeveloped, transporting them to Nor- 

 folk for export, will purchase the Kanawha & 

 Michigan and the Toledo & Ohio Central rail- 

 roads, to be used as their western outlet, these 

 roads connecting the Virginia road with the 

 Great Lakes. The activities of the management 

 of this road are being watched with much inter- 

 est by local hardwood men, its completion mean- 

 ing great things for this city's future as a hard- 

 wood exporting port. 



Lyman S. Stone of St. Louis was in the city 

 during the past ten days on business. 



Building operations in this city have been ex- 

 tensive of late, although contrary to expecta- 

 tions, last year being exposition year and the 

 reaction being expected during 1008. For the 

 month of June permits to the amount of $206,- 



One of the most spectacular and disastrous 

 000 were granted. 



flres which has been witnessed in this city in 

 recent years was that which destroyed the plant 

 of the Farmers' Manufacturing Company, located 

 on the outskirts of this city, the latter part of 

 last month, resulting in a monetary loss of 

 about $125,000, of which amount only about 

 $40,000 was covered by Insurance. This factory 

 manufactures barrels, hoops and crates, and in 

 the making of these consumed a large amount 

 of gum, this wood being the principal one used. 

 An especially unfortunate feature of the con- 

 flagration was the loss of a machine on which 

 the East brothers, operators of the establishment, 

 had spent years in perfecting, and the loss of 

 which is Irreparable. 



The. Illinois building on the Jamestown Ex- 



position grounds has been purchased by W. H. 

 Wales, Jr., president of the Atlantic Creosoting 

 & Wood Preserving Company. Several other 

 lumbermen have invested in similar buildings 

 at the grounds. 



In order to more economically administer their 

 company's affairs R. P. Baer & Co., operating in 

 hardwoods, have formed the Virginia Hardwood 

 Company, with headquarters at Tazewell, Va., 

 and the North Carolina Hardwood Company, the 

 latter being at Asheville, N. C. The same offi- 

 cers will direct the affairs of both concerns. 

 They are R. P. Baer, president ; O. M. Thayer 

 of Mobile, Ala., vice-president, and M. S. Baer, 

 secretary and treasurer. It is announced that 

 there will be no change in the firm policy and 

 that Mr. Thayer will continue in active charge 

 of the mills in Mobile. 



S. S. Mann of Mann & Parker, Baltimore, deal- 

 ers in hardwood lumber, is spending a few days 

 at his concern's mill at Robins Neck, S. C. The 

 operation there is being run on full time, and 

 they claim to be disposing of a maximum produc- 

 tion at fair prices. 



A dispatch from Christiansburg, Va., dated 

 June 27 states that Schultz Bros. & Morgan, 

 organized by Schultz Bros., Old Colony Building, 

 Chicago, are constructing sawmills at Little Riv- 

 er with a capacity of 20,000 feet of hardwoods 

 per day. R. H. Morgan will be in charge of 

 the plant, and the main office address is Chris- 

 tiansburg. 



which, if they materialize, will have a great 

 influence in stimulating trade. Again it seems 

 that after the nomination of candidates at Den- 

 ver this week much of the uncertainty will cease 

 and gradually business will resume normal con- 

 ditions. 



Ground has been broken for the turpentine 

 plant which is promised to give employment 

 to 200 men. 



The Michigan Hardwood Manufacturers' As- 

 sociation is figuring on holding its annual meet- 

 ing the last week in July. Mackinac Island will 

 probably be the meeting place this year. 



ASHLAND 



CADILLAC 



David Wolf of Wolf Bros., Grand Rapids, is 

 visiting F. A. Diggins. 



D. B. Kelley and family have returned from 

 a week's automobile trip, taking in Charlevoix, 

 Petoskey, etc. 



A disastrous fire destroyed Kalkaska's busi- 

 ness district recently, the main street of the 

 town being practically wiped out of existence. 

 The fire originated in the basement of T. D. 

 Hobbs Racket Dry Goods Store from some un- 

 known cause. Forty-four firms and residences 

 were burned out, including the electric light 

 plant and Bell telephone exchange. The esti- 

 mated loss is $125,000. with but slight insurance. 



It is the prevailing opinion here that the 

 business situation is improving. Generally or- 

 ders are coming in slowly, but on the whole 

 more business has been done by a number of 

 firms during the past month than for several 

 months before. Reports indicate good crops 



J. W. Kitchen of Vansant, Kitchen & Co. of 

 this city was on a business trip last week to 

 Detroit. Cleveland, and other cities. 



C. W. Peters 'of H. C. Creith & Co. of Co- 

 lumbus was a business caller in the city this 

 week, looking after the interests of this com- 

 pany. Mr. Peters advises good receipts of or- 

 ders and feels confident that the demand for 

 lumber will soon Increase materially and prices 

 come back to what they should be. Mr. Peters 

 will call on several manufacturers in Kentucky 

 and West Virginia before returning to Columbus. 



R. G. Page, secretary of the Licking River 

 Lumber Company, has returned from a business 

 trip through Ohio and Michigan. He reports 

 receipt of orders during the past week for bill 

 oak, mostly for eastern markets. 



Ashley Ward, one of the leading timbermen 

 of Paintsville, Ky., was a business caller in the 

 city this week. Mr. Ward brought down sev- 

 eral rafts of timber last week in the rise of the 

 Big Sandy and while here was advised that he 

 had sold all of his timber and was returning to 

 Paintsville. Mr. Ward advises that the timber 

 operations in his vicinity are very quiet at this 

 time ; the demand for timber is not what it 

 should be and prices are considerably less than 

 the timber can be sold for, bo the operations 

 have discontinued for the present time. 



Whlsler & Scearcy of fronton, Ohio, have 

 closed their mill at that place for an indefinite 

 length of time. They will continue to operate 

 their mill in West Virginia and expect to con- 

 tinue operating there for some months. 



W. A. Cool of W. A. Cool & Son, Cleveland, 

 was a recent business visitor in this city. He 

 will visit several of the lumber centers in Ken- 

 tucky and West Virginia before returning to 

 Cleveland. 



Hardwood Market. 



(By HABDWOOD BECOBD Exclusive Market BeporterB.) 



CHICAGO 



the last six or eight months, lumber In the hands 

 fjf manufacturers is rather light in quantity and 



more or less broken in assortment. 



Within the last fortnight the Reouru office has 

 had calls from fully twenty-five hardwood lum- 

 bermen and lumber salesmen, and without ex- 

 ception everyone made a very cheerful report on 

 the local market situation. One salesman an- 

 nounces his orders • for the previous week 

 amounted to forty-one cars, .\nother says his 

 sales for the last two weeks in Chicago and vi- 

 cinity have been more than for the previous two 

 months, and everyone reports an improved sit- 

 uation. Vndeniably the market has materially 

 strengthened during the fortnight and there is 

 a considerable renewal of buying on the part of 

 furniture manufacturers as well as railroads 

 and car builders. Everyone believes that the 

 situation will show further improvement as the 

 season advances and that the year will close 

 with remarkable strength. 



As is well known, stocks in the hands of 

 wholesale consumers are very light. Stocks in 

 the hands of jobbers are only from fifty to sev- 

 enty-five per cent as large as a year ago, and 

 notwithstanding the comparatively dull trade of 



BOSTON 



The market for hardwoods still lacks that 

 snap necessary to make activity, yet there is 

 a slight and steady gain for the better. Some 

 large consumers who have been practically out 

 of the market for several months are now in- 

 terested in quotations on good sized blocks and 

 important trading is near at hand. Prices as a 

 whole are held with more firmuess and on a 

 little higher level. There are still some manu- 

 facturers who are forced to sell their product 

 in order to take care of notes coming due. 

 Manufacturers of veneers are operating their 

 plants from four to six days a week. Demand 

 for veneers is fair. Good figures in mahogany 

 are selling at full asking prices. Piano manu- 

 facturers ary doing more than for several 

 months and the furniture plants in some places 

 iKive larger orders. 



The demaud tor quartered oak Is fair and 

 prices are firm. Offerings of good lumber are 



