38 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



pany. A general creditors' bill was filed by 

 the Whitney Central National Banls o£ New- 

 Orleans early last week, in which it was alleged 

 that the plaintiff held notes of the defendant for 

 large sums past due. It was further alleged 

 that the total Indebtedness amounts to about 

 ?46,000. The defendant company in its answer 

 denies it is insolvent in any sense, but sets 

 forth that it is at present unable to naeet its 

 oliligations. The recent financial panic and the 

 many suits threatened against the company are 

 given as the main causes of its present trouble. 

 Mr. Dix was formerly vice-president ot the com- 

 pany and is thoroughly familiar with the work- 

 ings of the big plant in New South Memphis. 



The plant of the American Car & Foundry 

 Company at Binghamton, a suburb of Memphis, 

 began operation May 4 with a small force. The 

 management, however, states that it will in- 

 crease the number of employes daily until it 

 reaches 800. When the plant is running at full 

 capacity it gives employment to between 1,200 

 and 1,500 persons, but there will have to be 

 further improvement in the demand for cars 

 before it will be necessary for the company to 

 put on its full quota. 



The outlook now is bright for the new Union 

 Station. After the apparent breach of negotia- 

 tions between the Memphis Terminal Company 

 and the legislative council a basis has been 

 reached upon which everything promises to be 

 worked out all right. The council has receded 

 from its position in some respects and the of- 

 ficials of the Memphis Terminal Company, rep- 

 resenting the railroads, have shown a decided 

 disposition to adopt the policy of "give and 

 take." 



The lumbermen of Memphis won their fight , 

 for the election of A. L. Foster, assistant treas- 

 urer of the J. W. Thompson Lumber Company, 

 as first vice-president of the Business Men's 

 Club. The new oflicers will be installed May 

 n, at which time a smoker will be given. 

 Mr. Foster is the only lumberman on the 

 oflicial roster. The lumbermen of Memphis 

 have a considerable membership in the Business 

 Men's Club, and they felt that they were en- 

 titled to representation on the official board. 

 W. R. Earksdale of the Barksdale-Kcllogg Lum- 

 ber Company, who has served as president of 

 the club for the past year, will surrender his 

 mantle at the coming smoker. 



Retiring officers and directors of the Busi- 

 ness Men's Club will, at the coming meet- 

 ing, recommend the establishment of an in- 

 dustrial department. Many inquiries rcsardiiig 

 opening for various enterprises in Menipbis have 

 been received by the club during the past few 

 years. These have been referred to ilie Mem- 

 phis Industrial League, which made a .specialty 

 of locating new factories in this city. Colonel 

 I. F. ret ITS. who has been at the head ot the 

 league for the past four years, has handed In 

 his resignation, however, and it is therefore ex- 

 pected that the latter organization wiil be dis- 

 continued. It will be ineuml.nt ui'ii ilie Busi- 

 ness Men's Club to carry on ilii- wTk if it is 

 to be continued. The impoitanre of such an 

 .aaency is regarded as vital and it is more than 

 likely tliat the club will act favorably upon the 

 lecommendatiiin. 



K. N. Case, who was tor some years identified 

 with the Case Manufacturing Company at 

 Dothan, W. Va., has purchased a large tract ot 

 hardwood timber land near Sunflower, Miss., ap- 

 proximately 6,000 acres. He is preparing to 

 locate a mill In that section, the operating com- 

 pany to be known as E. N. Case & Son. Mr. 

 Case was attracted to this section by the splen- 

 did quality of timber available and because of 

 its accessibility as compared with other por- 

 tions of the country. 



The Nashville Lumber Company, Nashville, 

 Ark., has filed an amendment to its articles, 

 whereby Us scope of business is increased. It 

 Is allowed now to deal generally in lumber and 

 to engage in the manufacture of lumber and 



building material ; also in the handling of real 

 estate. 



It is reported in dispatches received here that 

 interests identified with the Gould Southwestern 

 railway have made preparations to build that 

 road to Star City, Ark. The line at present 

 connects with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & 

 Soutjiern at Gould, Ark., and, when extended 

 to Star City, will offer facilities for the devel- 

 opment of a good timber section .and will prove 

 a splendid feeder to the Iron Mountain. 



The Ozan Lumber Company of Prescott, Ark., 

 has resumed operations at night. The com- 

 pany laid off its entire night shift when the 

 financial depression manifested itself and has 

 just now reached a point where it feels justi- 

 fied in running both day and night. 



Production of hardwood lumber during the 

 past fortnight has been rather below the re 

 cent aver.ige on account of unfavorable weather. 

 Heavy rains have fallen throughout this sec- 

 tion, interfering with logging and preventing 

 much headway in actual operation. There is 

 no doubt that a number of mills are beginning 

 to resume, but it is equally true that some of 

 the larger ones which have been in operation 

 during the past few months are preparing to 

 close down. Several of the big manufacturers 

 at Memphis state that they are doing no log- 

 ging at their mills and that, as soon as they 

 have completed cutting their present stock of 

 logs, they will close down. The demand is Im- 

 proving somewhat and conditions are regarded 

 as rather more hopeful, but these mills have 

 had to run during a period when they did not 

 desire to do so in order to save their timber, 

 and they are perfectly willing to allow their 

 plants to remain idle for a time, pending fur- 

 ther developments. 



A new box factory Is being erected at Hunt- 

 ingdon, Tenn. The company is capitalized at 

 $10,000, and will manufacture all kinds of 

 boxes and crates. It is expected that the plant 

 will be In readiness for operation In a very 

 short time. 



The Ferguson & Wheeler Land, Lumber & 

 Handle Company, Incorporated under the laws 

 ot Missouri, has filed copy of its arjicles ot 

 agreement and incorporation, as well as its char- 

 ter, with the secretary of state of Arkansas. It 

 claims to have assets amounting to $180,000, 

 with liabilities of only $40,000. Its capital 

 stock is $300,000, and it says It has $100,000 

 invested in Arkansas. H. W. Lasater Is named 

 as agent for Arkansas, with headquarters at 

 Corning. 



The F.ldon Handle Company has also filed 

 jutlcles of Incorporation and agreement with 

 the secretary of state of Arkansas. It is capi- 

 talized at $25,000, all subscribed. It will en- 

 gage in a general saw mill and handle business 

 at Dardanelle. J. T. Miller, J. F. Stevenson 

 and others are the Incorporators. 



There will be an Important meeting ot the 

 Lumbermen's Club at the Hotel Gayoso May 9. 

 President Geo. C. Ehemann has asked a number 

 of prominent lumbermen to be present and ex- 

 press their views on the causes which have led 

 to the recent depression in hardwood lumber 

 circles and their ideas of the outlook. Mr. Ehe- 

 mann in adopting this plan expresses the belief 

 that the trade is on the verge of decided im- 

 provement, and it is expected that there will 

 be a much more hopeful tenor to the views ex- 

 pressed by lumbermen over the outlook than 

 would have been i ' • " >liort time ago. 



The railroad.-; Memphis have 



decided to gran: loldlng tickets 



through the Jlem] stopover privi- 



lege of ten days. Tlu; (omm. lelal organizations 

 took this matter up with the railroads a short 

 time ago and the latter acquiesced when assured 

 that ticket scalping would not be allowed. This 

 slop-over privilege will be of particular interest 

 to lumbermen who pass through Memphis. The 

 only Instance where the stop-over will not be 

 allowed is in case the extension makes It neces- 



sary to increase the time the ticket has to run. 

 The commercial organizations are very niu. li 

 pleased with the readiness with which the roaiis 

 have acquiesced. 



Geo. D. Burgess has returned from a trip to 

 New Orleans and Ticksburg, made in the inter 

 est of his firm. 



The York-Browning Lumber Company ha- 

 made application for a charter. The capn : 

 stock is $50,000. J. B. and Robert York of 1 

 Bluff, who bought the plant of the Ann - 

 Lumber and Manufacturing Company in Men., 

 at the recent bankrupt sale, are the print. i.^. 

 incorporators. The new company will operate 

 this plant. 



There is a better demand for hardwood lum- 

 ber and the volume of business, while somewhat 

 below the average for this time of year, is con- 

 siderably in excess of what it has been for some 

 months. Buyers are not disposed to anticipate 

 their wants, but they are finding larger needs 

 to fill, and are showing more disposition to meet 

 the views of holders than heretofore. As a 

 consequence prices are better. Export demand Is 

 rather slow and the trade believes that this con- 

 dition will continue for some time, as the foreign 

 markets are fiooded with consigned stock which 

 is oBEered at attractive prices in the auction 

 sales. The market has not yet reached a point 

 where the trade can count upon a steady flow 

 of orders. As a matter of fact, there are spas- 

 modic symptoms, as shown by buying being good 

 one day and rather slow the next. Plain oak 

 is one of the items that is coming into more 

 prominent notice. The supply, while larger than 

 In the case ot quarter-sawn. Is none too large, 

 and holders are finding it impossible to secure 

 better prices than a short time ago. They are 

 also finding that there is more inquiry for this 

 class of material. Quarter-sawn oak occupies as 

 strong position as at any time this season. Of- 

 ferings are exceptionally light and this is the 

 secret ot the pronounced strength shown. Very 

 few members of the trade in this market have 

 any quarter-sawn stock for sale. Cottonwood Is 

 In slightly better request in the upper grades, 

 but these are still relatively slow as compared 

 with the lower. The latter are in excellent call, 

 all offerings being absorbed by box interests at 

 very satisfactory prices. The amount of low 

 grade cottonwood available is not large, and this 

 is responsible for the decided strength shown 

 thereby. There is a slight improvement in the 

 demand for box boards, but these are not selling 

 at anything like the price offered a few months 

 ago. Offerings are not particularly large, but 

 they are plentiful enough to meet the require- 

 ments of the present demand. Some holders 

 complain of the slowness of ash. Cypress has 

 shown a tendency toward improvement during 

 the past few weeks, and there is a fairly satis- 

 factory movement In this lumber. Poplar 18 

 offered in only a limited way and prices are well 

 maintained thereon. Gum occupies about the 

 same position as heretofore. There is a fair 

 movement in the upper grades, while the demand 

 for the lo«'er grades is rather better than that 

 for the upper. 



New Orleans. 



The handsome trophy awarded the Southern 

 Cypress Manufacturers' Association by the Cali- 

 fornia Wine Growers' Association for having 

 demonstrated that cypress Is the best substitute 

 for white ojik In the manufacture of wine barrels 

 has been placed on exhibition in the show window 

 of Coleman E. Adler, a prominent Canal street 

 jeweler, and has attracted a great deal of at- 

 tention. 



The Dover & Hoffman Company has been in- 

 corporated In this city with $10,000 capital to 

 manufacture furniture and other hardwood prod- 

 ucts. A. D. Magglo, Gus Hoffman and Herman 

 Dover are the incorporators. 



On application of James W. Martin, Christo- 

 pher Schaefer has been appointed receiver tor the 

 King Lumber & Manufacturing Company of this 



