HARDWOOD RECORD 



Messrs. Fred A. DisKins, W. L. Saundei-s and 

 r>s<i)h Murphy took ;i flfty-five-mile trip into 

 elma, Boon and Aulioch townsliips in an 

 utumobile to ascprtain to wliat extent the forest 

 res were damaging their timljcr. They found 

 Ik* accounts not overdrawn so far as the burn- 

 1'-' of underbrush, wood, bnrlj, etc., were con- 

 ■rnc'd. but not much damage to standing timber. 



Henry liallou of Col.bs & Mitchell, Inc., has 



iiuned from a trip to Springvale. 



Mrs. George A. Mitchell, wife of the pioneer 

 inibcrman of radillac. died about a week ago. 



She saw Cadillac grow from a mere spot in th 

 tall pine timber to one of the most progressiv 

 cities in northern Michigan. She leaves 

 daughter, three sons and many friends to mour 

 her loss. 



The A. V. 

 ceeded and t 

 Anderson at 

 capitalized a 

 V. Anderson 

 president ; V 

 A. Anderson, 



.\nderson Lumber Company has suc- 

 iken over the interests of Mr. A. I". 

 South Boardman. The company is 

 ; JI.tO.OOO. and the officers are: A. 

 president : .1. S. Campbell, vicc- 





iiiid 



red 



Hardwood Market. 



(By HARDWOOD BECOBD Exclusive Market Beporters.) 



CHIC AGO 



Hardwood sales conditions in Chicago and .sur- 

 ■ luuding territory are very satisfactory, and 

 here is an increase in demand from nearly every 

 imirce of dlstribuliou. The furniture and In- 

 •rior finish people especially are placing a good 

 Many orders. There is also a marked renaissance 

 II railroad buying. This prolific source of so 

 nuch business has eonstituted but a very small 

 leicentage of sales fur nearly a year, and con- 

 ■erns Interested in ihis branch of the trade are 

 ■ncouraged to believe that there is going to be 

 1 big volume of hardwood orders from the rall- 

 ■nnds from now on. 



Quotations on different varieties of hardwoods 

 lie sliU irregular and range from the highest 

 11)1 cb prevailing under sales conditions of a 

 icar ago to $3 and .-ometimes $5 off the old 

 isls. It is expected that there will be a settling 

 l.iwn of values Iwfore very long, which will 

 iiore likely ■ approximate tlie higher range of 

 niees than the lower ones. 



NEW YORK 



The iKirdwood inaiket ;it New Vork does 

 ii.it show any increaseil activity so far as the 

 x'oiume of lumber ni.n'in.g is concerned, but 

 liie market show." ,i steadiness and an up- 

 ward tendency in legard to prices, particu- 

 larly on good grade .«tock. It is very evident 

 from the current condition of the market that 

 liuyers, both among the retail yards as well 

 as the local manufacturing trade, are waking 

 til the fact that the bottom has long since 

 been reached so far as hardwoods are con- 

 cerned and that any change at all will be 

 for the better. Hence buyers who liave been 

 sailing very close to the wind, or going shy 

 of stock since the panic, have all of late come 

 into the market witli at least inquiries, and 

 considerable business is resulting. This is 

 especially true of tlie trim and local manu- 

 facturing trade, and indicjites that with the 

 rapid approach of fall, con.sumers are at least 

 ^anticipating a further revival of business and 

 ;ire aiminjr to have supplies in band to talce 

 care of it. Stocks most In call are oak, pop- 

 lar, ash. birch and bass wood. Quite a num- 

 ber of plans have recently been tiled for 

 large structures in which the trim will figure 

 largely in oalc. poplar and birch, and as con- 

 tracts have been let tlie demand for those 

 kinds of lumber will undoubtedly be some- 

 what stimulated liy reason of such demands. 



An interesting featuie is the increasing in- 

 terest being manifested in gum specialties. 

 <3uite a little encouragement has been felt of 

 late in these line.s and while gum has in- 

 creased largely in use here in recent years, 

 the opportunities for its further development 

 are exceedingly bright. Taking the market 

 as a whole, there is no question but what 

 there has been ample stock available for the 

 current wants during the summer season, but 

 the matter of supplies has today reached a 

 ,|.ii- wTir n gn...! h udwood lumber is worth 

 i.riees. move particularly 



by reason of an appreciation on the part of 

 liolders of stock that they have a good asset 

 and one which is limited in supplies so far as 

 the immediate future is concerned. Anything 

 that lias been lacking in the volume of trade 

 is more than made uj) by this realization on 

 the part of liardwood manufacturers and 

 wholesalers, witli the result that there is a 

 constantly decreasing tendency to shade 

 prices to any degree when it comes to in- 

 quiries or orders for the better grades in 

 poplar, oak, ash. etc. Chestnut is holding 

 very firm, more particularly by reason -of 

 .scarcity than to any material increase in 

 the demand. Maple is rather dull with ample 

 stock offerings for all wants. 



In summing up the whole situation, the 

 salient feature of the present market is the 

 shortage of stock in the yards as well as 

 local manufacturing trade, and any material 

 increase in the consumption during the fall 

 and winter trade will Immediately be felt in 

 a stiffeiiiiiR of values all along the line. 



I-umber is not changing front very much. 

 Dealers as a rule report a steady improve- 

 ment, taken as a whole. For the most part it 

 does not improve evenly, all dealers finding 

 the demand good one week and quite often 

 poor the next week. There is, though, a 

 larger amount of big orders in sight, some of 

 the railroads being In the market and they 

 buy heavily as a rule. 



In hardwoods the demand Is still for quar- 

 tered oak. wlih plain oak not showing the 

 strength it should, as it is not very plent.v, 

 so that it would run down much on a par 

 with quartered if the demand should in- 

 crease very much. As it is, all demand is in- 

 creasing so slow that the dealers and mill 

 owners are still waiting for a larger stir be- 

 fore slocking up very mucii. They carry a 

 good assortment, enougli to meet all i>resent 

 needs, and will let the future decide the rest. 



The minor woods are selling much as they 

 have done, none of them sliowlng any further 

 activity than enough to make it plain that 

 there will have to bo a busy time when tlie 

 demand returns to the normal. Birch and 

 chestnut are among the least active, though 

 some dealers are able to move quite an 

 amount of them. It is by no means settled 

 in any one's mind whether there will Ije a 

 large fall trade or not, though at present it 

 doe.s not look like it. 



What is needed yet is a disposition on the 

 part of the more speculative buyers to ask 

 for more than they at present need, but it 

 cannot be found that they are doing so. 

 Actu'il need for present constimiition covers 



^— — PHILADELPHIA — ^^— 



Business during August, though not exten- 

 sive, has been of a better quality than during 

 the earlier months of tiio season and less 



spasmodic in character. The lumbermen are 

 learning from experience that recovery from 

 Iianics must bo slow, hence have ceased to be 

 over-elated by the occasional and intermittent 

 .spurts of bu.ving; but from the manner in 

 which orders are now being booked, they be- 

 lieve themselves justified in looking forward 

 to a steady improvement. Encouraging re- 

 ports come ill from the various furniture 

 manufacturing centers, to the effect that, al- 

 though a strict conservatism is everywhere 

 observed in buying, there is none the less a 

 decided .show of reviving activity. The stocks 

 in the yaids and factories of best grades of 

 hardwoods have reached the point when buy- 

 ing becomes compulsor.v, and it is noticeable 

 that there are some who are already jtocking 

 up, in view of the probability of a car-short- 

 age and the trouble with the logging and 

 shipping, on account of the autumn Hoods, 

 which conditions will naturally force up 

 \alues. There has been no startling change 

 iu the hardwood prices during the fortnight, 

 poplar, plain and quarter-sawn oak run along 

 in good style, witii maple flooring stiffening 

 and the other woods holding old reputation. 

 .\ slight improvement is noticeable in some 

 of the lower grades and culls, attributable tn 

 a more active nuivenieiit of these gr.ides l.> 

 the box factories. 



Tile beginning uf i.ill tiiid.s tlie luiiihv i 

 market in Greater Pittsburg greatly improved 

 so fur as general conditions go. Locally the 

 situation is mighty discouraging. The in- 

 crease in industrial activity and mining oper- 

 ation has made necessary the purchase of 

 iiulte a large amount of lumber during the 

 past two weeks, and the liardwood men have 

 got their share of this business. Local deal- 

 ers announce that in the Middle West ami 

 also in the East there is good demand fur 

 lumber, and this call is what is responsible for 

 higher prices now being asked in certain lines. 



The factory trade for hardwoods is picking 

 up steadily, and the indications are that most 

 plants will be running nearly to capacity by 

 October 1. Railroads are getting in sliape to 

 put out requisitions for good lots of lumber, 

 but so far they have been very tardy in plac- 

 ing orders. The building situation outside the 

 city seems to i)e going along nicely, and whole- 

 salers look for large trade from this source 

 later in the fall, although it is naturally out 

 of season for building. In Pittsburg proper, 

 the amount of lumber sold is very small. 

 Yards are buying only where they have to 

 fir. in their stocks. There is practically no house 

 Iniilding going on, and although a half dozen 

 large contracts have been awarded for big 

 offlee buildings downtown in the past few- 

 weeks, these projects have not yet reached the 

 state where they do the hardwood men any 

 good. 



The market for ties and poles is much slower 

 than it should be. Judging from the inquiry. 

 The trouble seems to be to close up orders. 

 Oak is a little better than holding its own. 

 and white oak timbers are in good demand. 

 The call for itjaple flooring is Increasing a 

 very little, but it comes from sections quite 

 removed from Pittsburg. Chestnut is a little 

 more steady in the higher grades, but the 

 common grades are moving slowly. This is 

 also true of spruce, altliough dealers are evi- 

 dently expecting higher prices for this wood, 

 inasmuch as they are quoting with much more 

 care. The poplar market continues firm, and 

 there Is little chance of a cut in prices this 

 fall. Stocks of hardwoods at the country nitli~ 

 are pretty badly broken On account of tl 

 \-ery dry weather of the past six weeks a laii; 

 number of mills in Penn.sylvnnla, Ohio :ni 



