HARDWOOD RECORD 



59 



better, money is easier and the Iron and steel 

 business is making gocMi gains. All these fea- 

 tures should reflect favorably on the call for 

 hardwoods later. 



Some very fine figures in mahogany veneers 

 have changed hands recently at good prices. 

 White holly veneers are in fair request from 

 buyers in this country and abroad. Leading 

 architects report this class of stock in more 

 favor than formerly. Manufacturers of interior 

 house finish are only moderately busy and furni- 

 ture manufacturers have not resumed active 

 operations. 



Quartered oak is not in large offering as com- 

 pared with some other times, but as demand is 

 light buyers find little difficulty in placing orders. 

 Dealers predict a marked shortage when the 

 demand picks up, to be followed by higher prices 

 than prevailed a year ago. Already some of the 

 be.st stock is held at higher prices. Plain oak 

 continues in free otfering and prices are still 

 being shaded more or le^. Brown ash is steady 

 with offerings moderate only. Hickory is well 

 held. The market for cypress is still very much 

 unsettled. Manufacturers are making offers to 

 sell at low prices. Several large buyers have 

 taken advantage of the drop to replenish, while 

 others do not believe the bottom has been 



NEW YORK 



Hardwood conditions in the metropolitan dis- 

 trict do not show any material improvement. 

 Trices are fairly firm on certain items, such as 

 quartered oak, but for the most part values must 

 be reported as showing some readjustment In 

 line with general business conditions. Concern- 

 ing the latter it must be admitted that the hope- 

 ful signs of early spring have not materialized 

 to any extent and that, generally speaking, busi- 

 ness conditions so far as the lumber trade Is 

 concerned have never been in as poor shape as 

 they are today, and the primary cause of this 

 dullness is expressed by authorities as resting 

 entirely on the loan market. It Is a peculiar 

 state of affairs and about the only thing which 

 can right the situation is a return of sufficient 

 confidence to enable freer loans. So far as the 

 desire to do business Is concerned. It is freely 

 admitted in leading real estate and building cir- 

 cles that there Is a large amount of work which 

 is ready to proceed if loans were obtainable. 

 Also that labor was never more anxious to give a 

 competent day's work as it is at the present 

 time, and above all is the great opportunity pre- 

 sented today to building investors to erect all 

 kinds of structures at a saving of about twenty 

 per cent of the cost as compared with a year 

 ago. This latter fact alone would provide an 

 enormous amount of building at once if loans 

 were obtainable. Almost every banker will freely 

 admit that the investing accounts In his bank 

 are full of money with no inclination to loan, 

 loaners being inclined to hold off until after 

 election. Such being the case. It is readily ap- 

 preciated that it is purely a matter of con- 

 fidence and not of real money stringency. Nat- 

 urally In view of these conditions the general 

 belief In the trade is that there will be only 

 comparatively small business offering between 

 now and fall, and in fact everyl)ody has pretty 

 much resigned themselves to those conditions, 

 unless something should arise which would re- 

 lease the loan marljet. 



Under these conditions It is needless to dwell 

 • r the different kinds of hardwoods and prices. 

 Dood, well-manufactured stock where wanted Is 

 iTlnglng fair prices, but generally speaking there 

 arc ample supplies for current wants and prices 

 are showing a readjustment in sympathy with 

 V-f fceneral business situation as above noted. 



neither has there been a retrogression. After 

 the presidential excitement is over improvement 

 is looked for, and although buying may continue 

 upon a more or less conservative basis for a 

 time. In proportion as the necessary confidence 

 is restored will it be carried on more freely. As 

 stocks in both hard and soft woods have been 

 much reduced, any increased demand will clean 

 up seasoned material in a very short time, in 

 consequence of which firmer values will follow. 

 'Jhrough the eastern Pennsylvania district hand 

 to mouth buying Is the general rule, but a cheer- 

 ful feeling Is growing among the manufacturers 

 and dealers as to the outlook for hardwoods. 

 With glowing reports coming in from the South, 

 West and Canadian fields as to the probable sat- 

 isfactory outcome of crops, fhere Is an increasing 

 conviction that it is simply a matter of a short 

 time when the prosperous hum of the hammer, 

 saw and planer will again greet the ear. 



The furniture factories of eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania are running fairly well ; a little more 

 activity is noticeable in the sash and door mills, 

 although far below the normal for the time of 

 year, attributable to the large drop in building 

 work compared with a year ago, May, 1008, 

 showing being fifty per cent behind that of 

 May, 1907. Flooring manufacturers are fairly 

 active ; box making still continues spasmodic. A 

 little livening up is noticeable In veneer and 

 cigar box making. The values in hardwoods re- 

 main easy, especially in higher grades, with 

 quarter-sawed oak at the top of the list as to 

 scarcity and price ; plain oak, however, is a little 

 off, but on the whole hardwood prices have held 

 better than the softwoods, and with stocks kept 

 will In hand at the mill district there need be 

 no tear of any decided further falling oft of 



PJTTSBVRO 



PHILADELPHIA 



Business of all kinds and especially the lumber 

 business Is in a waiting stage. Everybody Is 

 holding up orders and halting all kinds of Im- 

 provement projects pending the results of the 

 rational political conventions at Chicago and 

 Denver. It is pretty certain that whoever Is 

 named In these conventions, business will go 

 ahead with much more spirit than has been 

 manifested for the past eight months. It is ad- 

 mitted on all sides that business has been held 

 up ill ninny liuus alwut as long as conditions will 

 M:iih1 !ii ni.l Tial it will soon be a necessity for 

 11;,' :i ; i.M-f in these quarters, whatever 



il, iiiiiion may be. This Is espe- 



,i,,i:v ; .. .; 111.' industrial and manufacturing 

 world. l.!Ugc plants which have closed down for 

 months are now facing a possibility of being 

 without lumber in a short time. They must 

 soon begin to order stock in a pretty good quan- 

 tity and to judge from their inquiries this neces- 

 sity is becoming more evident to them every day. 



In the Pittsburg district conditions are much 

 better than two months ago. although it cannot 

 be :.iih\ thai the lumber business itself has Im- 

 lir.ivod to any great extent. More plants are in 

 operation and they are working nearer to their 

 full caiiacily. -V number of large mines have 

 resumed work and this with the renewed activity 

 in iron and stcl circles is causing considerable 

 inquiry for hardwood stock. In that respect the 

 market is much better than May 1. Prices, 

 however, have shown no disposition to advance 

 and the cutting has been so hard and so per- 

 sistent that list quotations cut little figure in 

 prices actually paid for Iuml)er. The bulk of 

 the Inquiry at present seems to be for bridge 

 timbers and stock for small manufacturing plants. 

 Ties and poles are not moving to any extent. 

 The building situation is so unfavorable that 

 yards are buying only here and there a carload 

 lot, and mixed carloads at that. Poplar is the 

 only one of the hardwoods which has withstood 

 the strain and is now being sold at the prices 

 which prevailed before the hard times. Oak has 

 fallen off in demand and prices considerably 



during the past three months and although white 

 oak is a good marketable stock the lower grades 

 of oak are dragging heavily on the wholesalers' 

 hands. This is also true of the medium grades 

 of chestnut. For hickory, ash and elm there is 

 a good demand, chiefly from Ohio, Michigan and 

 Indiana plants. 



BALTIMORE 



A steady, though slow, improvement Is noted 

 in the hardwood trade of this section. The num- 

 ber of inquiries is considerably larger, and while 

 a majority of these requests are designed to 

 bring out competitive bidding, the proportion of 

 orders Is augmented, though as yet the offerings 

 are so liberal that prices have stiffened little, 

 if at all. The fact remains, however, that there 

 is little lumber at the most of the mills, many 

 of which are shut down. 



The foreign demand is very poor. The con- 

 gestion abroad has been so pronounced as to 

 force values very low, with the result that ship- 

 ping on consignment has come to a stop, while 

 forwarding on contracts is also largely checked 

 because the foreign buyers who have contracts 

 at figures appreciably higher in some cases than 

 the market rates will endeavor by one means or 

 another to bring the price down. They will 

 claim that a material part of a shipment is 

 iK'Iow grade and will seek to take advantage of 

 other technicalities, so that In the end the ship- 

 per stands to lose. The lumber sent abroad on 

 consignments, of course, tares still worse ; it Is 

 simply thrown upon the market and not infre- 

 quently goes for a song. Naturally, the whole 

 situation is affected by these conditions, which 

 promise, however, to accomplish the good of 

 stopping shipments, which is greatly to be de- 

 ^ired in view of the congestion. 



Some firms report that their business for May 

 was well up to the results of the corresponding 

 month of 1907. apart from the question of prices. 

 The figures are still easy, but some of the big 

 consumers again manifest an interest In the 

 market and activity seems to be slowly return- 

 ing, though nothing like a rush is expected this 

 year. 



Tlie state of the hardwood trade is not much 

 changed, no particular point being raised of late 

 unless it be that some dealers are saying that 

 they expect to sec oak run very short just as 

 soon as the demand Improves. Quartered oak 

 has never been plenty In late years and now the 

 prospect of all oak going out unless the cut can 

 be increased and the reports keep coming in 

 from the Southwest that the logs are running 

 very scarce. 



Very few people can get the poplar that they 

 want, if they are in the market for any amount. 

 A buyer had it the other day that there was 

 none of a certain cut, hut one or two dealers 

 managed to show that they had some. So It 

 goes. It will not do in these days to get too 

 much of any lumber, and on that account it Is 

 hard to get Just enough. 



There seems to l>e a better keeping up of the 

 demand for expensivr hnrdimnd lumber than of 

 the cheaper sorts. I' ' piice of all yel- 

 low pine is so IAh ^ :;ht better to 



come down to soui.iiiin- m h. n line when a de- 

 parture from the highest Is made. So the re- 

 ports from dealers in cherry, walnut and ma- 

 hog.nny are more favorable than the average, 

 with such woods as birch and chestnut still lag- 

 ging. 



CLEVELAND 



Nothing has happened within the past fort- 

 night to affect the hardwood market In this 



section, nud tlu'i-^' Is litiie new lo report. Price 



