The Hardwood Record 



VOL, XVI. 



CHICAGO, AUGUST 10. 1903. 



No. 8 



The Hardwood Record. 



PUBLISHED BY 



C. V. KIMBALL, 



ON THE 10'H AND 25TH OF EACH MONTH. 



134 MONROE STREET, - CHICAGO, ILL. 



ENTERED AT CHICAGO POST OFFICE AS 

 SECOND-CLASS MATTER. 



TERMS OF subscription: 



U. 8., Canada and Mexico $1.00 per year. 



Foreign Countries 2.00 per year. 



ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION. 



The cost of advertising in the Wanted and For Sale 

 columns will be found at the head of that department. 



ADVERTISING INDEX ON PAGE 26 



Contributions on subjects of interest 

 to lumbermen are invited from any 

 person. Subscribers and others arc re- 

 quested to notify us of changes in per- 

 sonnel or organizations of hardwood 

 lumber firms. We desire especially to 

 receive particulars of installation of 

 new plants, transfers of property and 

 timber holdings and experiments in 

 new methods of manufacturing' ot the 

 utilization of by-products. New publi- 

 cations of interest to the trade, including 

 catalogues, stock lists and circulars will 

 receive attention if sent to this office. 

 Our columns are also available for 

 criticism and comment on any article 

 published or for news of any sort con- 

 cerning the hardwood trade. 



Our readers will confer a favor when 

 writing to advertisers if they will state 

 that they saw the advertisement in the 

 Hardwood Record. This is little 

 trouble and costs nothing, but it helps 

 us and is information wanted by the 

 advertiser. 



THE BUSINESS SITUATION. 



llcreartm- it is ii\ir iulciition nul to c-oui- 

 'plk-ate our reviow of luarkct conditions by 

 mixing them up witli tlip condition of Wall 

 stfpct. which is a tictitious and aljnornial 

 condition, liaving but littlf connection -with 

 tlie real. IcKilinialc business of the couu- 

 li-y. It is niei'cl.v a bad sore (jii a wan 

 otlierwise healthy. It is an annoyance, a 

 threat and a menace, but is i-eally no part 

 of our industrial or commercial system. 

 It represents in its present stage the pass- 

 ing of a time of financial folly, and Avhile 

 this condition is and will be for some years 

 a drain and a clog on legitimate busine.ss, 

 we believe the danger point to be passed. 



General business continues large in vol- 

 ume, and, for the season, extremely satis- 

 factory. Supplies of all kinds, both in 

 raw material and mannf.actured goods, 

 are at a low ebb, and altlio\igh there is not 

 the feverish activity in business which has 

 characterized some recent years, there is 

 nothing like dullness. 



There has been a vast amount of liusi- 

 ness awaiting a slightly lower level of 

 prices. We know of many enteriirises 

 which have been delayed awaiting an eas- 

 ier market in labor and material, and it 

 would be a positive benefit to business if 

 we could get, without too much of a jar, 

 upon a lower basis. Anomalous as it 

 sounds, we believe we would, as a nation, 

 prosper more if we had slightly less pros- 

 perity. 



t'onditicnis that have existed and still 

 exist have rendered the relations between 

 laiiilal .-incl Inlmr extremely unsatisfactory 

 .\ laborer has too many opportunities for 

 work. They unsettle him and make him 

 luird to deal with. And what with strikes 

 ,■ nd lockouts, and sympathetic strikes and 

 changing from one job to another in an 

 attempt to better himself he isn't doing 

 MS well as he would under less strenuous 

 conditions. It would be a matter of con- 

 gratulation not only to the employers but 

 (o the employed as well if the business 

 operations of the country could be brought 

 P> a point wli^re there would be more sta- 

 bility and relialiility in the labor market. 



Money is easy and there is no difficulty 

 in obtaining accommodations on good com- 

 mercial paper at very reasonable rates of 

 interest, and it is surprising how little the 

 < onditions in AVall street have affected 

 commercial credits. There has been, so 

 far, no evidence of a panicky feeling such 

 as finds expression in the withdrawal of 

 tunds from public depositories. Bank 



st.itements show universally that the 

 banks are in good condition. The United 

 States treasury is carrying a handsome bal- 

 ance, and there seems no necessity for un- 

 easiness u]ion the score of insufficient 

 funds -foi' all legitimate business require- 

 ments. 



It is through the money market that 

 Wall street gets in its deadly work on gen- 

 eral business. So much money has been 

 loaned b.\' the banks to float the hair- 

 brained ventures of Morgan and his kind, 

 upon the security of the credit taken of 

 those ventures, that when they collapse 

 they are certain to pull down some banks 

 with them, thus impairing the public con- 

 fidence in all banks. Up to the present, 

 liowever, no .serious results have obtained. 



The wlK'at crop now beginning to come 

 upon the market promises to be one of the 

 finest in the past ten years, and is at pres- 

 ent quoted at fully ten cents a bushel 

 above the jirice of a year ago. It is at 

 this time ipiote<i at aijove SO cents in Chi- 

 cago, and at that price will bring a grcal 

 amount of money into the country. 



The prospects for the corn crop ari' noi 

 so good at present. General crop condi- 

 tions for corn are 76, as compared to .Sfi 

 in August. 19(12, ST in 1901 and 52 in 1900 

 Prices are g<:)od, however, 52 cents being 

 bid for December delivery as against 42 

 cents last year. 



Hog prodticts have declined sharply in 

 price during the past year, but are still 

 abundantly high that the farmer can have 

 no cause of <-omplalnt. The same is true 

 of cattle and other live stock. 



Taken all in all, the present year prom- 

 ises to bring the farmer a full measure of 

 prosperity; not so great, maybe, as some 

 few recent .viars. but amply sufficient. 



Business in wholesale lines is reported 

 large and satisfactory for the season, and 

 the prospects are good that fall trade in 

 all lines -will be first class. 



NO REAL LiaUIDATION AS YET. 



As this is written Wall street is having 

 another lit of acute indigestion. . It has 

 settled into a confirmed, bilious-looking 

 dysiieptic. with recurring attacks of acute, 

 shivering nervousness brought on by the 

 claminy, indigestible load on its stomach. 



What the outcome of it all will be is 

 hard to say. It is a funny tangle for a 

 lot of people who only. a few months ago 

 were posing as great kings of finance. 

 They are plunging about now like a lot of 

 frightened sheep and resorting to expe- 



