12 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



prlvnU- lls'i, aiul llic nipinlx-rs «( the ox- 

 oliiinKi* woulil 111' till' llrst to ii?;siiro yon 

 tlmt it Is not n rt'lhiMo list, tlint the nipin- 

 btrs of the Kxchiiiit;>' iir<' not lumiul by 

 It. thnt on fume Iti-nis they tn-l more thiin 

 till list fi-oni some cut>tonierH iiiul less thnn 

 thi' list fnim others, ami so on. In faet, 

 the prlee list of the Chleap> Uanlwooil 

 lAimlier KxehanKe Is only a st'neral guide 

 — only meant to lie such. Yovi see where 

 a dealer is hamllin;; fifteen or twenty dif- 

 ferent kinds of hanlwootls. sjiyins nothing' 

 of the dilTerent ^'rndes nnil lliii-knesses, he 

 Is jial'le to «et nisty on the priee of some 

 items, and the Chicago price list Is for him 

 lo turn to and get an Idea as to about what 

 the lundier should lirin.s under favorable 

 circumstances. ISesides, that list is a pri- 

 vate list and if a lumber newspaper man 

 pets hold of one it is on the pledge that 

 he will not publish it. 



Another point is that there are two dis- 

 tinct prices on all kinds of hardwood in 

 Chicago. That is, the prices are not dis- 

 tii;ct but the difference is, or sliould be. 

 One price list which meanders its uncer- 

 t!!in way along is the wliolesale or carlot 

 price list. The other is the retail or wagon- 

 load list, which should be and really is, in 

 one way or another, from .$3 to ?5 per 

 tliousand feet higher. Now, if a news- 

 paper publishes a list base<l on the retail 

 or yard price its country readers get an 

 erroneous idea as to the value of this lum- 

 ber. If it publishes the wholesale list tlie 

 consumers who buy their lumber in 

 wagon-load lots, seeing a difference of 

 probably .<!4 a thousand between the quota- 

 tion and the prlee they are paying the 

 yard, jump to the conclusion that they 

 are being robbed. And we know of at 

 least one newspaper man who got into 

 pretty hot water over just such an in- 

 stance. 



You see, when the Board of Trade of 

 Chicago says that wheat was at a certain 

 price on a certain day. that means that on 

 such a day you could have actually sold 

 a million bushels and got that jirice for it; 

 but because the Chicago Hardwood T.um- 

 ber Exchange quotes a certain kind anil 

 grade of lumber at $40, doesn't by any 

 means signify that you could come to Chi- 

 cago and sell at that price in the open 

 marliet. If you should offer that kind and 

 grade of lumber the buyer would want to 

 be informed on a whole lot of things lie- 

 fore he made you an offer. From what 

 section of the country does the stock come; 

 how long has it been on stick; have the 

 "panels," "box boards" or "steps" been 

 picked out; what kind of a grade do you 

 make? And the price he would name yon 

 would depend entirely upon the replies you 

 made. 



It is the same with a trade paper. If 

 you ask us what your stock is worth we 

 must have a reply to all the foregoing ques- 

 tions before we can answer you with any 

 degree of definiteness, and the questions 

 may be answered in one way that will 



make a dirTereiice of pmbably $10 a thon- 

 snnd In price from what the prlci> would 

 liavi- litM-n had they lie«'n answered In nn- 

 Dllicr way. 



'I'lie llarilwcMid .M;umfaclm'ei"8' Associa- 

 tion of the I'nited Stales had a little ex- 

 perience with the problem at its recent 

 meeting at Cincinnati. It adoptt'<l a prlci- 

 list and then didn't know what to do with 

 it It wasn't really an arbitrary price list, 

 you understand, being based more on hopes 

 and expectation than on facts. It would 

 lii> all right to present to those to whom 

 the members sold lumber, just as a kind of 

 n feeler, and maybe after a little they 

 (xiuld really obtain those prices. Hut how 

 about publishing the list to the people 

 fi'om whom the members of the Hardwood 

 .Manufacturers' Association buyV Ah! 

 tl.at was the rub. You see they were mak- 

 ing a list which they doubted their ability 

 to maintain to tlie buyer, but which, as 

 they had made it themselves, the seller 

 would naturally expect them to live up to 

 and would expect them to do business on 

 tiiat basis. 



So those noble and well meaning men 

 were in a luile — a deep, wide hole. After 

 mature deliberation, however, it was de- 

 cided to withhold the list from the vulgar 

 herd known as the public until September 

 1'}, and the newspapers were notified not 

 to publish the list before that time. And 

 by the time September 15 came the news- 

 piipers had about all made up their minds 

 tlrat they didn't cire nlmul publishing 

 it. anyhow. 



And now the Hardwood .Manufacturers' 

 Association can understand just the pre- 

 dicament the lumber papers find them- 

 selves in on the price list question. And 

 another great wave of reform has, if you 

 will permit the mixed metaphor, been 

 nipped in tlie bud. 



POOR BUSINESS FOB CLERGYMEN. 



A\'e note that some of our contemporaries 

 are roasting promoters of timber proposi- 

 tions which appear on their face to be cal- 

 culated to give the uninitiated a false idea 

 as to the profits in the business. Wc en- 

 dorse this position, but recognize with our 

 contemporaries the futility of any expo- 

 sure the lumber press can make. The 

 lumbermen among whom the lumber pa- 

 pers circulate are not going to bite at any 

 such bait. They know the business too 

 well. And that portion of the people that 

 does not understand, the lumber papers do 

 not reach. 



There is one scheme which we tnist, for 

 the sake of human nature, is not so bad 

 as it looks. It Is an attempt to float a 

 company with the savings of ministers of 

 the gospel. "We hope that the two minis- 

 ters at the head of it, and who are sending 

 out appeals couched in scriptural language, 

 are themselves deceived and sincerely be- 

 lieve that what they offer they can de- 

 liver. Being themselves ministers, they 

 should know that every dollar saved by 



:i minister from his meager salary repre- 

 .sents an amount of self-denial which il 

 makes one's heart ache to conleniplale; 

 and that these two men should deliberately 

 seek lo Inveigle them to invest those sav- 

 ings in an enterprl.se where It is not only 

 doubtful If they i-ver get a pmlll, but from 

 which they are In luck If they ever get 

 back a penny. Is scarcely conceivable. That 

 they would deliberately do this, using 

 scriptural language to clothe their plea, 

 would mark them as two as black-hearted 

 rogues as any in the world. 



And even if they are merely themselves 

 deceived in the matter, their negligence in 

 failing to post themselves before lending 

 their ministerial approval and active as- 

 sistance to such a scheme is extremly rep- 

 rehensible. There are a hundred well- 

 posted lumbennen In Chicago who would 

 gladly h.'ive given them information that, 

 if they are honest men, would have kept 

 them out of It. 



On the supposition that the two clergy- 

 men are measurably honest, the Hard- 

 wood Record w-ill volunteer the Infornni- 

 tion for their benefit that the printed mat- 

 ter they are sending out is grossly, we had 

 almost said criminally, misleading: and if 

 they are honest men they will do what 

 they can to see that the money that has 

 been collcH.-ttHl from their brother minis- 

 ters is returned to them. When it comes 

 to claiming t'hat a single saw mill cutting 

 hardwood lumber can clear 3!:}]2.(i(»0 a 

 .year, the one offering that slatcmi'iit is 

 either a fool or a rogue. 



MR. DEFEBAUGH'S SPEECH. 



Mr. J. E. Defebaugh is at present mak- 

 ing an extended trip through the lumber 

 slates of the West. Last week he attended 

 a Hoo-IIoo convention at Portland, Ore., 

 and being called upon for a .speech deliv- 

 ered himself substantlaly as follows: 



"Yes, bo.vs, I account it a privilege to be 

 with you to-night. Yes, I do. It's a fact. 

 You may not believe it but I am sincere 

 in saying I am glad to be here. That's 

 right. 



"It is true, as one of the good brothers 

 has said, that I have been identified with 

 the order of Hoo-Hoo since the beginning. 

 Yes, I can't deny that. It is not for me to 

 say that it would have been better ex- 

 pressed to say that from tlie beginning the 

 order has lieen identified with me. You 

 know, though, that it's true. 



"I'es, boys, it's true, too, tliat I'm n 

 member of the House of Ancients. Yes, 

 indeed. And I was snark of the uni- 

 verse. Oh. iishaw! boys, you've no idea 

 what a big duck I am. You boys out 

 here on the coast don't know me very well 

 and you can't, of course, conceive of mj- 

 great importance to the world. Of course 

 you can't. I don't e.\pect it of you. I 

 could tell you a whole lot of things about 

 myself that would make your eyes bulge 

 out and you would then understand fully 

 what my being among you to-night really 



