48 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



man who neglected to secure his stock ahead 

 will now be obliged to pay considerably more 

 money for his goods. 



Stocks generally continue below the present 

 demand and values are moving upward. Oak 

 continues a leader, and quarter-sawed uak is ad- 

 vancing ; chestnut is stronger, the call for sound 

 wormy increasing : gum is said to be piling up 

 at the mills and weakening in value, but a care- 

 ful investigation in the eastern market does not 

 sustain a report of a break in this wood, the 

 demand being strong and prices well maintained : 

 cherry is increasing in demand : cypress is stif- 

 fening, and basswood holds firm. There is a 

 free call lor birch and beecli. Mahogany and 

 veneer trading shows the best record for a num- 

 ber of years and prices are well sustained. 



PITTSBURGH 



Hardwoods are right at the from of the pro- 

 cession. If anybody ever saw white oak in 

 better demand than just now he will have to 

 "sbow" his lumber friends. Wholesalers have 

 almost stopped bidding on bill oak because it is 

 so scarce. In furniture lumber and also stock 

 for the vehicle and implement companies there 

 is a mighty strong demand. The tendency is 

 toward higher prices in all these stocks. Gum 

 and Cottonwood are going up and manufacturers 

 through the middle west are increasing their 

 orders with Pittsburgh agencies. Hardwood 

 mills are very busy. Many of them complain of 

 a scarcity of labor, while others have been handi- 

 capped somewhat by bad roads and a lack of 

 teams. Yards are buying a fair supply but are 

 prettyi well stocked up now for winter. Trade 

 with the factories and railroads is first class. 



BALTIMORE 



The advent of election day has brought no 

 change in the hardwood trade, which retains its 

 active character and continues to present a most 

 encouraging aspect. While the advances that 

 have taken place in the range of prices are not 

 notably large, there has been a stiffening all 

 along the line, with some decided marking up 

 of the figures, and with the demand sufficiently 

 brisk to take up the output of mills, so that 

 there are practically no unsold stocks in the 

 hands of the manufacturers. Of course, this 

 is to be accepted with allowance for the main- 

 tenance of adequate selections and the seasoning 

 of lumber. In many instances the time of 

 seasoning is cut decidedly short and stocks are 

 often sent out when not quite ready for the 

 market. 



The only item which has not responded to 

 the general improvement is extra wide poplar 

 of good quality, for which prices are materially 

 below what such stocks, in the opinion of the 

 millmen. should bring. Oak is holding its own 

 in a highly gratifying way. and the current 

 figures are so attractive that there is a general 

 tendency on the part of the mills to Increase 

 their output. New plants are projected and old 

 ones are being enlarged, but so far the pro- 

 duction is being taken care of without the 

 slightest difficulty. Chestnut is firm in all its 

 divisions, even sound wormy stocks commanding 

 prices that dispose the manufacturers to take 

 orders. Ash is very steady, and much the same 

 can be said with regard to all other woods in 

 common use. The yards are buying with com- 

 parative freedom, finding now that the require- 

 ments of the trade are greater than at first 

 seemed likely. For a time there was more or 

 less deferring of orders until it became apparent 

 that recessions of a material character could 

 not be hoped for, since which time the orders 

 have been coming in quite freely. 



As a whole the export business is in satis- 

 factory shape. The car shortage is causing 

 trouble both in the domestic and in the export 

 trade, but apart from this drawback and the re- 



fusal of the railroads to issue through bills of 

 lading there have been no unfavorable develop- 

 ments. Oak abroad is going up. and the ex- 

 pectation in the United Kingdom that when a 

 certain price has been reached, domestic oak 

 would enter the market to compete with Ameri- 

 can woods, has not been realized. Tlie English 

 oak, in fact, advanced with the rest, and the 

 buyers abroad are now showing considerable 

 eagerness to place orders. The whole export 

 situation Is viewed with satisfaction, and a con- 

 tinuance of such conditions is expected, al- 

 though the question of ocean freight rates yet 

 remains to be settled in part. 



COLUMBUS 



Hardwood trade in central Ohio is ruling 

 strong in every particular. The demand both 

 from dealers and factories remains good and, 

 with stocks very light, prices are ruling strong. 

 There are no indications of weakness in any di- 

 rection and every change has been toward higher 

 levels. The volume of business is good and since 

 the weather has remained pleasant building op- 

 erations are still active. 



One of the best features is the demand for 

 all grades and varieties. The lower grades are 

 moving well, but not to the exclusion of the bet- 

 ter grades. There is a good demand tor all 

 varieties and as a result there is no accumula- 

 tion in any place. Dry stocks are generally 

 scarce, and this presages high quotations for 

 some time to come. 



Factories engaged in making automobiles, ve- 

 hicles, furniture and implements are in the mar- 

 ket for stocks. The car shortage is bad and 

 inclined to grow worse, and as a result efforts 

 to stock up have not been very successful. There 

 is no hope for an improvement in the car sup- 

 ply in this section, according to traffic man- 

 agers of railroads. 



Quartered oak is gaining in strength and the 

 surplus stocks are being depleted. There is an 

 extraordinary demand for plain oak, both red 

 and white. Ash is stronger in every way. Pop- 

 lar is gaining in strength and automobile fac- 

 tories are buying the wide sizes. Basswood is 

 very strong. Chestnut is moving well and sound 

 wormy is especially in good demand. 



CINCINNATI 



Tliere is a very strung toue to the hardwood 

 market and all stock is very scarce. All of the 

 big mills are full up on orders and are accepting 

 business only at top prices. Dealers who de- 

 pend largely upon the smaller country mills 

 for most of their stock find great difficulty in 

 securing same as the extraordinary demand the 

 country over for all kinds of hardwood lumber 

 has made the buyers on the road in the pro- 

 ducing territory so active that small producers 

 have simply to sell to the buyer making the 

 best offer. This competition has made prices 

 of all items very strong. 



The market in poplar is in a very satis- 

 factory condition. Low-grade stock is in strong 

 demand and an increased call is noted for high 

 grades. No. 1 common and better has been 

 somewhat of a disappointment this year and 

 wide stock has done poorly, but dealers making 

 a specialty of wide poplar have strong hopes 

 of a better market. Prices on all graaes are 

 held up well and there is not much accumula- 

 tion of the slower moving stock even in the 

 face of a light demand. 



Chestnut is going as well as anything at 

 present ; thick ash is in active demand and 

 hard to find ; plain oak is so strong as to neeJ 

 no particular mention and is the leader ; quar- 

 tered oak is doing nicely, better prices being 

 obtained. Low-grade cottonwood is simply out 

 of the market — dealers cannot secure any. There 

 is an active demand for all grades of cypress and 

 prices are being well maintained. No. 1 shop is 



very strong in all thicknesses and the low- 

 grade stock sells readily. Selects have a very 

 good call. 



The remarkably fine weather that has pre- 

 vailed for the last few weeks has made pos- 

 sible the starting of much new work in the 

 building field. Building contractors, with the 

 object of supplying plenty of work for mechanics 

 during the cold weather, have taken advantage 

 of these conditions and are holding back on 

 interior work in order to get new work en- 

 closed. 



There is much complaint among dealers of 

 the light receipts due largely to the car short- 

 age, which appears to be growing worse as 

 shipments during the last week have been very 

 light. 



Cincinnati factory trade is very good, par- 

 licularly the furniture trade and box factories. 



TOLEDO 



The hardwood situation has not changed 

 greatly during the past month and there is 

 certainly no weakening nor, so far as can be 

 seen, is there any tendency in that direction. 

 Dealers, however, are holding firmly to a hand- 

 to-mouth policy, refusing to buy except where 

 compelled to do so. It is contended by retail- 

 ers that prices have reached the climax and 

 cannot possibly go higher while there is a pos- 

 sibility of a break. At any rate they are will- 

 ing to take that chance and in the meantime 

 are supplying the trade from their yard stocks 

 which have been holding up fairly well consider- 

 ing the drain that has been made upon them. 

 Regardless of inclination, however, the whole- 

 salers declare that it will be impossible for the 

 retailers to hold out much beyond the first of 

 the year and they are patiently awaiting that 

 time. 



Shipments continue very slow from all points, 

 especially the South. In many instances orders 

 placed months ago remain unfilled and there is 

 no degree of certainty as to -when orders placed 

 now will be delivered. 



Building in Toledo continues heavy. Never in 

 the history of the city has there been so much 

 building and especially so much building of an 

 important character. 



Furniture and vehicle factories are running 

 normally for this season of the year and taken 

 all in all hardwood dealers are finding but little 

 to complain about. 



INDIANAPOLIS 



There has been no particular change in the 

 local hardwood situation in the last two weeks. 

 Prices are still steady and while a number of 

 orders are coming in, deliveries are uncertain 

 owing to car shortage. Most of the hardwood 

 concerns report a large number of orders on 

 hand which are unfilled on account of a lack 

 of cars. 



Lumbermen are doing their part toward re- 

 lieving the car situation by loading and unload- 

 ing cars as promptly as possible. It is thought 

 that the car shortage will be relieved very 

 materially within the next three weeks. 



All grades of hardwoods appear to be in good 

 demand. Factories using hardwoods have been 

 busy for several months. 



ST. LOUIS 



The hardwood market is not showing as much 

 activity as it did a couple of weeks ago. Still 

 there is enough business being done to overtax 

 the supply of salable items on the hardwood list. 

 There is a steady demand for gum, cottonwood 

 and ash, and lower grades of these items have 

 nearly been cleaned up in the producing district. 

 There is no particular change in the demand for 

 poplar, and quarter-sawed red oak is going nicely. 



