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Traffic Matters Around Memphis 



It is definitely learned that practically all the railroads which 

 joined in announcing an advance in rates of from two to six cents 

 per hundred pounds on shipments of hardwood lumber and lumber 

 products from producing points in the South Canadian destinations 

 are preparing to file supplemental tariffs with the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission, cancelling these advances. Officials of the South- 

 ern Hardwood Traffic Bureau, which has the matter in hand, are 

 somewhat reticent about discussing the subject. It is known, however, 

 that the lailroads are filing such supplemental tariffs and it is 

 expected that definite announcement will be made within the next 

 few days to this effect by the Interstate Commerce Commission. 

 The lumbermen appeared before the commission at St. Louis and 

 Cincinnati and presented strong evidence against the proposed ad- 

 vance. The railroads are evidently of the opinion that the com- 

 mission will decide against them and this is believed lo be the 

 reason for their course. While lumber interests feel confident that 

 the railroads are preparing to cancel these increases, there is a 

 feeling that it will be much better to let the commission reach a 

 decision, as a favorable verdict from that tribunal will be a big 

 factor in future fights with the railroads over these advances. It 

 is therefore not surprising that lumber interests here are not al- 

 together overjoyed by the fact that the railroads are on the eve of 

 cancelling the advance in question. 



The case of the Anderson-TuUy Company, brought before the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission for t)ie purpose of securing an order 

 forcing the lines west of the Mississippi river to issue through bills 



cf lading on export shipments of lumber, will be heard in New 

 Orleans, February 27. George D. Burgess and J. H. Townsend, 

 president and general manager, respectively, of the Southern Hard- 

 wood Traffic Bureau, F. B. Robertson of the Anderson-Tully Com- 

 pany, and other prominent exporters of Memphis and the western 

 territory wiU attend this hearing and present evidence favorable to 

 their contention. All of the roads west of the Mississippi river, 

 with the exception of the Southern Pacific, have announced that 

 they will issue through bills of lading on export shipments of lumber 

 after March 3. The Southern Hardwood Traflac Bureau, however, 

 is very anxious to have a pronouncement from the commission as to 

 its authority over the carriers with respect to the issuance of through 

 bills of lading and the officials of this organization are pushing 

 the case to a completion in order that they may have a ruling from 

 that body on this very important point. They believe it will mean a 

 good deal to them in future dealings with the common carriers. 



There will be a hearing at St. Louis early in March, covering the 

 proposed increase on hardwood lumber shipment from points in 

 Arkansas and Louisiana to Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska and the 

 advance of two cents per hundred pounds on hardwood lumber ship- 

 ments from Arkansas and Louisiana to Memphis and from Memphis 

 and Mississippi points to New Orleans. This hearing at St. Louis 

 will be followed several days later by a similar one at Memphis. 

 These cases are in charge of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Bureau 

 and there will be a number of lumbermen to appear before the 

 commission at St. Louis, as well as at this point. 



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Introducing TSlew Woods 



The difficulty in making a new wood known and appreciated as 

 an article of comm.erce, arises chiefly from the neglect when sent 

 lor trial from abroad. If small specimens are sent the wood is 

 often pronounced to be of little value, because unknown in the 

 market. The importer is sometimes advised to send the wood in 

 larger quantities to market for a few years, as it will then have 

 a chance of being tested and its true value more satisfactorily de- 

 termined. The shipper is not often inclined to follow this advice. 

 If he does send a quantity sufficiently large to be tried for manufac- 

 turing purposes, it is sometimes not brought to the notice of wood 

 users. The timber is necessarily consigned by the exploiter to the 

 agent of a steamship company, who transfers it to a broker by whom 

 it is sold often with very little information respecting its properties, 

 or the quantities in which, and the prices at which, it could be 

 supplied, if it should happen to be available for a special purpose. 

 The novelty of the appearance, or the strangeness of the name, is 

 more often the subject of jest, than the wood is one of serious 

 inquiry. As a general thing, the result is that the wood is sold at 

 a price which does not pay the expenses of putting it on the market, 

 and the promoter is invariably deterred from sending any more 

 material The exploitation of a very good wood is often stopped 

 in this way. 



The difficulties in bringing a new wood into use in sufficiently 

 large quantities to be an article of commerce are usually very great. 

 The promoter is, moreover, while the value of the new wood is 

 unknown, subjected to the inconvenience of not having advances 

 made at the place of shipment upon the timber he is shipping, as 

 is the case with the well-known woods with a market value. Shipping 

 agents are often reluctant to export a new timber under a strange 

 name. It is on this account very often that new woods are shipped 

 to market under the comprehensive name of mahogany or cedar, 

 which have an established market. 



There are a number of large wood users who inquire after new 

 foreign woods likely to be useful in their special businesses, and 



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who, having obtained them, first make a scientific investigation of 

 the mechanical and physical properties. After the species have been 

 subjected to the practical working of the factory and found to be 

 suitable, the manufacturer often secures a concession or buys large 

 tracts of such timberlands and exploits it according to his needs. 

 A manufneturer may justly object to employing a nevv' wood with 

 the properties of which he is only partially acquainted; and of which 

 having investigated, he lias no information as to the quantities or 

 price at which it can be supplied, in the event that he finds it 

 suitable for his purposes. Unless obtainable in quantity, regularly 

 and at reasonable prices, he considers it inadvisable to use it. There- 

 fore, in sending a new wood to market, it is very important that it 

 should be accompanied with the necessary statistical information. 

 The shipper should be in a position to keep up a regular supply for 

 such manufacturers as have consented to employ it. Information, 

 therefore, both of a practical and of a scientific nature, is essential 

 for bringing new or little known timbers into use. 



Ash Imitated by Pine 



From Dr. C. A. Schenck, Darmstadt, Germany, the European 

 headquarters of the Biltmore Forest School, comes a sample of 

 Idaho white pine finished in imitation of ash, which, to say the least 

 of it, is unique. The process appears to be somewhat similar to the 

 "sugi" method supposed to have originated in Japan. The wood 

 is rubbed with a steel brush, lengthwise with the grain, and the soft 

 summerwood of the annual rings is thus worn down slightly below 

 the general surface, producing the ash or oak effect. The imitation 

 is completed by applying stains and fillers to give the desired color. 

 The process ought to prove successful with any wood of fairly 

 wide rings in which the difference between the springwocd and 

 summerwood is well accentuated. The springwood is soft?r and is 

 worn down more rapidly than the summerwood. Fir and 'lomlock 

 should yield readily to the treatment. Steel brushes such as 

 orchardists use in cleaning the bark of trees can be used. 



