36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



managers and staffs. A company which publishes several papers 

 in the men's wear field has large offices in New York and Chicago. 

 It keeps a Chicago printing plant working on its papers about all 

 the time, and iu addition prints two daily papers in New York. 

 Big organizations like this cost a lot of monej'. One of the leading 

 trade journals in Chicago spends $4,000 a week, outside of the 

 actual cost of printing, this including a staff of seventy-five corre- 

 spondents, eight or ten editorial writers iu the main office, and 

 a big road staff used in advertising and special work. Papers 

 of this kind are producing something distinctly worth while. 



Most of you would be astonished to learn that there are 738 traile 

 and technical papeis and this does not include farm, law, medical 

 journals, which belong in the several categories of class publica- 

 tions. It is an interesting fact that the past ten years have been 

 marked by a great increase in the number and a great improve- 

 men in the quality and trade and technical journals of all kinds. 

 The trade paper of the old school, printed originallj- as a means 

 • of conveying market information, did little more than this, filling 

 up a good many pages with polite personals about the various 

 members of the trade. Likewise, such a paper attempted to cover 

 the entire industry, from the origin of the raw material to the 

 consumer. The effect was superficial, disjointed and uncertain. 



The typical trade journal of today is radically different. It is 

 chiefly educational in character, and smacks more of the magazine 

 than the newspaper, although in many lines the market or news 

 feature will alway.s be predominant. 



It likewise selects, as a rule, but one class of the trade or one 

 section of the country, and cultivates that field intensively, rather 

 than extensively. Thus many papers are made for the manufac- 

 turer only or for the retailer only. Many circulate altogether in 

 the Middle West, others take the South, while there are, of 

 course, many which cover the national field, from a standpoint of 

 circulation. 



But whatever its plan of production, the twentieth ceutur3' trade 

 journal has a service to perform, and it performs it. It has some- 

 thing of value to say to its readers, and it usually says it in an 

 interesting and convincing manner. It has the intimate touch, the 

 familiar tone, the vocabulary and the ideas of the man in the 

 business it reaches; it is by, for, and of that business, and conse- 

 quently it has a value that no merely general publication could 

 ever hope to have. 



This, incidentally makes the trade journal reaching a carefully 

 selected class a remarkably productive advertising medium. When 

 the average person thinks of advertising, it is in connection with 

 the newspapers or magazines which are what the experts call con- 

 sumer publications. Consequently the big national advertising 

 campaigns, which are intended to make the name and character- 

 istics of a product known to the general public, are featured iu 

 periodicals of that character. It is a fact that some of the largest 

 and most successful advertising campaigns on record have been con- 

 ducted almost altogether in the trade publications. The public 

 generally never hears of them, and it is not intended that it should; 

 but they are getting results of a definite, measurable character. 



The General Electric Company, which is known as a great 

 national advertiser, is carrying the battle for business into every 

 manufacturing paper of consequence, applying its sales arguments 

 definitely to the pi-oducts covered by the several publications; the 

 result being that when a brick manufacturer picks up his trade 

 journal, he sees an ad telling about what General Electric motors 

 have done in brick plants; the woodworker or furniture manu- 

 facturer hears of them with relation to that use only; textile oper- 

 ators are talked to with reference to their special .requirements, and 

 so on. Each argument has an inside aspect which gives it tre- 

 mendous force. 



I believe that the advertising of the future will Ije largely con- 

 fined to just such carefully selected mediums. 1 mean to say not 

 that the general magazines will cease to exist, but that there will 

 be fewer of them, and that they will carry less advertising as the 

 manufacturer finds that he can get the same results at a smaller 

 cost by using the trade journal for distribution and the newspaper 



for local sales work, with the technical papers forming the link be- 

 tween the producer and the consumer of products which are not 

 distributed generally, such as machinery. 



If I were to be permitted to make one plea on behalf of the trade 

 paper, it is this: Use it. The journal that is published for a spe- 

 cial class can not accomplish its purpose unless it numbers among 

 its readers a fair percentage of those in that class. Merely sub- 

 scribing to such a paper does not end the job. It should be read 

 carefully, from kiver to kiver, as the old darky said, including the 

 advertising. No one can do this without benefiting by it; and the 

 benefit will be measured exactly by the amount of interest put into 

 the study. 



Conditions Abroad During January 



Liverpool 



The arrivals from North American ports at Liverpool for Janu- 

 ary were 11,103 tons, as against 6,900 tons in the corresponding 

 month last year. The business of January was rather quiet in 

 comparison with December trade. This condition, however, was 

 anticipated. The average values are high aiul generally steady. 

 There has been little chartering for ocean transportation done for 

 next season. 



The arrivals of oak logs from the Uuited States, included a 

 shipment of :23,000 cubic feet from Jlobile. Deliveries have been 

 satisfactory and stocks at present are light with firm values pre- 

 vailing. There was a moderate importation of wagon planks dur- 

 ing the past month and the deliveries have been on a moderate 

 scale. As a subsequence, values of first-class stock of this sort are 

 firm. The stocks of wagon oak planks, including outside depots, 

 amounted tn 192, .500 cubic feet at the beginning of the present 

 month as against 140,500 cubic feet February 1, 1912. 



No import or consumption of elm was noted during the month. 

 The arrivals of ash totaled 6,000 cubic feet during the month and 

 the consumption 3,000 cubic feet. Light stock and firm prices 

 are noted. The supply of ash logs was disposed of readil.y. 



The month closed with an active demand for black walnut logs 

 at very satisfactory prices. The demand for walnut boards and 

 planks has been steady during the month. Good grades of satin 

 walnut (red gum) boards were actively inquired for during Janu- 

 ary. On the other hand, there was little or no demand for satin 

 walnut logs and little encouragement is held out for shipments in the 

 immediate future. 



The demand for yellow poplar logs was steady, particularly 

 for good quality of timber of good size. A moderate inquiry at 

 steady prices prevailed for yellow poplar planks and boards. 



January showed an import of 3,000 cubic feet of birch logs 

 into Liverpool. The consumption was 7,000 cubic feet. Stock i.* 

 but moderate and prices are generally firm. Both import and 

 consumption of birch lumber has been moderate, while stock on 

 hand was sufficient at the end of the month and steady values 

 prevailed. There was a fair inquiry for well manufactured 

 hickory lumber of good grades. Round hickory logs showed a 

 good demand and firm prices during the month. 



Hamburg 



According to a report from Hamburg, business during Januar.v 

 was rather above the average level for that month. Trade during 

 the first month in the year usually is somewhat restricted on 

 account of inventory taking and because of the fact that river 

 transportation to the interior is often hampered by bad weather 

 conditions. While there is some apprehension that the month of 

 February will before its close bring labor troubles in the furni- 

 ture manufacturing circles, still the outlook for 1913 is good. 



Speaking of the demaud for black walnut, the report states that 

 while buyers were prepared to pay higher prices for the best 

 grades, shippers were reluctant to offer such stock. 



Fairly large quantities of .white oak were sold during the 

 month of January and the demand still continues strong. Red, sap 

 and tupelo gum were in good request during the month. A num- 

 ber of contracts were arranged. While the level of prices in 

 Cottonwood prevented business in some quarters, still a consid- 

 erable number of satisfactorv transactions were closed. 



