40 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



^CJi;:^i^MBiroiKli»atm!Kmi»i;i^^^ 



'News Miscellany 



Annual Meeting of Baltimore Exchange 



The annual meeting o£ tbe Baltimore Lumber 

 Exchange, which was held at Merchants' Club 

 Dec. 2, was more largely attended than any sim- 

 ilar event in years, and the proceedings were ol 

 a character to promote good feeling and stimu- 

 late the interest felt in the work of the ex- 

 change. The meeting followed the monthly ses- 

 sion of the managing committee in the after*- 

 noon, when the preliminaries were disposed of. 

 and it opened with the reading of the yearly re- 

 ports by President Theodore Mottu. Treasurer 

 Luther H. Gwaltney, Chief Inspector J. G. 

 Creamer and others. The statement of Presi- 

 dent Jlottu was in the nature of a general re- 

 view of lumber trade conditions, and he also 

 made some valuable suggestions. He outlined 

 the trade conditions at the beginning of the 

 year and referred to the troubles with which 

 the mills had to contend at the beginning in 

 the early months, the result of these conditions 

 being to greatly retard production. These im- 

 pediments, he stated, still continued, the car 

 shortage being attributed in large part to the 

 bountiful cotton and other crops, which inter- 

 fered with the movement of lumber. Continu- 

 ing, he said : 



"The export trade of our city has also been 

 in a very unsettled state. In the early part of 

 the year there was a good demand for lumber 

 and logs in all markets of the United Kingdom 

 and the Continent, which made a considerable 

 amount of business on a profitable basis. Owing 

 to the strike of the stevedores in the early 

 spring the export trade received a severe set- 

 back, and shippers accumulated lumber and logs. 

 The steamship companies being unable to man- 

 age the situation, much of our exports were 

 diverted to Philadelphia and New York, but 

 this caused an increased cost by the advance in 

 the inland as well as ocean rate of freight, and 

 the loss had to be borne by the shippers. Since 

 the lull in August and September there has been 

 an increased demand, and owing to the difB- 

 culties in getting shipments forwarded, prices 

 have advanced, and in all foreign markets there 

 is. now a strong demand for all classes of lum- 

 ber and logs. A good trade is anticipated for 

 the next year, but there are considerable troubles 

 to be overcome, as the steamship companies 

 haxe recently advanced their ocean rates ranging 

 from twenty-fite to eighty per cent, and this 

 serious advance in the cost of export lumber 

 has now to be considered in making sales. The 

 foreign buyer is not quick to pay the advanced 

 price to cover this extra cost, as he believes 

 there will be a great amount of lumber that 

 will find its way into the foreign markets, but 

 it is th.e hope of the exporters that the domestic 

 trade will continue to increase, and thereby pro- 

 vide for a large consumption of the lumber 

 manufactured." 



Mr. Mottu complimented the work of the in- 

 spection bureau and commended it to the mem- 

 bership. He also discussed the method of count- 

 ing in vogue here, which had given rise to .some 

 criticism, being different than that used else- 

 where./ On this subject he said ; 



"We are trading today on an actual contents 

 count in practically everything that we use 

 with the exception of lumber on the wharf. 

 Our own wholesale members are shipping to 

 Baltimore by car the same sizes that are re- 

 ceived on the wharf and making their invoices 

 entirely different. I feel, therefore, that we 

 should not continue in this way because it is 

 easy and has been in existence for so many years, 

 but make the change now and let our exchange l>e 

 in line with other cities in progressive, up to 

 date methods." 



Secretary L. H. Gwaltney stated in his re- 



port that the finances of the exchange were in 

 excellent condition and that the past .year had 

 been very satisfactory in. so far as the work 

 of his office showed it. 



Chief Inspector Creamer, in his report, placed 

 the total quantity of lumber inspected at 79,- 

 218,981 feet, a ciuantity slightly smaller than 

 last year, the difference being on account of sev- 

 eral firms which had substituted their own in- 

 spection -for that of the exchange. The volume 

 of business done here was in excess of 1911. 

 The report, of course, did jot take account of 

 the vast volume of business done by Baltimore 

 firms and corporations which does not go 

 through the local Inspection bureau. Accurate 

 statistics about this trade are lacking, and their 

 compilation has been so ditdcult and attended 

 with so many obstacles that even President 

 Mottu abandoned the task. The hardwoods in- 

 spected were divided as follows : Gum, 3,717,256 

 feet : poplar, 2,163,515 feet : oak, 1,678,454 ; 

 chestnut, 454,717 ; ash, 381,931 ; maple, 364,390 ; 

 beech. 147,558 ; birch, 144,568 ; juniper, 71,477 ; 

 bass, 109,006 ; hickory, 33,106 : mahogany, 26,- 

 311, and walnut, 7,555. 



The adoption of a change in the constitution 

 making out-of-town firms and corporations 

 eligible to membership was almost the only 

 other business transacted, with the exception of 

 the election of officers, which resulted in the 

 secretary being instructed to cast the vote for 

 the ticket named by the nominating committee, 

 as follows : 



PRESIDENT — Theodore Mottu. 

 Vice-Pkesident — Ridgiiway Merrynian. 

 Treasuuer — Luther H. Gwrtltnay. 

 Managing Committee — William M. Burgan, 

 Lewis Dill, Parker D. Dix, Edward P. Gill. 

 Kufus K. Soodenow, Henry C. Matthews, ,Iohn 

 L. Alcock, John H. Gels, George E. Waters, 

 Joseph D. Virdin, Ridgaway Merryman and 

 Gjeorge B. Hunting. 



On adjournment of the business session the 

 members proceeded to the hall on the first floor, 

 where caviar and liquid refreshments had been 

 provided, and where an opportunity was 

 afforded of taking an appetizer and getting 

 acquainted, in which respects the gathering was 

 highly successful. 



Nearly one hundred were present, practically 

 all of the membership in the exchange being 

 represented, and the occasion was voted one of 

 the most successful ever held. The arrange- 

 ments were made by the house committee, which 

 consists of George E. Waters, chairman ; Joseph 

 D. Virdin and Henry C. Matthews. 



Meeting of Cincinnati Lumtiermen's Clul) 



The regular monthly meeting of the Lumber- 

 men's Club was held at the Business Men's 

 Club on Dec. 2. The usual toothsome banquet 

 was provided by the entertainment committee. 

 Following the dinner the meeting was called to 

 order by I'resideut Chas. F. Shiels. After the 

 reading of the minutes, followed a discussion of 

 a rate question that had been put- up to the 

 club for consideration, originating at St. Louis 

 among some ex-railway men who are now making 

 a study of rates in several sections. Printed 

 copies of the brief had been previously furnished 

 the members of the club and therefore they were 

 well acquainted with the alleged discriminations 

 and comparisons shown. The discussion was 

 very thorough and was participated in by most 

 of the members present, bringing out the con- 

 sensus of opinion that there was nothing to be 

 gained by a motion to take the matter up with 

 the railroads interested as most of the state- 

 ments made as to discrimination against Cincin- 

 nati were based upon a mileage basis and a 

 comparison of rincinnati rates with those at 



Cairo. The communication was ordered filed. 



The question of recousignment in transit was 

 the matter next discussed. This subject was 

 brought up by Dwight Hinckley, who contended 

 that some of the roads entering Cincinnati 

 were permitting the protection of through rates 

 when cars are reconsigned while others were not 

 doing so, and urged that concerted effort be made 

 by the club to gain this favor from all of the 

 roads. The chair appointed a committee, con- 

 sisting of Dwight Hinckley, Harry Fagin, C. H. 

 Clark and H, J. Pfeister, to take up the matter 

 and report at the next meeting of the club. 



A communication which had been prepared 

 by Ben Dulweber of the John Dulweber Com- 

 pany was then read, stating that he is informed 

 of a contemplated advance by the Illinois Cen- 

 tral and the Southern Railway in freight rates 

 from Mississippi points to Ohio river crossings 

 and all points north of the river. While the 

 tariffs increasing these rates have not as yet 

 been filed, it is the Intention to cancel present 

 rates on cottonwood and gum, placing these 

 woods on the same basis with other hardwoods, 

 which would increase those rates three and four 

 cents on gum and cottonwood and one cent also 

 on other lumlier, being a general advance on all 

 stock. After a general discussion that brought 

 out the fact that the Memphis Lumbermen's 

 Club was about to take some action to prevent 

 this increase of rates, a committee consisting 

 of George Hand, chairman, Ben Dulweber and 

 E. J. Thoman was appointed to investigate the 

 matter thoroughly and to co-operate with the 

 Memphis Lumbermen's Club or with the traffic 

 department of the Cincinnati Chamber of Com- 

 merce and to draw on the club treasury for any 

 necessary expenses. After the traffic manager 

 of the Chamber of Commerce, Guy M. Freer, had 

 been heard on the question of rates, the meeting 

 adjourned. 



Indiana Hardwood Association Meeting 



At a meeting of the board of managers of 

 the Indiana Hardwood Lumber Association on 

 Nov. 27, the date of the next annual meeting 

 of that organization was set for Jan. 16, 1913. 

 The meeting will take place at the Hotel CIa.T- 

 pool in Indianapolis. It is pLinned to make the 

 gathering a sort of homecoming for all Indiana 

 lumbermen and a gratifying attendance is ex- 

 pect ed. 



Coming Meeting of the Hard'wood Exporters 



The coming meeting of the National Lumber 

 Exporters' Association is scheduled for Jan. 23 

 and 24 at Chattanooga, Tenn. It is expected 

 that fifty prominent exporters will be in attend- 

 ance, coining from all parts of tbe country. Inas- 

 much as this organization controls seventy-five 

 per cent of the total export business of the 

 country, the importance of these meetings is well- 

 known. The Chattanooga lumber trade is ex- 

 tremely well pleased with the decision of the 

 association to hold its meeting in that cit.v, and 

 Fred .\rn of the J. M. Card Lumber Company, 

 who is chairman of tbe local committee on ar- 

 rangements, is already .getting busy making 

 preparations lor the event. 



Evansville Lumbermen's Club to Meet 



Presid<nt D. B. McLaren of the Evansville 

 Lumbermen's Club of Evansville, Ind., announces 

 that tbe next monthly meeting of that body will 

 take place at the New Vendome Hotel on Dec. 10. 

 The most important question up for discussion 

 will be that of the new log rate proposed by the 

 Louisville and Nashville Road. The newly elected 

 officers will not start their terms until the Janu- 

 ary meeting. 



Board Meeting National 'Wholesalers 

 The board of trustees of the Nalional Whole- 

 sale Lumber Dealers' Association will get to- 

 gether at the arssociation headquarters, 66 Broad- 

 way, New York, on Dec. 19. in response to a call 

 of F. E. Parker of Saginaw, Mich. 



The executive comiuitt(H> will meet the preeed- 



