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^eed for the Veneer Jobber 



Editor's Note 



Tlie following pappi- wns read licfore the meeting of the National Voneer and Panel Manufacturers' Association 

 at Lhicaso on December 10 by Henry Walscheid of the Veneer Manufacturers Company of Chicago. It proyes the 

 contention that the Jobber is here to stay and will always have an important part in'the veneer business. 



"When I -nas asked to read a paper to the 

 National Veneer and Panel Manufacturers ' 

 Association on the advantages of the jobber, I 

 hesitated because I have never done anything 

 of that sort before, but finally agreed to do so 

 because it has alvpays seemed as though the 

 millmen considered the jobber their enemy, and 

 I believe if they would give this matter careful 

 consideration they would find that they are not 

 only their friends, ,but tliat tlieir interests are 

 mutual and the jobbers are necessary to the oest 

 interests of the veneer business from the mill- 

 man's standpoint. 



Before taking up some of the arguments for 

 the jobber, I would like you to clearly under- 

 stand what a jobber is. 



A jobber, in my mind, is not one who repre- 

 sents a mill or sflls on commission, but is one 

 who buys outright and sells outright — one who 

 buys ear lots and in large quantities and gen- 

 erally sells in smaller quantities. A jobber 

 buys on his own responsibility and knowledge; 

 wlien he purchases stock and accepts it, the 

 millman's responsibility ceases, and when this 



HEXRY T\'ALSCIIEin. CHICAGO 



jobber sells this stock the responsibility of the stock, both as to 

 inspection and credit, are entirely upon him. There are hardly any 

 manufacturers to-day who do not sell to jobbers; there always" liav'e 

 been jobbers; there are jobbers to-day and probably always will be. 



In the first place, most of the veneer mills are located where the 

 timber grows. The birch, basswood and maple mills are in the North, 

 and as you all know, the gum, poplar and pine mills are in the South ; 

 the figured wood mills are scattered here, there and everywhere, con- 

 sequently there are practically no mills that manufacture a complete 

 line, such as the jobbers are obliged to carry. 



The jobbing houses are most generally located in the largest veneer 

 markets. This enables the consumer to secure stock on very short 

 notice. Most of the veneer users cannot anticipate their wants and 

 cannot wait to have the stock manufactured to their order or cannot 

 wait for the stock to come from a distance. 



As stated before, the jobber makes it a point to purcliase in car 

 lots, and not only does he save a great deal in freight and handling, 

 but stock shipped in carloads goes through in very much belter 

 shape. Comparing it with local shipments, especially from where 

 the timber grows, it is apt to be transferred several times at junction 

 points, it is broken, damaged by handling, and if same is not prop- 

 erly packed it probably would not answer the purpose for which it 

 was intended. 



The largest veneer consumers order direct from the mills, and these 

 orders are usually for dimension stock, so that the mills in manu- 

 facturing this dimension stock are certain to have a large amount of 

 random stock and cut-downs which they accumulate. Tliis ac- 

 cumulation is invariably bought by the jobber, as he is able to place 

 this in small lots to people who do not order in large enough quanti- 

 ties to have their stock cut to dimension and to buyers who cannot 

 wait, so that the jobber helps to keep the millman cleaned out of odd 

 lots of stock, which the millman would find difficult to market to the 

 consuming trade. 



The veneer men have been trying for several years to encourage tlie 

 use of log-run stock in random sizes and to discourage the use of 

 dimension stock. The way to accomplish most good in encouraging 

 the log-run and random size stock is through the jobber, as that is 

 what he buys and sells, and the jobber has probably done a great 

 deal to educate the consumers along these lines. 



—so- 



Most of the veneer mills specialize upon 

 woods in their locality. A jobber goes to the 

 different mills and he will buy one or more car- 

 loads of their woods, taking different thick- 

 nesses, different sizes and different grades. He 

 will ship this assortment of stock-to his ware- 

 house and then he will have similar shipments 

 from other mills in other locations, so that he 

 has a general line of stock suitable for mostly 

 all wants. 



A great many of the buyers want a small 

 lot of mahogany, some walnut, some oak, sev- 

 eral kinds of native woods in different sizes 

 and thicknesses, and if they order this stock 

 from the mills they woukl probably find it 

 necessary to order from six to eight different 

 mills. Some mills would ship more jiromptly 

 than others, and consequently the consumer 

 could not tell when he would get all of the 

 stock together so he could start on his job. 

 On the other hand, this consumer can go to a 

 jobbing house, buy what he wants and just the 

 quantity that would be required for his pur- 

 pose; he can therefore afford to pay more to 



the jobber than he would be obliged to pay direct to the mills. If 

 he cannot find the exact piece of wood that would be suitable for his 

 job, he is better able to judge a substitute than the millman, who in 

 many instances does not know for what purpose the veneers are going 

 to be used. 



The panel manufacturers, no doubt, have a great deal of experience 

 in this connection. They also know that the jobber is of great 

 advantage to them, inasmuch as they get many rush orders for dif- 

 ferent kinds of work that requires many different kinds of woods. 

 Immediate delivery must be had — and from whom? The only one 

 qualified to serve them is the jobber. 



Where the jobbing house is located in a large city there are a 

 great many instances where work must be finished in a specified 

 time. For instance, with interior finish work there is often a heavy 

 penalty for delay. Suppose you eliminate the jobber, in which case 

 the contractor is obliged to send away for his lumber and veneer, 

 you can readily see how difficult it would be for him to collect his 

 stock, depending upon shipments from the mills, with a possible 

 shortage of cars, and then after this stock arrives it might not be 

 up to requirements and it would be out of the question to wait for 

 another shipment on account of the length of time it would take, 

 and he would therefore be obliged to use the stock shipped to him, 

 which would be unsatisfactory to all concerned. 



As the situation is at present, when this interior finish man or 

 any other contractor has a rush job, he goes to the jobber located 

 in his town and he can probably pick up all the stock he needs for Bis 

 entire order from one or two jobbing houses. The stock will be 

 shipped promptly to his place or. possibly hauled right to his door, 

 and then he is in shape to go to work. He can finish his job on time 

 and know exactly what he will put into it. 



Again oftentimes a man in getting out a figured wood job would 

 have to submit samples of the veneer to the architect or his cus- 

 tomer. Of course in such cases the jobber is not an advantage to the 

 millman, but he is an absolute necessity to the buyer of veneers. 



The above is mentioned to show the necessity of a jobbing house, 

 which carries all kinds of plain and figured woods of different thick- 

 nesses, ready for immediate delivery. This is quite an advantage to 

 the consumer, also to the manufacturer, and is a saving of time 

 and expense to both. 



