22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 25, miU 



WILSON' COMl'TON, CHICACJO, 

 SKfRETARY 



IIAUDEl;. I!ir. LAKK. 

 TIlIOA^UKKi; 



of trade extension activities, and lie quoted from letters and re- 

 ports wliieh he had received from various retail secretaries, con- 

 cerning the needs of the hour in the lumber selling business. Each 

 liad suggestions, and these may be summarized as follows: 



Elindnntlon of the transit car; elimination of scalping, which he said 

 is especially prevalent Just now; the making of a more dofinite "dealer 

 detinition" : the standardization of sizes, ei^pecialiy of molding; the stand- 

 ardization of terms of sale; the standardization of methods of trade ex- 

 tension ; and the cncouragins of lionse organs and local ottice exhibits for 

 retailers. 



Mr. Porter grouped his remarks under the general head, "Selling 

 Idea.s." The one leading idea of his address seemed to be that 

 salesmen should get it firmly into their heads that they should 

 emphasize tlie uses and functions of lumb',"r, what it is good for, 

 and what can be made out of it, rather tlian preach lumber as a 

 raw material. It should be pointed out to the prospective buyer, 

 Just in what way he will be benefitted by purcliasing lumber, how 

 much more and better service he can get from it than from some 

 other material. 



Mr. Torrence insisted that any sort of advertising that increased 

 the sales of manufacturers of lumber would likewise help the re- 

 tailers. However, he did not intimate that retailers should sit 

 down and wait for manufacturers to do the advertising; but, on 

 the contrary, he spoke with approval of the growing tendency 

 among retailers to organize associations. He pointed out that re- 

 tailers were not specially benefited by the keenness of competition 

 among themselves; and that they would sell more lumber pulling 

 together than when they are fighting one another. He thought that 

 the home building campaign would afford an excellent example of 

 the advantages to be gained when all were pulling in one common 

 direction, and tliere was never a better time than the present for 

 promoting the lumber business. 



Mr. Rockwell set out to discourage the idea that prices are due 

 for a genera! fall in the near future. He did not believe that any 

 such thing was about to happen, and the sooner the public would 

 abandon its notion that prices were soon to fall, the sooner the 

 wheels would start. It was the anticipated decline that was caus- 

 ing the dull period. An educational campaign is necessary in order 

 to ac(|uaint the public with the fundamental facts on which busi- 

 ness now rests. 



Mr. Springer itemized some of the short comings of lumbermen 

 which had stood in the way of increasing sales, and the principal 

 shortcoming has been their defensive attitude. They have been 

 waiting for something to happen. The lumber interests have plenty . 

 of strong, aggressive men, capable of leadership, but the trouble 

 has been that they have had to expend all their energies pushing 



and have had little opportunity to turn their leadership to account. 

 Mr. Islierwood spoke largely of his personal experience, during 

 the past year, in visiting nineteen states, and drew from that his 

 conclusions concerning the present needs of the lumber business 

 in the matter of selling. The interest of the customer must be 

 sorveil with greater zeal. It should be made plain to him not only 

 why he should buy lumber, but he should be assisted in making 

 Ills iiurchas?s easily and to the best ad\'iiiita[jc. 



Extending Foreign Trade 



The meeting was addre.ssed by two of the four trade commis- 

 sioners who recently visited Kurope, Asia and Africa, as agents of 

 the government, to study prospects for extending our lumber trade 

 in foreign markets. Those who spoke were John D. Walker and 

 Roger E. Simmons. The former's work was done principall.v in 

 Great Britain, Belgium and France, while Mr. Simmons spent 

 nearly his whol'_" time for eighteen months in Russia, including 

 Siberia. Similar addresses by both of these gentlemen were pub- 

 lished in former issues of Hakdwood Record. 



The subject of building codes, from the standpoint of the lum- 

 berman, was presented by R. S. Whiting, engineer of the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association. The work to be done in that 

 line consists in acquainting architects with the place that should 

 be filled by wood, and acquainting city aldermen and town council- 

 men with the merits of lumber for building purposes. It should 

 be done for the purpose of removing unfounded prejudices against 

 wood as building material. 



Preservative Treatment of Wood 



A. R. Joyce, vice-president of tlie American Wood Preservers' 

 Association, gave it as his opinion that a somewhat unusual op- 

 portunity lies within reach of lumbermen, along the line of pre- 

 servative treatment. That has not been generally regarded as a 

 province for the lumbermen's activities. Mr. Joyce called atten- 

 tion to the agitation for better roads, now active all over the 

 country. Lumbermen should not lose sight of what this movement 

 means for them if they make the most of their opportunities. 



Much lumber and timber is needed in road building. It is re- 

 i]uired for bridges, culverts, trestles and railing, as well as for 

 paving blocks. The cement people are making a hard tight to cap- 

 ture that business, and in many places they will succeed in doing 

 it, but in many other localities the advantages are with lumbermen, 

 if they will make use of their opportunities. 



Road builders will use much wood, if it can be belter protected 

 against decaj". That is its weak point. Preservative treatment 

 iCoittimted on page 3!1 1 



