58 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



June 25. 1919 



HawUvoiwls 



Kiln Dried AND Air Dried 



Office 6iYards2J49to2423 SoIoohis St. 



TELEPHONES 



CANAL 1630 



CANAL 1631 



CANAL 116 



Wistar, Underbill & Nixon 



PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 



Manufacturers of CYPRESS and GUM 



WE MANUFACTURE bandsawed, plain and quarter sawed 



WHITE and RED OAK and YELLOW POPLAR 



We make a specialty of Oak and Hickory Imple- 

 ment, Wagon and Vehicle Stock in the rough 

 Your Inquiries Solicited 



ARUNGTON LUMBER CO., Arlington, Kentucky 



Disposing of Surplus Lumber 



Up to Monday, May 26, 1910, the War Department had disposed of 

 52,980,639 feet of its surplus lumber at prices that ranged from $9 to $28 

 per thousand feet, depending upon the condition of the lumber and Its 

 location. The sales were made through J. L. Phillips and John Stevens, 

 of Jacksonville, Fla., in accordance with a contract made Feb. 25. 1919, 

 between the Director of Sales of the War Department and Messrs. Phillips 

 and Stevens, representing the lumber industry. 



The lumber disposed of consisted of fir, hemlocli, spruce, and pine, and 

 some of .it was badly weather stained. It Is expected that other surplus 

 stock will be sold from time to time. 



Issues Modified Liability Clause for Side Track Agreement 



In its efforts to secure from the administration a uniform and modified 

 side track agreement, the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Associa- 

 tion has issued a modified liability clause believed to be fair and equitable. 

 It is stated that the railroad administration has appointed a committee 

 to sit at Washington with instructions to review general order No. 15 and 

 the contracts which are being tendered in connection with it. Tbe pro- 

 posed modified liability clause has been presented to this committee 

 which will consider it In its investigation. It is suggested that action can 

 best be insured by co-operation on the part of the trade at lar^e. The 

 clause Is as follows : 



It is understood that the movement of the railroad's locomotives over 

 said track involves some risk of fire, and as between the parties, the 

 industry assumes all responsibility for loss or damage arising from fire 

 caused by loconiotives on said track ; except to the premises of the rail- 

 road and' to rolling stock belonging to, the railroad, or to others. 



As to loss arising from any other cause each party shall Indemnify 

 the other for, and save the other harmless from, all loss of property and 

 life and injury to property and persons arising out of the use of, or 

 occasioned by, the construction or maintenance of said track as follows : 

 The railroad assumes all responsibility for loss of or damage to 

 rolling stock belonging to the railroad, or to others ; and for injury 

 to or death of agents or employes of the railroads, when acting as 

 such : except such loss, damage, injury or death as may be caused by 

 the sole negligence of the industry, or the agents, or employes of the 

 industry, when acting as such. 



The industry assumes all responsibility for loss of or damage to 

 all other property ; and for injury to or death of its agents or em- 

 ployes, when acting as such ; except such loss, damage, injury or 

 death as may be caused by the sole negligence of the railroad, or the 

 agents or employes of the railroad, when acting as such ; the intent 

 of this agreement being that in the case of joint negligence, each 

 party shall bear its own loss, except in case of fire, and then only as 

 set forth above ; and in case of loss or damage to property of third 

 parties (other than rolling stock) or injury or death of licensees 

 caused by joint negligence of the industry and the railroad, the 

 industry and the railroad shall share responsibility for such loss, 

 damage, injury or death equally and pay any claim or judgment 

 therefor equally. 



Building Statistics for May 



Statistics of building permits for the month of May from 1G4 cities 

 otficially reporte<l to the American Contractor indicate clearly that a 

 "go-ahead" policy for construction is under way. Only 28 cities out of 

 the 164 show a loss compared to last year's statistics, and the total of 

 $105, -170, 299 for May of this year is a 110 per cent gain over the total of 

 $40,763,085 for the same cities during the corresponding period of last 

 year. This is encouraging when compared to the record for previous 

 months of this year, as the following table shows. 



Number 



Month. cities 1919 value 1918 value 



January 152 $23,869,215 $27,291,218 



February 153 32,058,628 21,680,314 



March 199 64,884,325 BO, 520,620 



April 105 84.914,008 44,516,828 



May 164 105,470,299 40,763,085 



$311,106,475 $179,781,065 



In comparison to 1918 figurfes for the corresponding month, January, 

 1919, showed a loss of 12 per cent ; February a gain of 48 per cent ; March 

 a gain of 77 per cent, and April a. gain of 91 per cent. 



These totals give a gain of 73 per cent for the first 5 months of 1919 

 over 1918. 



Comparison of May, 1919, figures with previous May figures is shown In 

 the following tabulation : 



Number Number Estimated 



Tear citie$ permits value 



1919 164 30,203 $105,470,299 



1918 164 24.516 49,763.085 



1917 117 20,479 75.168.153 



1916 112 31,877 113.004,515 



1915 112 25,608 86.400,129 



1014 71 72,057,666 



By reducing these figures to the number of permits per year per city for 

 the month of May the average value of May permits per city per year 

 1914-1918 inclusive is $689,865. The average value of permits per city for 

 May, 1919, is $643,111. Bearing in mind that the larger the number of 

 cities the more small cities are included makes these figures look very 

 favorable for the past month's activity. The conclusion may be drawn 

 that normality is shown by the comparison but it must be noted that the 

 purchasing power of the 1919 dollar is much less than that of some of 

 the included previous years. 



The average value of permits for May is $2,614. This is a marked im- 

 provement on the average of $1,700 for January of this year and shows 

 that less of the permits are being taken out for repair work and small 

 undertakings. 



