HARDWOOD RECORD 



The Knceland, Biiell & Bigelow Company, op- 

 erating Ihe sawmill lately pui'cbased from the 

 Wylie & liv.eH Lumber Company, has contracted 

 lor all the lumber the mill will manufacture from 

 this date to March 1, next, and at very satisfac- 

 tory prices. Mr. Bigelow says the conditions in 

 the hardwood industry are more satisfactory to- 

 day than they have been in many months, and 

 that there is more inquiry and the prices are 

 fairly good. This firm and that of the Kneeland- 

 lilgelow Company have set the pace at nearly 

 30,000,000 feet of hardwood the coming year 

 and are operating a dozen logging camps at this 

 lime. Men are more plentiful for the woods but 

 the quality of the labor is not as good as for- 

 merly, the proportion of inexperienced men be- 

 ing larger. 



One feature of the industry which figures con- 

 siderably in determining trade conditions is 

 that the winter thus far has been mild, with no 

 snow to speak of. The ground is not frozen ami 

 not much is being done in the woods. Opera- 

 tors say it is so soft that not much even can be 

 dene in skidding. This not only hampers the big 

 concerns that operate the year through, but if 

 these couditious continue it will keep many mill 

 operators and farmers from cutting any timber 

 at all. If they cannot haul the timber they 

 will not cut it. and in the aggregate this will 

 materially affect the total volume of the output 

 and cannot but exert an influence upon the sup- 

 ply and probably the market. 



The Saginaw Lumber Dealers' Association, 

 which takes in all dealers in the valley as well 

 as manufacturers, is to hold its annual meeting 

 luesday. E'ecember 12, at the East Saginaw 

 I'lub, Saginaw, and it will be followed by an 

 informal dinner. Inasmuch as the year has been 

 prosperous it is expected the members will carry 

 the usual stock of good humor, and the event 

 will be one to be remembered. 



The Gale Lumber Company at West Branch 

 is kicking vigorously owing to inability to get 

 cars, the inconvenience crippling its business 

 materially. 



Wm. II. White & Co., at Boyne City, has re- 

 organized with a capital of $1,200,000. Twelve 

 years ago this company was struggling for ex- 

 istence and today it is one of the strongest con- 

 cerns in the state. The company promoted the 

 construction of the railroad running from ftoyne 

 City to Gaylord and which is about ready to do 

 business, having recently been constructed into 

 Gaylord. It is intended to continue the road 

 throttgh to Alpena next year. 



J. T. Wylie says the cooperage business is look- 

 ing up materially. The firms with W'hich he is 

 connected operate four cooperage plants, two of 

 which are operated the year through. 



W. D. Young & Co. handle considerable hard- 

 wood lumber aside from flooring, and recently 

 sold about sixty carloads for shipment outside. 

 Maple flooring manufacturers are securing con- 

 tracts for stock for delivery during the winter 

 and next summer. Local manufacturers have 

 contracted for several million feet already for 

 manufacture during the winter. The flooring 

 industry is active, the demand continues satisfac- 

 tory and but for the scarcity of cars business 

 would be out of sight. 



All of the large operators are in the woods 

 and some hardwood logs are being shipped to the 

 mills at Alpena. The Michigan Central railroad 

 is bringing down over its Mackinaw division 

 about 100 cars daily for the various concerns on 

 its lines. 



The schooner Harvey Bissell, loaded with 

 700,000 feet of hardwood lumber, from St. Ignace 

 to Buffalo, went to pieces during the gale at 

 Alpena last week and the greater portion of the 

 <-argo was lost. 



Nearly all of the hardwood mills in the valley 

 will be operated during the winter ; in fact, the 

 Gates mill is about the only one that will be 

 idle. The Flood mill will start the first of the 

 year with a stock to cut for W. D. Young & 

 Co. 



Grand Bapids. 



A. Gibbs of Traverse City, senior member 

 of the Grand Rapids hardwood firm of Gibbs 

 <fc Hall, with offices in this city, spent a few 

 days in Grand Rapids recently. He has In- 

 stalled an electric lighting plant at Kingsley, 

 which is now in successful operation. 



Ed. C. Allen, who operates a mill at South 

 Allen, near Leroy. has returned from an ex- 

 tended trip to the Pacific coast. He expects 

 to stock the mil! this winter with hardwood 

 and hemlock. 



The forestry situation in Michigan was dis- 

 cussed by rresident Chas. W. Garfield of the , 

 state forestry commission before the state 

 meeting of horticulturists held in this city 

 Dec. 5. He was followed by Prof. James 

 Satteiiee of Lansing, who spoke of Pennsyl- 

 \'ania's forests. The Michigan mox'ement is 

 gaining new converts every day. 



The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company, with 

 $400,000 capital, of which $300,000 has been 

 paid in, has been organized by Muskegon and 

 Grand Rapids capitalists. While incorporated 

 in this state the company will do business in 

 California, operating a sawmill, logging road, 

 box factory and planing mill. The oflicers 

 are as follows: President, Tliomas Hume, 

 Muskegon; vice-president and general man- 

 ager, Ira B. Bennett, Fresno, Cal. ; treasurer, 

 George Hefferan, Grand Rapids ; secretary, 

 Geo. A. Hume, Muskegon. Messrs. Hume and 

 Hefferan have gone to Fresno to look after 

 the starting of operations. 



Walter Stone has resigned his position as 

 secretary and assistant treasurer of the J. F. 

 Quigley Lumber & Land Company. His suc- 

 cessor is H. L. Foote. 



Muskegon's second bonus fund of $100,000, 

 used, in inducing new industries to locate 

 there, has been nearly exhausted and the 

 directors of the Chamber of Commerce are in 

 favor of raising a similar amount to be ex- 

 pended in a like manner. Four large factory 

 buildings, to cost nearly $100,000, are being 

 erected and will be occupied ne.xt summer by 

 the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company of 

 Chicago, giving employment to about 500 men. 

 Adrien Van Keulen, formerly with the 

 Northwestern Cooperage & Lumber Company 

 of Gladstone, has taken a position as book- 

 keeper with the Van Keulen & Wilkinson 

 Lumber Company of Grand Rapids. 



A. K. Williamson will rebuild his sawmill 

 recently burned at Tanner, Manistee county. 

 John Nester, manager of the Nester Lum- 

 ber Company of Baraga, was taken to Chi- 

 cago recently by special train over the St. 

 Paul road, to be treated for appendicitis. 



Julius T. Hannah of Traverse City, in for- 

 mer y-ears prominently identified with the 

 lumber interests of northern Micliigan, is 

 dead. His estate will aggregate about $2,- 

 000,000. 



Indianapolis. 



The Charter Oak Handle & Lumber Com- 

 pany of Richmond, Ind., has been incorporat- 

 ed with a capital stock of $25,000. The di- 

 rectors of the company are J. R. Grunstreet, 

 Vernon D. Graves, John B. Elliott, Charles 

 Ketch and James S. Taylor. 



The Sandstrom Short-Turn Buggy Com- 

 pany of Indianapolis has been incorporated 

 witj; a capital stock of $50,000 to manufac- 

 ture a "short-turn" buggy. The directors 

 are Theodore Sandstrom, Clemens Vonnegut. 

 Jr., Cliarles J. Schuh, William H. Sherry and 

 Alfred F. Potts, all well-known in Indian- 

 apolis business circles. 



A timber-growing project has recently been 

 launched in Indiana by the Oakland City 

 Land & Timber Company of Oakland City, 

 articles of incorporation for which have just 

 been filed. Secretary W. H. Freeman of the 

 State Board of Forestry will supervise the 

 work on the 400-acre tract of land in Orange 



county, which has been purchased by the com- 

 pany. Various kinds of trees, such as hick- 

 ory, black locust, chestnut and catalpa, will 

 be cultivated on the land, after the plan of 

 timber growing on the state forest reserva- 

 tion. The officers of the company are: J. W. 

 Cockrum, president; H. W. Vedder, secretary, 

 and W. T. Gallagan, treasurer. 



The Nall-Wheeler Furniture Company of 

 Evansville, Ind., with a capital stock of 

 $10,000, has been incorporated. Directors are 

 Richard Nail and Elmer and Ciarence 

 Wheeler. 



A grand ball, attended by a large number 

 of people, marked the establishment of a chair 

 factory at Milan, Ind.. on Thanksgiving day. 

 The plant was erected by John King and will 

 be one of this little Hoosier town's impor- 

 tant industries. 



The sawmill owned by W. E. Talbert & 

 Co. at Morris, Ind., was destroyed by fire on 

 the night of Dec. 2, with a loss of about 

 $14,000. The origin of the fire is unknown. 

 The company had $5,000 insurance. 



On the night of Dec. 2 the cabinet factory 

 operated by Da>' & Cass at Greencastle. Ind., 

 was destroyed by fire with an estimated loss 

 of $12,000, and only $1,500 insurance. 



James Smith, a pioneer manufacturer of 

 Richmond. Ind., and the founder of the Rich- 

 mond Coflin Company, died Nov. 25, at the age 

 of eighty-two. He was born in Virginia and 

 had lived in Richmond for half a century. 



The plant of the Atwood Buggy Company, 

 located at Albion. Ind., was entirely destroyed 

 by fire Nov. 29. The loss was nearly $25,000, 

 only partly covered by insurance. The com- 

 pany was the most extensive manufacturing 

 industry in the city. The fire also destroyed 

 the stock yards of the Baltimore & Ohio 

 railroad, located nearby. 



Milwaukee. 



Some of the local firms are now engaging more 

 men than they have for some time during the 

 holidays. The C. A. Beck & Sons Company, for 

 instance, now has 175 men on its pay roll, 

 against 124 last year. The same is true of other 

 firms which have been engaged in the manufac- 

 1 ure of building material. The unprecedented 

 demand for interior finish continues, and some 

 of the employes of contractors are dubious as to 

 whether they will be given time to eat their 

 Christmas dinner. Mr. Beck asserts that there 

 Is a scarcity of some of the materials which 

 are most in demand by builders, not only in 

 Milwaukee but in the state and throughout the 

 Northwest. Especially is this true of oak. The 

 Wisconsin supply has proved to be totally inade- 

 quate to the demand and as a result it has been 

 necessary to call upon the southern states. 

 Southern oak does not come up to the Wisconsin 

 standard and it commands a lower price. 



Charles Xegge of the Tegge Lumber Company 

 asserts that his firm has slacked its activity to 

 some extent, in anticipation of the annual stock 

 taking, but that as soon as this is accomplished 

 activities will be renewed with added energy, and 

 it is expected that the concern will have a 

 record-breaking year. The inquiry, both local 

 an.d outside, has been beyond expectations. 



The Steinman Lumber Company, which is also 

 the Hardwood Lumber Company, jobbers in all 

 kinds of hardwoods, has orders ahead of unu.sual 

 volume at this time of the year. A. H. Stein- 

 man of this concern admits that there Is a 

 slight depression at present but is convinced that 

 it_ will be of exceptionally short duration and 

 tLat before two weeks of the new year have 

 clasped the usual demand will be experienced. 

 In fact, orders are now being booked, to be 

 filled ahead. 



This season has been remarkable for the con- 

 ditions which have been experienced in the 

 v;oods. According to C. J. Landeck of the Page 

 & Landeck Lumber Company there has been ab- 

 solutely no interruption in the work which has 



