HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



A Lumberman's Letters to His Son. 



Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 21. 



My Dear Son: I am just back from at- 

 tending the hardwood lumber conventions at 

 Louisville and Indianapolis, and I believe 

 that your old dad has got rattled. When 

 you visit the conventions of the hardwood man- 

 ufacturers you are thoroughly convinced that 

 they have got the jobber on the mat for 

 sure, and that he will stay there until he 

 can be counted out. When you get mixed up 

 with a bunch of hardwood jobbers in a eou- 

 vention, you are just as certain that among 

 the "its"' they are "it." As a matter of 

 fact, I am not buying any lumber, and I 

 don't believe I shall be able to until the en- 

 thusiasm over these association meetings dies 

 away. The manufacturers down in this sec- 

 tion don't seem to think there is any other 

 spot on the hardwood map except here in the 

 big bend of the Cumberland, and simply say 

 "This is the price and this is the grade; 

 put up your coin or go along and peddle 

 your papers." 



Fortunately I am pretty well fixed with 

 stock to carry us through until spring — and 

 I can 't stand being bulldozed anyhow. Prob- 

 ably shall not buy a foot of lumber on this 

 trip. Be on the safe side and hold the price 

 of oak stiff ; they are actually selling it down 

 here for more money than we are asking for 

 it in Chicago, and it may be that we will 

 eventually come into a little of the good 

 thing, and get a decent profit on what stock 

 we have on hand. 



1 note your report on the slow demand in 

 the eastern tield. This is as I said it would 

 be. Those chaps down east put up the hot- 

 test kind of a fight against advancing values. 

 I am inclined to think they will have to 

 pay the price to get lumber, but they may 

 be able to work their rabbit foot on us once 

 more and break prices on some items. As 

 I figure it out right now, the jobber is be- 

 tween the devil and the deep sea. He knows 

 what he is up against on the buying end all 

 right enough, but he cannot look far ahead 

 on the sales proposition. This game is not 

 what it used to be, since these manufacturers 

 have learned all the schemes that used to 

 make quite a bunch of money for the job- 

 ber and have picked up a lot of new games 

 that the jobber never thought of and wouldn 't 

 have dared try to spring if he had. 



I am going to cruise a little bunch of tim- 

 ber in Arkansas next week, and if it looks all 

 right shall probably buy it. If I do, I am 

 going to build a sawmill and send you down 

 there to learn to run it and take quinine and 

 calomel. I have about made up my mind 

 that the manufacturing end is the right side 

 of the box in this hardwood proposition. 



Your affectionate father. 



P. S. Your mother writes me that you 

 have fallen by the wayside with the Frisco 

 bunch of petticoats. It's too bad; I was in 

 hopes your mother had dug ujj a scheme for 

 you to get a living without working for it. 

 It looks as though getting rich before you 

 got caught at it has been worked to a finish. 



Hardwood Record J\Iail Bag. 



[In this department it is proposed to reply 

 to such inquiries as reach this office from the 

 Hardwood Record clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to wan-ant publication. Every 

 patron of the paper is invited to use this de- 

 partment to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made to answer queries pertaining to all 

 matters of interest to the hardwood trade, in 

 a succinct and intelligent manner. 1 



From the Viewpoint of a Poplar Manufac- 

 turer. 

 The following communication from A. J. 

 Gahagan of the Loomis & Hart Manufactur- 

 ing Company of Chattanooga is herewith re- 

 produced, as illustrating the viewpoint of 

 trade conditions and outlook taken by a 

 very competent manufacturer in one of the 

 leading poplar centers of the United States: 



We have not seen a more active December in 

 lumber lines in several years. Contrary to all 

 precedent in the past so far as we have taken 

 notice, instead of there lieing a checViing up in 

 crders immediately preceding the holidays there 

 has been an exceptionally large demand for all 

 merchantable grades of lumber. The demand for 

 pine for building purposes has never been so 

 great. In all the prominent southern cities, par- 

 ticularly so in the manufacturing centers, build- 

 ing operations during 1900 will be far in excess 

 of any other year in the past history of this 

 section of the country. Tliere is no evidence 

 in sight th.it there will be any holding up in new 

 building enterprises in the southern states dur- 

 ing the next six months. On account of the mild 

 climate work will go on right throtigh the win- 



ter, unless it would be during excepti«_>ually cold 

 periods that do not as a rule last very long. It 

 would be safe to say that in the consumption of 

 hardwoods, taking the country as a whole, 1003 

 is the banner year. The year will close with 

 an upward tendency in prices on all kinds of 

 lumber. 



In this market there have been more orders re- 

 ceived during November and December than dur- 

 ing these months of any past year and the orders 

 placed for immediate shipment In December will 

 be far in excess of orders entered in November, 

 and every indication pointing to an active de- 

 mand for lumber during January and February. 

 The river mills have received about a million 

 and a half feet of logs during December and the 

 supplies that will come during the next six 

 months will be far short of the supply tor any 

 year since 1890. The quality of logs will every 

 year show a depreciation in grade. Before the 

 supply that can be placed on the market from 

 the logs coming in by water during the winter 

 season is in shipping condition, everything iu 

 the yards here now will have been shipped out if 

 the demand continues anything like it has been 

 for the past few months. 



Low grade oak is selling actively and at bet- 

 ter prices than at any time during the past two 

 years. High grade oak and high grade poplar 

 are almost out of the market, scarcely a car- 

 load to be had. Medium and low grade poplar 

 are moving more actively and at better prices 

 than at any time since the beginning of 1904. 

 Nos. 1, 2 and 3 common poplar have moved 

 very slowly during the past two years, but large 

 orders are now being placed at very satisfactory 



prices and stocks being shipped rapidly. One 

 of the Chattanooga mills which has held large 

 quantities of Nos. 1. 2 and 3 common, particu- 

 larly in 4-1 thickness, has entered orders dur- 

 ing the past two weeks which have almost ex- 

 hausted stock. The same arm has been offering 

 sound wormy chestnut in liberal quantities for 

 the past six months. It has on its books now 

 orders tor this grade of chestnut amounting to 

 more than a half million feet, and has to-day 

 refused orders for any more. In the way of 

 :ish, which has been iu active demand all 

 through the year, there is nothing to be had iu 

 quantity and particularly so in thick stock. 

 There has been considerable ash in the past in 

 the Chattanooga market, and there is perhaps 

 not a single carload of three and four inch ash 

 iu the city to-day. 



People who have contracts made ahead to sup- 

 ply themselves with lumber are fortunate. Those 

 who have sold ahead for future delivery unless 

 they have the stock now on sticks will be the 

 kisers where transactions are large. It is only 

 the pessimist who sees trouble in the future, and 

 it would not be surprising if lumber is twenty- 

 live percent higher before another twelve 

 iii'inths roll around. 



Shuttle Blocks. 

 The editor has a eommunieatiou from a di- 

 mension manufacturing house in Alabama 

 soliciting information on the subject of mak- 

 ing shuttle blocks of persimmon or cornel 

 wood. The correspondent wants information 

 about the standard sizes of such blocks, grades 

 of stock and approximate values. The editor 

 would very much appreciate information on 

 this subject from anyone familiar with this 

 class of material. 



Grey and Keck Elm Logs and Lumber. 



The Hardwood Eecokd has a eommuniea- 

 tiou from Antwerp, Belgium, making in- 

 quiry for source of supply for good elm 

 legs and lumber, both or either grey and 

 rock elm for that market. Anyone wishing 

 the address of this correspondent can secure 

 it by advising the editor, preferably ac- 

 compauying letter with specifications and 

 prices. 



Probable Settlement of Car Stake Contro- 

 versy. 



The car stake and equipment complaint was 

 called for hearing by the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission at Washington. Jan. 11. The de- 

 fendant railioads were fully represented by coun- 

 sel, and many witnesses on their behalf were 

 present. The following associations, plaintiffs in 

 the case, were well represented by officers and 

 prominent members : Philadelphia Wholesale 

 Lumber Dealers' Association, Pittsburg ^\^lolb- 

 sale Lumber Dealers' Association, National 

 I-Iardwood Lumber .Association, Northwestern 

 Cedarmen's Association, Lumber Exchange of 

 Philadelphia and Lumber Exchange of Baltimore. 



The railroads in official classification territory 

 amended their answers, conceding an allowance 

 of 500 pounds for equipment on flat and gondola 

 cars, to take effect Feb. 1. 1906. Three days 

 were taken up in hearing the testimony of wit- 

 nesses for plaintiffs, after which it was decided 

 that a conference be held between committees 

 representing the lumber interests and the rail- 

 roads, for the purpose of settling amicably the 

 differences which have arisen between them. 

 The conference will be held Feb. 1 at Old Point 

 Comfort, Va., and the committee for the plain- 

 tiffs requests that each association, whether a 

 party to the complaint or not, shall send one or 

 more representatives to the meeting to the end 

 that the committee may receive all possible help 

 and suggestions on settling this important mat- 

 ter. In case no agreement is reached between 

 these opposing factions, the hearing will be 

 resumed before the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission in March. 



