HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



tion of more to come. The industrial phase of Pitts- 

 burg's business situation is a very bright one at 

 present. Heavy timbers, trestle and bridge stuff, 

 mine timbers, ties, poles and plank are in bet- 

 ter demand than they have been in any January 

 for years. A large proportion of the orders 

 arc wanted for very early delivery. Finishing 

 lumber is in fairly good call, especially the finer 

 grades of hardwoods. Maple is in good call, al- 

 though the demand for tlooring is not so iieavy 

 as a few weeks ago. Chestnut is a leader in 

 the market at good figures, t'ousiderable ash is 

 selling, and beech, bircli and hickory are going 

 out in small quantities to the small manufac- 

 turing plants in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 



Buffalo. 



Huffalo hardwood dealers are still doing a fair 

 business. It is found to be impossible to keep 

 a supply of chestnut, and plain oak promises 

 to go higher before long on account of the low- 

 stocks of this substitute for it. There is a great 

 plenty of maple, even though it is quite active. 

 Basswood is still abundant, without being very 

 active, and elm continues to be slow of sale and 

 is rather scarce. 



The growing scarcity of so many woods at 

 the same time has made it necessary to revamp 

 the whole list to some extent. Some dealers have 

 brought out cherry and walnut to take the place 

 of finishing woods, and oak has suffered from 

 these as well as from maboganj-, which now has 

 the lead in many of the great offlce-building 

 jobs. Coming to the cheaper inside finishings. 

 there is success in the effort to push gum and 

 tupelo in ahead of ash or elm. that used to be 

 in the lead in that line of business. Some deal- 

 ers are dropping home hardwoods to a certain 

 «xtent and bringing in Pacific coast fir. spruce 

 and redwood. They are still able to get elegant 

 clear stuff at qiiite a moderate price, and it 

 takes well. 



I'oplar is doing well, with no assurance yet of 

 much of a cut, and cypress sells readily on ac- 

 count of its being .so much lower than white 

 pine. • 



Local stocks are generally good in all lines, 

 unless it be chestnut, which will not, from 

 present appearances, be plenty again. Black ash 

 is much scarcer than it should be, and plain 

 oak is not abundant. The general demand re- 

 mains fair, and the trade goes on steadily. 



Detroit. 



The buoyant conditions wliich are reported in 

 most of the southern liardwoods are not re- 

 flected to any great extent in northern woods. 

 There is a complaint that maple, beech, birch 

 and basswood are no stronger, and in the case 

 of basswood much weaker, than one or two 

 years ago. Inch maple lumber, to be sure, is 

 greatly improved in demand and some pro- 

 ducers have been able to secure slightly ad- 

 vanced price. Thick stock is really in no bet- 

 ter position than it has been at any time with- 

 in the past twelve months. The great trouble 

 is that every mill man, large or small, who 

 has any hardwood at all, has maple. Of course, 

 it goes without saying that oak is a top- 

 notcher in Michigan as elsewhere, but the pro- 

 duction of oak in this state is too small to be of 

 any consequence. 



Saginaw Valley. 



Of course this is usually tlie dull month in 

 the movement of hardw-ood lumber because deal- 

 ers and manufacturers have just taken inven- 

 tory, squared the business of the old year and 

 are getting in shape to begin another cam- 

 paign ; yet there are no complaints filed as to 

 trade conditions. Some large blocks of lumber, 

 yet to be cut. have been sold for futtire deliv- 

 «ry. and stocks in dealers' hands are liot large. 

 On this river there is only a stock of 27.000,000 

 feet, and two-thirds of that represents the ac- 

 cumulation of one firm that is carried the year 

 thiough. Dealers say there is a good call for 

 nearly all kinds of hardwood stock, and there 

 are numerous inquiries as to the existing condi- 



tions from buyers who will want stock in the 

 near future. Prices are generally firm for most 

 grades, and the situation in maple has mate- 

 rially Improved compared with that a year ago. 

 Ash, oak. basswood and birch are wanted to a 

 greater or less extent, and at a well sustained 

 range of values. A number of mills are in oper- 

 ation in this section of the state. The railroads 

 are doing better in the way of moving stocks, 

 as cars are more plentiful, and thus far there 

 has been no delay in moving lumber by rail 

 incident to unfavorable weather. In fact, there 

 could not he better weather conditions for han- 

 dling lumber. A fairly good stock of logs will 

 be put into llie mills and yards (his season. 



IndianapoUs. 



Xo perceptible change is reported in the prices 

 for any kiud of hardwood lumber in the Indian- 

 apolis market. The year is starting out well 

 and dealers hold an optimistic view of the fu- 

 ture. The year lilOTj was the banner building 

 year in the city's history, a fact which brought 

 gladness to the hearts of the hardwood men of 

 the city. While I'.IOO does not promise to break 

 the 1005 record for the number and cost of new 

 buildings, still it seems pretty certain the build- 

 ing to be done this year will be very large. Al- 

 ready work has been begun on several good- 

 sized down-town business buildings, and it is 

 reported that the number of dwellings to be 

 erected this year will be large. Because of this 

 things look good to the Indianapolis lumbermen. 



Bristol. 



Conditions in lumber channels in this section 

 for the past fortnight have been good ; in fact, 

 many of the lumbermen ?ftfclare business is 

 better this month than during December, and 

 the unanimous opinion is advanced that the 

 winter and spring of the good year 1906 will 

 see even better business than any time in the 

 past. Shippers have been greatly handicapped 

 for .several months by the dearth of cars and 

 in some instances the car shortage has been 

 disastrous. The railroads are making a strenu- 

 ous effort to relieve the situation and they 

 have to a large degree succeeded in alleviating 

 the famine ; however, there is yet a considerable 

 car shortage. 



The mills are all running regularly and lit- 

 tle delay on account of inclement weather has 

 been occasioned so far. 



There is a general scarcity of stock despite 

 the fact that a number of new large mills 

 have recently been put into operation, and 

 wholesalers are making a campaign for stock. 

 Some of the Bristol concerns are sixty days 

 behind orders. 



Cincinnati. 



The local hardwood market has pursued the 

 even tenor of its way during the last two 

 weeks. The demand continued good, especially 

 for plain oak, gum, ash and chestnut. Dry 

 stocks were not increased. Advices from mills 

 state that unpropitious weather is interfering 

 with operations. Further relief was noted in 

 the freight car situation. Foreign inquiry Is 

 not increasing. 



Chattanooga. 



Local lumbermen are talking about lumber 

 conditions with a cheery ring which makes one 

 feel that they are prosperous and happy in every 

 sense of the word. At the first of the year they 

 predicted the heaviest business ever known and 

 they say now that so far their most sanguine 

 expectations are being met. The only com- 

 plaint is on the shortage in dry stocks, which 

 is so scarce that the situation is a little bit 

 alarming, and lumbermen are "kicking" about 

 it. This is probably due to two or three 

 conditions. One is the fact that during last 

 sitmmer the heavy rains prevented log men from 

 cutting their logs and getting them to the 

 roads and rivers for market, and the inability 

 to do so now because of the extremely w-et 



weather which prevails all over this section. 

 With all this, however, there has been no lull 

 in the market, which generally follows the holi- 

 day season. 



Yellow pine is the leader here, with oak and 

 poplar a close second. Plain oak leads in hard- 

 woods, while quartered oak is very firm. The 

 poplar market is very active and especially is 

 tl'.is true of firsts and seconds. Clear sap and 

 common grades are also active, which is a 

 splendid iudication. I"or many years there was 

 little demand for clear sap and common grades. 

 There is practically no basswood and ash in 

 this market. Walnut is very scarce. The indi- 

 cations are that there will be a steady increase 

 in the prices of hardwoods in this market from 

 now on. 



Local lumbermen are somewhat interested in 

 the railroad rate bill which is now pending in 

 congress. They fear nothing, however, unless 

 the agitation now rampant may result in the 

 withdrawal of what is known as the "milling 

 in transit rate" by the railroads. It is known 

 that one trunk line centering here has attempted 

 to withdraw this rate several times. According 

 to this, for instance, a rate of 8% cents is 

 charged from Florence, Ala., to this city on a 

 shipment on which '20y2 cents is charged to 

 Buffalo, but if shipped directly a rate of 22% 

 cents is allowed. 



St. Iiouis. 



There is a very decided firmness in the hard- 

 wood market here as elsewhere throughout the 

 country. Demand is reasonably brisk, and 

 stocks are not superabundant either in yards or 

 at mills, with the result that prices are stronger 

 than they have been for some time past. Log- 

 ging conditions at mills in the South have been 

 very bad the past few weeks, and this has inter- 

 fered very materially with operations of plants 

 at many points. Receipts have been accordingly 

 reduced, and the anxiety of buyers added to 

 this has given a distinctly firmer undertone to 

 almost all the hardwoods. Ash sells better of 

 late, gum is making quite a record, too, and 

 both white and red oak are ready sellers. Quar- 

 tered stock is also evincing more life than in 

 recent weeks. Poplar is maintaining its hold 

 oil buyers' favor, and sales of cottonwood have 

 been of encouraging proportions. Nearly all the 

 principal factors in the St. Louis market ex- 

 press themselves as well pleased with the busi- 

 ness thus far this month, and some of them re- 

 port sales much in excess of their most sanguine 

 expectations. 



Nash'Tille. 



With a brisk demand for every kind of lum- 

 ber, no sort of disposition manifested to cut 

 prices, a full tide in Cumberland river bring- 

 ing down quantities of logs, and the volume of 

 orders increasing, local lumbermen are as busy 

 as bees. The market is reported as very steady, 

 with probably an upward tendency. Dry lumber 

 of every kind is said to be very scarce, and this 

 is especially true of plain oak. Increased de- 

 mand is also noted for quartered oak, and the 

 demand for each is decidedly brisk. The other 

 varieties of hardwoods are holding up well. 

 There is a noticeable increase in the volume of 

 orders since the first of the year. Cumberland 

 river is high now and many long rafts are 

 being brou;;ht down. There is a shortage re- 

 ported at the head of the river, however, for 

 it seems that each season the lumbermen have 

 to go back farther and farther to get good 

 limber, and have consequently longer hauls to 

 make to get their product to market. River 

 men expect the tide to last tmtil May or June, 

 however, and a lot of lumber should be brought 

 down by that time. Oak, poplar and cedar 

 rafts are reported as coming down almost daily 

 and many staves and cress ties are being 

 lirought to market on the tide. 



The woodworking establishments are making 

 heavv demands on the wholesale lumber deal- 

 ers tor timber with which to make interior 



