30 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



E. H. Rardln, president and general manager 

 of Rardln Bros. Lumber Company, Athens, 0., 

 was among the week's visitors. 



W. L. Watson Is In from Maban, W. Va., for a 

 few days. 



W. H. Dawklns Is looking after his firm's 

 timber Interests at Ilnmiln, W. Va. 



Albert Steiubach of the Northern Lumber Com- 

 pany of New York visited the local market re- 

 cently. 



Nash'Tille. 



Nashville and the John M. Smith Lumber 

 Company of this city can lay claim to whatever 

 credit there may be coming from the launching 

 and unearthing of one of the biggest sensations 

 in lumber circles in recent years. Not many 

 days ago the Cumberland Lumber Company of 

 Nashville filed a bill in the Chancery Court of 

 Davidson county at Nashville seeking to re- 

 cover certain lumber that had been sold to the 

 John M. Spiith Lumber Company. A check for 

 $505.43 was given by the John M. Smith Lum- 

 ber Company In payment, drawn on the Amer- 

 ican National Bank of this city. The bill al- 

 leged that when the check was presented there 

 were no funds to meet It. The Cumberland 

 Lumber Company stated in Its bill that the 

 John M. Smith Lumber Company was insolvent 

 and that had such fact been known no lumber 

 would have been sold It. Almost simultaneous- 

 ly with the bill in the Chancery Court an in- 

 voluntary petition was filed in the Federal 

 Court at Nashville against the John M. Smith 

 Lumber Company, by certain of its creditors. It 

 developed that this petition was really filed at 

 the instance of John M. Smith himself, and Mr. 

 Smith made the following statement about the 

 matter : 



"The proceedings in bankruptcy were Insti- 

 tuted at the instance of myself and the board 

 of directors. I learned some ten days ago that 

 there was something wrong. As far as I have 

 been able to ascertain the present assets of the 

 company are about ?200,000. Its genuine lia- 

 bilities are about $80,000. In addition to this, 

 paper purporting to be the notes of the com- 

 pany, is held by parties to whom it has been 

 delivered, to the extent of $250,000 to $300,000. 

 Some of these notes have been falling due for 

 the past week or two. They arc without the 

 authority of the company and the company 

 does not owe them, nor did I have any knowl- 

 edge of their existence. Practically all of them 

 were discounted, as I learn, by the F. E. Creel- 

 man Lumber I& Manufacturing Company of 

 New Orleans, F. M. Creelman of Chicago, F. E. 

 Creelman Lumber Company of Cairo, III., and 

 the Florida Lumber Company of Montgomery, 

 Ala." 



Shortly after the filing of the replevy suit in 

 Nashville and of the petition of involuntary 

 bankruptcy, developments came thick and fast 

 for the Creelmans, F. M. Creelman being In- 

 terested in the John .M. Smith Lumber Company 

 of Nashville. liecelvcrs were named for the 

 various Institutions owned by the Creelman In- 

 terests and as a crowning feature of the finan- 

 cial climax a receiver was appointed for the 

 F. E. Creelman Lumber & Manufacturing Com- 

 pany of New Orleans, with a capital stock of 

 $1,000,000. Illinois creditors of the concern 

 filed a petition In the Federal Court at New 

 Orleans, alleging that the company owed $1,- 

 000.000. 



The John M. Smith Lumber Company was 

 organized In Nashville several months ago with 

 a capital stock of $125,000. The original In- 

 corporators were John M. Smith, F. W. Pettl- 

 bone. B. L. I'erklns, U. C. Card, W. B. Leech, 

 W. T. Crolzer and Ilarold Patterson. Shortly 

 after this F. M. Creelman of Chicago became 

 Interested In the firm and W. G. Itamshaw of 

 Chicago came to Nashville to become treasurer 

 of the company, and to look after the Creelman 

 Interegts In the John M. Smith Lumber Com- 

 pany. A few weeks since, Mr. Smith, not 

 finding what be thought was a sufBclent amount 



of cash on hand at the disposal of the John M. 

 Smith Lumber Company, began an investiga- 

 tion, and he found that a large amount of 

 accommodation paper, bearing the signature of 

 Mr. Hemshaw as treasurer, had been issued to 

 the various Creelman interests, ilt Is said 

 these notes soon began falling due at the rate 

 of several thousand dollars a day, and that 

 the reason the John M. Smith Lumber Company 

 did not go Into bankruptcy was on account of 

 its Inability to secure n correct list of its debts, 

 as new ones bobbed up each day. It Is under- 

 stood that F. E. Creelman has agreed to take 

 up all the accommodation paper involving the 

 John M. Smith Lumber Company, and Mr. 

 Smith will keep him to this promise. Mr. Rem- 

 shaw, treasurer of the John M. Smith Com- 

 pany and representative of the Creelmans in 

 Nashville, left the city shortly after the John 

 M. Smith Company litigation was inaugurated. 



The Nashville Spoke Company has opened a 

 receiving yard at Gallatin, Tenn. The company 

 will place lathes there to turn out high grades 

 of carriage and automobile spokes for the East- 

 ern markets. 



The Flanders Lumber Company of Roane 

 county has been incorporated with a capital 

 stock of $10,000. The incorporators arc C. P. 

 Flanders, D. O. Harris. S. C. Brown, R. B. 

 Cassell and A. S. Dunham. 



The Joseph Sheffer Lumber Company has been 

 chartered at Nashville with a capital stock of 

 $25,000. The Incorporators are Henderson 

 Baker, Joseph SchefTer, William SchelTer, W. H. 

 Cooper and T. I. Webb, Jr. The company will 

 erect a planing mill on First avenue and Taylor 

 street. 



Robert Vernson of Norman Lumber Company 

 of Ix)uisvllle was here last week. He made ex- 

 tensive purchases of oak along the Southern 

 Itallway. 



The well-known firm of Love, Boyd & Co. 

 lias arranged to take annually the entire output 

 of the Ciarksville Hardwood Lumber Company, 

 a new organization in which several Nashville 

 men are Interested. The contract will amount 

 to about a million feet annually and will repre- 

 sent a consideration of about $-10,000 to 

 $50,000. 



The Southern Lumber & Box Company has 

 decided to spend about $40,000 In the erection 

 of a hardwood mantel factory. A substantial 

 building Is to be erected adjoining the present 

 box factory of the company. It Is believed 

 there is n good opening here for such n plant 

 as not many firms have manufactured mantels 

 in Nashville heretofore, the bulk of such fin- 

 ishing articles having been shipped here. 



J. O. KIrkpatrick & Son will enlarge their 

 planing mill and shop, Increasing their output 

 one-third. About fifty more men will be em- 

 ployed. The plant is devoted exclusively to 

 building trade work, and is one of the largest 

 of that character In the state. The month of 

 January, 1906, of this firm quadrupled its busi- 

 ness for that period of 1905. The company has 

 about 6,000,000 feet of lumber on hand and 

 Is getting in obout thirty cars a week. 



The oflices of George C. Brown & Co., whole- 

 sale lumbermen of Nashville, and of McMlnn- 

 vllle. Tenn., were moved to Nashville last week 

 from McMlnnvllle. The company does about 

 $400,000 worth of business a year. 



The saw and planing mill of Williams Bros, 

 of Murfrcesboro, Tenn., has been destroyed by 

 fire. The loss Is estimated at about $6,000, in- 

 surance about halt that sum. Some of the lum- 

 ber stacked In the yard was saved. 



Two of the most Important committees of 

 the Noshvllle Board of Trade arc those of 

 Transportation and lilver Improvement. John 

 W. Love of the firm of Love, Boyd & Co. has 

 been appointed a member of the former com- 

 mittee, and (Jen. Gales P. Thurston, president 

 of the Prewitt Spurr Manufacturing Company, 

 Is a member of the latter. 



Tlie dry kiln of the American Lead Pencil 



Company at Lewlsburg, Tenn., caught fire a 

 tew nights ago and burned tor more than 

 twelve hours. By good work of Nashville and 

 Lewlsburg firemen the complete destruction of 

 the plant was avoided. The kiln contained 

 about two carloads of cedar pencil slats at the 

 time of the fire and about half of this amount 

 burned. The loss of $1,200 was covered by 

 insurance. 



Philips & Co., merchants of Third avenue 

 North, have decided to devote most of their busi- 

 ness to handling hardwood mantels. The floor 

 space of five stories will be given up to this 

 purpose. On the first floor will be a show 

 room, in which there will be 125 samples. The 

 other floors will be for warerooms and storage 

 of materials. 



The railroads are doing considerable develop- 

 ment of timbered regions east of Nashville. 

 The Overton County Railroad Is now nearlng 

 completion and a survey Is soon to be made 

 from Sparta to Cookevllle. one point being on 

 the McMlnnvllle branch of the N. C. & St. L., 

 and the other on the Southern Railway. This 

 road would pass through rich timber regions. 

 In addition, a railroad is planned between Mary- 

 land and Jamestown. The Tennessee Land & 

 Coal Company owns 40,000 acres of tlmt>er 

 lands between these two points. 



Much valuable timber land Is reported to 

 have been ruined by forest fires that have been 

 raging near Charlotte, Tenn., In Dickson county 

 during the past two weeks. 



The Nashville Board of Trade Is trying to 

 land for Nashville a new woodworking plant to 

 manufacture wooden money drawers, etc. Rep- 

 resentatives of such a company have visited 

 Nashville and have held conferences with local 

 lumbermen with this in view. 



The Arthur Hardwood Lumber Company of 

 Shelby county has filed an amendment to Its 

 charter, increasing the capital stock from $50,- 

 000 to $100,000. 



Dally bulletins are being received from Rock 

 Ledge, Indian River, Fla., from John B. Ran- 

 som and Millard Fillmore Greene, who are 

 fishing in the peninsular state. They report 

 great sport and they swear that they bring In a 

 boatload of fish every night. 



Robert Jordan's sawmill at Graysvllle, Tenn,, 

 exploded a few days since, wrecking the plant 

 and killing a son of the owner. 



At their bimonthly meeting the Nashville 

 Carriage Makers' Association discussed "Tire 

 Setting and Shaft Work." At the next meeting 

 on March 6 "Woodworking" will be the sub- 

 ject discussed. The association Is growing 

 rapidly and its members are deriving much ben- 

 efit from meetings. 



E. M. Spears, a prominent lumberman of 

 Uogersville, Tenn., died last week as the result 

 of a stroke of paralysis. He had large lumber 

 Interests at the time of his death. 



Master Mechanic R. J. Turnbull, Supt. A. H. 

 Egan and Roadmaster F. L. Thompson of the 

 Louisville division of the Illinois Central have 

 perfected a new device for loading cross tics on 

 Hat cars. It consists of a portable engine and 

 boiler with a portable skid Incline. The skid 

 will be fitted with an endless chain with pro- 

 jections at regular intervals. The apparatus Is 

 set up where there are many ties to load. The 

 ties are placed on the chain and carried to the 

 car where they are dumped, a man on the car 

 stacking them. The road has about 50.000 on 

 this division alone and will use the machine 

 constantly for stacking them In lots ranging 

 from .'iO.OOO to 50,000. 



Chief A. A. Rozetta of the Nashville flr<» 

 department has been presented with a check by 

 the American Lead Pencil Company of Lewls- 

 burg. Tenn., as a token of the company's ap- 

 preciation of his assistance In the recent fire 

 that came near destroying the plant of the 

 company. 



Memphis. 

 W. R. Bnrksdale, president of the Lumber- 



