HARDWOOD RECORD 



Tenth Annual Chicago HardWood Lumber Exchange. 



At 1 p. m. oil Saturday, Marc-li 17, the 

 jiiembers of the Chicago Hanhvood Lumber 

 i^xohange met at luncheon in the English 



M>m of the Great Northern hotel and after- 

 ward held its tenth annual meeting. There 

 were present several invited guests of the 



II I Kill II iKi; FATIIAUER. PRESIDENT, THE- 

 (IDdliE FATHAUER COMPANY. 



. \i-h;iuup, amono Avhom were Earl Palmer, 

 ]. resident of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association; W. H. Eusse of the Executive 

 I nramittee of that association; J. W. Thomp- 

 >.m: W. W. Knight, chairman of the National 

 Inspoi-tion Bureau Committee, and the editor 

 ■ if tlie Hardwood Kecokd. 



The meal was a very delightful one, and at 



\ KIMBAI.L, SECRETARY. A. 

 NEDGE LUMBER CnMl'AXY. 



its conclusion President Theodore Fathauer 

 called the meeting to order. Secretary Carl 

 A'. Kimball read the minutes of the last 

 mcetini;, which were ajiproved. Thereupon 



I'resident J''athaner delivered the following 

 address: 



President's Address. 



This is an era of oigauization. Collective 

 effort in all directions seems to have taiien the 

 Iilace of individual action. It thercfure is but 

 natural that tin- hardwood lumber dealers in 

 Ibis market should undertake to work for indi- 

 vidual betterment through united effort, and this 

 was the motive of the hardwood lumber dealers 

 ut Chicago when they organized the Chicago 

 Hardwood I.umbor Exchange years ago. In the 

 beginning, wlien this exchange was founded, it 

 iiegan to work ou inspect ion rules and Iheir ap 

 plication, also to inform its members of the 

 linancial standing of the consumers of hardwood 

 lumber, etc. Most of you are familiar with the 

 fact that the Chicago Hardwood Lumber ICx 

 ihange took the iuitiative in organizing the Na- 

 tioual Hardwood Lumber Association. The his- 

 tory of the latter is known to you all — how it 

 brought system out of confusion in the inspec- 

 tion of hardwood lumber ; how it broke down the 

 barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding be- 

 tween the different markets, and how it estab- 

 lished friendly relations between the manufac- 

 turer and dealer. I feel proud of the Chicago 

 Hardwood Lumber Exchange and its work in 

 tliis direction, especiall.v when this was done in 

 spite of unfair and malicious criticism. It re- 

 mained steadfast and won the goal. 



It also redounds to the credit of the exchange 

 that it is and always has been in the front ranks 

 of the National Hafdwood Lumber Association, 

 not only when it was inaugurated but during the 

 subsequent years when improvements were 

 brought about. It has revolutionized the hard- 

 wood lumber business, a great accomplishment, 

 from the fact that the field covers practically 

 llie entire United States. I sincerely hope that 

 every member of the exchange is a member of 

 the National Association, as it is their duty to 

 contribute their share to this work. It is unfair 

 toward the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion to reap the benefits of its work and be 

 unwilling to contribute substantially toward Its 

 maintenance and further expansion. Inasmuch 

 as we are relieved by the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association of the arduous work of 

 maintaining inspection rules and their applica- 

 tion in this market, our energies can now be 

 directed to other channels. There are features 

 of great interest to us which are of a local 

 nature and must therefore be solved entirely 

 among ourselves. 



.\s we all know, supply and demand govern 

 values, and the more knowledge we have of 

 supply as well as demand, the more competent we 

 are to fix values. .Judging from my viewpoint. 

 1 i-onsider a compilation of the lumber on band 

 in the city of Chicago of greatest importance, 

 and earnestly urge that ne undertake to compile 

 a monthly stock list of the lumber on hand in 

 the respective yards and another of the lumber 

 at country points owned by local carload and 

 jard dealers. In the past we have been abso- 

 lutely ignorant as to whether or not a certain 

 kind." grade and thickness of lumber was "long" 

 or "short," which in my opinion is altogether 

 wrong. I think you have all had the experience, 

 where a certain pile of lumber had become an 

 eyesore to you. of immediately quoting; a low 

 price, when a call was received for it, in order 

 to get rid of it, and, in the event that you sold 

 a little more than you had, and undertook to liuy 

 it in Chicago or elsewhere, found either that it 

 was not to be had or that your neighbor asked 

 considerably more than the price you had sold 

 at. Then the ridiculous low price sale became 

 apparent. .\ stock list, embodying the lumber 

 on hand in all the yards, and that owned by the 

 carload dealers, would check such ridiculous sell- 

 ing. It would not only be of great benefit to us 

 in selling lumber, but also in contracting and 

 buying, foi- if a dealer were short or entirely out 

 of 'a certain kind ot lumber, and found upon con 

 suiting the stock list that his competitor had a 

 large quantity of it, he would buy conservatively 

 or not at all'. Thus, buying and selling would 

 be done with greater intelligence. 



This stock list would become of greater value 

 to us in the course of time, as we can .iudgt* only 

 by comparison. I think you will agree with me 

 that a stock list of this nature would be more 

 valuable to us the second year than the first, as 

 going back and comparing stock on hand in a 

 certain month w*ith the stock on hand a year 

 from that date would be our guide. The demand 

 we can only approximate .iudging from the re- 

 spective inquiries that we receive for lumber, and 

 also taking into account the general prosperity 

 of the country and the special features of the 

 local market. 



I also wish to call your attention to the fact 

 that the Chicago Hardwood Lumber Exchange 

 some years ago saved many of us a considerable 

 sum of money on insurance rates. About four 

 or five years ago the insurance companies de- 



manded an increase of twenty-five ceius per 

 hundred dollars for carrying risks ou hardwood 

 lumber yards. This exchange took up the mat 

 ter, and through the personal canvass of Mr. 

 Harry Gardiner the whole situation was gone 

 over. Mr. Gardiner found that during a period 

 of twenty-five years the fire losses paid on hard- 

 wood lumber carried in the yards of Clilcago 

 were about $6,000. This fact was presented to 



I'.\1:K RICHMOND, VICE I'RKSIHENT. 



the board of underwriters and they dropped the 

 advance of twenty-five cents. This was accom 

 olished by the exchange for its members, but 

 full credit should be given Mr. Gardiner for his 

 work in this direction. I regret that I am nut 

 in possession of information as to bow much the 

 hardwood lumber dealers of this city pay an- 

 nually in premiums for fire insurance, but it is 

 ■safe to assert that an amount is paid yearly in 

 premiums many times what the insurance com- 

 panies paid in losses during the last thirty years. 

 In view of this fact, it would seem that the in- 

 surance rate on hardwood lumber is entirely too 

 high, and I believe we should take steps to 

 secure a reduction as the c(piiditinus merit. 



2>^ 



J. S. TRAINER, TREASURER, TEAIXER 

 BROTHERS LUMBER COMPANY, 



I think we should also insist upon some pro- 

 tection in the matter of sales in this market. I 

 do not think it is good business policy on our 

 part to patronize a manufacturer or commission 

 dealer in lumber who sells to the consumers of 

 this market. Of course this is a free country, 

 and the manufacturer or commission dealer has 



