October 23, 1916 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



September Hardwood Inspection 



During the month of September more than 14,000,000 feet of lumber were 

 graded by the salaried and fee inspectors of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association, and the reinspection for the month was only a little more than 

 one per cent of that amount. 



Canada's Fire Losses This Year 



The forest fire loss during I'JKJ whicli the timber owners of Canada must 

 shoulder, amounted to more than *0, 000, 000. The people there are figuring 

 out what that much money would have bought, if the Joss could have been 

 prevented and the amount converted into cash. It is six times as much as 

 has been spent the past jear for forest protection in the whole Dominion of 

 Canada. It is much easier to count the loss than to prevent it. Canada is 

 a large country and is difficult to protect against fire ; but had no measures 

 for prote^'tion been taken, it is safe to say that the loss would have been 

 much greater. 



Active Work on Foreign Lumber Investigation 



The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of 

 Commerce has in connection with preliminary work of investigation of 

 European lumber possibilities, sent out a list of questions to two hundred 

 and fifty leading export firms, the object being to ascertain the precise Tlews 

 of these foreign exporters on many questions which will have to be taken 

 into consideration in extending the investigation work. 



The reports which will come from all exporting centers will make possible 

 the filing of exhaustive information as to export trade practice, enabling 

 the bureau to advise lumber manufacturers promptly of the ways and means 

 available for disposing of their product abroad. 



Russia to Tax Wood Exports 



The Russian government is considering a proposal to lay an export 

 tax on all wood leaving that country ; but the matter has not yet been 

 definitely decided. The tax as proposed amounts to about one-fourth 

 of a cent per pound, or perhaps six dollars a thousand feet for pine. 

 Such a measure would affect America only indirectly, except that we 

 might have to pay the export tax on Siberian oak shipped to the western 

 coast of the United States. The principal result would be to decrease the 

 use of Russian wood In the countries of western Europe, and thereby 

 open additional markets for American iunil>cr. 



Increased Demand for Wooden Soles 



The extraordinary consumption of leather for military purposes in 

 England appears to have increased the demand for wood in the shoe 

 sole industry. Wood of alder trees recently sold at IS cents a cubic foot 

 on the stump. The purchaser will install on the ground the necessary 

 machinery to work the wood into billets, thereby reducing the freight 

 cost in shipping to the factory where the finished soles will be made. 



no great complaint. He says, however, that his new position is a regular 

 man's job ; that the marketing of the output of five sawmills and one 

 veneer mill, and marketing It to advantage, is enough to keep any man 

 occupied. 



Charles P. Bowen of Charles P. Bowen & Co., city, died recently. 



The Portsmouth Veneer & Panel Company, Mound City, 111., sustained a 

 loss by fire. 



R. S. Huddleston of the New Tork and Chicago firm of the Huddleston- 

 Marsh Mahogany Company, accompanied by Mrs. Huddleston, has been 

 spending the last few days in Chicago, stopping at the LaSalle Hotel. Mr. 

 Huddleston says that business is unusually brisk with his firm, and that 

 everything is promising in the mahogany situation. 



John Penrod of Penrod Walnut & Veneer Company, Kansas City, Mo., 

 and of Penrod, Jurden & McCowen, Memphis, Tenn., has been in the city 

 for the past few days. Mr. Penrod speaks very favorably of the walnut 

 situation, and as to the hardwood output of the southern company he says 

 that the only trouble is the car situation. 



Claude Sears of the Edward L. Davis Lumber Company, Louisville, Ky., 

 was a prominent visitor to the Chicago market last week. 



C. A. Sanborn, Asheville, N. C, who is associated with Paul H. Gearhart 

 in timber estimating and engineering business at Asheville, was in the city 

 the end of last week on some important timber bonding cases. 



W. H. Weller. Cincinnati. O., secretary of the Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association of the United States, spent a day in Chicago last week. Mr. 

 Weller expressed himself optimistically regarding the development of the 

 hardwood business. 



A. M. Manning of the Felger Lumber & Timber Company, Grand Rapids, 

 Mich., passed through the city last week. Mr. Manning was returning from 

 Wisconsin points. 



Another prominent northern visitor was R. P. Krause of Krause & Stone, 

 Marshfleld. Wis. Mr. Krause spent a few days in the city on a selling trip. 



The general meeting of the Lumber Mutual Insurance companies took 

 place on Thursday and Friday of last week, at which time various features 

 of inter-insurance for lumbermen and detailed work were discussed. C. A. 

 Palmert of the Central Manufacturers' Insurance Company of Van Wert was 

 elected chairman of the conference, and W. H. G. Kegg of the Lumber 

 Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Mansfield, O.. was chosen secretary. 



Hardwood ISfews ^otes 



■< MISCELLANEOUS > 



.\t Indianapolis, Ind., the Frank H. Williams Veneer Works is operating a 

 veneer mill. 



The Wlnslow Marine Railway & Ship Building Company of Seattle has 

 succeeded the Hall Bros. Marine Railway & Ship Building Company at 

 Wlnslow, Wash. 



The Dickson & Shannon Lumber Company has moved from Memphis, 

 Tenn., to Millington. 



The Fort Smith Refrigerator Company, Fort Smith, Ark., has suffered a 

 loss by fire. 



The Clement Veneer & Lumber Company has been Incorporated at Pam- 

 lico, N. C, with a capital of $50,000. 



The plant of the Pioneer Box Company, Crawfordsville, Ind.. has been 

 destroyed by fire. 



The Henry Mayo Box Company, Norfolk, Va., has filed a voluntary peti- 

 tion in bankruptcy. 



— < CHICAGO >• 



Frank Robertson of the Ferguson-Palmer Lumber Company, Memphis, 

 Tenn., was in Chicago the past few days looking over the lumber situation. 

 He reports business good. 



B. W. Lord of the Chicago Veneer Co., Burnside. Ky., came in the other 

 day from .\rkansas. He said : "We have so many orders for veneer at our 

 plant we can hardly take care of them. The scarcity of cars has crippled 

 us very materially at both Burnside, Ky., and Arkansas mills. We look 

 forward to a very bright future in the gum veneer business." 



Sam Horner, active head of the William Horner flooring factories at 

 Reed City and Newberry, Mich., spent Monday in Chicago. Mr. Horner 

 reports the same activity In flooring that has been manifest for some 

 months past, and looks for an ever greater demand this fall and winter. 



Sam A. Thompson, veneer and lumber manager for the Anderson-Tully 

 Company, Memphis, spent a few days in Chicago last week en route to points 

 in Wisconsin and Michigan. WWIe no lumberman is ever entirely satisfied, 

 yet Mr. Thompson feels that conditions are such In the South today that 

 pessimism is almost a stranger. The car shortage is more apparent there 

 than in the North, yet this is balanced by better labor conditions. Mr. 

 Thompson is not even discouraged over the oak market, but declares he is 

 moving his stock to good advantage, and realizing prices on which he has 



.-< BUFFALO >• 



Buffalo lumbermen have come to the front with advertising in the local 

 newspapers as the result of the formation of the new Buffalo Lumber 

 Dealers' Association. A big display ad of October 19 says : "It is More 

 Economical to Use Lumber where Lumber Should be Used !" Following 

 this is the name of the association prominently displayed and the words : 

 "Ask Our Members." The list of names include twenty-four concerns 

 handling lumber at retail, two in the Tonawandas and the remainder in 

 Buffalo. This is the most aggressive step taken here in a long time to give 

 prominence to lumber as against substitutes and will no doubt do a good 

 deal of good. 



The hardwood trade was well represented at the annual outing of the 

 Buffalo Lumber Exchange, which occurred at Boston, near the city, on 

 October 12. Beefsteak and chicken were more plentiful than chestnuts, 

 which were the ostensible object of the outing, but everybody's appetite 

 was more than satisfied with the good things cooked by the semi-professional 

 chefs, F. M. Sullivan, C. N. Perrin, E. J. Sturm and Eugene Nostrand, who 

 did things to a turn with dexterity and dispatch. 



Blakeslee, Perrin & Darling call the hardwood trade good. Ash and 

 maple are the most active woods, with a fair trade in oak, of which the 

 yard has been getting in a good assortment. 



G. Ellas & Bro. have their new dock practically completed. It is SOO 

 feetin length and will thus accommodate vessels and lumber cargoes very 



nicely. 



Taylor & Crate state that the hardwood trade Is brisker than It was, 

 with sales best in maple and oak. About 4,000 feet of switches have been 

 laid in the new Elmwood avenue yard. 



The Hugh McLean Lumber Company reports trade in hardwoods about 

 the same as a month ago. Quartered oak is moving pretty well and plain 

 oak and ash are up to normal. 



The Yeager Lumber Company reports the hardwood trade as a little 

 less active than during the summer. A good deal of stock is being received, 

 including ash, oak and poplar. 



The Standard Hardwood Lumber Company finds business about the same 

 as a month ago. Car shortage at the southern mills is causing a good deal 

 of delay to incoming lumber and cars are getting scarce here. 



Miller Sturm & Miller are getting a larger demand for basswood than 

 for some time past. Business holds up in good shape, particularly in maple 



and plain oak. , ^. . »,, 



T Sullivan & Co. report an increased Inquiry for hardwoods, though the 



demand is not on a very active scale. The local trade in hemlock is said 



to be especially good. . i, .> j 



The Buffalo Hardwood Lumber Company notes an increase in the demand 



for gum lumber lately and trade in oak and ash has shown up better during 



the past few weeks. „ », „ 



The \tlantic Lumber Company calls business reasonably good .n all the 



hardwoods. Maple Is holding about the firmest of any stock and supplies 



in consumers' hands are small. 



