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HARDWOOD RECORD 



November 25, 1916 



Robert Dollar's Canadian Mill 

 Robert Dollar, the millionaire ship owner of the Pacific Coast, is 

 l)uilding a large sawmill in British Columbia. He investigated the 



A FEW LOOS ON THE YARDS OF THE PICKREL WALNUT COMPANY 





STEAMING KILNS FOR THE PROPER PREPARATION OF PICKREL 



WALNUT 



WALNUT SQUARES AND DIMENSION OF CLEAN. SOUND MATERIAL 

 THAT OFFER A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO THE WOODWORKER 



whole situation and came to the conclusion that it would be more advan- 

 tageous to build his mill in Canada than in the United States. The 

 Pioneer Western Lumbennan of San Francisco suggests that the present 

 administration ought to make a careful study of Mr. Dollar's reasons 

 for building his mill in a foreign country instead of his own. 



Rescuing Oak Logs from Mud 



In dredging a lagoon known as Petaluma Creek, in California, a schooner 

 load of oak logs were brought up from beneath the mud where they sank 

 years ago when the lagoon was used as a log pond. The quality of the 

 wood, in color and figure, was much improved by the long mud bath. 

 Preparations have been completed for converting them into quartered 

 veneers at the White Brothers' mill in San Francisco. 



Small Vessels in the Lumber Trade 



The statement was published recently that a shipping Arm in Chatham, 

 New Brunswick, had already dispatched twelve steamers and fifty-five 

 sailing vessels since the beginning of the current season, all of them lum- 

 ber laden. -\s this indicated unusually large business, Chatham not being 

 one of the Dominion's chief shipping centers, it is explained that nearly 

 all of the fifty-five sailing vessels mentioned were Danish schooners of 

 about 200 registered tons each, whose carrying capacity Is not more than 

 one-tenth that of an ordinary lumber tramp. 



These little vessels since the war began have been diverted from their 

 regular trade with Baltic ports and have reaped a rich har%'est in freights. 

 During last season about 100 craft of this class were entered at the port 

 mentioned and two other small ports to load lumber for over-seas des- 

 tinations, their cargoes averaging about 100 standards each. A standard 

 is roughly 2,000 superficial feet. 



Freight rates are now six times as high as those prevailing before the 

 war, and some time ago they were ten times as high. 



Some Observations on the Walnut Situation 



Ray E. Pickrel. president of the Pickrel Walnut Company, St. Louis, 

 Mo., is very optimistic as to the outlook for walnut. In addition to the 

 wood's now being on an entirely stable basis, so far as the domestic trade 

 is concerned, there is the consideration of foreign markets. The foreign 

 growth walnut of Italy and France, which had been substituted for .\mer- 

 ican walnut, Ims been practically depleted, and the opportunity tor sales 

 of domestic products seems very good. 



Mr. Pickrel says that as far as his observations go there probably will 

 not be very many more orders for gunstock blanks, as the allied countries 

 under present arrangements are now able to buy the planks and work 

 them up themselves. They are naturally anxious to do this as It saves 

 money for them, keeps their subjects employed and is better in many 

 respects. However, they are stlil I>uying of this country. 



.\nother foreign field that has opened up a good possibility is aeroplane 

 propellers, where a selected line of planes Is desired. This has developed 

 into a very sizable industry. 



The Pickrel Walnut Company Is cutting up a great many logs these 

 days, and while the yards now do not contain anywhere near what they 

 have in the past, the company is beginning again to make active prep- 

 arations to put through an awful lot of walnut during the coming year. 

 This means both in lumber and veneers. The company cut some 17,000,000 

 feet on its St. Louis mill last year and will exceed this considerably 

 during the coming twelve months. 



There is already a quite unusual selection of walnut lumber on the 

 yards and the company's veneer facilities are in excellent shape. A rep- 

 resentative of HAnDWooD Record witnessed the loading of a car of wide 

 stuff averaging close to eighteen inches clear, absolutely sound boards. 

 that were certainly beautiful. 



Car Shortage Serious at Evansville, Ind. 



The car shortage is being seriously felt in Evansville, Ind., ami manu- 

 facturing towns like Henderson and Owensboro, Ky., Tell City, Hunting- 

 burg and Jasper, Ind. For the past several days John C. Keller, traffic 

 <ommissioner of the Evansville Chamber of Commerce, and traffic manager 

 of the Evansville Lumbermen's Club, has been making an investigation 

 of the car shortage and is expected to make a report at the next regular 

 meeting of the Evansville Lumbermen's Club. Due to the car shortage, 

 it Is alleged, coal operators are unable to get cars and as a result the 

 price of coal in this section is soaring. There Is something strange 

 about the claims of the railroad companies that they cannot furnish 

 sufficient coal cars in this region. For example, a few days ago a 

 large hardwood-lumber concern In Evansville complained to a certain 

 large railroad entering this city that it was unable to get enough flat 

 cars to bring Its logs to Evansville from southern points, where they 

 were purchased and were awaiting shipment. The railroad company 

 officials told the company that they could furnish it with nil the coal 

 cars It needed with which to bring its logs here but that they were short 

 on flat cars. The lumber company refused the coal cars, saying it meant 

 extra work to unload the logs from coal cars. On the other hand, the 

 coal operators are saying that the railroad companies tell them they 

 have no coal cars, hence the steady advance in the price of fuel. One 

 large manufacturing plant In Evansville was forced to close down a few 

 days ago, being unable to pet coal. Another large Industry has been 

 running on half time and it Is predicted that if the car shortage continues 

 until the first of December numerous industries In this section will be 

 forced to close down. Coal Is retailing in Evansville at this writing 



