36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



December 25, 1016 



let me sav. that the woods o£ the fighting coimti-ies are suffering less from 

 the war than the men, the animals (incluaing game), the fields (lacking 

 phosphates and stable manure), the buildings, and the human hearts. 



I have offered my good help, for the winter, to one of tne universities 

 as lecturer on forestrv. the reKUIar ones being absent — in Poland and 

 Livland, where they aie acting as forestry officials. The summer, since 

 my return from Belgium, I have been spending in Lindentels, hunting and 

 resting — and enjoying myself more than a decent fellow ought to do in 

 time of war. But — well, there were so many deer to be killed, and hare 

 and pheasants and quail — and, also, I got a big stag, (not in Lindenfels, 

 but on a friend's holdings in the Spessart woods). Do not imagine that 

 the game was killed by order of the boss ! No, sir ! Not yet. But, having 

 rented the hunting rights on some 5,000 acres of land round Lindentels, 

 and having been absent for two years while I was in Poland and in Bel- 

 glum, game had increased wonderfully here. And I am having the sport 

 of my life, that very sport of which I got so little in America during those 

 eighteen years of my stay in the land of the free. 



You can imagine that my dreams and my thoughts and my heart 

 continue to take little spins, over to you. almost every day. .Sometimes 

 thoughts are sad and "set the word against the word," and often they are 

 cheerful, and loving, and thankful, too. 



When the war is all over — in a year or two — come over to me, and I 

 shall travel with you ever those "forests of the war zones" which you have 

 tried to describe "in "Forest Leaves." 



Give my compliments to Dr. Rothrock, to Mr. Conklin, and to my old 

 friend. Win. S. Harvey, when you see them. 



Mrs. Schenck is well, thank heaven ! Hans and his brother, both 

 lieutenants now, are still alive, though wounded, and now again in the 

 turmoil — and seem to enjoy it ! Hans ! Imagine ! You remember him, 

 no doubt. Very sincerely yours, 



C. A. SCITENCK. 



Comparative Statement of Building Operations for November 



A year ago, the abnormal construction activity that had begun during 

 the early summer of 1915 reached its apex. The statement for Novem- 

 ber, 1915, showed an increase in volume over that of November, 1914, 

 of 75 per cent. It is therefore with the floodtide of that remarkable 

 business that present building comparisons are made. The figures reveal 

 that the pace of a year ago is maintained. 



The official reports of building permits, issued in 109 of the principal 



cities of the United States for November, as received by the American 

 Contractor, Chicago, total $69,268,617, as compared with ,$68,465,791 for 

 November, 1915, an increase of one per cent. The statement must there- 

 fore be regarded as favorable, or as more than merely favorable, for be- 

 sides the great activity a year ago there are other considerations that 

 would ordinarily put a check upon new construction. Of these the ob- 

 normal scarcity of some material and its high price, arc perhaps the most 

 notable. It might almost be said that the structures that are now going 

 up are those that are indispensable, or those which the owners believe 

 will yield an adequate profit upon the enhanced cost of construction. 



"New York City shows a recognizable decrease and Chicago limps a little 

 in the comparison. The reason usually assigned for the decrease in New 

 York City is that under the new zoning law construction is naturally the 

 more conservative. It is there a period of adjustment to radically new 

 conditions. The activities in Chicago a year ago were very pronounced. 

 And as the cities go numerically, there is the usual diversity of showings, 

 0.3 gaining in the comparison, 45 making losing exhibits, and one "break- 

 ing even." 



Important Decision on Contract Case 



The supreme court of Tennessee has handed down a decision in the 

 case of New River Lumber Company vs. Tennessee Railroad Company, 

 and others. This was a suit to compel the railroad to perform a contract 

 to extend its line thirty-two miles to vast timber lands of complainant on 

 I'aint Rock Creek, in Scott count.v, Tennessee. Complainant claimed that 

 it had expended $2,000,000 for sawmills and equipment on the faith of 

 the contract. The lower court appointed a receiver for the railroad, with 

 instructions to comply with the contract, the cost to be a first lien on 

 the railroad, which decree was confirmed by the supreme court. This was 

 a case of widespread interest, and involves important questions as to the 

 powers of a court of equity to enforce performance of a contract. 



THE ABOVE PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN AT THE NORTHERN LUMBERMEN'S SALESMANSHIP CONFERENCE, MERRILL, 'WIS., DE- 

 CEMBER 8, AND 10, WERE RECEIVED TOO LATE TO BE USED WITH THE STORY IN THE LAST ISSUE OE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



1 and 6 — A tew of the Lumber Jacks at the camp of the Union Land Co. 2 — C. J. Kinzel "hogging" the picture. 3 — Entraining for the trip 

 to the camps of the Union Land Co. 4 — August Stang of the A. H. Stang Co. and O. R. Lutz (at right) of the Medford Lumber Co. .I — C5eo. 

 Ilobson, chairman of Sales Managers' Committee, and E. M. Barrett (at left), .Secretary of World's Salesmanship Congress. 7 — D. B. Breinig, 

 President of the Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company. 8 — Detraining at Newwood Camp of the Union Land Co., 17 miles north of Merrill. 



