January 25, 1917 



'■jgatTOW * 



The Lumhermans Round Table 



The Market for Wood 



An interesting by-product of the northern sawmills is kindling 

 wood, which is sold in large quantity in Chicago and other important 

 markets within reaching distance of the mills. The wood is cut to 

 uniform size at the mill, and is handled by wholesalers, who sell it to 

 coal dealers and others who are able to market it to consumers with- 

 out much difficulty. 



The demand for irood is not quite so heavy in Chicago as it for- 

 merly was, owing to the increasing number of apartment houses. In 

 the winter time the apartment house is heated continuously, whereas 

 the householder often has to rekindle his fires with wood. But appar- 

 ently the wholesalers who afe interested in the sale of the wood are 

 finding it possible to extend their markets and keep the supply 

 moving. 



The most interesting feature of this business is its definite con- 

 trast with the situation of the millmen in the South, where the waste 

 must be burned up as the only way of getting rid of it. The fact 

 that timber is plentiful and wood cheap means that the markets are 

 not great enough in nearby cities to pay the cost of transportation 

 and handling. 



This is another economic waste, but not commercially; for it would 

 be a waste of effort, from this standpoint, to spend time and labor 

 in preparing for the market a product whose sale would not involve 

 a profit. 



Timber Bonds Good Investment 



No less an authority than the Saturday Evening Post recently put 



its O. K. on timber bonds, with the usual qualifications. The writer of 

 the article referred to started out by saying that timber itself is an 

 excellent investment if bought right, and urged those in a position to 

 do so to be on the lookout for bargains of this kind. Then, proceed- 

 ing to a discussion of securities based on timber values, he looked 

 with some question at stocks in timber companies, but apparently 

 regarded bonds as desirable holdings. The only proviso was that the 

 purpose of floating the bond issue should be for operating purposes, 

 and not merely to enable the sellers to get from under; but as knowl- 

 edge of the circumstances under which any industrial security is 

 offered should precede a purchase, this qualification cannot be re- 

 garded as suggesting that unfavorable conditions surround timber 

 bonds any oftener than any other class. 



As a matter of fact, many extremely successful lumber manufac- 

 turers, wise enough to look into the future and anticipate their tim- 

 ber requirements, have purchased properties which involve some 

 financing, in the way of bond issues, to take care of the carrying 

 expenses. In most cases the timber is purchased at an attractive 

 price, so that it will stand the expense of carrying, and, under normal 

 conditions as to increase in value, pay a nice profit on the transaction 

 when it is decided to operate. 



It is hard to see how a bond of this kind could be improved on 

 for investment purposes, since the property itself is being held, not 

 for speculation, but to supply the legitimate needs of an active oper- 

 ating company. Taking all these things into account, the conclusions 

 of the Saturday Evening Post financial expert must be accepted as 

 sound. 



Another Wood Product 



An interesting line appearing in a recent article about the experi- 

 ences of a nurse in the war zone is to the effect that the Germans 

 have developed a substitute for absorbent cotton in the form of a 

 wood fiber, and that it has been a complete success for packing 

 wounds. 



This report is interesting, and it is to be hoped that fuller details 

 regarding it may become available a little later on. At any rate, the 

 war will probably not last a great while longer, and when peace is 

 declared, if not before, it ViriU be possible to find out all about the 

 product. 



If it has been as successful as the report indicates, it is quite likely 

 that it will be used permanently. Wood can be prepared rather 

 cheaply by modern mechanical and chemical processes such as are 



used in the paper business, and there is no special reason why cotton 

 should be favored for this work. On the other hand, with cottJDn 

 selling at present prices, and the chances favoring high-priced cotton 

 for a number of years, if not permanently, the advent of an absorb- 

 ent material made of wood will be hailed with satisfaction, if not 

 delight. 



Does Medical Service Pay? 



Dr. Richard C. Cabot of Boston, whose contributions on medical 

 subjects to popular magazines have given him considerable note of 

 late, recently expressed a doubt as to whether the work performed 

 by big corporations, not a few of which are in the lumber and wood- 

 working fields, in the direction of providing medical service, emer- 

 gency hospitals, etc., is economically profitable, and concluded that 

 employers would probably have to do it, for altruistic reasons. 



But while most manufacturers want their workmen to be well 

 and happy, to have few or no accidents, and to be protected by 

 all the safeguards which modern industrj' has learned how to throw 

 about fiem, such work is definitely and actually worth while from 

 the dollars and cents standpoint. The compensation laws have 

 been a great factor in bringing this about. The employer must pay 

 according to the term of disability of the injured employe, and 

 there is consequently a distinct advantage in getting him back to 

 work quickly. Therefore the employer who has a physician or nurse 

 at the plant, who sees that all hurts are properly dressed and re- 

 dressed, so as to prevent infection of wounds, and who spends some 

 money along preventive lines, will reap his reward in a reduced 

 loss ratio. And while he may be carrying insurance, his premiums 

 are going to reflect the experience of the company along this line. 



It is all right, in fact highly desirable, to have the proper outlook 

 on work of this kind, and to feel that it would stand whether it 

 was profitable or not; but with legislative developments coming 

 along as they are, the lumberman who is thinking about employing 

 a company doctor on a whole or part-time basis may put it down 

 for a fact that the expenditure will pay him for real dividends. 



The Mill and the Timber 



Inasmuch as the day of the small hardwood operation, at least in 

 the South, seems to have passed, so that the big mill, substantially 

 constructed, with the best and most modern machinery and a fairly 

 large personnel, is needed to get the best results from the stand- 

 point of production and costs, the matter of providing sufficient' 

 timber for such a plant is of more importance than it used to be. 



Not so very long ago it was practicable to put up a mill, cut out 

 the timber in the neighborhood and then move somewhere else with- 

 out a great deal of loss. And this does not refer to the distinctly 

 portable mills, but to permanent plants, which had to be disman- 

 tled when the operation was finished. The buildings were little 

 more than shacks, and if there was a good run of timber and an 

 easy market for the lumber, the manufacturer had a good enough 

 margin to be able to wipe out the investment in the mill building 

 without worrying. 



But now, as suggested, in order to get enough and the right kind 

 of lumber, so as to be able to enter the market with a sufficient 

 stock when conditions are favorable to the seller, the plan is to 

 erect a pretty sizable plant. Better building, which, incidentally, 

 make for more accurate manufacturing, for more reasons than one, 

 are put up, and by the time the plant is completed, the operator has 

 a larger investment than his father would have thought necessary. 

 In other words, he must have a longer run in order to be able to 

 charge off the cost of his plant. 



Provision for timber would therefore seem to be an essential fea- 

 ture, and so it is; yet it is not altogether unheard of to find a mill- 

 man who sees the end of his own holdings in sight and is unable to 

 replace them as to location and price. A recent change of owner- 

 ship of a big mill in the South came about largely because of this 

 condition, the new buyers happening to have a block of timber 

 which is conveniently located with reference to the plant, enabling 

 them to operate it for eight or ten years more. 



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