HARDWOOD RECORD 



Januaiy J!o. 1917 



price is not based upon the cost of raw material, plus production charges 

 and a legitimate profit? Not many. Have we considered costs in arriving 

 at the selling price of our lumber? We have not. Have we sold our 

 lumber? We have not. 



We have taken as much as we could get and if the price we did get 

 was equal to, or a little better than what some other member sold for, we 

 have felt happy, patted ourselves on the back, looked wise and made the 

 statement that we had sold our lumber. 



Did we sell our lumber? We did not. Why? An analysis will clearly 

 demonstrate that the cost or value of our stumpage plus the cost of pro- 

 duction and overhead^, let alone adding any profit, is equal to a figure 

 greater than we say we have sold our lumber for ; hence we have not sold 

 our lumber. What we have done is to exhaust our capital assets and pay 

 some of our friends a commission for the privilege of furnishing them with 

 a raw material to possibly go ahead and do likewise, however, that would 

 be the exception to the rule, as they base the selling price of their manu- 

 factured article primarily on what they have to pay us. 



We are using up our capital assets every time we saw a log. Our stand- 

 ing timber is rapidl.v becoming depleted, and when this depletion is com- 

 plete our business is gone. Our sawmills, with no timber behind them, 

 will not support us very long. The gentlemen who own the standing timber 

 are vitally interested and no doubt want to know the answer. 



There can be but one answer and that is, our lumber must be marketed 

 at a much higher price than it has been in the past, marketed at a price 

 which will return to us a reasonable profit on our investment. 



As to methods of correcting we may only suggest. Present stock condi- 

 tions are satisfactory from all standpoints. If we will simply market our 

 product at its true value we will have given to ourselves the return on 

 our investment, which is our due. We must ask the price which'will do this, 

 and to intelligently ask that price, we must know our costs. 



If the 423,000 M feet of hardwood and the 232,000 M feet of hemlock 

 we estimate we will produce in 1917 is going to he in excess of the demand, 



let us do as nuinufacturers of other commodities, produce enough, but not 

 too much : as when we produce too much we simply give our product to 

 some one who will pay us the labor costs, and then forget we ever had a 

 dollar invested in standing timber. 



The list of values as indicated by the attached sheets, represent, as near 

 as your committee can judge from reports of sales, the present average 

 selling prices of our various kinds of lumber. No one should hesitate to 

 demand these values for his product or even higher values. 



Miscellaneous Matters 



A committee consisting of W. E. Brownlee, John C. Ross, and 

 George M. Clifton was appointed to draft resolutions on the death 

 of W. D. Young of Bay City, Mich. 



The report by the special committee on uniform terms of sale 

 expressed a desire for better terms than are in use at present; 

 and the preferences - were forwarded to the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association as expressing the opinion of the 

 Michigan manufacturers. 



The proposed additional extension work of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association for the general advancement of the 

 users of lumber was presented by C. H. Worcester and was supple- 

 mented by remarks of those who had knowledge of this work, 

 including Messrs. Hull, Mitchell and others. As a result the 

 association voted to levy an assessment of 1% cents per 1,000 feet 

 on hardwood and softwood lumber produced, provided 90 per cent 

 of the affiliated associations of the National did likewise. 



The final act of the meeting was to partake of a luncheon 

 provided by the association for its members. 



v ytw'i»waiwiw:i>tm»miw»awa^^ ' H:TOx^matt»m.v.»M'jim3tm»tia«M;^^ !y!)Sia;a!:)tm«)OT.T)t»»si>}m:>ig^ 



The Mail Bag 



B 1089— Seeks Cottonwood 

 Lowell, Mich., January l.ii. — Editor Hardwood Record : We are in the 



market for 1" and 1%" firsts and seconds Cottonwood. . 



B 1090— Tamarack Silo Stock 

 Guelph. Ont., .lanuary 12. — Editor H.\rdwood Record: Possibly you 

 can give us the names of lumber manufacturers who would be in a 

 position to quote us on several hundred thousand feet of tamarack 

 lumber suitable for silo stock. . 



B 1091— Wants Oak Piling 



Columbus, O., January 20. — Editor H.irdwood Record: Could you give 

 me the address of a few firms who could get out a quantity of white oak 



piling? . 



B 1092— Large Users of Oak and Soft Maple 



Philadelphia, Pa., January 20. — Editor IIaki.woop Record: Please 

 enter our subscription to your valuable lumber journal for one year. We 

 have just started our plumbers woodwork plant and believe we have one 

 of the largest and best equipped plants of its kind in this country. We will 

 be big users of soft maple and oak, using about 2,000,000 per year. We 

 expect to manufacture about 1000 sets per day. We are iucorporated at 

 .f.jO,000 capital, $25,000 paid in. We manufacture sand finished goods 

 only and have contracted our whole 1917 output. We feel that your 

 journal will be a valuable asset in buying our lumber requirements. 



S.ANiTARV Toilet Seat Compa.nv. 



B 1093— Birch, Chestnut and Sap Gum Needed 

 Jit. Pleasant. .Mich.. January 19. — Editor IlAitDwooD Recorp : We are 

 in the market for 4/-4 No. 2 common birch, 5" and wider, 8' and longer — 

 ^>/i and 6/4 sound wormy chestnut, and are contemplating the use of 

 4/4, 5/4 and 4 No. 1 sap gum. 



B 1094— Buyers Tupelo Box Shocks and Lumber 



Philadelphia. Pa.. January 15. — Editor Hardwood Record: We are in 

 the market for tupelo milk box shooks or tupelo lumber suitable for making 

 shocks for bottles in quart and pint sizes, one piece side. Would like to get 

 in touch with mills manufacturing or shipping tupelo shooks. 



The Oldest Ship Afloat 

 What is said to be the olde.-st ship in service recently visited New 

 Orleans. It was built of teak in the East Indies 12G years ago and 

 has been on the active list ever since. For about seventy-five years it 

 was used to carry convicts from England to Australia, and it is said to 

 have transported 107,000 of those unfortunate individuals whose de- 

 scendants now constitute the progressive element in Australia's popula- 

 tion. When an end was put to the transportation of convicts, the ship 

 passed into private hands and has served in various capacities. The 

 long period during which it has remained afloat is a high recommenda- 

 tion of the durability of wood in ship construction. 



Meeting of Box Manufacturers 

 The ligbleentb annual convention of the National Association of Box 

 Manufacturers will be held February 7, S, and 9, at Hotel La Salle, Chi- 

 cago. It is expected that this will tie a highly important meeting. 



National Hardwood Association Meeting 

 The twentieth annual convention of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association will be held in Chicago, June 14 and 15 next. The date and 

 place were fixed on January 12 at the meeting of the board of governors. 

 .New York, lloston, and Philadelphia were candidates for the honor of enter- 

 taining the convention, but Chicago won out. 



Hemlock and Hardwood Men Meet 



The Northern Hemlock .•ind Hardwood association is mei'iing at .Mil- 

 uaukee, Jan. 25, for sessions extending over tw(» days. .\ well arranged 

 jirograin was prepared. One of the most important items of business to 

 be disposed of was the adoption or rejection of the newly proposed grades 

 on hemlock and hardwood. Among speakers scheduled to address the 

 meeting were W. B. Greeley of the Forest Service, whose subject was 

 •Co-operation in Lumber Industries" ; E. H. Hincs, of the Hines Lumber 

 Company, with the subject, "Guaranteed Birch ; A New Force in Lumber 

 -Merchandising" : E. C. Lowe, Chicago architect, on the topic, "Birch as 

 an Inierior Finish" ; R. B. Goodman, on "Fieldwork for the Reorganized 

 Nation, il Lumber Manufacturers' Association " ; J. B. Crosby, "It Is Better 

 to Make than to Meet the Market." 



O. A. King Accepts New Work 



O. A. King, assistant secretary of the Northern Hemlock and Hardwood 

 Manufa<'turers' Association, which has its headquarters in Oshkosh, has 

 resigned, to take effect February 15, and has accepted the position of 

 secretary of the Civic and Commerce Association of Eau Claire, Wis., his 

 former home. Mr. King has spent six years with the hemlock manufac- 

 turers, four years under R. S. Kellogg, now secretary of the National Lum- 

 ber Manufacturers' Association, aud two years under the present secretary, 

 O. T. Swan. He was chief statistician for the organization and had 

 charge of several important departments of the association's activities. 

 His successor has not yet been appointed. 



Evansville Club Meeting 



At the last regular meeting of the Evansville Lumbermen's Club held at 

 the New Vendome hotel in Evansville, Ind., January 9, oHTicers for the 

 jears were installed. President Worland, who was one of the organizers 

 of the club and served as its first secretary for many years, announced 

 bis standing committees for the year as follows: 



Me.mbership — Charles A. Woiflin, Wolflin-Lubring Lumber Company ; 

 Claude Maley, Maltv & Wertz ; Henry Kollker, Mechanics' Planing Mill. 



Publicity and RESoLrTioxs — W. B. Carleton, Joe Waltman, J. W. Walt- 

 man Lumber Companv ; Frank Piatt, Piatt & Son. 



River and Rail — W. S. Partington. Maley & Wertz ; John C. Kc'.ler. 

 traffic manager of the club ; Frank M. Cutsinger. 



Entbutainjient — Mortice E. Taylor, Maley & Wertz: Frank Hanev. 

 John .\. Iteitz & Son : J. C. Greer, J. C. Greer Lumber Company. 



