44 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Pebruai-y in, 1017 



W. R. Locke Doing Good Business 



As previously anuouuccd iu Hakdwood Record, W. U. Locke, £oruierly ot 

 the Hutchinson Lumber Company, Huntington, W. Va., started in business 

 for himself on December 1. Mr. Locke is operating under the style ot the 

 W. R. Locke Lumber Company and handles hardwood lumber in a wholesale 

 way. He is marketing high-grade West Virginia stocks, mainly in Ohio, 

 Indiana, Illinois. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and eastern 

 states. Mr. Locke has been in Huntington for the past twelve years. He 

 was one of the organizers of the Hutchinson Lumber Company and was 

 vice-president, secretary and sales manager up to the time of organizing 

 his new business. 



Handle Company Officers Elected 



At a recent meeting of the Manistique. Mich., Handle Company the fol- 

 lowing officers were chosen ; H. T. Baker, president ; W. A. Le Due, vice- 

 president ; V. I. Hi.xon, secretary ; W. J. .Shiuar, treasurer ; and the direc- 

 tors chosen are, V. I. Hixon, H. T. Gormely, Frank Shirk, W. A. Le Due, H. 

 T. Baker. Plans were reported under way for an extension of the busi- 

 ness of the concern. 



The Passing of an Admirable Character 



In the death ot Capt. E. A. Smith, president of the H. B. Smith Machine 

 Company, Smithville, N. J., American industry lost a most energetic, ac- 

 tive and capable man. Mr. Smith was born at Woodstock, Vt.. sixty-nine 

 years ago. He was employed for a short time at his father's factory at 

 S'mithville, but not favoring the office work to which he was assigned, he 

 soon left for Philadelphia and shipped before the mast. It was on the sea 

 that he earned the title captain, his natural qualifications bringing him to 

 that position within a short time after his initial cruise. Eventually he 

 landed at Savannah. Ga., entering the stevedore business and augmenting 

 this work with lightering. In course of time be built up a fortune of very 

 substantial proportions, in fact, enough to enable him to retire from active 

 business life. 



However, at the death of nis father, which gave to Captain Smith con- 

 trolling interest in the machine company, he bent all of his energies toward 

 acquiring an accurate knowledge of the conditions in that business and 

 then accepted the presidency. The force of his character and the logic of 

 his methods soon resulted in the very maximum of results in the organi- 

 zation. 



With the death of Captain Smith, he is succeeded in the presidency by 

 his son, Elton A. Smith, while another son, Erie J. Smith, has become man- 

 ager. Besides his two sons, Captain Smith leaves a widow and five 

 daughters. 



Our Lumber Purchases from Canada 



The people of the United States buy pretty liberally of Canadian lundier 

 and other forest products. The figures given below are quoted from 

 official statistics of the Canadian Department of Trade and Commerce, and 

 cover the years from 1908 to 1916. The percentages represent the pro- 

 portion ot sales made in the United States to the total Canadian pro- 

 duction : 



Year Lumber Forest Manufactured 



products wood 



1908 5S per cent fili per cent 74 per cent 



1909 63 per cent 60 per cent 02 per cent 



1910 62 per cent 67 per cent 70 per cent 



]!)11 57 per cent O.'i per cent 78 per cent 



1912 56 per cent 02 per cent 75 per cent 



191S 64 per cent 09 per cent 7M per cent 



1914 61 per cent 69 per cent 70 per cent 



1915 67 per cent 73 per cent 76 per cent 



1910 63 per cent 07 per cent 83 per cent 



United States Exports Mahogany 



A trade item in a British lumber journal states that "some fair parcels 

 of mahogany lumber have come to hand this week from the United States." 

 This is a change from the former direction of shipments. It was not long 

 ago that the people of the United States received much of their mahogany 

 from England, w'here it w^as assembled from various producing regions of 

 the world. It appears that it is now being assembled in the United States 

 and from here is being exported. 



Philippine Woods 



A bulletin ot nearly 300 pages, under the title : Commercial Woods ot 

 the Philippines ; Their Preparation and Uses, has been compiled by E. E. 

 Schneider, wood expert of the Philippine Bureau of Forestry, and pub- 

 lished by the Insular Forest Service at Manila. There appears to be no 

 information accompanying the bulletin as to where it may be obtained or 

 at what price, but, presumably, it may be procured through the United 

 •States Forest Service at Washington. 



Those who are interested in Philippine woods will find it worth while 

 to read this bulletin, which is filled with information of a practical kind 

 concerning the qualities and uses of the principal timbers of the islands. 

 The American reader might have liked it better if measurements had been 

 given in our system instead of the metrical system, and it values had been 

 stated in our money instead ot Philippine. The names of the trees are iu 

 the native dialects and seem strange and outlandish to us ; but that could 

 not well be otherwise. Mr. Schneider has done an excellent piece of woi'k 

 in compiling the bulletin. It is a cyclopedia of informatiou on Philippine 

 woods. 



Comparative Statement of Building Operations for January 



An eleven per cent increase in the total estimated cost of buildings, per- 

 mits for which were issued in January in 105 principal cities of the country 

 must be regarded as an altogether favorable index to business in construc- 

 tion work, the comparison being made with January last year. The num- 

 ber of permits is 14,227. which compares with 13,379 for January, 1910, 

 an increase of 6 per cent. Assuming the average size of the structures to 

 be the same as last year, the gain in volume is thus seen to be made up in 

 part in the increased number of buildings and in part in the increased cost 

 of building, as compared with a year ago. No doubt both factors exist in 

 the statement. 



There have been some additional advances in the prices of building mate- 

 rial during January and the relatively high costs have no doubt induced 

 some prospective builders to delay actual work temporarily. The present 

 volume of construction work seems to represent in large measure that for 

 which there is urgent need. .\nd that w'ork of that description exceeds by 

 a very suljstantial margiu the entire operations of a year ago bespeaks an 

 expanding volume of general business. 



The actual official figures for these permits, issued in 106 cities in Janu- 

 ary as received by the .\niericaD Contractor, Chicago, total $55,910,349, 

 as compared with ,$.'50,490,041 for January, 1916. There is the usual diver- 

 sity in the individual showings, 61 of the cities showing gains and 44 

 losses in the comparison. Both New' York and Chicago enter the new year 

 at a slackened pace biit many of the other larger cities are lu-eaking the 

 earlier record. 



Hardwood ISlews ISlotes 



-•<, MISCELLANEOUS >= 



At Mount Gilead, N. C, the White Oak Chair Company has incorporated. 

 The Ritter Flooring Company has been incorporated at Welch, W. Va. 



The Logan Planing Mill Company has been incorporated at Li>gan, W. Va. 



The Defiance Box Company of Defiance, 0., recently suffered a .$10,000 

 fire loss. 



The Pickens Lumber Company has been incorporated at Parkersburg, 

 W. Va. 



.\t St. Louis, Mo., tlie Christman Veneer & Lumlier Company succeeds 

 W. E. A. Christman. 



The plant of the Schhoenthaler Manufacturing Company, St. Louis 

 Mo., is to be sold at auction. 



.V recent incorporation at Black River Falls, Wis., is the McGillivray 

 Lumber & Manufacturing Company. 



An involuntary petition in' bankruptcy has been filed by the Wliittier 

 Manufacturing Company, Atlanta, Ga. 



.\n involuntary petition in bankruptcy has been filed hy the Carey Box 

 & Lumber Company, New Y'ork, N. Y. 



The Brown Cabinet Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis., has fllcil 

 an involuntary petition in bankruptcy. 



Merrill & Co., of Kansas City, Mo., has changed ils firm name to tin- 

 Kansas City Hardwood Lumber Company. 



At Dubuque, Iowa, the Key City Furniture Company has sold out to 

 the Stilson Specialty Manufacturing Company. 



The Marion Novelty Company lias been incorporated with .$30,000 capital 

 at Marion, N. C, to manufacture sash and doors. 



The Franklin Manufacturing Company, with .$T5.(iiio capital, has been 

 incorporated at Franklin, Ind., to manufacture furniture. 



The Landeck Lumber Company of Missouri, recently opened offices in 

 the Wright building, St. Louis, to wholesale yellow pine and hardwood 

 lumber. 



The Detroit Door & Sash Company has been inciu-porated at Detroit. 

 Mich., by Roswell G., Edgar C, and Edgar G. Curtiss. Capital stock 

 is )i;25,000. 



With $20,000 capital Edward C. Wirth, M. Lang and Ernest Borgel have 

 incorporated the Wirtli, Lang & Borgel Company at Louisville, Ky., to 

 manufacture store fixtures. 



It is reported from Alexandria, La., that tlie Alexamlria Oar and Han. lie 

 Company is organizing at that place, as is the Winnebago Mamil'acturing 

 Company at Rockford, HI. 



The Globe Folding Box Company, with a factory at Northsido, Cincin- 

 nati, O., will erect a plant on the south side of .Mitchell avenue, near the 

 C. H. and D. Railroad in Wintou Place, where it purchased 2. 03 acres 

 of land last fall. 



L. F. De Bordenave recently resigned his positicm with tlie American 

 Lumber & Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., and opened a suite of 

 offices in the Land Title building on his own account, doing business partly 

 on a commission basis, but mostly jobbing. 



=■< CHICAGO >• 



has been 



The capital stock of (he I.imclii Mill ('.unpaoy. riij.'i 

 reduced to .$10,000. 



The. Ciiicago Cabinet & Fixture Company has iiicorpcu-uted in this city. 



Manufacturers of walnut met in Chicago on Thursday, February 8, In a 

 conference at which were taken up many sulijects important to walnut 



