34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Febniaiy 25. 1917 



Mr. Weller Formally Resigns 



The resignation of W. II. Weller, secretary of tlie Hardwood Manufac- 

 turers' Association of the United States, tendered January 31 at the close 

 of the fifteenth annual convention at Cincinnati, has just been accepted 

 by President Burns. Mr. Welter's connection with the association will be 

 offlcially severed on March 1. 



Mr. Weller has been in charge of the affairs of the association for the 

 past four years and leaves behind him an enviable record for achievement. 

 The membership has been increased fifty per cent and the entire organiza- 

 tion placed on an efficient working basis. Mr. Weller takes with him the 

 very best wishes of a large number of solid friends throughout the hard- 

 wood belt. 



Cincinnati Club Meets 



Present railroad difficulties in regard to demurrage and tariffs are largely 

 to be laid at the door of the lumber industry, T. C. Powell, vice-president 

 of the Queen & Crescent Railroad, told members of the Cincinnati Lumber- 

 men's Club at a recent meeting held at the Bismarck Grill. 



Lumber is enjoying a low rate, said Mr. Powell, and as it is one of the 

 four chief contributors to railroad's revenue, along with coal, steel and iron 

 tariffs, must be revised in order to protect the railroads as well as the 

 shippers. Traffic congestion and car shortage is due mainly to the fact 

 that m.any railroads were built years before the communities through which 

 they operate were settled, and adequate railroad facilities were not pro- 

 vided for. 



At the close of the talk Mr. Powell announced that the embargo on lum 

 her on the Queen & Crescent had been lifted. 



The club elected A. G. Boyd of C. C. Boyd & Co., oldest lumberman in 

 Cincinnati, an honorary member. 



Dinner was served for the club members and guests in the Bismarck 

 Grill. M. Christie, president of the club, acted as toastmaster. Harry C. 

 Brown, chairman of the entertainment committee, was responsible for the 

 good speakers. 



The club members now are beginning to get busy for their annual spring 

 election and before long some announcement in the candidate line is 

 expected. 



Great Congestion on Southern Lines 



The directors of the Southern Hardwooif Traffic Association at the meet- 

 ing held at Memphis, Teun., February 10, appointed a special committee to 

 adopt resolutions appealing to the Interstate Commerce Commission to 

 take such immediate action as may be necessary to afford prompt relief 

 and insure to tiie American public a transportation system adeqimte to 

 meet the commercial and military necessities of the nation. These resolu- 

 tions were prepared by a special committee composed of Jno. W. McClure. 

 Memphis, former president of the asociation : Ralph L. Jurden. Memphis, 

 acting president; J. H. Townshend, secretar.v-manager : .7. D. Alien, Mem- 

 phis, and C. H. Murphy, Pine Bluff, Ark., and plead as follows : 



Resolved, That we desire to renew our expressions of confidence in the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission, and earnestly petition your honorable 

 body to take such immediate actiou, however drastic, as may be necessar.v 

 in your judgment to affor<l prompt relief and insure to the American public 

 a tTansportation system adequate to meet the commercial and military 

 necessities of the nation. 



There were about twenty prominent lumbermen frtnu all parts of the 

 hardwood producing territory at this meeting and distressing reports of 

 operating conditions were gi^'cn by all of them. Ail emphasized that they 



had many cars of lumber for immediate shipment which are being held 

 up by embargoes for the present. It was pointed out that unless relief 

 comes almost immediately the manufacturers will be compelled to suspend 

 operations at their mills until such time as transportation conditions 

 improve. Some of them have gone so far as to be forced to unload cars at 

 the mills after they have been loaded because new embargoes prevented 

 shipment. 



This interference with transportation is proving a particularly serious 

 hardship to lumber interests at the moment because only recently they 

 lost a sharp fight against advances in hardwood rates to northern markets. 

 The increased rates are to become effective March 16. Orders now on hand 

 were accepted on the basis prevailing prior to March 16 and, if it -is 

 impossible to ship out the lumber on account of the embargoes and other 

 restrictions. It will be necessary to ship this lumber at the higher rates 

 which will entail heavy losses. 



It was decided to petition the railroad companies immediately, urging 

 them to suspend the advanced tariffs until the lumbermen have an opiior- 

 tunity to fill orders on hand. They have the lumber ready to ship but the 

 carriers are not equipped to handle it, with the result that the lumbernii'n 

 feel that, as conditions are not of their making, they should not be maile to 

 suffer the consequences thereof. 



It was also decided to petition the railroads to co-operate more closely 

 with the Interstate Commerce Commission in any plan which may be 

 decided upon to relieve the present situation. 



There was considerable discussion also of the advisability of calling a 

 general conference of southern lumber shippers but, as press dispatches 

 from Washington indicated that closer co-operation is being planned 

 between the commission and the carriers, the lumbermen agreed to wait a 

 few days before deciding definitely upon this step. 



Advices were received during the meeting from Washingtou that the 

 Interstate Commerce Commision had granted a hearing of proposeii ad- 

 vances in hardwod rates from southern producing points to eastern nuu-Uets 

 to take place February 23 at Washington. 



• v;wwsiii)iaittiTO«;)tawiBtti>ii>^^ 



With the Trade 



Important Veneer Transaction 



Details have just been issued by the Dean-Spicker Company of Chicago, 

 telling of a transaction which made over the ownership in the Black Lum- 

 ber & Veneer Company, Chicago, to that newly formed organization. The 

 Black Lumber & Veneer Company erected an exceptionally efficient and 

 thoroughly modern veneer plant at 2939 to 2935 South Crawford avenue, 

 Chicago, several years ago. In the new company .T. T. Spicker is president 

 and J. Richmond Dean vice-president. 



The plant is one of the finest in the country. It has up-to-date baud 

 mill, veneer slicer, veneer saws, dry kiln and liberal storage room both for 

 raw material and finished product. The plant is a two-story structure and 

 is exceptionally well arranged. A private switch track gives ample facili- 

 ties for shipping, and an extensive lumber yard adjoins the plant. 



The Dean-Spicker Company is an Illinids corporation with a capital 

 stock of $9."i,000. President Spicker was formerly with the C. C. Mengel & 

 Brother of Louisville, being with these people for nineteen years, and as 



J. T. SPICKER, PRESIDENT 

 DEAX-SPICKER COMPANY, CHICAGO 



J. RICHMOND DEAN, VICE PRESIDENT 

 DEAN-SPICKER COMPANY, CHICAGO 



P. E. GILBERT. VICE PRESIDENT AND 

 DIRECTOR WISCONSIN LBR. CO., CHICAGO 



