April 10, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



they are taking what they can grt and when they can get i t au u, iu many 

 cases, are paying prices that would not hfiJe been thouglit'of a lew months 

 ago. As a whole, though, they seem to realize that tlie average mill price 

 Is not exorbitant, in fact that It is not even in keeping with the advancing 

 cost of manufacture. All items are moving well. 



=-< BUFFALO >• 



Demand for hardwoods continues steady and it is now possible to make 

 shipments more readily than for a long time. A large stock of lumber is 

 wanted in the East and now that some embargoes have been lifted the 

 local market is getting a good share of the business. The railroads are 

 still considerably congested, however, and cars are not moving from the 

 yards with the freedom that is usual at this season. The furniture trade 

 Is not quite so brisk as it has been, but is expected to be fairly good this 

 spring, while the building business is also counted on to be about up to 

 the average. Thus far building work in this city has fallen behind last 

 year, and much hesitation is shown in the projecting of large speculative 

 ventures. 



The different woods are most all getting a fair share of the present 

 activity. Maple is as active as anything at all the yards handling it, 

 while some improvement is noted in oak, especially thick stock, which 

 moves out readily. Birch is also in good demand and supplies have been 

 added to lately in order to make up for the depletion of the winter. Other 

 woods moving are poplar, chestnut, ash and cypress. The trend of prices 

 is upward and mills are all asking an increase as the result of higher 

 labor and other costs. 



:< PITTSBURGH >-. 



Lumbermen along with all the other business public are speculating 

 this week on what the tendency of business will be as a result of the 

 declaration of war. Opinions arc much divided. Many wholesalers be- 

 lieve that the war will act as a stimulant to business iu many lines and 

 that lumber will get its share. There is fear that the unsettled condi- 

 tion of affairs in this country in general will bring about a habit of econ- 

 omy on the part of builders and spenders which will greatly curtail sales 

 of lumber this summer. So far there has been no visible effect of the war 

 agitation. Inquiries are more numerous than wholesalers can fill. They 

 are up against the proposition of turning down business every day because 

 they cannot promise satisfactory deliveries. There is a splendid call for 

 all kinds of hardwood from manufacturing and railroad concerns. Busi- 

 ness is also increasing rapidly with the yard trade and it looks now as if 

 this feature of hardwood dealing would be very satisfactory this year. 

 Prices of hardwoods are on the jump. The man with dry hardwood which 

 he can deliver soon can get his own figure without blushing when he makes 

 the quotation. 



.< BOSTON >-- 



The market here has developed further along the lines forecasted in 

 recent reports until the effect on the trade of certain factors has become 

 a matter of considerable apprehension and uncertainty. The many dis- 

 turbing elements prevailing for a long time have combined to virtually 

 suspend anything like normal conditions. Production having been gener- 

 ally unorganized, the European war brought on the buy-at-any-price period 

 which, being viewed as temporary, did not stimulate manufacturing nor 

 buying for reserves, with the result that the usual supplies of stock kept 

 running down. Transportation diflBculties in the winter operated in the 

 same direction until now the demand for lumber in these eastern states 

 has become unprecedented. Substitutions and altered processes have par- 

 tially restrained rising values and permitted greater volume of economic 

 production, but the accumulative effect of all these influences is now ap- 

 parent in the trend of the market. The rising prices, with advances rang- 

 ing from the conventional fluctuations of the past to many extreme in- 

 stances, and the great difficulty in getting stock place the wholesale, yard 

 and manufacturing trade in a very adverse position. The possible train of 

 events which may arise from our International relations adds further to 

 the confused and chaotic outlook so that about the only business that is 

 expected or transacted is that which comes from present necessities and 

 very little, if anything, is now undertaken in buying for reserve stock 

 or the speculative class of trade. Special cases illustrating the current 

 conditions might be advanced in great number, but more interest is shown 

 here in the general situation, both present and future, although quotations 

 in some items, such as walnut, cherry, birch, maple, plain oak and ash, 

 are now such as would command great attention under ordinary condi- 

 tions. 



=-< BALTIMORE >-- 



While the hardwood situation affords reason for much satisfactioh, the 

 diflJculties which the shippers have experienced in making delivery have 

 served to restrict the movement, and th^se difficulties seem by no means 

 at an end. Some improvement has resulted in consequence of the removal 



Have you seen an.v better Walnut logs than theso? 



' I 'HEY all grew right in Indiana where 

 hardwoods have always held the 

 choicest farm lands. The best growth of 

 timber as well as the best yield of wheat 

 comes from good soil. The soundness of 

 the log-ends shows that they fed on the 

 fat of the land. My 



Indiana Oak 



comes from the same soil 



CHAS. H. BARNABY 



Greencastle, Indiana 



Walnut 



Of Character and Color 



Manufactured at Kansas City, U. S. A. 



Large Stock of All Grades and Thickness 



Thirty-five years' experience 



IN WALNUT ONLY 



Prompt Shipment, and 

 Guaranteed Inspection 



FRANK PURCELL 



5 1 5 Dwight Building, KANSAS CITY, MO. 



AU Three of Us WUl Be Benefited if Yr>v Mention HARDWOOD RECORD 



