34 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



his quotations as he apprehends there will be 

 no trouble in getting better jirices for all 

 grades of lumber a little later in the season. 



Cincimiati. 



Affairs in the local hardwood lumber dis- 

 trict so far this year have been satisfactory. 

 The demand locally has been good from all 

 sources. Building operations have been in- 

 terrupted but slightly by the weather. Fur- 

 niture manufacturers have been in the market 

 ' ' with both feet ' ' and have taken all desir- 

 able lots offered them. Vehicle manufactur- 

 ers and wood workers establishments have not 

 yet supplied their future wants and are buy- 

 ing at present only in a hand to mouth man- 

 ner. They are known though to be short on 

 stocks, and in a quiet way thev have been 

 making inquiries for good sized quantities. 

 Country dealers have been fair buyers and 

 several heavy orders from the export sources 

 have been received. The outlook for foreign 

 trade is regarded as extremely bright. 



Recent rains have caused the Ohio river to 

 rise appreciably and receipts of logs from 

 headwaters, w^ere thousands are being held, 

 are expected soon. Talk of the car shortage 

 has been dropped and all in all there is noth- 

 ing on the horizon that can be unfavorablv 

 construed, excepting the fact that stocks are 

 none too plentiful. 



Oak Tilain and red, and cypress have Ijeen 

 the best sellers, with quarter-sawed oak grades 

 a close second. Prices are firmly sustained. 

 The poplar situation is unchanged. Other 

 hardwoods firm with prices being well held 

 at list. 



Minneapolis. 



Dealers here are getting ready for the 

 1905 campaign, and from the way 

 inquiries are coming in they are con- 

 fident that the year will be one of 

 the best in their history. The factory 

 trade is talking of steady work and large 

 consumption, and inquiries are already com- 

 ing in strong. Yard trade is beginning to 

 pick up now that the holidays are over and 

 inventories taken. They are stocking up 

 for the winter trade in white oak wagon 

 stock and dimension, maple flooring, bass- 

 wood siding and ceiling. Stocks of birch 

 and oak suitable for factory consumption 

 are light and held in a few hands. Prices 

 are therefore firm and advancing. AVbile 

 basswood is still somewhat weak, it is mak- 

 ing a better showing than for some months. 

 There seems a general feeling that basswood 

 is coming into its own again, and that the 

 demand this coming season will easily take 

 care' of the stocks being gotten out this 

 winter. 



Birch is especially strong, but not as 

 scarce as northern oak, which is giving 

 some dealers considerable anxiety. They 

 are able to get orders but cannot fill them, 

 and are looking for stock, but cannot get 

 it at prices that would make their deals 

 worth while. 



Everyone holding oak stocks is deter- 

 mined to get all that they are worth. 



Elm is looking up, and in the cooperage 

 market the trade is beginning to look for 

 staves, which promises a good season ahead 

 for the stave mills. 



St. Louis. 

 As is seasonable during these first few days 

 of the new year, trade is very quiet and should 

 remain so until wholesalers and consumers 

 have invoiced their stocks, opened their new 

 books and in other ways prepared themselves 

 for another season. Conditions are exactly 

 what they should be at this time and, there- 

 fore, the fact that practically no lumber is 

 being sold is causing neither wonder nor 



worry. It is a between-seasons period, few 

 salesmen or buyers are out but the rush is 

 expected to begin within another two weeks. 

 Local opinion as to the future of trade was 

 seldom so unanimously favorable. Stocks of 

 dry lumber are light with little to be found 

 in those portions of the southern country 

 drawn upon by the St. Louis dealers. For 

 some months it has only been possible to pur- 

 chase green lumber at initial points, and the 

 local yards must therefore rely solely upon 

 the stock which is now on sticks, and which 

 will come into a shipping-dry condition dur- 

 ing the next few months. 



There is considerable green lumber in pile 

 in St. Louis, but the point is made by all 

 wholesalers that few people have much that 

 is dry. Another point which is being brought 

 out with considerable force is the laet that 

 the pi-esent inquiry is heavy, and that it 

 would be possible to sell large quantities of 

 lumber for February delivery at present 

 prices. None of the local people is willing 

 to accept business of this character. All ap- 

 pear eonfidentJ that the quotations of Febru- 

 ary will be considerably above those of today 

 on practically every item on the hardwood 

 list. 



The particular item which shows greater 

 strength than any of the others is inch plain 

 oak, and this has been living a strenuous ex- 

 istence for some time The local supply «f 

 It is greatly below the market requirements, 

 and it has been almost impossible to maki' 

 jiurchases of it at initial points. Prices are 

 higher than at this time last year and its 

 scarcity the country over has brought out the 

 prediction that it will be among the first of 

 the hardwoods to show the effects of the ex- 

 pected general price advancement. Thick 

 plain oak is also showing fair strength and 

 the local supply is limited. In quartered oak, 

 red is selling more freely than white, and at 

 more satisfactory prices, but there is a good 

 call for upper grades of white. Both of these 

 items are expected to improve in the near 

 future, and wholesalers are willing purchasers 

 of them at present quotations. 



Ash, hickory and poplar have shown little 

 change during the past few weeks. Gum and 

 Cottonwood are both expected to greatly im 

 prove by February, and few large contracts 

 are being entered into at present prices. 



Memphis. 



The outlook Is very satisfactory in the 

 Memphis lumber trade, and, as usual, the first 

 of the year the lumbermen are busy in a 

 great many ways. Selling lumber, meeting 

 personal representatives, footing up the 190-1 

 business, making special outlays for 1905, 

 and thinking over timber and log matters is 

 quite enough even for a .Memphis lumber- 

 man to think about. Some improvement is 

 noted recently on several lumber items of the 

 list. Cottonwood and gum, which were quite 

 slow during the fall, both show new strength 

 of demand and price. Cypress continues in 

 the active tone that has been evident for some 

 time now. Plain oak here, as in all the other 

 southern markets, is scarce and high. Quar- 

 tered white oak does not seem to have gained 

 a great deal in firmness. Hickory is much in 

 demand and rather high. The report from 

 the association of its rapidly diminished sup- 

 ply has had some effects already. Poplar is 

 perhaps the weakest itemj but Memphis is 

 hardly a criterion of the poplar market. The 

 retailers of Memphis seem in a good frame 

 of mind and while the winter business is 

 never heavy, reports from contractors and 

 architects, and a few large building projects 

 on, make the situation full of reassurance. 

 The financial status of the south, wonderful 

 to say, with prices on cotton down to 512.50 

 a bale, is good. 



M. R. CHIViZIS 



Sueoessor to B. ,). Ehnts 

 WANTE.D AND FOR SALE. 



HARDWOOD LUMBER 



ASH, OAK, POPLAR, CYPRESS, 

 AGRICULTURAL AND WAGON STOCK, 



WALNUT AND GHERRY 



LESPERANCE STREFT 



: AND THE :: 



IRON MOUNTAIN RAILROAD TRACKS, 



ST. LOUIS. 



ITHE graham! 



Ilumber go./ 



=== LTD. =^= 



Manufacturers ot 



Yellow Poplar Lumber 



^ AND 



# Wtiolesale Dealer* in all Kinds of 



I Hardwood Lumber 



> OFFICE: 41 East Fourth Street, C 

 ^CINCINNATI, OHIO. I 



TheF.J.BIackwellCo. 



INCORPORATED 



BROWNSVILLE, 



TENNESSEE 



Write ut for PrlcM on 



HARDWOODS 



OAK, POPLAR AND GUM LUM- 

 BER AND DIMENSION STOCK 



WALNUT, 

 OAK, 

 ASH, 



POPLAR. 



