HARDWOOD RECORD 



53 



Meeting Memphis Ijumbermeu's Club 



The Lumbermen's Club, at its semi-monthly 

 meeting at the Hotel Gayoso, Feb. 3, entered 

 a vigorous protest against the alleged discrimi- 

 nation on the part of the steamship companies 

 against lumber exporters and authorized the 

 secretary to forward a copy of the resolutions 

 adopted on this subject to the steamship com- 

 panies at New Orleans. Fred Muller, member of 

 a firm of forwarding agents from New Orleans, 

 told of the seriousness of the situation grow- 

 ing out of the action of the steamship companies 

 in turning down cargoes of lumber offered for 

 shipment under annual contracts in order that 

 they might secure the higher rates obtainable 

 on cotton and other exports. He did not believe 

 that this had been brought to the attention of 

 the owners of the steamship lines and urged 

 that it be done at once. The action in question 

 followed. 



President Robertson explained that, as a re- 

 sult of a conference held with the directors and 

 those who were responsible for the establishment 

 of the credit committee at the last meeting, he 

 had assigned the duties of this committee to 

 the information committee, one of the regular 

 standing committees of the organization. The 

 latter, in a written report upon this subject, 

 outlined its plan of action to prevent the en- 

 trance into Memphis of firms who were irre- 

 sponsible and who, after remaining here awhile, 

 left behind them only a large number of credi- 

 tors and no tangible assets. Established firms 

 here will not be subject to investigation and 

 those well known elsewhere may open branch 

 offices in Memphis without encountering any 

 trouble whatever. The same is true of new 

 companies where any of the men connected with 

 them are well known in Memphis or come to this 

 city with proper credentials from elsewhere. But 

 all individuals, firms or corporations, regarding 

 whom nothing is known, will be subjected to a 

 rigorous investigation to the end that all frauds 

 may be eliminated. 



The river and rail committee, upon motion, was 

 given the necessary authority to take up with 

 the Rock Island System the question of more 

 equitable freight rates on log and lumber ship- 

 ments into Memphis and to close negotiations to 

 that end with that road without further con- 

 sulting the club. It was also decided at this 

 meeting that this committee should, by the next 

 meeting, make recommendations to the club in 

 reference to the best methods of procedure in the 

 establishment of a traffic department to work 

 wholly in the interest of lumbermen of this city 

 and section. 



Resolutions were adopted protesting against 

 the passage of Bill H. R. 2948 now pending in 

 Congress and providing clearness on private and 

 side tracks, the members pledging themselves to 

 work individually and collectively by all legiti- 

 mate means for the defeat of this measure. The 

 river and rail committee was also instructed, in 

 this connection, to bring this bill to the atten- 

 tion of the members of Congress from Tennessee 

 and to urge that they use their best efforts to- 

 wards its defeat because of the very injurious 

 etEects its passage would have upon the lumber 



shippers of Memphis and throughout the Mem- 

 phis territory. 



Four applications for membership in the club 

 wore reported and the applicants in question will 

 be voted on at the next meeting. 



The statistics committee is sendiug out blanks 

 as a preliminary to the compilation of sta- 

 tistics covering the lumber business of Memphis 

 for 1911. 



Philadelphia Exchange Meeting 



The regular monthly meeting of the Lumber- 

 men's Exchange of Philadelphia, preceded by a 

 luncheon, was held on Feb. 1, William C. Mac- 

 Bride, president, in the chair. 



Frederick S. Underbill, chairman of the com- 

 mittee to prepare Philadelphia for the opening 

 of the Panama Canal, reported that a meeting 

 of the delegates representing the various trade 

 organizations in Philadelphia was held Jan. 31, 

 at which he presided. George W. Norris, di- 

 rector of wharves, docks and ferries, made an 

 .iddress at this meeting, in which ho stated that 

 the work of deepening the channel to the sea 

 and increasing the dockage, etc., would be fin- 

 ished in time to meet any increase of business 

 that may be brought to Philadelphia on the com- 

 I-letion of the new waterway. He endeavored to 

 impress upon the people of Philadelphia the ne- 

 cessity of getting busy. He advised every mer- 

 chant to insist that all goods for this city be 

 shipped direct, instead of via New York, which 

 decision would naturally have the effect to stim- 

 ulate ship owners to seek this market as a ter- 

 minal for new lines to all parts of the world. 



J. Randall Williams, Jr., who represented the 

 exchange at the forestry convention held in 

 Washington recently, spoke at length on the 

 great work being done by this association and 

 suggested that lumbermen take more interest in 

 this association. In this connection he offered 

 the following resolution, which was adopted : 



Resolved, That the secretary of the Lumber- 

 men's Exchange send a list of the members of 

 llir exchange to the American Forestry Associa- 

 tion, recommending a membership with same, 

 but stipulating that no member be compelled to 

 join if not so inclined. 



An invitation from the National Wholesale 

 Lumber Dealers' Association was then extended 

 to the president and two delegates to represent 

 the exchange at the convention to be held at the 

 Seelbach hotel. Louisville, Ky., March 6 and 7. 

 A letter was also received from J. Frederick Mar- 

 tin, secretary of the Pennsylvania Lumbermen's 

 .Association, requesting the exchange to join 

 with it and the Philadelphia Wholesale Lumber 

 Dealers' Association in the planning of ways 

 and means to secure the representation of the 

 lumber industry in the great Historical Pageant 

 to be held in this city in October, 1912. 



New Sawmill and Planing Plant 



With increased value of stumpage and selling 

 costs the manufacturer of forest products is con- 

 stantly up against the proposition of cutting 

 down expenses in order to show a fair profit on 

 his investment. The only means of accomplish- 



ing this end is by securing a higher state of 

 efficiency in the manufacture of his product. 

 This can be accomplished only by the abandon- 

 ment of the out-of-date plants which have suf- 

 ficed for years, and the installation of sawmills, 

 planing mills, flooring plants, etc.. laid out with 

 the idea of accomplishing every possible economy 

 in manufacture, and equipped with the most 

 modern machinery and other labor saving devices 

 which can be secured. 



Such is the character of the new sawmill and 

 flooring plant of the J. W. Wells Lumber 

 Company at Menominee, Mich. The new sawmill 

 is now well broken in. having started in 

 September. It is a remarkably up-to-date plant 

 of thoroughly fireproof construction, and is the 

 first of its kind on the Menominee river. It is 

 equipped with two Prescott band saws, one Wicks 

 gang, one gang edger, one slab resaw and with a 

 lath mill, a shingle mill and a tie mill. Here 

 the company turns out daily 125,000 feet of 

 maple, birch, basswood, ash, hemlock and rock 

 and soft elm. 



The maple flooring plant and planing mill, 

 where is manufactured the famous "Diamond 

 Hard" flooring, is a building 175xl7i) feet, also 

 ol strictly fireproof construction. Here four 

 machines, working constantly on maple, turn out 

 30,000 feet of finished product a day. The bat- 

 tery of six dry-kilns, each 105x17 feet, and the 

 flooring warehouse, 200x75 feet, assure prompt 

 deliveries of any sized orders. 



The J. W. Wells Lumber Company owns and 

 operates a logging railroad and steam skidders, 

 and brings its trees to the mill from the woods 

 in full length on flat cars, where they are cut to 

 log length with a steam drag saw on the log 

 slide. The plant is further equipped with a hog 

 in which all refuse is reduced to fuel for the 

 boilers. There is no burner in use in the new 

 plant, the old one in the illustration being used 

 for surplus fuel storage. The flooring plant has 

 no line shafting, but is run by separate motors 

 attached to each machine, all electrically driven. 



Imports and Exports for December, 1911 



The monthly summary of imports and exports 

 issued by the Department of Commerce and Labor 

 lor December, 1911, establishes the fact that 

 there was a notable increase in the importation 

 of woods products over December, 1910. In the 

 latter year the total value was .$4,418,000 as 

 against $4,076,000 in December, 1910. Of this 

 there was a decrease in the importation of 

 cabinet woods, such as cedar and mahogany, while 

 the value of logs and round timbers imported 

 increased from $96,000 in December, 1910, to 

 .^342.000 in December, 1911. There was a slight 

 falling off in the value of boards, planks, deals 

 and other manufactured lumber, which aggre- 

 gated $1,101,000 last December. The total value 

 of wood pulp imported increased from $1,297,000 

 to $1,441,000. 



December, 1911, compared unfavorably with 

 1910 in the export of woods and manufactures of 

 .wood, there being a total export in 1910 of 

 $7,513,000 as against $7,074,000 in December, 

 1911. The total export of logs and other round 

 timbers decreased by about $30,000 during the 



MODERN AND MODEL PLANT J. W. WELLS LUMBER COMPANY, MENOMINEE, MICH. 



