HARDWOOD RECORD 



63 



Lumber Company of Loiiisvillo, Ky., und Dick- 

 son, Tcnu. 



J. B. Dougherty of the J. E. Dougherty Lum- 

 ber Company is visiting the trade in Duluth, 

 Minn,, and- northern points. 



T. M. Smith of Wausau, Wis., recently spent 

 a couple of days in this city, looking up orders 

 (or hemlock and pine. 



P. E. Hamilton of the Minneapolis Lumber 

 I'ompany, is taking his winter vacation at Pasa- 

 dena, Cal. Mr. Hamilton is expected home about 

 ilie middle of February. 



F. H, Lewis left for the Pacific co.ist a few 

 days ago and will spend from four to six weeks 

 on his annual vacation. 



G. W. Everts of the Pays.on Smith Lumber 

 Company: left recently to call on the trade at 

 down-river points. The Payson Smith Lumber 

 Company reports a good volume of trade in all 

 lines of hardwood. 



The regular quarterly meeting of the North- 

 western Hardwood Lumbermen's Association was 

 held at the Minneapolis Commercial Club on 

 Feb. 3, with a good attend.ance present. 



L. M. Borgess of the Steele & Hibbard Lum- 

 ber Company of St. Louis, is -Visiting Twin City 

 customers and claims to be obtaining top-notch 

 prices for dry stock. 



'i'he ("adiUac Chair Comiiany has started the 

 mainifaclure of chairs and will employ seventy- 

 five men when running under normal conditions. 



The handle factory of D. B. Kelly at Lucas, 

 Mich., is running full time, and is putting in a 

 h-rge amount of maple and beech logs to be 

 manufactured into handles, and elm and hemlock 

 logs to be turned into lumber. 



A. C. Fesscndon of Boone is putting in 1,500,- 

 niiO feet of hardwood logs for a four-months' run 

 .ii his mill which will start Mar. 1. 



A. L. Gibbs of Traverse City is putting in 

 1.000,000 feet of hardwood logs at Fife Lake. 



The Oval Wood Dish Company is lumbering a 

 tract of lumber southwest of Mancolona. The 

 Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway Company is 

 putting in a five mile spur, connecting with the 

 main line, and will haul the timber to Ti'averse 

 Ciiy in the spring. 



DETROIT 



CADILLAC 



The outlook for the lumber trade from the 

 manufacturer's standpoint seems very good. 

 Conditions are more favorable than for some 

 time, for a good season's trade In both hard- 

 woods and hemlock. A large amount of logs 

 are being hauled into Cadillac by rail, and a 

 fair proportion of these are coming from farm- 

 ers' woodlots. A comparatively high price is 

 being paid by manufacturers, thus inducing the 

 farmers to sell at this time. 



The Williams Brothers Company is putting in 

 ,1 larger proportion of logs in this way than for 

 some time. Some of the logs are sleigh hauled 

 from points ten or twelve miles distance. Other 

 manufacturers in Cad'llac are receiving logs from 

 points over nm- Inniilrcd niibs. rail-hauled. 



C. W. Peters of the Peters Lumber Company, 

 Columbus, O., was a Detroit visitor the first of 

 the week. Mr. Peters up until the first of the 

 year was connected with the Sowers-Leach Lum- 

 ber Company of Columbus. He reports that so 

 far business has been very good and' that he 

 looks for a good trade this spring and summer. 



The C. W. Leech Lumber Company has enjoyed 

 a very good demand for walnut, ash and elm and 

 n ports that conditions seem brighter. 



"Trade conditions are improving to a marked 

 degree," said Thomas Forman of the Thomas 

 Forman Company. "While locally business has 

 not been large, the volume of inquiries and or- 

 ders is strengthening. Trade at large seems 

 much better throughout the country." The For 

 man Company is making a number of changes in 

 its mill which will mean reduced cost of produc- 

 tion. 



The season in the lumber bowling league is 

 about half over, with the team of the Gratiot 

 Ijumber Company on top and the Restrick Lum- 

 ber Company team several points behind. The 

 E. W. Leech team as usual is at the tail end, 

 having lost forty-three games and won eleven. 



' varoi>!M)iaat»TOit!)ttmw)t^)iWity<^TOtf^^ 



CHICAGO 



The upward tendency of the market locally, 

 which has been evident since the opening of the 

 .\ear, seems to continue almost universally 

 throughout the Chicago trade. Many salesmen 

 from out of town, particularly representatives 

 of northern mills, have been covering the local 

 trade thoroughly within the last few weeks, and 

 almost without exception are reporting a nice 

 volume of business and no difliculty in maintain- 

 ing a fair average in prices. Local hardwood 

 concerns voice the same sentiments, and in fact 

 some houses show surprisingly good-sized orders 

 for various kinds of hardwood lumber. 



The railroads are continuing their buying 

 policy, which is felt not only in the lumber 

 business, but in other lines, such for instance 

 as the General Electric Company, which claims 

 that its Chicago office is getting a very satisfac- 

 tory business from the railroads. This continued 

 activity on their part is being reflected already 

 to other lumber consuming industries, with the 

 result that there is every logical reason to 

 believe that the coming year will show a better 

 volume of business as compared with the past 

 two years, and prices at which lumbermen can 

 operate at a reasonable profit to themselves. 



Weather conditions still are having their effect 

 in tying up operations both at producing and 



consuming ends, so that the matter of delivery 

 continues to be a rather vexatious problem. But 

 with the opening up of milder weather, there 

 will be enough business on the lumbermen's books 

 to keep them hustling for some time to come. 



NEW YORK 



Plain oak continues to be a leader, with mod 

 crate activity being displayed by a number of 

 other woods, including birch and maple. Chest- 

 nut, ash and poplar are doing fairly well. Pop- 

 lar box lumber has been quiet for some time, but 

 a greater activity and stronger price is being 

 looked for. Walnut is moving a little better at 

 some yards. 



BUFFALO 



There is a fair amount of activity in hard- 

 woods, although the weather has interfered con- 

 siderably with the movement of lumber. Ship- 

 ments have bein delayed and some orders have 

 been deferred until the weather moderates. The 

 lower grades are beginning to take on a greater 

 degree of firmness in most hardwoods. 



The hardwood market at New York shows a 

 renewed inquiry and an increasing number of 

 orders, due largely to low stocks in the hands 

 of bu.vers, together with a growing appreciation 

 of the fact that the spring market is apt to be 

 very much stronger. Prices are holding very 

 firm, especially on good lumber. Maple, birch 

 and plain oak are a fraction stronger than they 

 were a fortnight ago, especially on IVi" and 

 thicker stock. The hardwood flooring market 

 Is also quite active, and considerable business 

 is being booked. 



PHILADELPHIA 



The report of the last fortnight is of expand- 

 ed trading. Many of the reliable firms state that 

 total sales for .January were far in excess of the 

 same month of last year. The heavy weather in 

 the southern lumber camps and the frozen har- 

 bors in the eastern states have retarded ship- 

 ments to a more or less degree, in consequence 

 of which there are many vacant spots in stock 

 piles. The strong market and stiff prices augur 

 well for an advancing robust trading. It Is 

 generally conceded that the trend of values is 

 upward. Although the lar.ae cities throughout 

 the East are not buying to any great extent, the 

 surrounding towns, running from Maryland to 

 northern and eastern New York and New Eng- 

 land, show a marked quickening, with more lib- 

 eral inquiries resulting in good orders right 

 along, there are fewer idle cars .nnd railroads 

 are inclined to further extension. Ship building 

 continues active, and an ardent and swelling 

 business activity is noticed on all sides. 



PITTSBURGH 



Har4wood men are enthusiastic over the out- 

 look for 1912. At present business is not very 

 brisk, owing to the extreme cold weather and 

 the general backward movement so far as out- 

 side construction work is concerned. Inquiries, 

 hr.wever. from yards and railroads indicate that 

 there will be more building and construction 

 work done this spring than for several years 

 past. It is evident that hardwood manufacturers 

 ,nnd consumers are buying in larger quantities 

 than last year. Hardwood mills have very little 

 or no dry stocks of lumber to ship. Floods and 

 deep snows have played havoc with operations 

 this winter, and stocks on hand have been rap- 

 idly exhausted. It is evident that prices are 

 going to be higher on good hardwoods. Plain 

 oak is in excellent demand and there is a call 

 for the better grades that is hard to satisfy. The 

 furniture and implement trade is manifesting it- 

 self in a more encouraging way than for some 

 time. 



BOSTON 



There has been very little activity in tin- local 

 hardwood lumber market since the first of Jan- 

 uary. Buyers .as a whole have not been willing 

 lo place orders in excess of actual wants. Many 

 have not had the confidence in prices needed to 

 bring about buying in anticipation of wants. 

 Reports from manufacturers indicate that their 

 stocks are not large and they are firmer holders 

 than formerly. In a few instances prices are 

 held with a little more firmness. JIanufacturing 

 consumers are beginning to do more business. 



The market for quartered oak, one inch, ones 

 and twos, is fairly steady. Plain oak is steady, 

 but the demand has not been large. Demand for 

 maple has been active and values are well held. 

 The call for birch and beech has not been large 

 during the past month. Cypress is fairly steady, 

 but the actual demand has been confined to small 

 lets. 



BALTIMORE 



Severe wintry weather continues to prevail all 

 over the East and various avenues of distribution 

 for hardwood stocks are partLally or entirely 

 closed. The same climatic conditions tend to 

 curtail the production, many mills having hardly 



