22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Lumber Sales Managers' Meeting 



In this day of rather lew ebb in practical efficiency in lumber 

 association work, the meeting of the Lumber Sales Managers' 

 Association, hel<l in Chicago on February 15 and 16, was a 

 refreshing and interesting exception. A few earnest men of 

 intelligence and standing in the industry, having especially to do 

 with the problem of lumber sales, have gotten together and have 

 started a campaign of cooperative practicabilitj- in this important 

 detail of the lumber business, that augurs much for the good of 

 the industry. At this meeting, in the form of papers and dis- 

 cussion, there obtained more work of an educational and practical 

 nature than is often heard in lumber association meetings. No 

 man who attended these sessions went away without full value 

 received in the way of concrete and specific knowledge that will 

 make for the betterment of his lumber sales methods. 



The basic principle upon which the Lumber Sales Managers' 

 Association is built is commercial integrity, and it is gathering 

 into the organization every manager of lumber sales departments 

 who believes in this principle of transacting the lumber business. 

 Beyond this the members promise themselves that there are to be 

 no politics in their work, and that every member will employ 

 himself to assist in securing the confidence of the lumber purchas- 

 ing element, and secure it by deserving it 



This organization occupies a hitherto untrodden field in lumber 

 association work, and it would seem to be the most important one 

 of any in the industry — the marketing of lumber products on a 

 scientific, intelligent and honest basis. 



The organization is very fortunate in its selection of officers 

 and directors, as every man occupying one of these positions 

 stands for the best there is in good commercial morals. If the 

 Lumber Sales Managers ' Association does not prove to be not 

 only an important factor, but a distinct success in the history of 

 lumber affairs, it is doubtful if such attainment can be made in 

 association work. 



.\ brief resume of the meeting is published in this issue and 

 the important papers presented have separate publication. 



Getting Rich Quick in Lumber 



Some six years ago, when the International Lumber & Develop- 

 ment Company of Philadelphia was organized, and its stock 

 floated through the allurements of daily newspaper and circular 

 advertising. Hardwood Record analyzed the proposition with a 

 good deal of care, published details of its promises and prophesied 

 to its prospective stockholders that there was nothing in lumber 

 history that warranted the remote possibilitj' of the eventual 

 success of the enterprise. During the last few days the "Phila 

 delpbia North American, a publication, if memory serves aright, 

 which enjoyed no little revenues from advertising stock sales of 

 the International Lumber & Development Company, has published 

 a series of articles assailing the institution. The articles recite 

 the loss of the company's steamship Vueltabajo, which was 

 wrecked near Vera Cruz, Mexico, some months ago, and further- 

 more the burning of its contractor's sawmill at Mobile, which 

 occurred .some months later. These losses have no particular bear- 

 ing on the peculiar history of this promotional enterprise, but the 

 statement made by the Philadelphia paper that the company has 

 paid out dividends regularly since it was organized six years ago, 

 not out of earnings, but out of avails of stock sales, is very much 

 in line with the prophecy made by Hardwood REfoRD shortly after 

 the institution was organized. 



The North American says the International Lumber & Develop 

 ment Company is a $6,000,000 Delaware corporation, occupying a 

 large and handsome suite on the seventh floor of the Drexel 

 building, Philadelphia. The stock has a par value of $300 a 

 share and has been gold under contract calling on the shareholders 

 to pay $5 a month on each share. It guaranteed dividends on 

 the amounts paid in on its capital from the very start, and 

 during the first year of its operation, 190.'), paid two semi-annual 

 dividends of Ave per cent each. It alleges the capital stock paid 



in today amounts to $5,500,000, but up to date the company has 

 distributed $1,500,000 in dividends, including $110,000 which was 

 to have been paid out on February 20 of this year. It alleges 

 the company owns 288,000 acres of land in the state of Campeche, 

 Mexico, and deals in mahogany and other foreign woods, dye 

 woods, bananas, henequiu, coffee, rubber, tropical fruits and 

 nuts, chicle, cotton, live stock, grain, etc. It alleges the property 

 was originally sold to Marklej- & Miller of Chicago, who in turn 

 sold it to the International Lumber & Development Company, 

 organized by it, and took the contract for developing 20,000 acres 

 of the total at $250 an acre. In this manner it says the con- 

 tractors have received $5,000,000 of the $6,000,000 capital of the 

 company, and the remaining $1,000,000 went to a fiscal agency 

 which marketed the stock on a commission of $50 a share. 



It says the company has stockholders in all parts of this country 

 and in several foreign countries, including England, France, 

 Turkey and Italy, where the fact that the companj''s dividends 

 had always been paid regularly, and advertised regularly, until 

 they reached a total of $1,000,000, attracted investors. The paper 

 says the company in the past has had many more shareholders 

 than it has today because the installment plan under which stock- 

 holders have bought their stock provided that on the failure of a 

 shareholder to pay the monthly installment, the company could 

 cancel out the delinquent shareholder, who then forfeited the 

 amount he had paid into the company 's coffers. 



Other articles in the North American regarding other Markley 

 & Miller promotional enterprises, reciting specific losses that have- 

 been sustained through these enterprises, state that the postal 

 inspectors have now started an investigation of all the Markley 

 & Miller deals, but with j articular reference to the Internationar 

 Lumber & Development Company. 



It is understood that Markley & Miller's contract as contractors 

 for the company has expired, but has recently been renewed or is 

 in the process of renewal. 



There is nothing particularly new brought out on the subject 

 of the International Lumber & Development Company by the 

 Philadelphia publication, save that the intimation is very marked 

 that the institution is on the verge of serious difficulties, and that 

 its stockholders have no chance of securing any further sub- 

 stantial dividends from their investment at present. All of this 

 goes to show that chasing the myth of fabulous profit in Mexican 

 timber and kindred promotional enterprises usually results itt 

 failure. . 



Box Makers in Session 



The thirteenth anjuial con\cntion of the National Associatioiv 

 of Box Manufacturers, which was held at the Auditorium liotel„ 

 Chicago, February 21-23, was a most interesting and instructive 

 meeting. It brought out a large attendance of the leading wooden 

 l)ackage producers of the country. The meeting was marked by a 

 perfectly frank and aboveboard discussion of every phase of the 

 industry, and policies were mapped out that augur much for the 

 improvement of conditions surrounding the trade. 



Cndeniably the box making industry is between the devil and 

 the deep sea. On one hand, it faces ailvancing values on the cost 

 of its raw material- — low-grade lumber — which manufacturers are 

 supplying to them today at less than manufacturing cost, without 

 any consideration for stunipage values. On the other hand, the- 

 tra<le is confronted by most severe competition from the fiber box 

 industry. Box manufacturers generally concede that they would 

 be perfectly willing to pay more money for their box lumber if 

 it were possible to advance the prices on boxes, but the moment 

 box values go upwards, it still further decreases the total of 

 their sales, on account of the competition of substitute materials. 



There is this one feature dC the vvodden box making industry — 

 the total volume of business is not falling off materially in spite 

 (if the substitutes urged against them, which indicates a marked 

 increase in demand for containers of all types. It is believed that; 

 within a short time the railroads will readjust their classification 

 :inil malic a lower rate on goods ]ia(l\id in stiiblr wnmiiMi Imxes 



