HARDWOOD RECORD 



rates as applicable to cars of given <liiiu"iisions, the road must fiir- 

 uish within six days a ear of the size provided for in the tarifl and 

 ordereil by the shipper. In case of the road's failure or inability 

 to do this, the charges for transportation shall be exacted on the 

 basis of the minimum weight of the smaller car ordere.l bv I lie 

 shipper. 



The particular case was that of WiiJiani K. Xuble vs. the Halti- 

 inor,' & Ohio Railroad. The complainant is a manufacturer of 

 cooperage stoek and aske.l for a car thirty-three feet in length, in 

 which he wished to ship elm hoops. The tariff provide<l a mininmm 

 of thirty thousand pounds when the car is thirty-six feet or more 

 in length, and twenty-four thousand |,onnds when the car is less 

 than thirty-six feet in length. The shipper waite.l six days and 

 received no car of the dimensions ordered, and accepted a thirtv 

 six foot car. He was charged for thirty thousand poun.ls weight. 

 He contemled he should have been charge.l upon twenty-four thou- 

 sand Jiounds. 



The various contentions of the road were overthrown in the 

 hearing.- and the commission held that the furnishing of a car of 

 other than specified dimensions , was a matter of convenience to the 

 carrier, for which the shipper should not be required to pay. The 

 six-day provision, it is explicitly stated, is not intende.l to' relieve 

 carriers from the duty of furnishing equipment within a reason- 

 able time. It simply gives a definite period beyomi which the ,luty 

 to furnish other equipment in lieu of that ordered shall attach. 

 This very just decision will be viewed with much complacency In- 

 many lumber shippers. 



The Veneer Situation Abroad 



.\ well known American veneer man nm<le a trip to Great 

 Brit.-iiii and the Continent last year, and recites the result of his 

 observations in a recently published article. He says that a very 

 limited quantity of veneers is used aliroad,— a surprisingly small 

 quantity and a diminishing amount,— due, first, to the overpower- 

 ing influence of the last twenty-five years of cheap lumber product 

 from the United States; secondly, from the fact that luinlier stan 

 dards are much thinner in Europe than here. Where one-incdi 

 lumber is employed here, three-eighths, one-half and five-eighths 

 inch are the standards there. Third, much of the cabinet work is 

 done in small cellar and garret shops by haml. and where machin 

 ery is employed at all the power is expensive, the equipment crude 

 ami veneer work not generally practiced. Fourth, the cost of 

 veneers, which are often cut too thick au.l on very antiquated 

 and poor machinery, is a very expensive method. He lielieves 

 that the average cost of producing veneers abroad is seven times 

 as great as it is here, and the quality is not nearly so good. 



The first point the writer makes is an interesting one — that the 

 paucity of demand for veneers abroad is due to the extremely low 

 price at which American high-grade solid wood is sold, which 

 should bring producers to a realization that improved efliciency 

 and increased f.orest conservation will naturally come about only 

 with higher prices being attained for the magnificent hardwoo.l's 

 that grow in the Ignited States. 



Is Oak a Cabinet Wood? 



As is well known, for some years jiast a considerable quantity 

 of Japanese oak, in the form of timber and lumber, has been 

 imported into this country through Pacific coast ports. While 

 this oak is not of as good a character as the American wood, it 

 comes into direct competition with oak grown in the Mississippi 

 valley section. Up to date this lumber has been classified the 

 same as ordinary lumber imjiorted from British Columbia, and if 

 takes the same dut.y, $1..5(l a thousand feet. 



It is held by some of the Pacific coast hardwood operators that 

 Japanese oak lumber should be classified as cabinet wood and take 

 the higher duty imposed on this class of material. They argue 

 that, regardless of the fact that Japanese oak is not reall/a high- 

 class wood, it goes into almost exclusive use on the coast for 

 cabinet purposes, and therefore should be so classified. 



This is a matter that is worthy of being taken up with the 



25 



customs c(dlcctors at Pacific coast iiorts. which will insure a 

 ruling frnni the Washington department on the subject. 



A "Peach" of a Ruling 



It will b.. recalled that about two years ago the Michigan Hard- 

 wood .Manufacturers- Association made a plea to the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission that certain sections of the stale were being 

 discriminated against on the lumber rates prevailing to the Pacific 

 coast. The commission took the matter under advisement, and 

 something over a month ago rendered a decision which, within the 

 last few ilays, has been publishe.l. The gist of the ruling ilivides 

 the lower i.eiiinsula of Michigan into two sections— one south of a 

 line drawn between .Muskegon and Saginaw, incUuling these two 

 cities and (irami Kapids, and the other between this line and the 

 Straits of Mackinac. The rate fixe.l to the Pacific coast on lumber 

 products from th.^ area south of the line noted is eighty cents a 

 hundred; the section between the line and the Straits of Mackinac 

 at eighty.five cents a hundred, which is the rate that has obtained 

 over the entire lower peninsula for several years. The area from 

 the mirthcni peninsula i„ 1 1„. Pacific coast remains at seventy- 

 five cents a hun.lred, the same as has obtained for some vcars. 

 The order is directed against all transcontinental lines. 



The decision was evidently brought about from a want of knowl- 

 edge of the commission covering origin of lumber .shipments in the 

 lower peninsula, as there are little or no shipments of lumber south 

 of the line across the lower jieninsula, and practically all such 

 lumber and flooring products as reach the Pacific coast originate 

 north of the line, and in the northern peninsula. 



It is a ruling that makes the lowest rate on the most remote 

 territory; next higher rate on the clo.sest territory, and a still 

 higher rate on the territory between the other two sections. It 

 certainly is a -'peach" of a decision, an,l the only consolation 

 Michigan lumber manufa.-turers can have is in contemplating the 

 fact that eighteen out of twenty-three recent decisions of the 

 Interstate Commerce Coinniission have been reversed by the courts. 



Getting Rich Quick in Lumber 



It is apparent, frnni an article printed in this issue, that the 

 affairs of the International laiinber and Develo|.meiit Company, 

 with heftdquarteis at Philadelphia, are nearing a climax. Hardwood 

 Eecord has foun.l it necessary to devote a good deal more space, 

 during the past six years, to this get-rieh-quick enterprise than its' 

 real worth warranted. However, alluring prospectus and adver- 

 tisements, backed up by the linguistic skill of agents, have tempted 

 thousands of jieojUe to entrust their good money to this concern, 

 with the idea that they were making an investment that would 

 give them fabulous returns. 



The institution is now in dual trouble. Primarily, the postoflBee 

 authorities are engaged in investigating its system of doing busi- 

 ness on the assumption that it has obtained moneys by fraudulent 

 use of the mails. Again, a number of the stockholders have entered 

 a charge against John R. Markley and Isaiah B. Miller, alleging 

 that they organized this company for the purpose of defrauding 

 the public, and filed a suit in equity in the United States District 

 Court of Philadelphia, on February 28, asking for the ajipointment 

 of a receiver for the concern, upon the further allegation that the 

 corporation is insolvent and its assets are being wilfully wasted 

 ■ by mismanagement. Defendants in the suit also include the officers, 

 agents and attorneys of the company. 



The application for receivership for the International Lumber 

 and Development Company, which was returnable on March 5, on 

 motion of the attorney's for the prosecution, was postjioned. The 

 attorneys explained to the court that it was their intention to go 

 into the courts at Wilmington, Del., which state issued the com- 

 pany's charter. The original application was for a tenqiorary 

 receivership, and it is now understood that a demand will be made 

 for a permanent receivership. It is a rather difficult case to handle, 

 inasmuch as the institution apparently has no creditors, and it has 

 paid dividends to stockholders as agreed, regardless of the source 

 from which it obtained the money with which to do so. 



