THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



13 



fix prices anything in advance of what 

 they are at present in most lines of har'd- 

 wood, and guarantee to hold them there. 

 As soon as the supply becomes somewhat 

 in excess of the demand the temptation to 

 unload will be very great, too great for 

 a good many members to resist, as the 

 history of many a past association will in- 

 dicate. 



Our advice to our readers among the 

 manufacturers is to joiu the Manufactur- 

 ers' Association and stick to it, not to ex- 

 pect too much at the start, and not lose 

 their enthusiasm over a few failures. Such 

 an association is certain to come sooner 

 or later, and be the dominating influence 

 in the trade. It used to be that three- 

 fourths of the capital of the hardwood 

 ti'ade was engagetl in dealing in lumber; 

 now the conditions are almost reversed. 

 There is not an officer in the National 

 association, we believe, but has more 

 money invested in the manufacturing end 

 of the business than in the dealers' end, 

 and the tendency in that direction is in- 

 creasing; and where the capital is there 

 the control will be. 



But it will take time and patience, and 

 we believe the promoters of the Manufac- 

 turers Association would do well to make 

 haste slowly. 



lilORE ABOUT LUMBER FREIGHTS. 



The question of lumber freights is re- 

 ceiving its due share of attention just now. 

 The discussion won't dO' the lumber inter- 

 ests any harm. Mr. Russe started the agi- 

 tation at the meeting of the National as- 

 sociation in May. In order to get at the 

 matter on all sides, the Record secured 

 a statement from a railroad official who, by 

 the way, is in charge of the lumber traffic 

 over a southern line of railway, justify- 

 ing the present rates. The article was pub- 

 lishetl in our issue of May 31, and in the 

 following issue received attention from the 

 very trenchant pen of Mr. Tetter, one of 

 the largest lumber shippers in the coun- 

 try. We have received a reply from our 

 same railroad friend, which is as follows; — 



To the Editor: — I am pleased to comply 

 with your request for an answer to the 

 lumberman's letter in your last issue, in 

 which exceptions are taken to some of our 

 statements made in an article on freight 

 rates. 



Our Buffalo friend is correct in say- 

 ing that the railroads forced the grain 

 shippers to increase the weight of their 

 loads Ijy inweasing the minimum weight 

 at the same time they reduced the rates per 

 hundred pounds, and if it were possible 

 for lumber to be loaded to the carrj'ing 

 capacity of the cars as a minimum, I have 

 no doubt but what the rates on lumber 

 would be lower than they now are. Dry 

 oak lumber, loaded to 50,000 pounds per 

 car, is vei-y heavy loading; the records of 

 the lumber carrying roads with Chicago 

 terminals show a much less tonnage per 

 car. 



One of our southern lines which Is 

 a large carrier of lumber estimates 

 the average load of oak lumber handled 

 by them to be 42,000 pounds, and Cot- 

 tonwood and poplar .32,000 pounds. 



One of our eastern trunk lines places 



the average carload of grain as loaded 

 out of Chicago by their line to be 00,000 

 pounds. 



The terminal expenses to start the two 

 commodities from the producing points are 

 about equal, but the expense to make de- 

 livery at destination is much more for lum- 

 ber than grain, as a large percentage of 

 grain handled goes into elevators, where 

 the cars are made empty in a few minutes. 

 The question of loss sustained by carriers 

 on account of the errors made by either 

 the carriers, agents or consignees refusal 

 to receive the consignment is so small a 

 percentage of the freight earnings of both 

 commodities that it might not be con- 

 sidered. 



The Secretary of the Chicago Board of 

 Trade furnishes the following report of 

 receipts and shipments of grain and lum- 

 ber to and from Chicago in the year 1900. 

 Receipts. 



Grain 14,756,903,136 pounds 



Lumber 3,991,865,000 pounds 



Shipments. 



Grain 11,246,333,288 pounds 



Lumber 1,538,902,000 pounds 



This report of the movement of the two 

 commodities in and out of the largest 

 gi'ain and lumber market in the United 

 States should be a just comparison as to 

 the relative tonnage of grain and lumber, 

 and I regret my inability to give our friend 

 the statistics, which he says would be the 

 only convincing proof to him, i. e., "the 

 relative freight earnings of both com- 

 modities." This information is not fur- 

 nished by the railroads to our Board of 

 Trade. 



All railroads keep their equipment in 

 good condition, as they do not compel any 

 particular equipment to bo loaded with one 

 class of freight at the exclusion of all other 

 classes. The cars loaded with grain for 

 New Orleans are returned with lumber as 

 a load, therefore all equipment must be 

 kept in condition to haul grain. It is at 

 the present time impossible to make de- 

 livery of any equipment loaded or empty 

 to a connecting road unless the car is in 

 good condition, as per the rules of the 

 Master Mechanics' Association, of whicli 

 all roads are members, and use the same 

 inspection rules, therefore I cannot un- 

 derstand our friend's complaint about the 

 equipment which he has been furnished, it 

 must have been quite good to carry 50,000 

 pounds of lumber. 



The members of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association, and particularly the 

 Raiilroad Committee, have my best wishes 

 for their success, and personally, I hope 

 that their petition for a lower scale of 

 freight rates on lumber will be favorably 

 considered. 



THE HOO-HOO ANNUAL. 



The Hoo-Iioo of Milwaukee, Wis., have 

 taken some preliminary steps in prepara- 

 tion for the annual meeting, which will 

 be held in that city September 9. They 

 have organized into a financial committee, 

 with W. S. Johnson as chairman, and a 

 committee on arranigements, with F, N. 

 Snell as chairman. The latter committee 

 are well along with their work, and expect 

 to have a program, when complete, that 

 will be very attractive and pleasant for the 

 visitors. They have already decided to 

 make the Hotel Pfister headquarters, and 

 have reserved fifty rooms for the accommo- 

 dation of visiting delegates, ranging in 

 price from ,$3 to .$5 per day, on the Ameri- 



can plan. Other hotels mentioned (on the 

 American plan) are the Plankington 

 House, at $2.50 per day and up, and the 

 St. Charles and Republican House, at .?2 

 per day and up. On the European plan the 

 Davidson, Schlitz and Blatz are first-class 

 hostelries, at $1 per day and up. They 

 urge those expecting to be present to make 

 applications for rooms at as early date 

 as possible. 



J. P. "WALTER BEAD. 



"James P. Walter is dead!" This was 

 the tidings that flashed over the city this 

 morning on the friendship that linked his 

 life with the hearts of acquaintences by 

 the thousand. Seldom indeed has a like 

 message occasioned such surprise and in- 

 expressible sorrow. 



Mr. Walter arose at an early hour in 

 the best of health apparently, yet a few 

 minutes later his sturdy frame" was still 

 in death. He walked down to the sale 

 barn, as was liis custom and directed the 



opening and the work for the day. Re- 

 turning home, his wife met him "at the 

 corner and they chatted together as they 

 walked into the house. Mr. Walter sat 

 down in a chair to await the breakfast 

 bell, and a few moments later his wife 

 saw him arise and walk to the door. He 

 complained that he was feeling ill, and 

 Mrs. Walter advised him to sit down 

 again. He turned to comply, but before 

 he could reach the chair he fell to the 

 floor unconscious and expired almost in- 

 stantly. Death was due to a stroke of ap- 

 oplexy.— Crawfordsville News. 



Mr. Walter has been associated with Mr. 

 S. P. Burkholder in the wholesale hard- 

 wood lumber business since 1880, and 

 was treasurer of the company under the 

 firm name of the J. P. Walter Lumber 

 Company, whose headquarters are at 

 Crawfordsville, lud. He was also ex- 

 tensively engaged in the live stock busi- 

 ness and the firm of J. P. Walter & Bro. 

 was one of the largest shippers in the 

 state. With all his business interests, Mr. 

 Walter did not neglect the nobler ends 

 of life. He was always ready to help 

 in any plan for the betterment of condi- 

 tions and his purse was open to any form 

 of charity. Mr. Walter was not "widely 

 known personally in the lumber trade, but 

 the firm which bears his name is well and 

 favorably known all over the eounti-y. 



