THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



21 



Market Reports 





CHICAGO. 



Business iu Chicago is quiet, but by no 

 means wealc. Midsummer is hardly tlie 

 season- to lojlv for mncli activity in tlie 

 sale of hardwoods, but ^siiile the volume 

 of s'tock moving is not large, there is a 

 certain stability about prices that is not 

 altogether compatible with the nature of 

 demand. The reason can be loolied 

 farther for and fuuutl in the nature of 

 supply. There has been no accumulation 

 of dry stocks at mill points of much con- 

 sequence, and those that are in possession 

 of them seem blessed \\ itli the idea that 

 there is better things' in store this fall. 



As to the tendency of things, the opinion 

 prevails that Augaist will be as good a 

 month as July and that thereafter fairly 

 brisk trading will charae'terize the busi- 

 ness. Those that hold to this view are 

 making i)lans iu that direction. Dealers 

 here are adding to their holdings pretty 

 freely at present market prices, and. every- 

 thing it' being arranged to take care of 

 ■whatever turns up. 



The local retail ti-ade is fairly good and 

 the -wholesalers are enjoying a good Ijusi- 

 uess, tliough it is likely that the bulk of 

 their shipments is on orderes tliat have 

 been placed ahead. 



Plain 1-inch red oak remains the lead- 

 ing item on the list and there is. to say 

 the lea.st. a sufficient demand for all that 

 is arriving. 



Quartered white oak is' hardly as active 

 as it was sixty days ago. l)ut there has 

 been no change in value. 



Poplar and cottonwood are also con- 

 tinuing in excellent demand, and basswood 

 is obtainable only in limited 'luantities 

 and at top figures. 



There is but little trading done in other 

 ■woods on this market. 



NEW YOBK. 



The metropolis seems to be in line for 

 a long and undesirable run of wet weather. 

 and tlie old talk of rain on St. Swithin'.5 

 Day presaging a continuous performance 

 of 40 days in that direction has been re- 

 vived. However that may be, the ex- 

 treme heat has kept off. at any rate, and 

 thus building operations have been per- 

 mitted. The natural result has been that 

 a little hardwood trim is being 'consumed 

 right along, and conditions in the hard- 

 woofl market generally are not at all un- 

 satisfactory, even if the volume of busi- 

 ness is not large. 



Although ^^•e are still far behind the rec- 

 ord for 1901, d\ie to the fears engendered 

 by the new tenement house law at that 



time, there was quite a boom in the 

 amount of building planned during the last 

 three months, as compared with the first 

 three of 1001. During the second quarter 

 of the half year plans -^vere filed for build- 

 ings to cost $9,990,12.3, while the amount 

 for alterations planned in the same period 

 was $3,207,618. These figures refer to 

 Manhattan Borough alone, but they give 

 an idea of the way in which things ai'e 

 Ijooming in the building line, and why the 

 trade is quite justified in looking for splen- 

 did conditions to prevail in the autumn. 



Some of the pessimistic, however, de- 

 clare that the increased prices for all kinds 

 of building materials may result in a cessa- 

 tion of operations even after preliminary 

 steps have been taken. The vei-j- recent 

 advance of maple flooring may be taken 

 as an example. Sending up No. 1 $2 a 

 thousand and clear and factory another 

 $1, means that within the past six mouths 

 a most desirable factor in the construction 

 of better grade dwellings and ofl5ce struc- 

 tures has gone up in price .$G. Some ex- 

 perts put the general advance on all build- 

 ing materials hereabouts at fully .3.3 per 

 cent, which is by no means a small item. 



This is the season of the year when no 

 one cares to do more business than he 

 has to, and the hardwood market is in 

 just the shape to cater to the wishes of the 

 rest seekers. 



Quartered oak is iu its usual rut, with 

 prices ranging from $57 to $6.5. It is all 

 a question of who has the stock and what 

 kind of stock it is. No one cares to shade 

 prices, for shaded prices do not influence 

 sales unless the buyer is really anxious, 

 and the "really anxious" buyers are few 

 and far between. 



In plain oak the business being done is 

 not particularly brisk. Those who want 

 stock find that they must pay the market 

 price, which ranges from $38 to $40. 



As usual, poplar is really at the head of 

 the list. It is holding strong and the de- 

 mand for it is good. The price range Is 

 $40 to .$42. and the man who gets the 

 figure .shaded is entitled to the prize for 

 clever buying. 



Ash is slow. There is not much inquiry, 

 though a little movement for export is 

 noted. C'he.stnut is in fairly good shape, 

 witli more or less inquiry, and enough 

 stock on hand to supply all needs. Ma- 

 hogany is said to be in unusually good 

 call, with tlie log market cleaned out of 

 desirable stock. 



Altogether no serious harm would be 

 done if the market remained featureless 



for a few weeks, provided, of course, that 

 inactivity did not result iu a break in 

 prices. It is predicted that the market 

 will be in excellent shape by about the 

 middle of September. Meanwhile, the 

 manufacturer can afford to sit back and 

 let his lumber dry out thoroughly. 



CINCINNATI. 



Cincinnati, Ohio, July 22, 1902. 



Judging from the remarks of the many 

 hardwood lumber dealers in this section, 

 trade is a little quiet at present Sales 

 and inquiries have not fallen off to such 

 an extent as to cause alarm, but they, 

 are not'as numerous as they have been 

 for some time. Shipments are being 

 steadily made, but mostly on orders taken 

 last month. The above described state of 

 affairs is true only of the local and domes- 

 tic markets. The foreign trade on the 

 contrary being more active at present 

 than for a long time. It seems that at last 

 the foreign market, which showed so little 

 activity for a long spell, has at last taken 

 a ibrace and is once more making large 

 s-'trides toward its accustomed position. 

 The fact that the domestic trade is a trifle 

 quiet is causing no surprise, in fact, it 

 has been expected, as we are now between 

 seasons. The farmer cannot yet harvest 

 his crops, but can almost tell what to ex- 

 pect, and won't anticipate his expectations 

 to the extent of spending what he hopes 

 to realize. The furniture people are buy- 

 ing only lightly nor\v and are not running 

 to their full capacity. The retail yards 

 are doing well and building is going on 

 with unprecedented vigor. 



In spite of the fact that trade has fallen 

 off slightly gum lumber has had a sub- 

 stantial improvement during the i>ast fort- 

 night. Red gum in firsts and seconds, all 

 thicknesses, is doing well, especially for 

 the export trade. Clear sap gum is doing 

 well and holding up its' end. The greatest 

 improvement has mauifes'ted itself in 

 No. 2 common gum and sales of lum- 

 ber in this grade have been numerous. 

 It seems that the box manufacturers are 

 now taking to gum. This is caused, no 

 doubt, by the scarcity of dry stock iu cot- 

 tonwood and other woods used by box: 

 manufacturers. No. 3 common gum is 

 aU'o iu strong demand. 



Cottonwood is still maintaining its posi- 

 tion as leading seller of all hardwoods 

 in the local market. Dry stocks put ou 

 the market are in no v^^se suflicient to 

 supply the demand, particularly in the 

 grade of box, common, and an advance 

 in prices may be looked for before very 



