24 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



Something New in Lumber 

 Circles. 



TUe merging of large interests and tlie promotion and 

 finajicing of big corporations in one or auotlier of tlie several 

 'different industrial lines is an everyday occurrence. The "com- 

 munity of interest" idea has proven to be a good one in tUe 

 majority of cases where it was tried, since the points to be 

 gained involved economy In production, avoidance of ruinous 

 competition and the advantage of an unlimited capacity and 

 plenty of working capital. It was beneticial in a commercial 

 sense" as well as to the consumers of the product. The "com- 

 munity of interest" plan has found its way into lumber circles 

 only through the agency of the different lumber associations, 

 •chiefly because, on "account of the nature of the business, it 

 could" not be applied in its broader sense. 



What have been and are now considered large institutions 

 in the lumber line are invariably owned and operated by one 

 man or set of men of riches. This is or has been more par- 

 ticularly true in the pine lumber business, but recently, say 

 within the last ten years, a number of large holders or investors 

 in hardwood timbe"r have instituted large companies and are 

 now operating in a big way. 



There is nothing so great, however, that it becomes the 

 greatest, and that something new in lumber circles did happen 

 is in the natural course of events. 



The decadence of the white pine business has been appar- 

 ent for a good many years. In fact, a number of large mills 

 in Michigan and Wisconsin have gone out of commission within 

 the last few years, for the reason that they were practically 

 cut out of timber. The yellow pine field attracted the atten- 

 tion of a good many of the northern lumber kings, while a few 

 of them became interested in hardwoods. .Some few years ago 

 the Mitchell Brothers of Cadillac, Mich., came into ijossessiou 

 ■of a very large tract of white pine timber in New Mexico, ap- 

 proximately 300,OCK) acres. It was recently sold to tlie American 

 Lumber Company, formed for the purpose of developing the 

 tract. The proposition is of such great magnitude and the 

 process to be employed in working it out is so evidently a 

 new program in lumber circles that the Record felt called upon 

 to investigate and devote some space to an explamition of the 

 deal. 



PERSONNEL OF THE COMPANY. 



The head offices of the American Lumber Company are at 

 617-619 Rookery building, Chicago. It is the lot of few com- 

 panies to comprise within their personnel so many practical, 

 distinguished and wealthy men; men who have been in the 

 lumber business all their lives and their fathers before them: 

 men whose names are synonyms for integrity and success. The 

 property owned by the American Lumber Company, to be exact, 

 comprises 292,02.5.6.3 acres of land, situated in the counties of 

 McKinley (formerly Bernalillo) and Valencia, in the territoi'y 

 of New Mexico. The land was acquired from Mitchell Bro.s. 

 of Cadillac, Mich., who purchased it in 1890 from the Santa Fo 

 Pacific Railroad, It having been a part of their company's grant 

 from tlie government The Jlitchells come from a family of luni- 

 l)ermen and are among the pioneers of Michigan lumbering oper- 

 atoi-s. The present plants of Mitchell Bros, and Cobbs <& 

 Mitchell, at Cadillac, are indicative of their prominence in the 

 lumber world. They are men of wealth and standing and would 

 "be leaders in any community. They are large stockholders in 

 the xVmerican Lumber Company. The officers of the company 

 and directors are as follows: 



President— A. R. Chapman, Chicago, 111,, formerly of Pe- 

 toskey, Mich. , 



Vice-President— E. E. Crepin, Chicago, 111. 



Secretary and Treasurer— George D. Harding, Chicago, 111. 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 



J. S. Stearns, Grand Bapids, Mich. 

 A. R. »Chapman, Chicago, 111. 

 W. H. Sa^^•ye^, Hillsdale, Mich. 



DIRECTORS. 



F. M. Stewart, president of the First National Bank, Hills- 

 dale, Mich. 



A. T. Bliss, lumberman, governor of Michigan, Lansing, 

 Mich. 



James H. Wade, secretary University of Michigan, Ann Ar- 

 bor, Mich. 



J. S. Steams, the Stearns Lumber Company, Grand Rapids, 

 Mich. 



E. A. Wisner, capitalist, .Tonesville. Mich. 



E. S. SpofEord, president Branch County Savings Bank, Cold- 

 water, Mich. 



C. H. Winchester, president First National Bank, Elkhart, 

 Ind. 



\ 



Wm. J. Booth, president State Savings Bank, Ann Arljor, 

 Mich. 



A. R. Chapman, lumberman. Chicago, 111. 



F. E. Roethlisbefger, president Quincy State Bank, Quincy, 

 Mich. 



E. E. Crepin, formerly of the lumber firm of Crepin, Mur- 

 phy it Sons, Chicago, 111. 



A. F. Freeman, president of Michigan State Tax Commis- 

 sion, JIanchester, Mich. 



W. H. Sawyer, capitalist, Hillsdale, Mich. 



E. O., Grosvenor, president of the Grosvenor Savings Bank, 

 Jouesville, Mich. 



Harry H. Picking, secretary Registration & Trust Com- 

 pany, East Orange, N. J. 



D. W. C. Merriam, of JNIerriam & Kuebler, attorneys, Chi- 

 cago, 111. 



George D. Harding, Chicago, 111. 



THE COMPANY'S RESOURCES. 



The acreage contains over two billion feet of thrifty white 

 pine, which, if not an exact duplicate of the famous cork pine 

 that was cut originally out of the forests of Michigan and 

 Wisconsin, bears so close a resemblance that an expert can 

 hardly tell the difference. The practical men of the official 

 staff of the American Lumber Company have exi^lored its for- 

 ests and are unanimous in their estimate of its quality .and 

 cjuantity, and the company's cruisers have returned with cor- 

 roborating reports. The following is from the report of a Jlich- 

 igan timber expert: 



"The timber growing on your ti'act is thrifty and very 

 closely resembles our Michigan white pine. I nevei' saw a 

 tract of soft pine as free from punk and shake (in fact, there 

 is practically no shake), and because of the large per cent that 

 it will cut better tdian common I believe it one of the best, if 

 not the best, body of white pine standing to-day. 



"I do not hesitate to advise you that, with good management, 

 your investment will prove a very profitable commercial prop- 

 osition." 



The timber grows on a deep, rich, loamy soil, the tract is 

 not badly broken and presents no engineering difficulties for 

 the construction of railroads to log every section of it. In ad- 

 dition to the white pine there is, of course, a quantity of other 

 woods, such as cottonwood, spruce, etc., all of a commercial 

 value. The importance of the holdings as to location is touched 

 upon by the Lumber Review as follows: 



"It is questionable whether a body of timber could be more 

 conveniently located for 'filling a long-felt want.' It is sur- 

 rounded by a treeless region, nothing nearer than the timber 

 in the California mountains and the pine belt of eastern Texas. 

 The pine forests of Central Arizona, it is true, are being cut 

 over, but the local demand for that territory is big enough 

 to consume the cut of its mills. The upper grades of New 

 Mexico pine will be eagerly sought for by the eastern markets, 

 the freight rate being very favorable. Local consumption in 

 the way of building material, sash and door stock, boxes, ties, 

 timbers, material for mining operations, etc., will tax the ca- 

 pacity of any sized plant." 



Aside from the timber possibilities, upon whicn, of course, 

 the company are depending as the principal source of revenue, 

 they have no inconsiderable asset in mineral and grazing land. 

 There is plenty of evidence that the property contains rich veins 

 of the different ores peculiar to that section of the cotmti'y. 



OUTLINE PLAN. 



The American Lumber Company propose to build their 

 manufacturing plant at Albuquenpie, N. M. The city has made 

 them a satisfactory offer in the way of land and rights, and 

 the Santa Fe Railroad has anxiously accorded them a favorable 

 proposition in the way of log and lumber rates and transporta- 

 tion facilities. 



A company of such immense proportions requires the guid- 

 ing hand of financial experts as well as practical lumbermen. 

 As a matter of fact, the financing and organization of such .'i 

 large corporation is the preliminar.v work, and of necessity quite 

 as important as the practical development of the property. A 

 large portion of tlie stock of the company was originally sub- 

 scribed for by those interested, and now serving as officers and 

 directors. The company decided to inaugurate a new system 

 in lumber circles by placing a limited amount of the treasury 

 stock on public sale, thus giving it a standing in commercial 

 circles. The firm of Edwin L. Lobdell & Co. became the finan- 

 cial agents, but before going into contract to finance the com- 

 pany, this well known and consen'ative banking house spent 

 several months in investigating the enterprise, and proof that 

 the stock is a good investment is the fact that this banking 

 firm are recommending it to their customers. A quantity of 

 the stock has already been taken up by investors. 



The company will be pleased to give any additional infor- 

 mation desired or to furnish conclusive reports and investiga- 

 tions by its officers and experts on the questions above briefly 

 touched upon. 



