22 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



MARKET REPORTJ 



CHICAGO. 



The coiitimietl steailiiu's.s iu the demand 

 for hardwood lumber tells the story. , Au- 

 gust, one of the proverbial dull months of 

 the year, was ti])-top in all respects, and 

 if the first few days of Septemlier trade 

 is a eriterion. business during- the present 

 month will .set a new record. 



Xotwithstandins: the very flattering con- 

 ditions that prevail and have prevailed all 

 summer, tlicre seems to be a limit to prices. 

 There has been but a slislit increase dur- 

 iufi' the last two or three months, despite 

 the general talk that supply was short. It 

 was a well understood fact by the deal- 

 ers here that supplies have been very low 

 at shipping points all season, and that de- 

 mand was such as to deplete them to about 

 the same extent as they were increased by 

 new cut. They have in conseiiuence as a 

 rule held their stock very firm and there 

 has been proliably less price cutting diu'- 

 irig the three summer months than at any 

 previous same period in past years. But 

 as before stated, there has been no decided 

 increase lately. 



liuring the first part of the year prices 

 were steadily advanced until plain and 

 ouartered oak were selling at as high 

 jirices as ever before, and it is not even 

 hinted by the most pessimistic that they 

 will recede any during the balance of the 

 year. 



Poplar also is very secure in. its present 

 lii'ice location and with favoralde chances 

 lor even higher prices. 



Cottonwood and gum are both in strong 

 position. Otlier southern stocks are not 

 used very extensively on this market. 



Hard maple has shown more than usual 

 strength during the summer months, and 

 lonsideriug the time of the year has more 

 lliaii fair pi-ospects for additional gain. 



Kirch and elm are weak in comjiarison, 

 Iiut considered aside from maple they are 

 experiencing a good demand and are bring- 

 ing fair ])rices. 



Kasswood is the scarcest commodity in 

 llie hardwood lumber line on the market. 

 It is in frequent call and selling at top 

 prices. . 



ST. LOUIS. 



Conditions in this market continue the 

 brightest and there is little complaint from 

 any source except at the scarcity of dry 

 bunlier and the difticully being experienced 

 in buying anything at all desirable. The 

 situation is not at all normal for this sea- 

 sfni of the year, tliere Vicing a much larger 

 volume of business than usual, and it is 

 freely predicted around town that if the 

 usual improvement takes iilace during 

 September there will be no one in this city 

 aide to take care of the late fall li.usiness. 

 As it is, many are making no effort to sell 

 Imuber. merely taking in those orders 

 wliich come their way, and they are still 

 selling more than they are placing in pile. 

 Stocks of dry lumber have seldom been in 

 such poor shape as at present, and as ship- 

 ments are being made of lumber, which 

 has only been on sticks about ninety days. 

 Iliis is ample proof of the extremities many 

 are forced to. Strictly local business has 



;'.lso improved since last icport anil there 

 is a demand from the factories and other 

 consumers, which is not fully satisfied. 

 The wholesale yards are buying every- 

 thing offered to them, and while the 

 basis of prices has not changed materially 

 in two weeks, the tendency is upwards on 

 all varieties of hardwoods, and it is pre- 

 dicted that general prices will be much 

 higher within another sixty days. 



Conditions at the mills tril)Utary to this 

 market are unchanged with the exception 

 that there are more buyers in the southern 

 country and lumber is harder to find in 

 first hands. Buyers are alisorbing stock 

 as rapidly as it comes from the saw and 

 are, for the most parr, shipping it direct 

 to the home markets. A few are piling 

 stock at the mills, to move when it is ship- 

 jdug dr.v, but there is not as much of this 

 as is usual. Prices are advancing more 

 lapidly in that section of the country than 

 in the northern markets, and this is an- 

 (.tlier argument used by those who are pre- 

 dicting higher prices for the near future. 

 'J'lie car situation is fairly good, but there 

 is some complaint that shipments are be- 

 ing delayed. 



The oak market remans such that the 

 strongest demand is for quartered white, 

 with an excellent call for all other items. 

 Inch plain red and white is on a firm basis, 

 as is also thick white and all of these items 

 are bringing top prices. (Quartered red is 

 moving fairly well, I)ut is still the dullest 

 item. 



Cypress, coltonwood and pojilar are all 

 iu excellent shape and the demand is tak- 

 ing all avail.-ible stoik. Prices are the 

 very best and have advanced on the l;ist 

 two named. All grades will sell and the 

 supply is light. Ash is also strong and is 

 wanted by all dealers at high prices. Hick- 

 ory is hard to find in lirst hands and there 

 are many luiyers. Elm. sycanrore, ma])le 

 and the minor woods handled in tins mar- 

 ket are seldom heard of in present trad- 

 ing. 



NEW YORK. 



Autumn is here, according to tlie calen- 

 dar, even if not according to Hoyle or the 

 weatlier man, and when one looks liack 

 and takes a calm survey of the lumlier 

 market, and particularly of the hardwood 

 conditions in that self-same market, he 

 cannot fail to come to the conclusion that 

 the hardwood man is pretty near the top 

 of the heap. 



Of course in other lines, notably spruce, 

 hemlock and yellow pine, tliere has been 

 almost as much scarcity of logs at the 

 mills as there has been of the various 

 hardwoods, but there has been compara- 

 tively more movement in hardwoods, and 

 it is safe to say that prices have been, if 

 not always firmer as a rule, about as 

 stiffly held as the others. 



And. if anything, hardwoods face the 

 autumn market in excellent condition anil 

 with evcrytliing pointing to a good full 

 demand and prices that will go up to tlu' 

 top notch and not be lowered in a very 

 great hurry. Those who ctnne back from 

 southern trips tell but one story, it is that 

 the millmeu, with no accumulation of 



stocks uii hand, lielicvc tliat they Imlil tlie 

 ke.v to the situation, and while they do 

 not propose to act arbitrarily or kill the 

 goose with the .golden eggs, they also In- 

 tend not to go to the other extreme antl 

 exi-hange the best grades of quartered oak, 

 po]ilar, etc., for any money less than it 

 is really worth under existing conditions. 



A feature of the hardwood conditions 

 this past summer has been brought aliont 

 liy the tendency of many door and mold- 

 ing factories to manufacture not alone 

 regular manufactured stock, but to turn 

 out hardwood specialties such as they 

 never before made. This was due to the 

 increased use of hardwoods in dwellings, 

 wliicli is now particularly noticealile and 

 which marks an era in the trade that 

 sliould not be passed over lightly. 



The fact of the matter is, that the man 

 who gets a house built these days calls 

 for the I'cal thing in every line. He is 

 no longer satisfied with imitations. The 

 ability to pay for luxuries by the indi- 

 vidual is on the increase, and besides that, 

 the improved methods of doing business 

 and the advances along the line of manu- 

 facture, as in otlier things, brings interior 

 and other woodwork, formerl.v among the 

 most costly of all things in existence, to a 

 plane nearer the paying ability of the 

 home builder whose means are of mod- 

 erate size compared to that of the wealth 

 besotted Individuals, formerly the only 

 ones able to pay the pi ice 



But few changes can be noted in either 

 the demand or the prices for the various 

 woods. IViplar still holds the lead with 

 %\'l olitainalde for firsts and seconds, S t'i 

 8 inches, down to %?A for common, and 

 .$21 for culls. Quartered oak keeps firm 

 at .fsri."). while plain oak is stiff and active 

 at .$41. Ash shows a few more signs of 

 life, while chestnut is in good call at $.38 

 to $40 for firsts and seconds. 



The export call for hardwoods of late 

 has not improved very perceptibly, while 

 prices on the other side show a weaken- 

 ing tendency. In fact, for many of tlie 

 grades of hardwoods that have found 

 favor on the other side, figures recently 

 quoted there are even lower than those 

 ruling here, making it anything but a 

 profitable plan to ship stock abroad. 



BUFFALO. 



ITsually business slackens up in .\ 

 marked degree during the summer minths, 

 especially in hardwood lumber, but this 

 year such has not been the case here. 

 Orders have kejit coming in and lumber 

 has kejit moving in and out without any 

 perceptiiile let-up. The factories liaV'O 

 continued busy, and even now are behind 

 on their orders, and so far as it is pos- 

 sible for a human being to see ahead, the 

 present business conditions are liable to 

 continue for an indefinite period. Lumber 

 of all kinds brings good prices and will 

 continue to do so. At the rate lumber is 

 being consumed one of the bugbears of 

 the past will be done away witli before 

 we realize it. I refer to low-grade lum- 

 ber. Let anyone who has been shipping 

 lunilier steadily for the past six or eight 

 months just stop long enough to compare 



