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HARDWOOD RECORD 



September 25. 1922 



Southern Hardwood Caught in Rail Jam 



Curtailmeiit of hardwood output and of outbound moTcment of 

 southern hardwood lumber and forest products amounts to ftillv 

 63 per cent, compared with what each would be if transportation 

 conditions were normal, according to J. H. Townshend, secretarv- 

 manager of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association, Memphis. 

 This means that the southern hardwood lumber industry is doing 

 only about three-eighths of what it should be doing, and that it is 

 losing five-eighths of potential production and shipping. 



The foregoing shows conclusively that transportation conditions 

 are steadily growing worse, and that they are throttling the hard- 

 wood industry to an even greater extent than ever before, not even 

 excepting the war period, when everything but priority freight 

 had to move under permits. 



Shortage of motive power is an important factor in the failure 

 of the railroads to render more adequate service to the industry, 

 and embargoes are also a feature. But Mr. Townshend says that 

 the real cause of the present situation is to be found in the fact 

 that so very few empties are coming back to the South. All of the 

 railroads are up against a scarcity of cars that ties their bands 

 when it comes to furnishing any type to the industry. There is a 

 shortage of flat cars for moving logs to the mills. Ordinarily flat 

 ears are supplemented by gondolas, which are available for loading 

 logs, but now practically all the gondolas are being diverted to the 

 handUng of coal under the priority orders of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission. Beports indicate that thousands and thousands 

 of coal cars are tied up under load, and that they are almost as 

 effectually beyond the reach of the hardwood lumber industry as if 

 they did not exist. Box cars are being used largely for handling 

 the grain, rice, sugar and cotton crops, and very few are available 

 for loading with forest products. 



Southwest Suffers Severely 



Manufacturers of hardwood lumber in the Southwest report 

 that they are not, under the most favorable conditions, obtaining 

 as much as 50 per cent of their requirements in the way of cars 

 for log loading. Some scale down to 5 to 10 per cent, and still 

 others are completely out of commission. East of the Mississippi, 

 the Yazoo k Mississippi Valley lines of the Illinois Central system 

 are furnishing relatively more cars for log handling than any other 

 line, but J. W. Dickson, president of the Valley Log Loading Com- 

 pany, says that one of his loading machines is idle because cars 

 are not available. It operates exclusively on the Y. & M. V. Even 

 the Mississippi and Tennessee divisions of the Illinois Central are 

 short of cars for log loading. Other roads are rendering very 

 indifferent service. Mr. Dickson says that there are not less than 

 10,000,000 feet of logs available for loading in the Mississippi 

 valley compared with surprisingly small figures a short time ago. 

 This rapid accumulation is due primarily to inability of the rail- 

 roads to move logs after they have been prepared for shipment. 



Some of the firms operating their own logging railroads are able 

 to handle their timber to their mills with aU the dispatch desired, 

 but they are not, in all cases, in position to continue manufacturing 

 lumber indefinitely. They are under the necessity of depending 

 on common carriers for moving their outbound shipments, and in 

 several instances they have already reached the limit of their piling 

 space because the railroads are furnishing so few cars for handling 

 such shipments. 



M. P. Embargo Lifted 



The Missouri Pacific has lifted its embargo against the north- 

 bound movement of hardwood lumber and forest products, but this 

 is helping very little for the reason that it has so few cars avail- 

 able for loading with these commodities. The other western roads 

 have no embargoes, but they might as well have, so little service 



are they rendering the industry. The Southern Railway has an 

 embargo all over its system against hardwood lumber and forest 

 products. It is stated that there are thousands of cars on this 

 road tied up on sidings or in terminals. The Louisville & Nashville 

 has slightly modified its embargo, permitting the handling of lum- 

 ber via Evansville, to destinations in Michigan, Indiana and 

 Illinois. Further east, embargoes are in effect on the Chesapeake & 

 Ohio, the Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio, the Virginian, the North- 

 western, the Bal imore & Ohio, the Xew York Central, the Lehigh 

 Valley and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. None of these 

 roads will accept shipments for points beyond their lines. The 

 Appalachian region is even worse hit, according to Mr. Town- 

 shend, than the South and Southwest. 



Mr. Townshend does not believe there will be material relief 

 under thirty days. He thinks it will take some time for the rail- 

 roads to make headway with the repair of ears, and that additional 

 time will also be required to unload cars in other portions of the 

 country and enable them to be moved back into the South. He 

 foresees a very trying period immediately ahead for the hardwood 

 lumber industry so far as transportation is concerned. 



The Interstate Commerce Commission has so modified its priority 

 orders that lumber interests are able to load gondola cars — if they 

 are able to get them — in the direction of, but not beyond, the mines. 

 A very large percentage of lumber shipments originating in the 

 South and Southwest is destined to points beyond the mining area, 

 and this modification will, in the opinion of the association, fur- 

 nish comparatively little relief. 



There is always more or less car shortage during the maximum 

 crop-moving period, but conditions are so much worse this year 

 than ever before that the hardwood industry, on the verge of a 

 tremendous revival of business, is handicapped to an unprecedented 

 extent. This is perfectly clear from the statement that the indus- 

 try is running on a basis of approximately ZT^> per cent, or a little 

 more than one-third, of what it would be doing if transportation 

 were not so badly crippled. 



Spurt in Projected Building Evidenced by 

 August Permits 



Planning for building activity in August exceeds that of July, 

 according to official reports from the building departments of 202 

 cities to The American Contractor. The total number of building 

 permits issued in these cities is 61,104, and the total estimated 

 valuation is $225,543,149. Beports from 195 cities for July showed 

 56,332 permits, whose total valuation was $212,314,292. 



Comparing August of this year with the corresponding month in 

 1921 shows that activity in permit issuance this year is 38 per cent 

 in excess over last year. A similar comparison, using July instead 

 of August, showed a 31 per cent gain for this year. 



A tabulation of forty-eight cities gives authentic evidence of the 

 spread of July and August activity. The total valuation of these 

 cities is over six million dollars greater in August than in July. In 

 round numbers, the average total valuation per month for these 

 cities has been 170 million dollars. July outdid the average but 

 slightly. August has nearly a nine million lead over the average 

 for the first eight months of the year. 



"Universal Lumber Code" Wanted 

 The Hardwood Record has been conducting a search for a copy of the 

 "Universal Lumber Code." It has occurred to us that perhaps some 

 reader of the HiRDwooD Record has a copy of this book which Is not 

 being used, and we shall be pleased to defray any expenses attached to 

 securlDg a copy of this code. We would like to hear from anyone who 

 has any knowledge on this question. 



