56 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



September 25, 1922 



BEDNA YOUNG 



Lumber Company 



Jackson, Tennessee 



Manufacturers of 



Quartered White Oak 

 Quartered Red Oak 



AND 



OTHER HARDWOODS 



When in the market for 



High Grade Lumber 



please let us have your enquiries. 



the interior to the coast being especially affected, the situation as a whole 

 may be said to show improvement. A more active Inquiry prevails and a 

 greater disposition to place orders is to be noted. In not a few instances 

 it is Impossible tor mills to talte on business except with a proviso allow- 

 ing for unexpected delays, but more buyers seem willing to have orders 

 entered against the possibility that a shipment may get through. Plants 

 more favorably situated with respect to transportation facilities manage 

 to increase their distribution, while it is also to be said that the range of 

 prices has improved so much as to malse it possible to dispose of stocks in 

 the domestic market at better figures than can be obtained or are being 

 offered by the purchasers abroad. The railroad troubles have resulted in a 

 reduction of holdings at many places, assortments in numerous cases hav- 

 ing been scaled down to levels where an adequate selection is no longer 

 available. 



the largest purchasers of elm. Buyiug on the part of the furniture manu- 

 facturers continues good, but this industry is not buying In proportion 

 to the volume of orders many manufacturers have on their books. There 

 is nothing sensational in the building Industry from a hardwood viewpoint 

 at present, and it appears almost certain now that a large portion of the 

 contemplated fall construction work will be postponed until next spring. 

 because of unsettled conditions. 



MILWAUKEE 



A fair demand from all sources, a hectic fluctuation uf prices, and the 

 ever present transportation congestion, are the prominent features of the 

 local hardwood market. Fall trade is above its average of last year and 

 last year was a record year. The high tension of business prevalent dur- 

 ing the summer building boom months has now slackened and trade is 

 taking its matter-of-fact course. During the past month the common 

 cry of hardwood wholesalers was that they had more orders than cars. 

 Everyone was frantically searching for means of transportation and 

 volume of trade was high. The situation when viewed now with saner 

 eyes is not much more acute than the regular fall transportation problem 

 hardwood wholesalers are called upon annually to solve. Most every 

 fall heavy grain movements tied up all lines and care were Just as 

 scarce as they were this summer. The railroad craftsmen are returning 

 to work as settlements are made with many of the Wisconsin roads, but 

 their return will have little effect until next winter. 



Prices on several of the leading woods have shown a'dvances and 

 decreases. Several of the good quality woods have taken sharp declines 

 and boosts all in the same week. Included in the class of woods that are 

 stronger at this writing are birch and oak and west coast firs. Hemlock 

 is scarce and in demand. The lower grade hardwoods are generally lower 

 in price, due to the slow progress of the industries using them. 



Many of the buyers in the Milwaukee market who were buying fran- 

 tically, l>elieving that the railroad strike w'ould continue indefinitely and 

 that they would be without necessary lumber, have now returned to moder- 

 ate purchases. Mill workers, furniture makers, automobile body manufac- 

 turers, agricultural implement manufacturers and industries are the main 

 sources of trade at the present writing. Demand for better grades of 

 birch, maple and ash is felt. Inquiries for ash have been increasing and a 

 good future market Is expected. 



EVANSVILLE 



BALTIMORE 



While many of the hardwood men continue to experience trouble in the 

 matter of shipments, the mills down South situated on lines running from 



There has been some improvement in the hardwood trade of southern 

 Indiana during the past two weeks, and the lumbermen are more encour- 

 aged than they have been for some time past. There is a feeling that 

 business is going to get a whole lot better from this time on. now that the 

 strike of the railroad shopmen has been practically settled. The manu- 

 facturers do not look for a rush in business, but say that the demand is 

 going to gradually increase and that the car shortage situation will con- 

 tinue to Improve. Railroads in the south are said to be in bad shape and 

 much of their equipment is in need of repair, it is said, and with the grain 

 crop coming on to be moved and with much coal to be shipped during the 

 winter months, the railroads are going to be severely tested, it is believed. 

 But in spite of this fact the lumber men believe that they are going to 

 increase their business right along, and that things will move better than 

 they did last fall and winter. There is a much better feeling in the trade 

 now than there was a few months ago, and collections are holding their 

 own very well. Lumber manufacturers report that the furnitsre fac- 

 tories here and many other of the wood consuming plants have less lumber 

 on hand now than they have had at any time this year. With the fur- 

 niture business steadily increasing the plants are going to be in the market 

 for more lumber from time to time. X steady increase in the furniture 

 business is looked for. The wagon manufacturers say that their business 

 during the past two years has beeu "ragged," and that they have had a 

 hard time in many instances to keep their plants operating. Now trade 

 is picking up and the wagon men believe that they will have a very good 

 trade during the next year or two. Veneer manufacturers feel that their 

 trade is going to get better as the business of the furniture manufacturers 

 increases. Plow manufacturers are feeling better over the outlook than 

 they have at any time for the past two years, and say that their trade 

 in the south and southwest ought to show a big picking up in a short timi'. 

 The retail lumber business is keeping pace with the wholesale trade. 



MEMPHIS 



Demand for hardwood lumber continues very good, but volume of busi- 

 ness is heavily curtailed on account of transportation conditions. Produc- 

 tion is being restricted fully 37% per cent, while the quantity of lumber 

 shipped, as compared with what would be moving if cars were available 

 and if transportation service were full, is quite as small as the output 

 iudicatetl. Inability of consuming interests to secure prompt shipment is 

 spurring them to greater effort. This is particularly true of manufac 

 turers of furniture and flooring. The former remained out of the market, 

 except in a most desultory way, during the first halt of the year. Now, 

 when they are anxious to buy and when they are placing most of their 

 orders by wire, they are unable to secure immediate shipment. Flooring 

 manufacturers, too, held somewhat aloof for a while during the summer 

 on the theory that they would probably be able to buy more cheaply. 

 Now, however, they are confronted not only with a serious transportation 

 situation, but also with a heavy curtailment of hardwood output, with the 

 result that they are manifestly uneasy over supplies of lumber with which 

 to take care of their full order files. There is still a good demand from 

 automobile interests and from box and heavy crate producers. Building 

 trade interests, other than flooring manufacturers, are perhaps rather 

 less active than a short time ago. Miscellaneous consumers are in the 

 market, including car-repair and car-bullding plants. Members at 

 Memphis are of the opinion that there is a large potential demand ahead 

 for car stock, with particular reference to low-grade oak. Export demand 

 is holding up remarkably well, and, between domestic and foreign buying, 

 there is no dearth of orders. The market is fairly flooded with inquiries. 



It becomes more apparent every day that the volume of business in hard- 

 wood lumber will be controlled almost entirely by the transportation 

 situation. There is nothing wrong with demand. It is more than sat- 

 isfactory. But good demand and satisfactory prices do not mean 

 much unless lumber can be manufactured and unless it can be shipped to 

 consuming destinations after it had been made. The transportation 

 problem is the real problem of the hardwood lumber industry under present 

 conditions because it is the one factor which, under the pre.sent regime, is 

 determining output and which is, at the same time, controlling the quan 

 tity of lumber available for shipment as well as the quantity actually 

 being moved. 



