40 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



NeWs Miscellany 



Cincinnati vs. Memphis 

 Somo lime ago tlie lumhrrmen of Memphis 

 aspired to tlie championship of the baseball 

 world, in so far as that world was circum- 

 scribed by the lumber interests., A gallant 

 army of diamond knights, men of prowess in 

 the wielding of the mighty bat of ash, were 

 secured and, after many moons of secret train- 

 ing in the wilds of the lumber yards, were sent 

 forth on their mission to conquer. And it came 

 to pass that in their conquering march they 

 espied from the surrounding hilltops the peace- 

 ful metropolis of Cincinnati, which had already 

 gathered in a few laurels on the green diamond. 

 A deli wa-s issued to the denizens of the smoky 

 burg to come forth and do battle. With modest 

 bearing a small army of baseball warriors, clad 

 In uniforms as varied as the colors in the 

 Icaleidoscope, sallied forth to meet the invaders, 

 and after a decisive struggle, taught the haughty 

 Memphians that while they were past-masters 

 in the art of "claiming." they were at the foot 

 of the class in accomplishing. 



And now history repeats itself. Having 

 failed in the baseball supremacy, the mighty 

 Memphians are now eagerly seeking to snatch 

 from the banner of the smoky city the innocent 

 words which proclaim that city as "the greatest 

 hardwood center of the world." Already that 

 doughty knight. J. E. Stark, president of the 

 Lumbermen's Club of Memphis, has issued a 

 challenge to the Lumbermen's Club of Cincinnati 

 to prove their claim, a claim which must have 

 caused the Momphian many sleepless hours, as 

 is proven by the date of the lettergram, 3 a. m. 

 And now the war is on. the battle of the pencils 

 will wage until a decided fmish. and when it 

 has been finished what will it prove? 



The following night lettergram was received 

 from J. E. Stark, president of the Memphis 

 Lumbermen's Club, by President Cliff S. Walker, 

 of the Lumbermen's Club of Cincinnati : 



Memphis. Tenx.. .Tan. 6, 1911. 

 President Lumbermen's Club. Cincinnati, O. : 



Memphis is undoubtedlv the center of the 

 hardwood production of the United States, if 

 not of the world, is the statement of the chief 

 of the Tnited States Forestrv Department. T'pon 

 the truth of this statement Memphis challenges 

 Cincinnati and the world. Accurate statistics 

 show that Memphis handles nearly .SOO.000,000 

 feet of hardwoods each year, and has the great- 

 est hardwood forests of the world tributarv to 

 her. As a place for assembling and distributing 

 hardwood products, this- city has no equal. Do 

 you accept this challenge? 



J. E. Stark. 

 President Lumbermen's Club. 



Memphis, Tenn., 3 ;.'jO a. m. 



Cincinnati. Ohio. .Tan. 7, 1011. 

 President Lumbermen's Club, Memphis, Tenn. 



Dear Sir : Your night lettergram of the 6th 

 inst. reached my office this morning, and I shall 

 take much pleasure in presenting it at the next 

 meeting of the Lumbermen's Club of Cincinnati, 

 for such action as (he members deem proper As 

 that meeting will not be hold until the first Mon- 

 day in February, I suggest that vou put your 

 statement in just such shape that we may under- 

 stand your claim distinctly. That is, 'do you 

 claim that your wholesale lumber merchants and 

 manufacturers actually sold through the Mem- 

 phis markets 800,000,000 feet, or is your claim 

 that this amount was bought and sold by vour 

 merchants and manufacturers, or do you' claim 

 that the railroads centering in Memphis deliv- 

 ered that nuiny feet to the Memphis market, or 

 delivered that many feet and hauled out that 

 many feet, or do you claim that amount of 

 lumber was handled solely and entirely by Mem- 

 phis capital? 



No doul:t the chief of the Tjuited States For- 

 estry Department is correct in his statement 

 that Memnbls is undoubtedlv the center of hard- 

 wood production in Ibc tinited States, but this 

 statement would almost apply to Ilopefleld. Ark., 

 and cuts no figure in the amount of lumber con- 

 trolled by the wholesalers and manufacturers of 

 Memphis. 



While the general knowledge of the situation 

 convinces me (hat the wholesalers and manufac- 

 turers of Cincinnati ilo with their own capital 

 handle a greater amount of hardwood lumber 

 than is the case with anv other eitv in the 

 United States or the world, that fa'ct Is of 

 very little Interest to me. for it is the net results 

 that X think of any value on which to wasto 

 time. 



Many years' experience with statistics have 

 left me with very slight respect for them, be- 

 cause of their general unreliability, and the 

 challenge you issue to the Lumbermen's Club of 

 Cincinnati, if accepted, will, in mv mind, in- 

 volve a great amount of needless figures, waste 

 of time and mean no monetary gain. Personally 

 I am in the lumber business for financial reasons 

 only. I presume that may be a mere eccentricity 

 on my part. Pardon this digression in giving 

 my personal opinion, and let me assure vou that 

 any correspondence from your club on tiusiness. 

 pleasure or baseball will be gratifying to all of 

 us. and receive courteous attention. 



Trusting before the meeting of our club we 

 will receive further communication, stating spe- 

 cifically what figures are to cover, and how they 

 are to be ascertained, I am, truly. 



Cliff S. Walker. 



President Lumbermen's Club of Cincinnati. 



Monthly Philadelphia Exchange 



The first monthly meeting of the Philadelphia 

 Lumbermen's Exchange for 1911 was held on 

 .Tan. 5. Franklin A. Smith. Jr., president, occupy- 

 ing the chair. The first business of the meeting 

 was the passing of the following resolutions : 



Whereas, A proiect is under consideration 

 to build a 1.700-foot drv dock at the League 

 Island Xavy Yard, and Congress will lie asked 

 during the tiresent session to annropriate $100.- 

 OOn for preliminary work on this improvement, 

 and 



Whereas. The strategic position of this navy 

 yard, as a safe and convenient place for repairs, 

 and the facilities it has for giving attention to 

 the condition of the ships of our navy, emphat- 

 ically indicate the necessity for such a dry 

 dock, therefore, be it 



Resolved. That the Lumbermen's Exchange of 

 the city of Philadelphia heartily endorse this 

 proDosition. and 



Resolved. That it earnestiv urge the present 

 session of Congress to act favorably upon this 

 appeal, and. be It further 



Resolved. That a copv of this resolution be 

 sent to each member of Congress from Phila- 

 delnbia. 



A resolution was also carried, to petition the 

 president of the United States to exercise the 

 authority given him by the constitution in the 

 matter of executive clemency and grant to W. S. 

 ITarlar and his associates, who are charged with 

 poonai'* ,n the operation of the .Tackson Lumber 

 Company of Lockhart. Ala., an absolute pardon. 



A copy of the resolutions passed by the Phila- 

 delphia Coal Exchange, requesting councils to 

 pass an ordinance governing the proper dis- 

 posal of the snow on the sidewalks, and pre- 

 vent the shoveling of same into the highways, 

 was endorsed. 



Charles M. Chesnut. who was one of the rep- 

 resentatives of the Lumbermen's Exchange at 

 the National Rivers & Harbors Congress, held 

 at Washington. D. C, on December 7. S and 9, 

 gave an interesting report of the work being 

 done by this congress. 



The remainder of (he meeting was devoted to' 

 routine business. 



Membership Committee — R. B. McConnell, 

 chairman. Huttig Sash & Door Company ; J. L. 

 Scheve. Krebs-Scheve Lumber Company ; R. J. 

 Fine. R. J. Fine. 



Traffic Committee — Thomas E. Powe, chair- 

 man. Powe Lumber Company ; C. G. Schilling, 

 W. T. Ferguson Lumber Company ; R. E. Gruner, 

 Philip Gruner & Bros. Lumber Company. 



Statistical Committee — James Prendergast, 

 chairman, Prendergast Lumber Company ; Alf. 

 Bennett. Alf. Bennett Lumber Company'; J. R. 

 Massengale, Massengale Lumber Compatiy. 



Arbitration Committee — J. G. Ivnebei, chair- 

 man, Guild-Knebel Lumber Company ; J. L. 

 Benas, Waldstein Lumber Company ; W. M. 

 Klenk, .Tulius Seidel Lumber Company. 



Publicity Committee — Julius Seidel. chairman, 

 •Tulius Seidel Lumber Company ; P. F. Cook, St. 

 Louis Lumberman ; U. S. Mustek, Louisiana Lum- 

 ber Company. 



Committee on Public Affairs — James B. Gate- 

 wood, chairman, St. I.,ouis Lumberman ; J. S. 

 Garetson. Garetson-Greason Lumber Company ; 

 S. H. Fullerton. Chicago Lumber & Coal Com- 

 pany ; C. D. Johnson. Frost-Johnson Lumber 

 Company ; C. P. Liebke. C. F. Liebke Hardwood 

 Mill & Lumber Company. 



Chairman R. B. McConnell of the Member- 

 ship Committee reported the following appli- 

 cants for membership, and they were unani- 

 mously elected : William Lothman. Jr., Loth- 

 man Cypress Company ; Thomas J. Noser, Noser- 

 Eppler Lumber Company ; Henry Quellmalz, 

 Henry Quellmalz Lumber & Manufacturing Com- 

 pany ; E. W. Blumer, Lothman Cypress Com- 

 pany ; H. Buente, Cartall-Buente Lumber Com- 

 pany ; T. C. Bledsoe. Bledsoe-McCreery Lum- 

 ber Company ; J. R. Perkins. J. R. Perkins Lum- 

 ber Company ; S. M. Masters, Masters Lumber 

 Company ; Edward W. Wiese, Thomas & Proetz 

 Lumber Company ; Charles E. Thomas, Thomas 

 & Proetz Lumber Company ; C. J. Mansfield, 

 Arkansas Lumber Company ; Charles D. Borrow- 

 man, Charles D. Borrowman & Co., and Guy E. 

 Jurden, Moore-Jurden Lumber Company. 



Thomas E. Powe, chairman of the Traffic 

 Committee, made an interesting report of the 

 committee's work in the matter of protesting 

 against the advance in yellow pine and other 

 rates into St. Louis. 



Monthly St. Louis Lumbermen's Club 



The monthly meeting of the Lumbermen's 

 Club of St. Louis was held at the Mercantile 

 Club on the evening of January 10. Dinner was 

 served at 6 :30 and an orchestra furnished 

 music. At the conclusion of the dinner Presi- 

 dent Hogg introduced Hon. John F. Lee. who 

 spoke on the new charter, which will be voted on 

 by the citizens of St. Louis January 31. A vote 

 of thanks was tendered to Mr. Lee and the club 

 then unanimously voted in favor of the new 

 charter. 



The regular order of business was then taken 

 up. 



The minufos of the December meeting were 

 read and approved. 



Presldont Hogg .announced the appointment 

 of the standing committees for the year. They 

 were as follows : 



Entertainment Committee — Henry G. Rolfes, 

 chairman. St. Louis Lumber Com'pany : R. s! 

 Price. Missouri Lumber & Land Exchange Com- 

 pany : T. W. I'l'y. C. F. Luehrmann Hardwood 

 Lumber Company. 



Julius Seidel, chairman of the Publicity Com- 

 mittee, then read the challenge which had been 

 received from the Lumbermen's Club of Mem- 

 phis, Tenn. (same as that sent to Cincinnati, 

 printed on this page.) 



The following reply was sent to the Memphis 

 Club by Secretary Kessler : 



January 7, 1911. 

 President Lumbermen's Club. Memphis, Tenn. 



Your challenge to the Lumbermen's Club of 

 St. Louis is a bit anomalous. That you are 

 located in the greatest hardwood forests in the 

 world ; in other words, that you live down there 

 in the woods needs no corroborative proof. That 

 point we concede. 



Memphis is also noted for being a central 

 market for the most elegant brands of moon- 

 shine that creates wonderful propensities for 

 dreams of wealth and greatness, and when 

 freely indulged by Memphis lumbermen, chal- 

 lenging a great city like St. Louis is but a 

 natural sequence. 



Our last statistics show that the sales (for 

 consumption and outgoing) were 1.(>80..S.S8.S1.'> 

 feet, as against your" 800.000.000 feet, counted 

 as you read your message, when it comes in and 

 again measured when it goes out. 



We accept your challenge and will fight to 

 the death in mortal combat if need be. There- 

 fore "Lay on Macduff, and damned be he who 

 first cries hold, enough." 



J. B. Kessi.er. 



Secretary Lumbermen's Club of St. Louis. 



A vote of thanks was tendered to Secretary 

 Kessler for championing St. Louis as a lumber 

 market. 



The following letter from J. L. Scheve was 

 t ead : 



St. Lnuis, December 20. 1910. 

 Geo. R. Hogg, Pres. Lumbermen's Club, St. Louis. 



Dear Sir ; Inasmuch as our new president 

 and his cabinet are ready for next year's work 

 in connection with our club, I will take the 

 liberty of submitting to you an idea, the inten- 

 tion of which is to exploit St. Louis as a lumber 

 market and boost, always boost. St. Ijouis. I 

 will suggest that th£ statistical committee com- 

 l>ile statistics as to the amount of yellow pine 

 lumber controlled by or bandied through St. 

 Louis offices, the amount of yellow pine lumber 

 actually carried in stock in St. Louis yards. 

 the amount of cypress handled through St. Louis 

 oflJces, the amount of cypress carried In St. 



