26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



for a good many items. One the whole, there is no large volume of 

 business in the East, but conditions are gradually improving. It fan- 

 not be s:iid that prices are getting any better, but they are surely 

 getting no worse. They are steady. 



There is a current shortage in quite a number of items of hard- 

 woods, and there is a prospective shortage which will manifest itself 

 forcibly within a very short time in No. ] and No. 2 common cotton- 

 wood, firsts and .seconds sap gum and No. 1 common red gum. 



It is believed that people who are mixing grades are not having as 

 good a trade as those who are shipping straight stock. The price 

 buyer has had his lesson during the last year, and a good many pur- 

 chasfng agents who have previously hammered prices, with the result 

 that Ihey have bought lumber at two dollars off price and have re- 

 ceived grades five dollars off in value, have reversed their system and 

 lire now demanding higher qu.ilities and seem to be willing to pay 

 equivalent prices. 



The Propensity to Steal 



Another scandal in lumber affairs lias occurred in North Touawauda, 

 N. Y., where a leading white pine lumberman has been indicted at the 

 instance of the Lehigh Valley 

 Railroad Company for delivering 

 and securing payment for large 

 shipments of lumber which fell 

 short of the actual quantities in- 

 voiced. On the face of the news- 

 paper stories, it is a pretty nasty 

 transaction, and the hardwood 

 trade may be congratulated that 

 this deal is outside of its range. 



That the hardwood trade is not 

 entirely free from such methods 

 is manifested by a recent scandal 

 involping a jobber of more or 

 less questionable reputation, who 

 has but recently been detected in 

 raising tallies on a considerable 

 number of cars of lumber of from 

 three to six thousand feet to the 

 car, and actually getting away 

 with settlements on several of the 

 ears before he was detected. This 

 case involves the subsidizing of 

 the inspector at the receiving 

 point. Several other similar tran- 

 sactions have come to the knowl- 

 edge of the Record, but none was 

 of such a flagrant nature as the 

 ones cited. 



In spite of these instances, 

 there is every evidence to believe 

 that irregular transactions involv- 

 ing the falsifying of grades and 



measurement are decidely oh the wane. The average manufacturer 

 and jobber, regardless of the moral and ethical view of these prac- 

 tices, is becoming convinced that a propensity to steal does not con- 

 stitute good business — that there is absolutely no money for him in 

 this kind of work, and eventual detection and loss of reputation are 

 inevitable. 



As is well known, the Hakdwood Record reaches the nmjority of 

 wholesale hardwood consumers throughout the United States, and 

 through its close connection with this class of trade, has evidence at 

 hand to demonstrate that buyers are awakening to a campaign of 

 self-protection. Time was when sellers could cut a ruling price two 

 dollars a thousand and work off a grade five dollars a thousand less in 

 value than the standard, but this game is practically played out. The 

 Record finds that the average buyer is carefully re-tallying and rc- 

 inspecting his lumber receipts at the present time, and if grades and 

 measurements do not hold out he is presenting a "kick" that is 

 mightj' unpleasant to the shipper. Right at this time buyers are ultra- 



A Golden Rule 



All men may be divided into three 

 classes and disposed of in as many ways — 

 here they are : 



He, who knows not and knows not that 

 he knows not, is a fool — shun him. 



He, who knows not and knows that he 

 knows not, is simple — teach him. 



He, who knows and knows that he 

 knoivs, is wise — follow him. 



Let this he your own mirror and the 

 regulator of your action toward your 

 fellowmen. Commit it to memory — it's easy. 



—MASTON 



critical concerning grades, and the manifest increase in calls for re- 

 inspection is a commentary on the situation. Buyers have learned 

 that if they make purchases in which they specify a standard grade 

 under the rules of either of the major associations they have an oppor- 

 tunity of making the seller "make good" on his sale, if he fails to 

 deliver the grade and quantity, by simply appealing to the inspection 

 department of either of the associations and demanding a re-inspection. 

 The records of the inspection departments of the associations show- 

 that there are remarkably few calls for re-inspection when the result 

 of such work does not demonstrate that the buyer was justified in his 

 complaint. Shippers invariably get the hot end of a re-inspection, and 

 are therefore exercising a great deal more care in delivering stock 

 which they sell than ever before. This outcome is as it should be, and 

 will materially militate against both the price buyer and the price 

 seller. With the present standards of lumber gradings fully main- 

 tained, no one can afford to cut prices or make an attempt to work 

 off salted grades. 



From all the evidence at hand, it may be authoritatively stated that, 

 while possibly lumber morals are no better than they were, lumber 

 common sense is ou the increase, and in the future there will be less 



complaint about irregular prac- 

 tices in the marketing of lumber 

 llian there ever has been in the 

 past. Buyers and sellers both 

 realize that there is no profit or 

 safety in the sale or purchase of 

 ofl'-grade stock. 



Arbor Day Planting 



There is a manifest revival the 

 country over in the interest in 

 Arbor Day. The custom of tree 

 planting is a worthy one, and the 

 renewed interest in the holiday 

 speaks well for the intelligence of 

 school instructors, who are edu- 

 cuating their students to not only 

 the ethical value of assisting in 

 ornamenting school yards, streets 

 and other public places with trees, 

 but are also teaching them prac- 

 tical and correct methods of tree 

 planting and of the care of trees. 

 A leading dry goods house of 

 Buffalo, N. Y., has contracted for 

 tlie purchase of one hundred thou- 

 sand trees to be distributed on 

 Arbor Day to the school children 

 and public of that city free of 

 charge. The trees selected for 

 this purpose are the hardy Catal- 

 pa speciosa, from twelve to eigh- 

 teen inches in height. It is believed that the growth of these tiny 

 trees will keep pace with the individuals planting them, and if the 

 trees are properly planted and nurtured, by the time the children who 

 plant them attain manhood or womanhood, they will be abundant with 

 foUage and from forty to fifty feet in height. 



The donors of the trees in Buffalo are preparing suggestions for 

 Arbor Day celebrations, exercises, etc., and the information supplied 

 will recite the names of various standard books on trees, and a list of 

 the various papers which may be obtained from the Department of 

 Agriculture of the United States. 



The Buffalo donors state that they want to make the coming Arbor 

 Day the most notable one ever celebrated in their city, and with this 

 end in view have arranged for all details, including a free tree for 

 every home in that city. 



The enterprise of the Buffalo house is worthy of emulation by citi- 

 zens of other large and small cities, as their action will inspire civic 

 pride and substantial progress in beautifying their home surroundings. 



