36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



The demand for liardwoods continues lalr 

 and the range ot prices is much the same as It 

 liax heen. Oak Is In good request at Arm 

 I Bures. The qubtatlons have held iip remark 



'iil.v well, and manufnoturera are getting about 

 n much as ever for desirable stocks. Common 

 -ladi's arc easy, but even here Ihe olTerlnKs 



:innoi hi' I'onsldered excesxlve, and the maiki't 

 IS In (;oud shape. It is much the same with 

 ash and other wnods In nenonil use. Most 

 of Ihe mills have ciionsh orders In hand to 

 keep them goins lull lime, and manutaoturers 

 experience greater dllliculty with labor than 

 with any other feature In their operations. It 

 Is not easy to get reliable workmen, and the 

 rates of wages are high. 



.\ fi'ellug of ijuii'i Is noted, but this was to 

 be expected and has had no effect upon the 

 llgures. The export movement Is also rather 

 restricted In consequence of the large accumu- 

 lations on the other side of the Atlantic and 

 (he financial situation there. Prosperity has 

 been less pronounced In Kngland than here, so 

 that the quantities ot lumber used there did 

 not exceed moderate proportions, while the 

 activity at the mills In the I'nited States re- 

 sulted In heavy stocks being forwarded. This 

 caused some congestion, though the quantity of 

 lumber In hand now docs not greatly exceed the 

 requirements. For the time being, however, 

 the movement has slowed up, and no radical 

 ihange 1< looked for in the near future. 



Pitlsbarg. 



In the I'itlsburg iiuirkd the hardwood dealers 

 are in much better shape than handlers of other 

 lumber. Not a few cases have been reported 

 this week where considerable diHiculty was ex- 

 perienced In getting suitable stocks to fill orders 

 in less than three months time. One of the most 

 prominent hardwood concerns in the city is 

 today llgtiring on a big bill of lumber for June 

 delivery and another has taken a bill of hard- 

 wood to two of the largest producing wholesalers 

 In Ihe city to And that It cannot be cut before 

 January 1. 



The Inquiry for good hardwood lumber is sat- 

 isfactory, all things couslderej, and there is no 

 break In prices. l^Miotatlons on oak are firmer 

 than a month ago. I'ophir is going at good 

 tigures and in largi' quantities. 'I'here is a 

 slight lull in the chesiniii trade, Iml not enough 

 to seriously imperil pri<*i's. Tbe b»W( i- grades 

 are doing well aiul wholesalers anticipate no 

 permanent l>ad effe;-ts from the i)resent ai)par- 

 ent slump in d>-man 1 for the better stocks. In 

 Ihe mhnir hardwoods there are only good le- 

 juirts to be heard. Majile, hickory and ash are 

 ln'ing taken up almost as fast as offered. The 

 country mills do not seem to have any stocks of 

 dry lumber to speak of and are running full 

 time to keei> up wllit their orders along these 

 lines. 



The market presents Iwo bad features. Col- 

 li-ctlons arc slow, which, of course, affects the 

 hardwood man like all olhers. and he finds that 

 all along the line everybody is hunting cash. 

 The other drawback is the increat^lng scarcity of 

 «ars to move luml:*r. On the smaller roads in 

 West Virginia many llruis have stocks that must 

 wait for a month yet to be move<l if present 

 appearances count for anything. Although not 

 so acute as last fall, the shortage of cars Is bad 

 enough to seriously curtail the business of many 

 coiK-erns. 



Eu£alo. 



Business Is pretly g<»od iu liutTalo in spite 

 ot a good many complaints of late. The local 

 hardwood trade generally report that they have 

 had a fair business of late and they are sat- 

 isfied. 



If there had not been a little too much plain 

 oak on the market the score would have been 

 clean, except that the trade has all through the 

 late unpleasantness been pounded for lower 

 prices, much as other branches of the trade 



hove been, but it has stood the war well and 

 when the public gets over being afraid of its 

 finances there will be a good report made of all 

 hranchcs of hardwood. 



It Is still reported that the hardwocd stock 

 here Is probably larger than It was a year ago. 

 This <loes not seem to have been Intentional, 

 but In the fear that It would run too low a big 

 slock was laid In. So If the cars run very short 

 hereafter there will be no need of waiting fo! 

 lumber to come through from Ihe mills. There 

 Is enough of It here. 



This does not mean that there Is all the ash, 

 I^oplar, chestnut, elm and basswood that Is want- 

 ed, for these woods are no longer In assortment 

 and if the demand for them keeps up they will 

 not be again. Some dealers say that wc will 

 have to give up some of these woods before 

 long and take to yellow pine and gum, or go 

 to the I'aciflc coast for lumber. The door mills 

 are making much of Idaho pine, as it Is cheap- 

 cr than white pine and goes just as far. 



In the car situation there is as much reason 

 for complaint as ever. The roads are pretty 

 badly stuck, lumber shippers in the southern and 

 .southwestern trade not being sure whether the 

 (hlays are greatest from those directions or right 

 in the city. Still there are dealers so located 

 that they suffer but little delay in the city, In 

 spite of the reports of the railroads that all 

 shippers are treated alike. 



Detroit. 



The hardwood market in Detroit is well main- 

 tained and conditions in this field are much 

 better than they are In the building woods. 

 Hardwood sales are just now quite brisk, the 

 scarcity of cars apparently being the only set- 

 back in the hardwood trade at this time. 



Saginaw and Pay City. 



There is less dry hardwood lumber In manu- 

 facturers' hands at this time than at any time 

 at this s?ason of the year In the last five or six 

 years, and dealers are not excessively stocked. 

 While manufacturers can buy logs a little cheaper 

 just now, owing to the tightening of the money 

 market, there has been no weakening in the 

 market for manufactured lumber, and if lighter 

 stocks of logs should be put in during the win- 

 ter with a continuance of good times lumber will 

 he worth cousidcrable more money in the spring 

 tliau it is now. Complaints of scarcity of cars 

 and consequent delays In the shipment of con- 

 signments are being filed. There has not been 

 such an acute stringency as last winter as yet, 

 but it is enough to cause much inconvenience 

 an 1 loss of trade. 



Columbus. 



The local hardwttod market has been quiet 

 during the past fortnight, but what change has 

 taken place has been for the better. The gen- 

 eral unsettled condition of the money market 

 is having an unfavojable effect on the lumber 

 ti'ade generally, but as it is thought the worst 

 itt tlic flurry is over, conditions iu the lumber 

 trade are expected to improve rapidly. <")ne of 

 the most unfavorable results of this flurry Is 

 the slackness iu building operations in central 

 nhio. Notwithstanding the general depression 

 in building, the records of the Columbus build- 

 ing inspector show up exceedingly well. 



The custom is still prevalent among retailers 

 to buy only as trade demands and in that 

 manner avoid carrying heavy stocks. Several 

 weeks ago it was unusual to record orders of 

 from one to five cars, but now they are becom- 

 ing more fre<iucnt. The unfavorable features 

 of the market are the growing car shortage 

 and the slow collections. 



The strongest point in the market is poplar, 

 which Is becoming firmer constantly. For firsts 

 and seconds the wholesalers are paying $52 to 

 S57 : common is quoted at S30 and No. 2 com- 

 mon at s;27 to S2S. Saps are quoted at .$45. 



Oak is off slightly, except quartered, which is 

 -.ironger. Plain oak is weak and little de- 



mand is #ccn tor that variety in the local mar 

 yet. Cypress Is stiff. Other woods, such as 

 maple, hickory, ash, gum and beech are falrlj 

 ijulet, with little change In the conditions ot 

 two weeks ago. 



Indianapolis. 



The local bardwoud market Is In a decidedly 

 unsettled condition, although there has been no 

 break In prices so far. Until greater confidence 

 In tbe financial situation is assured, business 

 will likely be affected In the State, even If nol 

 so much In Indianapolis. The Inability ot de- 

 positors to get their money from smaller state 

 banks, except a small amount each day, has 

 caused an unsettled state of affairs. 



There Is little buying and inquiries are few. 

 Stock Is In good supply, although there has 

 been a slight decrease In receipts of hardwood 

 logs during the last two weeks. It is Iwlleved 

 that business will have a better tone as soon as 

 the present financial crisis is passed. 



Bristol. 



Gradual improvement continues to charac- 

 terize the lumber Industry in Hristol and this 

 entire section. While it has probably not made 

 the strides toward complete recovery from re- 

 cent dullness that It would have otherwise 

 made, the financial situation In the east has 

 not become a matter for very serious consider- 

 ation as yet. Prices are holding up well, and 

 the demand for all grades of stock is improv- 

 ing. There are Indications that the winter and 

 spring business will be good. 



Country manufacturers report that they are 

 beginning to feel the effects of the bad weather, 

 though not a great deal of time on this ac- 

 count has so far been lost this year. 



A number of new mills are shortly to be put 

 into operation in this section and this is ex- 

 Ijectcd to relieve the scarcity of stock. The 

 demand for oak Is slightly better, while poplar 

 maintains its position at the head of hard- 

 woods. Prices on the latter are high and stock 

 is scarce- The car situation Is practically un- 

 changed, and the lumbermen and shippers gen- 

 erally are glad that it is no worse. The yards 

 in this section are fairly well filled with stock, 

 attributable more to the car famine than mar- 

 ket conditions. Considerable bardwoml is now 

 being moved and the showing for October will 

 be fair. 



Cincinnati. 



The present money situation has had its effect 

 on the lumber market. The demand, for the time 

 of year, should be about three times as heavy 

 as it is. Since the demand has let up local 

 dealers are not experiencing much trouble with 

 the car shortage, which is some consolation. 



The receipts of lumber so far have been very 

 light, and, as the demand is likewise, the present 

 stocks have been held about the same. Poplar, 

 for the first time in many months, has shown a 

 slump, while quartered oak and other grades of 

 hardwoods have acted accordingly. There is no 

 chance foi* a recovery in the demand until money 

 matters are straightened out, which is said will 

 last for about sixty days. The fact that the 

 demand is now slow, it is expected, will only 

 serve to nmke things more urgent during the 

 early spring of the year. 



Chattanooga. 



Local lumbermen are feeling the effects of the 

 temporary financial flurry to some extent. Not 

 so inany inquiries are being made and orders 

 have fallen off a little. A number of local lum- 

 bermen, however, report conditions still favor- 

 able, but they say it may be because of the 

 fact that the stocks of lumbermen in the East 

 and North are running short and they are hav- 

 ing to draw on the southern mills for supplies. 

 The demand for building material is reported 

 fine. 



High-grade poplar and quartered oak have 

 been In good demand right along, but to the 

 surprise of dealers and manufacturers of hard- 



