HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



and I Uo not believe there Is nny more stock 

 on hauil In tlio yards than there was a year ago 

 thl3 time. We are nmnlug our mill every day 

 am] we are not making any big concessions In 

 price to move what stock we have. We will 

 hold ours and wait for the business that we feel 

 sure will come a Utile later. Yours very truly, 



TnK STO.NE & IlKVSKR I-UJliniiK COIIPANY, 



W. E. Heyser. 



Mempiils. Tens., Dec. 14. — Editor ILirdwood 

 Record : Replying to your favor of the 12th, 

 asking for my opinion as to the Immediate future 

 of the lumber business, would say that I con- 

 sider things look very blue. From what I know 

 of conditions in Arkansas and Mississippi, stocks 

 are very heavy, especially gum, and this wood 

 Is being offered at any old price. Other hard- 

 woods are more lirm, but the pressure to sell is 

 very great and .inyoue with the actual cash. I 

 feel sure, could take a trip through the lumber 

 producing territory and buy many great bar- 

 gains. 



As to the future, none of us will know what 

 this will he. It all depends upon the financial 

 condition and restoration of confidence, but per- 

 sonally I do not look for any good business in 

 the near future in the lumber line. 



There is no incentive at present to sell lumber 

 for home consumption, as settlements are ex- 

 ceedingly slow and ditficult. The foreign demand 

 Is very poor and prices low, and, taking every- 

 thing into consideration, I cannot take a very 

 optimistic view of the situation as to the near 

 future. Yours truly, 



G. A. F.4RBER. 



C.\DiLLic. Mich., Dec. 14. — Editor IT.iRDnonD 

 Record : Your favor of the 12th inst. at hand. 

 The condition of tlie iumlier market the past two 

 months has, in my opinion, been an unnatural 

 one. 



Prices apparently have had but little to do 

 with the refusal of cousumcrs to purchase. Buy- 

 ers have been conservative in orders, owing to 

 tightness of the money market and a dislike to 

 Incur more liability than absolutely necessary. 



In a number of letters received by me parties 

 have stated that they would not buy until after 

 the lirst of the year. For this reason and that 

 less lumber is being manufactured, I look for- 

 ward to an improvement then. This is already 

 shown financially. Yours truly. 



J. S. GOLDIE. 



liRAND Rapids, Mich., Dec. 14. — Editor Hard- 

 wood Record : Replying to your esteemed favor 

 of Decemljer 12, it is our belief that the back- 

 bone of the financial stringency is about broken 

 and that business will resume its normal condi- 

 tion shortly after the holidays. Stocks are low 

 with the majority of manufacturers, as for the 

 past sl.\ty days they have been working only 

 from hand to mouth and buying only what was 

 absolutely necessary. 



We have not noticed in our line of business, 

 which Is veneers, that there has been any ten- 

 dency to lower prices below what they were 

 prior to the financial stringency. All the veneer 

 men that I have been In contact with realize 

 that the supply of available timber In all kinds 

 of domestic woods is limited and that the prices 

 have been reasonable and therefore are not in- 

 clined to reduce prices, and the mills that I 

 am In touch with would rather shut down 

 temporarily than to slaughter prices, 



I have before me a letter from one of my mills, 

 writlen In reply to a letter which I wrote them. 

 In which they say: "We are In receipt of yours 

 of the KSIli ult.. and note what you have to say 

 regarding the coudlllon of business in your ter- 

 ritory. It seems to he the general situation all 

 over the country and, as we wrote you, we would 

 rather shut our mills down than take orders 

 that would not Insure us a living profit. (Jood 

 veneer timber Is entirely too scarce to butcher 

 up and get nothing for It, and It Is l)Ound to 

 have a value some time. While we figure that 



there will not be much buying from now on 

 until the first of the year, still, with the ad- 

 vances which have been made In the past three 

 weeks In clearing up the financial trouble, we 

 look for a resumption of business soon after the 

 first of the year. 



"While our efforts from now >intil the first 

 of the year may not bring Immediate results, 

 still it is well to keep after the trade and even 

 take business for future delivery If we can 

 obtain orders at reasonable prices." 



I have letters from several other concerns 

 along the same lines, and the feeling among the 

 manufacturers is that they do not propose to 

 slaughter prices. This applies to the veneer 

 business, and I presume that the lumber situa- 

 tion is practically the same. 



There is no doubt in my mind but wiiat there 

 is plenty of money in the country and it is 

 gradually loosening up, and we sincerely hope 

 that with the coming of the new year we will 

 not be disappointed. 



Y'ou are at liberty to publish any portion of 

 this letter which you see fit. 



We shall endeavor to push our business as 

 strong, if not stronger, than liefore, and are get- 

 ting in shape to do a much larger business for 

 the year 1908 than for the year al)Out to close. 



Thanking you for this opportunity to express 

 our opinion and hoping that the same will meet 

 wilh your approval, I am, yours very truly, 

 Henry S. Holden Veneer Company, 



per H. S. Holden. 



Cairo, III., Dec. 14. — Editor Hardwood Rec- 

 ord : Replying to your letter of December 12. 

 regarding the financial situation, we beg to favor 

 you with our opinion below. 



As you possibly know, we are devoting most 

 of our attention to ties, piling, bridge timber, 

 etc., in which lines there is a greater demand for 

 hardwood than softwoods. We have experienced 

 during the past six weeks a very liard time, 

 being able to recure but one order during that 

 time, and that at a reduction of 7 cents per tie 

 on white oak ties. The money situation in the 

 territory has been very .severe and at times we 

 have found it difficult to secure sufficient cur- 

 rency to cover tra^•eling expenses when working 

 on old orders. The smaller towns from wliich 

 we are shipping have no banking facilities aud 

 consequi'ntiy ticmakers and loading crews have 

 objocted to accepting checks. 



In regard to the future, it looks very much as 

 if things will be all right the first of January. 

 Tiemakers are holding up the prices and will 

 not sell at less than they had been getting pre- 

 vious to the scare, which indicates that the gen- 

 (I'al feeling in this territory is to a normal con- 

 dition of affairs the first of the year. It Is our 

 opinion and hope that such will be the case and 

 that after the lioiidays we will be able to secure 

 the sanio assistance and cooperation from the 

 banks that we had in the fall and that orders 

 will be as plentiful as they were several weeks 

 ago. 



We arc looking forward to a normal condition 

 of affairs the first of the year and trust that 

 prices will be maintained, although some of our 

 correspondents in the city are of the opinion 

 tliat when the market again opens prices will 

 be reduced. We are taking the most optimistic 

 view, however, and trust that the majority will 

 do the same. Very truly yours. 



The 0. S. I'eabody Lumiieu Company. 



Bay City, Micu., Dec. 14. — Editor Uaudwood 

 Record : Yours of the 12th received and con- 

 tents carefully noted. We are very glad Indeed 

 to hear that the financial trouble Is commencing 

 to look brighter, and we think ourselves that 

 the worst Is over and cannot see why things 

 should not resume their ordinary conditions. 



In regard to hardwood lumber conditions to- 

 day. In the future all lumber business, In our 

 opinion, should be curtailed us much as pos- 

 sible—the manufacturing end of It. We our- 

 selves are going to reduce about .3.) per cent the 



amount of lumbering this year, as we think that 

 It would not take very much now to have an 

 overproduction, and values would be lessened. 

 We hope that other manufacturers will do like- 

 wise. In our opinion. If this matter of curtail- 

 ing the output Is handled carefully, the country 

 will be In a very much belter shape, and par- 

 ticularly the lumber business. 



We think this covers our views In the matter, 

 and remain, Yours very truly, 



W. D. YOLNO & Co. 



Grayling, Mich., Dec. 14.— Editor IlAnDWooD 

 RECOttD : Replying to your favor of the 12th, 

 will slate tliat I really believe, as you do, that 

 the financial difficulty Is over ; at the same time, 

 while it may be true that tlie bankers have got 

 over their part of it, the business mens panic 

 is still to come, from the fact that as the bankers 

 have been badly scared, they will call In their 

 loans as fast as possible, and of course that 

 means that a good many business men who are 

 iioavy borrowers will be crowded into ll<]uidation, 

 which will undoubtedly cause a good deal of 

 liardship, and will also cause an unbalanced con- 

 dition in the business world. 



I believe, however, that the amount of lumber 

 on hand at the mills is comparatively small, and 

 that, even though we have a set-back in the 

 consuming power, there will still be no surplus 

 lumber on hand, to crowd on the market at 

 low figures, and that, of course, will help to 

 keep the lumber market in a reasonably healthy 

 condition. When we get the annual report, at 

 the end of the .year, as furnished by the lumber 

 journals, I will be much better able to judge in 

 regard to the general outlook than I am now ; 

 but, to say the least, I do not feel alarmed. In 

 any sense of the word, as to the lumber business 

 for next year. Yours very truly, 



SiLLiNO, Hanson & Co., 



R. Hanson. 



North Vernon, Ind., Dec. 14. — Editor Hard- 

 wood Record : In reply to yours of the 12th 

 Inst., beg to advise that we feel very well satis- 

 fied with the outlook as to business after the 

 first of .January. We find that trade Is very 

 quiet now, but the situation would not be helped 

 any, we are sure, by cutting prices. We have 

 had a few propositions made to us for certain 

 blocks of stock under our quotations, but we 

 have refused to accept such propositions, and 

 in most instances the orders were placed with 

 us anyhow, at our price. We feel that the 

 supply of hardwood timber left In this country 

 is not suflficlently large to justify any slump In 

 prices. The standing timber seems to be In 

 strong hands, and we have not as yet seen any 

 holder of timber who cared to sacrifice on his 

 holdings. We have made some sales, but of 

 course not as much as usual at this time of the 

 year. We have no fears as to the outcome, 

 however, and are in a positon to stand "pat," 

 and this we expect to do. Our mill In North 

 Vernon Is running and has been right along. 

 Our plant In Louisville, Ky., shut down In 

 November aud will remain down until after the 

 first of January, after which we expect to start 

 up thoroughly repaired and In good shape. Wc 

 have no fears as to the final outcome and we 

 sincerely trust that nobody will get shaky over 

 the situation, but will be satisfied to take It 

 easy until matters turn for the better. 

 Yours respectfully, 

 NoKTu Vernon Lcmber Cojlpany, 



F. M. I'latter, rresidcnt. 



Chicago, 111., Dec. 14. — Editor Hardwood 

 Record : Yours of the 12th Inst., requesting our 

 opinion on the present hardwood situation, Is 

 at hand. There Is no doubt but what there 

 has been a slight slump In values of late, but 

 not to any great extent. While we have been 

 offered stock at surprisingly low prices, when 

 shown the lumber have found It to he poorly 

 manufactured, else cut from Inferior logs, stock 

 that Is high at any price ; while concerns, whose 



