fafturcrs and wUoIesalors wlio mo In position 

 to tuin thoinsolros finnnclnlly lioUI an impoitnnt 

 jiosltion In present conditions, nnd Itoin all 

 reports will reap good returns from such action. 



Philadelphia. 



The proverbial sliver llnliiK Is hevclnnini; to 

 -liow hehind the llnanelal elonil. and a decidedly 

 iKtter feeling prevails. Though n<i decided Im- 

 luiiveinent In trading Is anticipated until aliout 

 the middle of January, many Inquiries have been 

 made and some good orders placed ot late. It 

 is the consensus of opinion in hardwood circles 

 that the outlook for IWS trading Is promising. 

 Stocks at mill centers are not heavy, the car 



■ rvlce Is poor and heavy weather will soon bo 

 .1 considerable factor to be considered Ity both 

 stiippt rs and buyers. The w«'M>d\vorklng Indus- 

 tries arc fairly active and steady consumers. 

 I>ut are buying cautiously. Yards are fairly 

 stocked. Values In good thick hardwoods are 



IS ever firm; ash holds lop notch; basswood. 



■cech and cherry are running steady; chestnut 

 lias fluctuated a little, hut this is not unusual 

 for time of year. Oak. Nos. 1 and 2, has been 

 n little oft': veneers keep good reputation. Tak- 

 ing the hardwoods as a whole, thi're is no fault 

 In find with present status. 



Baltimore. 



The hardwood lumber business has dropped 

 into the holiday quiet, emphasized by the slug- 

 gishness due to the monetary stringency. A 

 marked improvement has taken i)lace in the gen- 

 '■ral situation, but it Is still a far cry to the 

 conditions that prevailed last summeij There 

 was bound to be a cessation toward New York, 

 when such work as the cloBlng of books, the 

 striking of trial balances, the taking ot stock 

 .■iiid other similar occupations Is to I>e performed, 

 in the lirst place, attention is diverted from 

 loiying and selling; secondly, dealers naturally 

 lim to defer purchase so as to make the sum 

 • .r their obligations as small as possible. No 

 marked increase in activity is to ho e.\pected for 

 (he balance of the current month, and all the 

 lumbermen are prepared to take matters eas.v. 

 Salesmen on the road have been called in and 

 will stay at home until after the holidays. The 

 •-iiuation is generally believed to be in good 

 -liape and there Is D(» cause for apprehension 

 MS to the future. Notwithstanding the restricted 

 movement of late, values have been maintained 

 iipr the better grades, and even the lower kinds 

 of lumber have not sagged as much as might 

 have been expected, rnrthermoro. stocks at the 

 mills are remarkabl.v low. Ever.vone who has 

 visited the milling sections brings hack the same 

 reports, which means that when the huiuir.v does 

 pick tip difficulty may be experienced in getting 

 orders filled. The strongest wood on the list is 

 pfiplar, whi4-h has been active nil .-ilong at figures 

 that show llitle. If any. decline from lopnotch 

 figures. The Inquiry has continued until now 

 and the mills have been able to dispose of their 

 liroilui't without difficulty. There Is little doing 

 In the export trade. Owing to the differences 

 over the Inspection rules and the measurement at 

 Liverpool, the movement halts, a condition also 

 due in part to the large supplies on the other 

 side, which have not yet been distributed. 



Pittsburg. 



Winding up the year's affairs is by no means 

 -ucli a <lisnppolnting job as most Iiardwoixl firms 

 liared. If the past few years had not been such 

 pbciMiinenal periods In lumber selling little dls- 

 a|ipoititnicnt would be felt toda.v. As It Is there 

 are very few hardwood men with good sense who 

 are not feeling mighty good over the year's 

 totals. They show that In spite ot all the un- 

 favorable Influences that have been working for 

 the past few months to pull down the year's 

 frMitlngs there Is hardly any decrease comparerl 

 witli 1!mk;. which was In every way the best 

 year that I'lttsburg dealers ever saw. 



A careful canvass of the hardwoo«l firms of 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



I'tltsbur); today brink's out the fart that tlit'lr 

 Uusinoss for the year just endlug will Im within 

 at least 5 per rent of that of 1900. Many are 

 connilent ononsh to assert that when the year's 

 hooks, are closed It will be found that fully as 

 much hardwood has been sold as last y(?ar. 

 Whereas the trade in the pines and in hemlock 

 fell off seriously in the summer, there was no 

 appreciable reduction in the demand for liard- 

 wood until within the last six weelcs or two 

 months. The tirst half of the year kept up a 

 swift pace which has probably counterbalanced 

 the falling off In sales the latter part of the 

 year. 



It Is <'erlain llial in some lines of hardwood 

 fully as much if not more lumber has been sold 

 than last year. If IMttshurg had not been hit 

 especially bard by the recent linancial storm it 

 is u sure thing that lltitT would have far 

 r'clipsed any former year in Pittsburg's history, 



rittsburg tirms which have hardwood mills 

 are not worried over the outlook. With few 

 exceptions the smaller hardwowl mills in the 

 country are running full. In West Virginia, 

 Kentucky nnd Maryland there have been many 

 shu( downs the last few weeks due to the policy 

 of the manufacturers to curtail production an<l 

 thus hold up prices. These plants are generally 

 in good shape and will he started just as soon 

 as the general business conditions are improved 

 enough to permit of a fair market inquiry, 

 'rbrougbout Ohio and Pennsylvania the mills 

 liave been running practically continuously since 

 last .Tauuary and at present have only fair 

 -stocks of lumber. I'nlike the yellow pine and 

 liemlock people, the hardwood manufacturers 

 can claim truly that their present available 

 stocks are not large enough to cause any tend- 

 ency to a reduction in prices and they mean to 

 maintain this healthy equilibrium. In the face 

 ui' very depressing business conditions prices of 

 hardwood have heUl remarkably well. In fact, 

 some woods are actually selling now for more 

 iban o.Me year ago. 



41 



o|icM'alb>ns. planning for n big trade In the 

 spring. They look for heavy building operations 

 III the spring and a good lively demand. 



Buffalo. 



TlU'i-e is the same quiet tone to tlie hardwood 

 market tliat has prevailed since money ran 

 short and it is expected to last well into next 

 inonlhs at least. The trade is holding prices 

 liri'iiy firm and it is believed that production 

 is now so well in hand that tliere will be no 

 iiiM'd of fori'ing lumber on the market at buyers' 

 pric(*s, and no excuse for it. Hardwood lumber 

 of any sort is too scarce to be given away, so 

 I he yards are content to remain quiet for 

 awhile. 



As yet the buying public does not seem to 

 know what to do. In the Kast much of the high- 

 class building was stopped by the panic, but It 

 is slowly resuming and building In Buffalo 

 is still in full blast, though mostly soft-wood con- 

 slructlun is in progress. Money has not been 

 as tight here as II was elsewhere, and it Is now 

 quite easy. 



There has iieen some reduction in the price 

 of plain oak and birch, and cliestnul has not 

 br-eii <|uile up to its former level. The other 

 hardwoods are so hard to gel that they have 

 been held pii'tly well up to their former prices 

 and will slay there. All the sawmills are either 

 stopped or held In. so that no trouble Is to be 

 looked for from that diiecllon. When the de- 

 manil is resumed, as il will be when money Is 

 pleuly again, the trade will proceed on the old 



flHllillg. 



Tliere Is a good slock of everything in liani 

 wooil liinilM'r here and the dealers are able to 

 hold their lumber llll the demand Is back. They 

 will not try to urge sales, as that means forcing 

 a slack market anil it would result In break- 

 ing It. 



Detroit. 



The lietroit liardwood people adinii thai limes 

 are dull. However, the majority of them are 

 going right ahead with their winter lumbering 



Bay City and Sagina'w. 



There has been practically no buying here 

 since the slump In the money market and there 

 will not be much doing until after the advent 

 of the new year. I.umbermen. however, are not 

 at all pessimistic. Hiiyers talk confidently of 

 making ciuifracts as usyal and it is not ex- 

 pected there will be any material decline in 

 prices. Stocks ot dry lumber In the hands of 

 manufacturers and dealers are considerably 

 smaller than last year and the outlook Is hope- 

 ful, (itiotations here are: Beech, No. 2 com- 

 mon and letter, $18: elm, ,$24 and $2B : birch, 

 $1S and $20: basswood, .<2.'j and $27: ash, $.'!(i 

 and S:!2. Inch maple is held at ?1S and ?1!) 

 and -),'4 and (!'4 at $18 and $20. There is a 

 heavy consumption of culls for boxes and crat- 

 ing and prices are higher than they were a 

 year ago. 



Columbus. 



All changes in llie hardwood lumber trade 

 in this section williin the past fortnight have 

 been for the belter. While the improvement Is 

 not sufficient to overcome the recent depression, 

 tliere is a more hopeful aspect to the trade and 

 slilpiiers and dealers express greater confidence 

 in the future. Buying is still done in limited 

 (piantlties, but orders show increase in almost 

 every direction. 



Hardwood prices are slightly stronger than 

 the quotations of two weeks ago. Poplar is, of 

 course, the strongest point in the market, but a 

 close second in the better grades of oak. Prices 

 for poplar are unchanged, except in the lower 

 grades, where a slight falling off is uoticoable. 

 due to overstocking of the market. Oak espe- 

 cially <iuarterod Is In good demand and a slight 

 increase in price is reported. The demand for 

 elm, ash, maple and cypress is still limited and 

 little Is moving. 



Since the southern mills have decided on the 

 policy of ciu'tailing production better things are 

 in sight. Dealers believe that it will only be 

 a question of time until there is a good demand 

 • for hardwoods of almost every kind and tho 

 shorter supjily will be shown in the firmer ijuota- 

 lioiis and bi'lter tone of the market. 



Indianapolis. 



The liardw 1 niarki'l is slowly recovering 



from the deiiression caused by the tinanclnl 

 stringency. Business Is not yet up to its nor- 

 mal standard, but both dealers and manufac- 

 turers anticipate a general clearing ot condi- 

 tions by .liinuary !,->. 



^laniilacturlng plants using hardwoods are 

 rapidly reopening or putting men back to work, 

 thus increasing demands for raw material. 

 Building, however, shows no Improvement over 

 a mouth ago. due to the fact that 11 Is almost 

 impossible to make loans. 



December is naliirally a dull mouth in the 

 Indiana trade, so dealers are not very pessi- 

 mistic over the oiitliHik. On an average hard- 

 wood stocks are lower than they were a year 

 ago and buying has not been continued ex- 

 tensively. Prices remain pritctlcally the same. 



Milwaukee. 



l.lillc hardwood Is being sold in Milwaukee at 

 I he present Cimo. The market is always slow 

 .It this time ot the year, but this month has 

 been exceptionally dull. Tho retailers have 

 siilllrlent hardwood slock on hand, but there is 

 little demand. I.lst prices are not gi>nerally 

 held, altluuigh hardwood prices have been con- 

 siderably ll.inir than .softwoods. Numerous In- 

 quiries come In dally, but few acltial sales are 

 recorded. The retailers whose yard stocks arc 

 depleted order only In small lots. 



.Some of the optimistic dealers are of the 

 opinion that the hist of the year will find busi- 

 ness returning to lis normal condition. The 



