38 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Bradley Lumber Company at Waneu. Aik.. was 

 married recently to Miss Nellie Tliompson of 

 that city. The groom Is the son of Mr. and Mrs. 

 I. J. Moore of I'lne ItlulT. with whom the bridal 

 pair spent their honeymoon. Mr. and Mrs. Moore 

 will reside in Warren. 



Burglars blew the safe of the Summit Lumber 

 Company at Junction Clly last week, securing 

 $500 in cash and $1,500 in mill checks. 



The Diereks Lumber Company at DeQueen has 



shut down for thirty days. The mill employs 

 (iOO men. 



The hardwood mill at Junction City has shut 

 down lemiiorarily, due to the slow market. At 

 I'rescolt, however, the St. Mary's Woodstock 

 Company's mill is doing a big business. The 

 capacity of the mill is about 0,000 spokes daily, 

 and it Is running full time. The foreign trade, 

 particularly with France, New Zealand and 

 Australia, is good. 



Hardwood Market. 



(By HARDWOOD BECOBD Exclv.sive Market Beporters.) 



Chicago. 



The hardwood Irailc is still slow in the 

 Chicago market, but nevertheless in the aggre- 

 gate there is quite a volume of lumber moving. 

 The furniture people have very thin stocks, 

 but are not placing any orders save for Imme- 

 diate necessities until they can see the result 

 of the annual furniture sales at Chicago and 

 Grand Ilaplds. On the result of the trade 

 secured at these two expositions will depend 

 very largely whether furniture people will be 

 generous buyers for the next few months. 



A few big deals are being reported, but on 

 the whole the local trade is confined to the 

 hand-to-mouth variety of business. Local jobbers 

 are very optimistic over the situation and 

 believe that there will be a fair volume of trade 

 between now and early spring. 



Boston. 



For two months previous to the first of the 

 year demand for hardwoods was rather quiet. 

 Lumbermen began to receive Inquiries again 

 during the latter part of last month and now 

 that the turn of the year has come without any 

 serious failures in the trade a steady improve- 

 ment is anticiijated. While It is true that lum- 

 ber is not bringing the top prices of a few 

 months ago there has been no serious break in 

 values and none is expected. Manufacturers of 

 lumber have been under curtailment and some 

 shutdown for several weeks. As a result ac- 

 cumulations are little larger, if any, than a few 

 weeks ago. 



A very fair export business is being done in 

 oak with South American ports. Several ves- 

 sels have loaded in Boston during the past few 

 weeks for these ports. A report from English 

 markets states that quite a little oak has been 

 sent there from this country on consignmeol. 

 Plain oak has been in rather large offering with 

 the demand quiet. Une-inch is held at $49 to 

 $5li. Offerings of quartered oak are not large. 

 Previous to the advent of quiet business, stocks 

 were very scarce and they have grown but little 

 larger. Several lots where the mill needed ready 

 money were sold at liberal concessions from the 

 high level but regular business cannot he trans- 

 acted on a lower basis than $79 to $83 for one 

 inch, as manufacturers do not appear to be 

 anxious sellers. We know of one sale that was 

 lost last week because the seller would not ac- 

 cept a bid of $83. Most sales are reported at 

 $S0 to .fS2. It is a fact that holders of quar- 

 tered oak look for a larger business before long 

 and are holding hrmly for this to develop. 

 There has been a very fair call for white ash 

 and prices are well maintained under small of- 

 ferings. Walnut is in moderate call. Birch 

 and chestnut are steady. Whitewood, one inch, 

 ones and twos, is quoted at $59 to $6U. Cypress 

 continues very quiet. Buyers are talking a fur- 

 ther decline. 



New York. 



C>ptimism is increasing in the direction that 

 the market during the early part of 1908 is 

 going to be sufficiently active to enable holders 

 who do not sacrifice their stocks under present 

 conditions to realize profitably thereon. 



As to actual trade, there has been a fair run 

 of small orders during the fortnight, mostly for 

 prompt shipments on actual needs, but it has 



totaled a sullicieut trade to keep prices from 

 showing any further readjustment. Then, too, 

 the marked curtailment in the manufacturing 

 of hardwoods is being both shown and felt in 

 the light receipts In the local district. But 

 better than all is the steady, although somewhat 

 slow improvement in financial conditions and 

 the readjusting process of lines of credit w'liich 

 is going a long way toward rehabilitating con- 

 fidence and is giving buyers and dealers who are 

 able so to do encouragement enough to branch 

 out a little, and so far as the hardwood lumljer 

 business is concerned the general feeling all 

 along the line is one of encouragement. 



Another gratifying feature is the absence of 

 any material forcing of the market — in fact, 

 there does not seem to be any excess in offer- 

 ings which are felt adversely in the price situa- 

 tion, and so far as the effect of the recent finan- 

 cial flurry is concerned it may be said to 'be 

 entirely over so far as hardwoods are concerned 

 and that the market will not show and further 

 change to speak of except for the better. 



Special comment is necessary in regard to the 

 foreign mahogany and cedar trade in the local 

 district at this time. The recent financial flurry 

 plus what seems to have been a glutting of both 

 the New York and London markets in the past 

 month or two has resulted in a sharp decline in 

 prices of about 2 cents all around on both 

 mahogany and cedar, with the result that prices 

 today rule about 6 to 9 cents on mahogany and 

 6 to 10 cents on cedar, according to kind and 

 quality. These prices show a marked falling off 

 from those of a year ago, when the shortage in 

 cedar sent prices soaring, but it is currently be- 

 lieved in local circles that this readjustment will 

 have a beneficent effect in holding back produc- 

 tion at the various ports and enabling the mar- 

 ket to readjust itself accordingly, and to this 

 end it is generally recommended to shippers to 

 hold consignments in both woods for a short 

 time at least. In cedar conditions have changed 

 in the last ten months from one of absolute 

 shortage to quite a large oversupply with the 

 consequent effect on prices. 



Fhiladelpliia. 



The excitement which usually attends the 

 Christmas holidays, the ringing out of the old 

 and the ringing in of the new year, accounts for 

 the usual dullness at this time in trading. In 

 spite of the money stringency and "panicky" 

 conditions, the retail and department stores re- 

 port one of the largest Christmas sale periods 

 for years, which fact indicates that some of the 

 hoarded money has been brought forth for cir- 

 culation. Reports coming in from the large steel 

 and structural iron concerns state that orders 

 are coming in. and it is announced that these 

 plants will undoubtedly be busy during the com- 

 ing season. Plans are also being formulated 

 which point to considerable building work for 

 the early spring. Inquiries are beginning to 

 come in from all sides, but on account of a few 

 nervous concerns, which are trying to sell hard- 

 woods regardless of price, some of the pros- 

 pective buyers are taking advantage of this con- 

 dition to hold off for lower figures. Stocks of 

 good hardwoods are getting low with both yard- 

 men and consumer, who must fill up the vacuum 

 made by the woodworking concerns, which seem 

 to be working right along, though not at full 

 force, and those who expect to buy at the cut- 



rali> prices will need to do so at once, for the 

 near future when trading becomes active will 

 no doubt see a rise in value, as there is no hard- 

 wood stock piling up at mill centers. Taking 

 the whole situation, things certainly look more 

 Iiromlslng than a few weeks back, but reaction 

 from panics is usually a matter of time ; there- 

 fore, it is deemed advisable to go slow. The 

 hardwoods hold In about the same relative posi- 

 tion as two weeks ago ; some are holding firm, 

 while forced sales have set some of the other 

 grades to fluttering about uncertainly. Time, 

 however, will soon regulate all this. 



Baltimore. 



The dullest period of the year in the lumber 

 trade has come and gone, and hardwood dealers, 

 as well as manufacturers, once more look for- 

 ward to the future with expectation of better 

 things. Quotations, especially those on the low 

 grades of oak and other woods, have been more 

 or less off, but the better kinds of lumber have 

 been in relatively strong demand at figures little 

 lower than those which ruled during the period 

 when values generally were at their height. 

 Stocks in the hands of dealers have been al- 

 lowed to go down until filling orders is a neces- 

 sity, while the mills, under the influence of the 

 unsatisfactory financial conditions, deemed It 

 best to go slow, with the result that they closed 

 the year with stocks very small. 



Some of the big consumers manifest an in- 

 clination to increase their purcba.ses and there 

 are other evidences of a revival of activity. 

 Poplar appears to be holding its own. This 

 wood continued in active request almost right up 

 to the holidays. Boxmakers, in particular, have 

 been liberal consumers. Few years have devel- 

 oped so much business in this direction as the 

 fag end of 1907. The export trade continues 

 quiet, a condition due not so much to the ab- 

 sence of any spirited demand as to the uncer- 

 tainty as to what the freight rates will be for 

 the current year. Until this question is settled, 

 a disposition will prevail to postpone making 

 ocean rate contracts and the movement of 

 stocks will be affected accordingly. 



Pittsburg. 



Lumber affairs have passed the doubtful stage 

 in Pittsburg. It would be idle waste of words to 

 say that everybody was doing business as that 

 phrase is generally understood. After the hard 

 blow which the lumber business received in the 

 last months of 1907, it is not expected that it 

 will regain in a hurry its former buoyancy. But 

 the turn has come. Signs of improvement are 

 evident in many quarters and orders are begin- 

 ning to stray in, or rather to be dragged in, for 

 it is the firm which goes after business with all 

 its force that is going to land the desirable 

 trade this year. 



Considering the fact that the inventory season 

 is hardly over, that many firms have not yet got 

 their 1907 books balanced to their satisfaction 

 and that general activity in mercantile business 

 and in the manufacturing world will not be seen 

 for a week yet there is a very fair volume of 

 trade in lumber. Some good orders are actually 

 being taken, something which the careful ob- 

 server had reason to doubt many a time since 

 November 15. Prices are off considerably in 

 many instances, but are no lower than a month 

 ago. Firms are putting their salesmen back 

 onto the road and are preparing to push with 

 all their grit into the 1908 market. They rely 

 on several important factors to help them by 

 February 1. One of these is the expectation 

 that the banks — particularly the eastern banks 

 — will by that time be discounting paper pretty 

 freely. Another is that all signs point to a very 

 good building year in 190S. Building materials 

 and lumber will be somewhat cheaper and the 

 labor question promises to be far less trouble- 

 some than in the last three years. Moreover, 

 those men with ready money who are now 

 hoarding it are expected to tire of this policy 



