28 



HASDWOOD RECORD 



Seiltcmber llj, I'Jlil 



(Continued Iriim pagv 26) 

 (lucst he ciinliMiilc'il Hint llu' tact that the first cur was iiivDiti'il ut the 

 lower price was in fact an acceptance uf Ills later prciposltion. 



The seller contended that even though requested to do so, he was undei' 

 no oldlgatlon to accept a change in the original contrai't, ami that in 

 fact he hud not ilone so. lie staterl that the price on the first invcdce 

 was a mere clerli-al error in his office, and that a corrected invoice was 

 sent to the buyer as soon as the error was discovered. 



lie furthermore contended that he rendered very prompt service, maliing 

 ndll sliipment as agreed and within a tew days after receipt of orders. 

 He therefure insisted that both cars should be settled for in accordance 

 Willi thi- original order, or on a basis of $i!(!..'JO per thousand. 



I>KriSI(»X : llKl^U. that the original order was a bona fide contract 

 entered into between the parties and properly handled by the seller. 



HELD further, that while the buyer claimi'd to have requested that the 

 order be changed in tile manner stated, no evidence was submitted in 

 support of this claim. I'^nrtlierniore, sucli request would have no bearing 

 on the case in tiie absence of iiroof of acceptance thereof on the part of 

 the seller. 



IIEI.n further, the jirice at which the lirst car was originally billed 

 was plainly a clerical error in the seller's office. 



It is therefore held that the buyer should pay the seller in full tor both 

 cars at .'i;2(!..'>0 per thousand, the jirice specified in the original oriler and 

 mutually agreed upon. 



felloes are sufficient to iieep the department busy a year ahead and the 

 factory is worliing fifteen liours a day on this class of material. Farm 

 wagon mantifacture is reixjrted to lie tlie most active in about five years 

 and increasing. The Kaul company recently incorporated its business and 

 made extensive rejiairs and iiiipriivements. including additional dry kilns. 



Indiana Plans Large Forest Reserve 



A survey of ftjrcst lands in .lenuings, .letferson, .lackson. Scott. Brown, 

 Clark, Floyd, IlarrLson, Crawford. I'erry and Lawrence counties of Indi- 

 ana is being made, of both potential timber lands and property on which 

 there is marketable timber now standing, by officials of the state con- 

 servation commission and the United States forestry service. This is the 

 first step toward the purchase of 100,000 acres of land for state forest 

 reserves and the forestry program involves the expenditure of about 

 $1,000,000. W. A. Guthrie, chairman of the state conservation com- 

 mission, is in charge of the survey. 



In the case of marketable timber lands, the marketable timber will be 

 considereil at its commercial value in fixing a purcliase price. The 

 survey is being made preparatory to a movement to obtain appropria- 

 tions sufficient to purchase the lands in the event the report is approved 

 liy the (lovernor and the conservation commission. Mr. Guthrie is of the 

 opinion that most of the land desired can he obtained at approximately 

 .f.H an acre, and stated that no land will be considered which is priced at 

 more than .$!.') an acre. 



Pertinent Information 



Clubs and Associations 



Momentous Building Trades Decision Rendered 



The way was virtually cleared fur Chlcagns .•«loo,oiio.O(l(l building 

 boom by Federal Judge Landis, umpire in the building trailes controversy, 

 on September 7, when he handed down a decision aiqilying to working con- 

 ditions and wage awards that will no doubt be national in its effect and 

 set the pace for the restoration of normal and reasonable conditions in the 

 building industry everywhere. 



The decision was the result of months of stuily and provides for a uni- 

 form agreement between unions an<l employers, which tdiminates long-sus- 

 tained abuses that have addeil hugely to the cost and hazard of building, 

 such as contracts giving monopolies to labor and material interests and the 

 many rules so fruitful of jurisdictional disputes and graft for union agents. 



The wage awards showed a reductiiui of 10 to 30 per cent from the 1020 

 scale, the hourly wagi' of many skilled trades formerly $1.25 cents an hour 

 being cut to $1.10 and below .fl. in one instance as low as 70 cents. The 

 average reduction of the hourly wage of the highly skilled workers was 

 only 121;. pj,!- (.(jnt, as contrasted with the 20 per cent reduction in average 

 living costs. But Judge Landis explained that while this does not seem 

 large, it is only a part of the reduction in the cost of building which his 

 decision will affect.. The elimination of working agreement abuses will 

 bring about very substantial reductions in building costs. 



It remains now only for the unions involved to accept Judge Landis' 

 decision. The decision received the hearty applause of the employers 

 immediately upon its ilelivery. Tlie unions showed a certain amount of 

 chagrin at the wage reductions and entereil a strong protest, Init at the 

 time of this writing. Thomas Kearney, president of the Chicago Building 

 Trades' Council, said that while "we expected him to be more liberal 

 • • • we selected him and I expect all of us will abide by his 

 decision." 



The only real fiy in the ointment is the fact that the carpenters, pias- 

 terers, elevator constructors, sheet metal workers, painters, glaziers and 

 fixture hangers held aloof from arbitration ami are not directly affected 

 by the decision. It is expected, however, that public opinion will soon 

 force them into line. 



Wisconsin Plant Makes Wood "Waste" Pay 



Andrew Kaul & Co., Iin-.. of Merrill. Wis., has recently devised an eco- 

 nomical methoil of converting waste woods from its large woodenware 

 plant into profitable products, such as rolling pins, pail and knife handles, 

 bowling pins and similar commercial goods. The waste wood, formerly 

 selling at about $t! per cord, now returns a handsome profit. The company 

 for years manufactured wagon hubs and spokes, and later added a depart- 

 ment for manufacturing bobliins. spools and similar articles for woolen 

 and cotton mills, and wooden plugs for paper rolls. Charles Green, gen- 

 eral superintendent, recently perfected an original design of a machine 

 which has broad facilities for converting waste wood into useful special- 

 ties. The machine was built by the Lincoln Iron Works of Merrill and is 

 capable of turning out 30,000 plugs a day, or the equivalent of other 

 articles. It is said the Kaul company is the first in Wisconsin to manu- 

 facture rolling pins. Tenpins are also in wiiler demand, due to the greater 

 Interest in bowling and the establishment of new alleys. The Kaul product 

 is made from hard maple, which is said to outlast lignum vitae four times 

 for this purpose. The Kaul factory is turning out 10,000 bobbins a day 

 and a large number of pail handles for woodenware concerns all over the 

 country. Its orders for wagon hubs, spokes and automobile spokes and 



The Demurrage Referendum 



The question as to whether or not the .\merican Wholesale I^umber 

 Association should favor the change in demurrage charges as proposed by 

 the National Industrial Traffic League was recently submitted to its mem- 

 bers for a referendum vote. 



They have now received 53 replies, of which 47 were for and 8 against 

 the proposed change, whereby the present demurrage rates would be super- 

 seded by a flat charge of .$3 per day, the same to prevail uniformly both 

 in times of car surplus and during periods of car shortage. 



However, members of the league have voted overwhelmingly against 

 the change, which is an absolute reversal of opinion as expressed at the 

 Clevelanil convention in May. 



The proposed change therefore will not be considered further by the 

 It^gue committee at this time. The committee meets in New York on 

 September 12, 13 and 14, and will then carefully study the various views 

 expressed by the league members and thereby determine what further 

 action, if any, should be taken in the immediate future. 



Lower Rates War Council Meets 



On the call of S. M. Nickey, president, the board of governors of the 

 Southern Hardwood Traffic Association held a special meeting at Memphis 

 on September 7 to organize the procedure that will •e followed in the 

 hearing of the association's plea for lower rates on hardwood lumber, which 

 begins before the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington on 

 Septemlier 29. J. V. Norman of Louisville, general counsel, was present 

 at the meeting and the statistical and other evidence which the forces 

 of the assticiation have been industriously assembling for the past few 

 weeks was carefully gone over. 



Nothing has been given out for publication thus far regarding the infor- 

 mation anil data collected for the reason that the association does not 

 care to forearm the railroads as to the task to be taken. It is known, how- 

 ever, that the association is prepared to show that stocks of hardwood 

 lumber throughout the southern producing field are the largest in the 

 history of the industry, this being true especially of the lower grade.s 

 which have acctimuiated, not so much through large prouuction as through 

 failure to move to market for the reasim that current transportation costs 

 are prohibitive. 



It is not disclosing any secret of the association to say that expense 

 tiills are on file showing that transportation costs have absorbed prac- 

 tically the entire proceeds of the sales of low grade lumber. 



Aside from the conference in question, perhaps the most significant 

 development in the rate contest is the announcement that the Southern 

 Cypress Manufacturers' Association will join hands with the Southern 

 Hardwood Traffic Association in this fight. The cypress men have the 

 same comidaint as the hardwood manufacturers, namely, that their mar- 

 kets have been destroyed through the high freight rates, which have made 

 it Impossible for them to distribute in the channels of trade heretofore 

 open to them. 



Evans'ville Club to Resume Meetings 



The Evansville Lumbermen's Club at Evansville. Ind.. will hold its first 

 fall meeting on Tuesday evening, September 13. at the New Vendome 

 hotel in that city. This will be the first regular business meeting of the 

 club since the second Tuesday night in May last when adjournment was 

 taken for the summer. J. C. Greer, president of the club, and William S. 



