38 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



October 10, 1921 



VHNIiliR MANUFAGTURHKS (X). 



A nnouncemen t ! 



We're Handling Panels Now! 



Ill acldilidii t(i iiur wdiulrrl'iil line ol' 



Fijiured and Plain Veneer 



w 



ill haiullc liiuli uradr Imilt-ui 



PANELS! 



We lake ijlcasurc in aniiouiiciiin- the CdiiSDJi- 

 datitin of our business with that of 



Mr 



". Arncinaii 



\\\ tlu' IcTins i>f which M r. Ai'ncnian heconies 

 an officer uf the 



VENKHR MANUFACTURERS GO. 



All iinincnse stock of VEN]':ERS and I'LYWOOD 

 carried in our great Chicago warehouse 



Best Quality, Best Service and Fair Prices 



1036 West 37th Street, Chicaf^o, U. S. A. 



PURCELL^ 



Are You Interested in the 



Following Exceptional Values 



in High Grade Walnut? 



ls&2s, alI6 &7 long 



4 4, 5/4 & 6 4 



Is & 2s, alls' & 9 long. . . . 

 4 4, 5 4, 6 4 & 8/4 



Selects 4 4, 5 4, 6/4, 8/4 



No. 1 Com. 3 8, 1 2, 5 8, 

 3 4, 4 4, 5 4, 6 4 & 8 4 



No. 2 Common 



4 4, 5 4, 6 4&8 4 



ALL STEAMED AND 10 

 MONTHS ON STICKS 



Mills and 

 Offices 



FRANK PURCELL 

 Kansas WALNUT LUMBER CO. 



City, 

 Kansas 



A Ranking Name in Walnut 

 for Many Years 



WALNUT 



Trade Appears "Streaky" at 

 "the Rapids" 



By Our Grand Rapids Correspondent 



During the July furniture market it was quite the practice and 

 a quite proper one, too, to refer to the conditions as "spotted." 

 At that time some manufacturers were doing a whale of a business 

 while others were doing almost none. That "spotted" condition 

 still exists and not only does that term apply but it might also be 

 said that the furniture conditions are "streaked." Now here is 

 what is meant by the use of the two terms as applied to present 

 conditions : 



Son^e manufacturers are still doing a considerable business 

 while others are still struggling and fighting for every order they 

 take and hustling to get that order on the rails before it can be 

 cancelled. That is "spotted." .A,gain the orders come in bunches 

 and then do not come at all, and that is "streaked." 



Just the reason for these two conditions is not clearly apparent 

 except that they are the result of generally not greatly improved 

 business and financial conditions throughout the country. In the 

 middle of September the manufacturers quite generally ran into 

 a fat "streak" and were led to believe that perhaps the worst was 

 over, that the improved conditions of the cotton market and ap- 

 parent improved demand from the east spelled continued improve- 

 ment ihroLighout the fall. Manufacturers w^ere quite cheery as 

 a result. 



But that fat "streak" has not been maintained. Near the end 

 of September the furniture industry ran into a "streak" of the 

 other kind. The orders did not continue to come and something 

 like pessimism set in. Summed up it all appears to be a purely 

 stock market influence. The artificial juggling in Wall street for a 

 short time led the East to believe that things were looking up and 

 as a result the orders for furniture came in. But that "streak" 

 was rather short lived and the business which ought to be coming 

 from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other similar large centers was 

 not holding up. Indeed, these centers were all but out of the 

 consideration and manufacturers w^ere out digging up business in 

 new^ territory and among customers strangers to their books. 

 This digging process yielded some return and the plants are all 

 running full time in Grand Rapids but are once more on the hand- 

 to-mouth schedule. 



This is far from a satisfying situation and yet the manufacturers 

 are taking a most hopeful view of the situation and living in the 

 expectation that they will manage to dig up enough new business 

 to keep them running full time until the January market comes 

 along, and then they hope the situation will have been sufficiently 

 clarified to give them a good business at that time. They are 

 hoping that some good result will come from the conference 

 relative to idle men and that when once that situation has been 

 solved, business will have become stabilized and they can look 

 into the future with more assurance than has been the case in 

 the last twelve months. However, when they look back upon the 

 conditions of a year ago when their books were practically bare 

 of orders they are inclined to feel that after all they have much 

 to be thankful for. 



And referring once more to that "spotted" situation, a fine 

 example of it was shown on October I when it was announced in 

 Grand Rapids newspapers that one furniture factory was putting 

 on a night shift, the first in a long time. To be sure, that was a 

 small plant, but it seemed to show that something was in the air 

 and that that something was very much worth while. 



But on that same day another large manufacturer made the 

 statement to the writer that he had orders enough to last him 

 just one month and no more and that the salesmen were working 

 hard in an endeavor to secure enough orders to carry the plant 

 through until the first of the year. 



A week prior to this date, a third large manufacturer made the 

 statement that conditions generally were not at all satisfactory, 

 {Continued on page 40) 



