October 25, 191S 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



However, in filing appliratinns tor jjcrmits ttiroogb any ofHtc other tlian 

 our bureau, only tbe original slieet is necessary; do not write letters of 

 explanation, but ratlier secure strong recommendation from local deliver- 

 ing 'agent whose approval carries great weight. Copy of permit when is- 

 sued is mailed direct to consignee unless otherwise requested. 



Relative to list of eastern freight traffic committees designated in cir- 

 cular of Southern Pino Association, Mr. DcGroot's office advised that this 

 list is incorrect as none of these mentioned have anything to do with 

 Issuing permits for shipments of lumber. 



West coast memliers shipping into embargoed territory can save con- 

 siderable delay, if they will wire their customer tbe originating lino and 

 have customer request permit direct and mail them order and permit at 

 the same time. 



Wholesalers Seek to Determine Their Degree of Essentiality 



Tlic wliolesale bureau has received and sent out communications 

 relative to labor priority for the lumber industry which follow: 

 From : Chief of Labor Section, Priorities Division. 

 To : National Bureau of Wholesale Lumber Distributors, 



225 Kellogg Building, Washington, D. C. 

 Subject : Industrial defermeut for employes of lumber distributors. 



1. This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of October 5. Labor 

 Priority Bulletin No. 1 relates to lumber manufacturers and in general 

 it has been the rule of the priorities division which determines and ad- 

 ministers ]iriorities particulai'ly with respect to production to give class- 

 ifications only to those productive industries which are essential and 

 which require and are entitled to the artificial stimulus of general pref- 

 erential treatment with regard to fuel, labor and transportation service. 

 We enclose a copy of Preference List No. 2 the "Foreword" to which will 

 explain the nature and scope of the work done by the priorities division. 

 You will notice that with one exception distributors of even the most 

 essential products are not listed. That does not mean that they arc con- 

 sidered nonessential. 



2. This preference list will be before the district boards and will be 

 to a certain extent used by them as a guide in passing upon claims for 

 industrial deferment but It is not necessarily binding upon them and this 

 is particularl.y true with respect to businesses and occupations which do 

 not come within the scope of the list. It is therefore the privilege of 

 those of your members who believe that they are conducting a "necessary" 

 business w-itbin tlie meaning of the term as defined in the revised selective 

 service regulations to make application for industrial deferment for their 

 "necessary" employes and the district boards are not debarred from favor- 

 ably considering such claims Ijy the mere fact that your imlustry is not 

 upon the preference list or otherwise classified by tbe priorities division. 



(Signed) A. W. CLApr, 

 Chief of Labor Section, Priorities Division. 



Compiling Lists of Bidders 



Announcement has been made of the establishment of a central- 

 ized list of bidders on articles purchased by the Quartermaster's 

 Corps: 



There is being established in the office of the Quartermaster General a 

 centralized list of bidders on all articles purchased by the Quartermaster 

 Cori)S. Tbe list is for tbe purpose of maintaining a closer relationship 

 between the manufacturing and business concerns of the country and the 

 procurement divisions of the office of the Quartermaster General. 



The bidders' list is being consolidated from the names of those concerns 

 which have been doing or bidding on work for the Quartermaster General's 

 office or for the quartermaster depots throughout the country, and to It 

 is being added the names of those manufacturers and business concerns 

 who make application for a place on the list. It is expected that when 

 tile work is completed there \\-ill be at the disposal of tbe procurement 

 officers of the office of the Quartermaster General a list of firms which 

 produce all the articles and materials needed by the corps, through which 

 the procurement officers can keep in close contact with the manufacturers 

 and can communicate with them from time to time in connection with 

 proposed purchases and requirements of the Government on the several 

 items. This will not interfere with the present method of advertising and 

 publicity for Quartermaster Corps purchases. 



Work on the list is progressing rapidly and persons or concerns desiring 

 their names recorded should send a brief statement of their facilities to the 

 Purchase Records Branch, Supply Control Division, of the office of the 

 Quartermaster General of the Army, Washington, D. C. 



Aircraft Production Well Under Way 



That American aircraft production is now going ahead in a 

 satisfactory manner and so will use constantly increasing quanti- 

 ties of wood is indicated in the report of an officer, who says: 



Air-test pilots and ferry pilots were all of the opinion that the plane 

 was excellent. The French ministry thought so well of the Liberty motor 

 that the under-secretary of state for aviation, M. Dumesnil, informed me 

 that the French would gladly take every motor we could produce which 

 we could not use ourselves. I was also given the same information by 

 Capt. de Ilaviland, the designer of the de Haviland plane. 



Lieut. Col. Warwick Wright, Toyal air force, stated to me that the 

 method of packing the plane was considered by the British to be so good 



that it could not be improved upon. Out of 750 cases which I inspected 

 I only discovered one in which the contents were badly damaged. 



Government Lukewarm On Credit AssistEmce 



Business concerns that may have been figuring on obtaining gov- 

 ernment credit or assistance to tide them over the war period may 

 be interested in the statement of Chairman Baruch of the 'War 

 Industries Board that the capital issues committee and the 'War 

 Finance Corporation will not authorize the extension of credit or 

 government help except with the approval of the board. 



Mr. B.truch is not interested in proposed programs for recon- 

 struction after the war. He is engaged in making war and believes 

 it a mistake to think peace under such circumstances. It has been 

 suggested to him, however, that the same organization that has 

 converted industries from peace to war work might reverse the 

 process and reconvert from war to peace lines. It is considered 

 logical by some, for instance, that George Peak, who was connected 

 with a Moline agricultural implement company, from which he was 

 drafted to take charge of the conversion of industry into war lines, 

 might be placed in charge of turning present war industries back 

 into lines of peace activity. 



Curtail Certain Lines 



The priorities division has announced the following wood-using 



industry curtailments: 



Lawn Mowers ; From October 1, 191.S, for three months curtailed to 

 40'/r of 3/12 of 1917 production and that tbe industry be notified to get 

 on war work before the expiration of said three months. 



Step Ladders : Six months from October 1, 1918, curtailed to 2/3 of 

 fi/12 of 1917 production. 



Scales and Balances : Six months from October 1, 1918, curtailed as 

 follows ; 



1. Heavv track scales and heavy automatic dial scales curtailed to 

 50% of 6/12 of 1917 production. 



2. .Store and counter and Spring scales and balances curtailed to 405^ 

 of 6/12 of 1917 production. 



3. Automatic dumping and recording scales curtailed to 507c of 6/12 

 of 1917 production. 



4. Scientific scales not to be curtailed. 



Sporting Arms and Ammunition : Subject to revision, curtailed (>n 

 tbe 12 months basis to 10% of 1917 production. 



Rat and Animal Traps : For six months from October 1, 1918, cur- 

 tailed to 50% of 6/12 of 1917 production. 



IcB Cream Freezers: For six months from October 1, 1918, curtailed 

 to 40% of 6/12 of 1917 production. 



■Various Phases of Labor Situation 



Lieut. Col. Bowlby has been placed in charge of raising several 



regiments of sappers for service in France and Lieut. Col. Court 

 DeBois of the 20th forestry engineers regiment has taken up the 

 work of selecting officers for 20 new battalions of troops for that 

 regiment. He has headquarters in one of the war department 

 buildings here. 



Rear Admiral Palmer, chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Navy 

 Department, has directed Captain W. A. Moffett, commandant of 

 Great Lakes Naval Training Station, to send to the forest fire dis- 

 trict in Minnesota as many men as were needed to assist in the work 

 of relief. These men will be thoroughly equipped for the work, gas 

 masks being a part of the equipment. 



Many men are being furloughed from the army and assigned to 

 limited service in the spruce woods of Maine, it is stated, where 

 they hefp cut material for airplane wing beams. If they don't 

 stick to their jobs they go back to military camp life, A similar 

 plan has been considered to increase the production of birch timber 

 for veneer for airplanes in the lake states, but it has not yet been 

 found necessary to adopt, so far as has been learned here. 'Woods- 

 men obtained in this manner are understood not to be uniformed 

 like Gen. Bisque's Loggers Legion on the 'West coast. 



Many war industries in the state of "Washington are being hin- 

 dered by a shortage of labor, both skilled and unskilled. This 

 shortage exists principally in the shipyards and the contract shops 

 in the output of ship materials, in railroad work, logging camps, 

 lumber mills and coal mines. There is also a shortage of carpenters 

 and building trade workers in connection with the housing program 

 of Seattle and Bremerton. 



Paragraphs of Interest 



Bills have been introduced and reported in the House of Repre- 

 sentatives to authorize certain Oregon and California people the 



