46 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



December 10. 1918 



AMERICAN LUMBER 

 & MFG. COMPANY 



PriTSBURGH 



PENNSYLVANU 



Exclusive Selling Agents 



Lenox Saw Mill Company 



Lenox, Ky. 



PRODUCERS OF 



Lm^XwLllMwIR 



SOFT ▼ TEXTURE 



WHITE OAK and POPLAR 



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1 Plam & Qtd. Red & White | 



i OAK I 



AND OTHER 

 HARDWOODS 



I Even Color 



Soft Texture i 



I MADE (MR) RIGHT | 



I OAK FLOORING I 



5 We hav« 35,000,000 feet dry itock— «II of - 



- •ur own manufacture, from our own tim- = 



= ¥er grown in Eastern Kentucky. E 



E PROMPT SHIPMENTS = 



I The MOWBRAY I 

 I & ROBINSON CO. I 



= (INGORPORATBO) = 



I CINCINNATI, OHIO I 



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All Three of Us Will Bfe Benefited if 



This was one o£ three months out of eleven to show a gain over 1917. 

 The total cost of permits for eleven months this year was .$6,871,000, as 

 against .$9,817,000 in that time last .year, or a decline of 30 per cent. 



:< PITTSBURGH >-. 



U:ird\\on(l, liiisinc 



like 



ever.v kind of lunihcr dealing, is extremely 

 (juiet here at present. Everything is in a waiting State. Wholesalers do 

 not expect any business of importance before February 1. Contracts for 

 1919 needs are evidently going to be postponed until after the first of the 

 year. The inventory season is close at hand, and this, together with the 

 fact that many liiniher buyers are looking for lower prices, will put off 

 the .'losing of contracts until into January. There is no yard trade in 

 hardwood. The most encouraging feature of the situation now is the 

 fact th.1t the government has removed the ban from automobile manufac- 

 turing, and this may lead to some nice contracts being placed early in 

 the year by automobile concerns. 



=•< BOSTON >.= 



It is naturally slow wi.rk to get the commercial business, which has 

 been so nearly suppressed, on its feet again. Theories supporting a 

 strong demand are plenty although qualified with uncertainty as to when 

 actual trading will begin to be noticeable. The approach of inventory 

 time is having its usual effect on bu.ving. and this, with some reported 

 weal! quotations, is giving arguers on the adverse side more or -less back- 

 in.g. As a matter of fact, business is here now, and may consistently be 

 expected to remain indifferent ; with, however, pcssibilities of marked 

 changes later in the season as developments in other matters become more 

 definite. 



■< BALTIMORE >= 



Something like quiet has settled over the hardwood trade in this sec- 

 tion, this state of affairs being perhaps attributable for one thing, to the 

 feeling of uncertaiuty that doubtless prevails and for another to the ap- 

 proach of the new year, which is always a period of relative inactivity, 

 though it has happened that numerous orders came out in the holiday 

 period. The producers as well as the dealers, like business men in many 

 other lines, are in doubt as to what even the near future may bring fortB. 

 They incline to the view that prosperity will come, with a great ex- 

 pansion in the requirements to take care of; but there is no assurance' 

 about this. It would seem natural that with stocks greatly depleted in 

 the hands of the users and especially abroad, there would be urgent calls 

 for shipments. But the problems of reconstruction now faced by this 

 country and all others may upset calculations greatly, and with this pos- 

 sibility in view the buyers are disposed to go slow. Another consideration 

 that Imposes conservatism is the belief in some quarters that with the 

 releasing of large numbers of men from the army and the return of 

 munitions workers to other activities the rates of wages and the cost 

 of proiluction will decline, making possible a reduction in prices. There 

 are others who believe that prices will be kept at their present level by 

 the heavy demand for all kinds of products, but the division of opinion 

 none the less disposes to caution. In the absence of certainty, many 

 lumbermen hold back to see just what will happen, .and meanwhile the 

 inquiry shows a tendency to lag. Now that the restrictions have been 

 taken off shipments, however, it is believed that the inquiry will become 

 more active, and there is also much interest as to just when exports may 

 be expected to begin. It appears that difficulty of getting permits per- 

 haps cut less of a figure in the hardwood situation than is commonly 

 supposed. As far as can be learned permits were fairly easy to get, and 

 some members of the trade see in the delays apparently experienced by 

 buyers in various Instances a scheme on the part of buyers to speculate. 

 These bu.vers, it is intimated, would get permits promptly enough, but 

 hold them without advising the seller, who was of course stopped from 

 going ahead with the shipment. Meanwhile, if the market went against 

 the buyer, the latter would naturally be tempted to withhold the permit 

 altogether, contending that such a document had not been obtainable. 

 The seller had no means of ascertaining whether this was true or not. 

 Because of the possibility of such methods being repeated, It has been 

 suggested by some of the hardwood men that the sellers be advised of the 

 issuance of permits, so that they can go ahead and make prompt ship- 

 ments. Prices appear to be about the same as they have been, and such 

 business as is obtained yields on the whole fair margins of profit. Of 

 course, the hardwood men will have to effect another readjustment back 

 to a peace basis, as they were compelled to get upon a war basis. This 

 of itself would be productive of some unsettlement ; but the prospect is 

 regarded on the whole as promising. 



=■< COLUMBUS' >- 



The hardwood trade in Ccdumbus and central Ohio territory has been 

 rather quiet during the past mouth. The signing of the armistice caused 

 many business interests to pause and see what is going on and as a re- 

 sult some hesitancy is shown. Buying is not active either from retailers 

 or the factory trade. But generally speaking the tone of the market is 

 still good and future prospects are considered rather encouraging. 



Factories which had resen-e stocks are using these stocks in preference 

 to placing orders for hardwoods. This includes concerns making boxes, 

 implements and vehicles. Fnrnlturn factories are expected to be in the 



You Mention HARDWOOD RECORD 



