36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 25. 1910 



Building Permits for January, 1919 



The total value of building permits for January, 1919, as ofBclally 

 reported to the American Contrnctor from 152 of the principal cities of 

 the United States, is $23,869,215. As compared with previous years the 

 total value shows a decline of 12 per cent for the same cities from Janu- 

 ary, 1918, and a decline of over 50 per cent for about two-thirds as many 

 cities reporting in 1917 and 1916. Compared with normal years before 

 the war one-half as many cities reported nearly twice as much building in 

 January. And to these facts should be added the consideration that at 

 present prices total values now represent only from one-half to two-thirds 

 the same amount of building as before the war. If all of these factors 

 are given due weight it may safely be assumed that actual building during 

 January, 1919, is only about one-quarter normal. 



Small Projects Predominate 



Again, comparative analysis of the total value and the total number of 

 permits granted in January shows a decided change in the character of 

 construction. Prom an average value of about .$4,000 in January, 1916, 

 and 1917, the average value of permits in January, 1919, declined to about 

 $1,700. It Is evident that for the greater part construction is still con- 

 fined to comparatively small projects. 



Total building permits in January : 



No. No. 



of Cities of Permits Est. Value 



Year. Reporting. Granted. of Bldgs. 



1914 72 $46,447,497 



1915 72 34,712.718 



1916 108 13,379 50,490,041 



1917 108 14,227 55.910,349 



1918 152 9,683 27,291,218 



1919 152 13,545 23,869,215 



Unusual Improvement Over Decembei: 

 There is some encouragement, however, in the fact that building during 

 January showed an improvement over December. Usually the reverse is 

 true. The gain is only a small one, but anything which may be taken as 

 an indication of improvement cannot be wholly disregarded In these times. 

 The following comparisons are significant of this conclusion : 



No. of Cities Est. Value 



Reporting. of Bldgs. 



January, 1919 152 $23,000,000 



December, 1918 151 17,000,000 



January, 1918 152 27.000.000 



December, 1917 144 28,000,000 



January, 1917 108 56,000,000 



December, 1916 109 69,000,000 



January, 1916 108 50.000,000 



December, 1915 109 66,000,000 



January, 1915 72 35,000,000 



December, 1914 76 37,000,000 



Exports for December, 1918 



The state of the export trade in hardwoods is clearly shown by the 

 report for December shipments from this port. From this statement it 

 appears that the total declared value of the exports for the month was 

 only about half of that for the corresponding month of 1917. But it is to 

 be noted that the great bulk of the forwardings in December, 1917, con- 

 sisted of spruce, which made up all but about $28,000 in value, with not 

 less than 2,286,000 feet of spruce sent out. The heavy shipments, of 

 course, were conditioned by the requirements last December in the way 

 of airplane material, which is clearly indicated by the fact that the exports 

 of fir, spruce and cypress, three woods which might be available for war 

 purposes, did not amount to more than about 538,000 feet, valued at 

 approximately $50,000. When allowance is made for this decline, which 

 is attributable, of course, to the signing of the armistice and the suspen- 

 sion of hostilities, the comparison is distinctly in favor of last December, 

 with a pronounced gain in the shipment of manufactures of wood, and 

 *'other hardwood boards" going forward in some quantities. The state- 

 ment shows that the shipments of cypress were 390,000 feet, of a declared 

 value of $24,203 ; fir, 223,000 feet, of a value of $15,944 ; oak, 51,400 feet, 

 $4,966 ; poplar, 240,000 feet, $19,493 ; spruce, 125,000 feet, $10,080 ; "other 

 hardwoods," 69,000 feet, $19,425 ; other lumber, $1,828 ; implement handles, 

 $7,808 ; trimmings and moldings, $3,751, and "other manufactures of 

 wood," $16,989. The total declared value for the month was $138,410 

 against $269,640 for the same month of 1917. 



It is stated in connection with the export trade that intimations have 

 been forthcoming in the last week or so that the British government will 

 shortly abate the war restrictions whereby imports of lumber into the 

 United Kingdom have been barred. The furthsr statement is made that 

 purchases on account of the British government, which gave rise to much 

 criticism, have been discontinued, and that rapid progress is being made 

 In getting stocks bought for account of England over on the other side. 

 It Is said that some twenty or thirty cars will clean up the stocks held at 

 this port, and that the situation at other points along the seaboard is 

 much the same. As a consequence, the exporters are in a state of expect- 

 ancy and expect soon to be in a position to take orders without having 

 them virtually canceled by the refu.sal of the authorities to issue the 

 necessary permits. Harvey M. Dickson, secretary of the National 

 Exporters' Association, has kept in touch with the officials at Washington 

 and is doing all he can not only to keep informed on the situation as far 



as the available tonnage is concerned, but also following developments 

 relative to the raising of the bars against imports into the United Kingdom 

 and other countries. 



Hardwood News Notes 



--< MISCELLANEOUS >= 



The Eagle Utilities Manufacturing Company, Kirkwood, Mo., has filed 

 an involuntary petition in bankruptcy. 



Increases in capital stock have been made by the Stow & Davis Furni- 

 ture Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., to $150,000, and by the Wallace 

 Furniture Company, same city, to $350,000 ; also by the Holly Ridge 

 Lumber Company, Louisville, Ky., to $350,000. 



The Michigan Seating Company, Jackson, Mich., has sustained a loss 

 by fire. 



The Cote Piano Manufacturing Company, Fall River, Mass., has been 

 succeeded by the International Piano Manufacturing Company. 



The Ashland Lumber Company, Ashland, Ky., has been succeeded by 

 the J. A.Merrldith Lumber Company. 



The following are recently incorporated concerns : The E. W. Park- 

 hill Company, Burlington, Vt. ; the Menominee Box & Lumber Company, 

 Menominee, Mich. ; the United States Hardwood Corporation, New York, 

 N. Y. ; the Bent Oak Chair Manufacturing Company, Siler City, N. C. ; 

 the Louisiana Western Lumber Company, Lake Charles, La. 



The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company with headquarters at Coal Grove, 

 O., has opened New York ofiices at 2 Rector street. 



The death is announced of J. W. Reynolds, treasurer of the Arkansas 

 Oak Flooring Company, Pine Blufl', Ark., and also of R. B. Stewart, vice- 

 president of the Rieckhoff Box & Lumber Company, Superior, Wis. 



An involuntary petition in bankruptcy has been filed by the American 

 Auto Body Company, North Milwaukee," Wis. 



The capital stock of the La Crosse Wrecking & Lumber Company, La 

 Crosse, Wis., has been increased to $50,000. 



=-< CHICAGO >• 



Capt. J. B. White, general manager of the Missouri Lumber & Mining 

 Company, Kansas City, Mo., accompanied by E. B. Grandi, Jr., and several 

 other directors of the compan.v with which he is affiliated, was a Chicago 

 visitor this past week. He said the company is doing little except arrang- 

 ing to build a new saw mill in Louisiana. 



A new wholesale concern in Chicago' to be located in the Lumber 

 Exchange building after March 1 is the New York Lumber Company. H. R. 

 York, who for many years lived in Memphis, will operate it as well as 

 continue the operation of the York Lumber Manufacturing Company at 

 Memphis. They have two oak mills cutting oak dimension and bill stock 

 and will do a wholesale business in yellow pine and Pacific Coast products- 

 Mr. York was for many years connected with the yellow pine and hard- 

 wood manufacturing at Pine Bluff, Ark., and while present operations in 

 the South will continue, the new organization anticipates a very active 

 business in the Chicago field. 



W. S. Grey of Brooks Bros, and H. B. Sutton of the Twin City Hardwood 

 Lumber Company, both of St. Paul and Minneapolis, visited Chicago 

 recently. These gentlemen are finding the hardwood situation improving 

 right along — not in leaps and bounds as in normal times, but in the old- 

 fashioned way the hardwood consumer is again in the market. 



H. E. Gibson, president of the Twin City Lumber Company, St. Paul, 

 Minn., is making a trip through the South with headquarters in New 

 Orleans. 



Of the visiting lumbermen in America at this time we find Mr. H. Hall 

 of William Mallinson & Sons, Ltd., timber and veneer merchants, 130 

 Hackney Road, London, England. Mr. Hall has been over several times 

 during the past year and is looking forward to a larger business in the 

 importation of hardwoods. He attended the meeting of the National 

 Lumber Exporters' Association in New Orleans last month, and antici- 

 pates after readjustments are fully completed that the trade between 

 Europe and America will be on a larger scale than before the war. 



Louis Germain, Jr., president of The Germain Company, Pittsburgh, 

 Pa., left on February 18 on the steamer La France from New York to 

 spend some time on the Continent and the British Isles, looking over 

 the prospects for business in behalf of the American Lumber Export 

 Corporation, formed by the National Bureau of Wholesale Lumber Dis- 

 tributors. Mr. Germain is one of the progressive wholesalers in this 

 country and there is no doubt he will form some valuable hardwood con- 

 nections while on the other side, where he expects to remain for six or 

 eight weeks. 



The H. L. Winter Manufacturing Company, Alton, 111., has sustained 

 a loss by fire. 



The Independent Piano Bench Company and the Midland Wood Turn- 

 ing Company have both been incorporated in Chicago, 111. 



Charles Gill, president of the Gill-Andrews Lumber Company, Wausau, 

 Wis., put in a few days in Chicago a week ago on his way home from 



