Cu^yiitjht, The IlMtDwooD Cumtany, 1919 



Published in the Interest of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging, Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the 10th and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh, President 

 Edwin W. Meeker, Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor 



Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 

 53 7 So. Dearborn St., CHICAGO 

 Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087 



Vol. XLVI. 



CHICAGO, MARCH 10, 1919 



No. 10 



Review and Outlook 





'H 



<;ii 



General Market Conditions 



THE PAST TWO WEEKS have brought trade forward consider- 

 ably. In the furniture trade especially it has resulted in a 

 marked increase in future buying. Several large orders have been 

 recorded recently, some up to a half million feet for future delivery, 

 and altogether the strength of the hardwood situation has been aug- 

 mcnt<>d to a marked extent. The improvement might be attributed to 

 various causes among them being the greater confidence instilled by 

 final settlement of the question of government work, which ruling, 

 giving protection to bona fide contracts, has benefited business and 

 industry in aU directions. Contributing also to the renewal of demand 

 is the growing need for hardwoods in the furniture trade and the in- 

 creased efforts on the part of manufacturers of all articles to boost 

 sales and increase markets. 



The psychological effect of the nation-wide desire to keep the wheels 

 turning is having something to do with the noticeable improvement as 

 the tendency is to recognize that commodity prices now standing will 

 not break to any great degree. 



In spite of the pessimistic talk one usually hears on the building 

 outlook, especially among those who apparently are closely in touch 

 with the building situation, the actual records in the case are not 

 nearly so gloomy. Ecports show Chicago permits to be in excess of 

 what might reasonal)ly be expected, and our prediction that the man 

 who builds for his own use will shortly go ahead is being borne out 

 everywhere. Of course, many people who might otherwise do so will 

 not buUd now because of the high cost of materials, but with the 

 promise of financial assistance, most people who desire homes are 

 not going to wait longer. It is the instinct of the average person 

 nowadays to stay down to as normal a way of living as possible, and 

 many people who have been held up in their building ideas because of 

 the turmoil of war, are now willing to pay the premium in cost of 

 products for the sake of getting out of that turmoil and back to' more 

 liveable surroundings. 



In talking about cut prices for lumber one wants to bear in mind 

 that this situation is very much the same as that which causes tend- 

 ency to the belief that the world is getting worse all the time instead 

 of better just because the newspaper reporters are right on the job 

 in giving more frequent accounts of the bad things that humanity 

 does. In this day, when everybody is anxiously scanning the horizon 

 of lumber prices for the first sign of a possible disaster, every little 

 evidence is eagerly spied out and described. Therefore, we hear about 

 every cut in price, but do not hear about those sellers with a strong 

 backbone and a square jaw who stick to their figure and get the busi- 

 ness, anyway. The truth of the matter is there are more of the latter 



class and less of the former than there were even a few weeks ago. It 

 can't be otherwise with the stock situation developing so seriously 

 as it is. 



The chief criticism one hears on hardwoods refers mainly to low 

 grades, and even there the situation is not serious. There is a very 

 great chance of considerable improvement in that direction because 

 of the fact that ties and railway material fit so handily into the low 

 grade situation. As the matter stands today the railroads are verita- 

 bly hungry for ties and anticipate that the quantities turned out will 

 not even approximate the actual need. It is likely then that a great 

 deal of material that would ordinarily go into low grade would be 

 taken up in tie requirements, and this situation eased over very 

 nicely. 



Taking the outlook as a whole, the last two or three weeks have 

 shown a real brightening in the horizon and the striking feature of 

 the whole situation is that buyers who are well informed are showing 

 every appreciation of the actual conditions and overcoming their 

 prejudice against buying now, seemingly realizing that it is useless 

 to anticipate any general reduction in lumber values. 



Organizing a Building Campaign 



FIVE OF CHICAGO'S SUBURBS, lying in one body, have organ- 

 ized a building campaign and will start it off with an exposi- 

 tion which will be open to the public during the week beginning 

 March 22. These suburbs are Oak Park, Austin, River Forest, May- 

 wood, and Forest Park. Their combined population is 100,000, 

 and the exposition will occupy a building at 1031 South Boulevard, 

 Oak Park. The housing problem is difficult in that district, but 

 probably no more difficult than in most other sections of Chicago, 

 or in most other cities. Vacant houses are few, rents are high, and 

 business men realize that it is time for a concerted effort for the 

 purpose of improving the situation. 



It has been decided that an exposition should be tried, and plans 

 have been laid accordingly. It is learned from the prospectus that 

 the purpose is to acquaint probable home builders with the mate- 

 rials of which houses are built, and with plans and specifications 

 by which cost may be estimated, and concrete ideas obtained regard- 

 ing styles and sizes of building. 



The prospectus does not show that the exposition aims at much 

 more than that. It will be chiefly educational, but incidentally it 

 will create a desire to build homes. Those who have been thinking 

 in a sort of vague way of building, may become a little more definite 

 in their ideas, when they see the available materials and learn 

 from plans and specifications how these materials may be used. 



It does not appear that owners of vacant lots are making any 



