40 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



March 10, 1919 



president of the Evansville Manufacturers' Association, says he believes 

 the Evansville manufacturers aud those of the Ohio valley are on the 

 verge of a prosperous era and he looks tor things to hum within a short 

 time. Mr. Burch, who is one of the youngest manufacturers of the city, 

 says there may be a depressed period lasting but a short time before the 

 readjustment problems are met and solved, but after the reconstruction he 

 is looking for the factories in Evansville, especially the woodworking 

 concerns, to be busier than they have been for many years. He says the 

 late war awakened a new spirit of enterprise in the United States and 

 he expects this new spirit to assert itself before long. 



The Rotary Club at Owensboro. Ky., has suggeisted a building corpora- 

 tion of $100,000 to build homes in that city the coming summer. Leading 

 business and manufacturing concerns of Owensboro have agreed to take 

 stock in the proposed corporation. 



Elmer D. Luhring, the Luhring Lumber Company, is back from a business 

 visit to Chicago and the Northwest. Mr. Luhring says that while he is 

 looking for no great boom in the retail lumber business this year, he expects 

 to see a gradual improvement from time to time. 



The recent appeal of James P. Goodrich, governor of Indiana, for more 

 public improvements in the various parts of the slate, is having its effect. 

 The general opinion is that there will be a great awakening in building 

 operations after the Fifth Liberty loan. It is not believed there will 

 be any radical reduction in the price of building materials during the 

 present year, although plumbing supplies have been coming down for some 

 time. Reports from many parts of the state say that dwelling houses 

 are badly needed. It is not believed that many dwellings will be erected 

 in Evansville this year, but many are being planned for 1920. Several new 

 factory additions are to be erected, new churches and new schools are to 

 go up in many parts of southern Indiana, and lumber dealers and building 

 supply men say they expect to be busy after the first of April. Already 

 the building planned for Evansville and towns in this immediate section 

 for this season amounts to over a half million dollars. There is a feeling 

 of optimism that pei-vades the trade circles, and business in many lines 

 has shown a big improvement since the first of the year. 



The next regular monthly meeting of the Evansville Lumbermen's Club 

 will be held at the New Hotel McCurdy March 11. 



NASHVILLE 



Nashville hardwood shippers are interested in the appeal made by the 

 Southern Hardwood Traffic Association to the freight traffic committee of 

 the United States Railroad Administration seeking the transit privilege 

 on lumber for several important points. Under present conditions Nash- 

 ville and several other large southern points have not the transit privilege 

 on lumber received from other sections, and it the case is decided favor- 

 ably, this city, as well as others, will gain a great advantage. 



J. L. Dann has sold his Interest in the Campbell & Dann Manufacturing 

 Company, at Tullahoma, Tenn., to the Campbell interests. This company, 

 of which Mr. Dann was one of the organizers, has been one of the largest 

 manufacturers of wooden parts of vehicles in the South. 



LOUISVILLE 



W. A. McLean of the Wood-Mosaic Company. New Albany, and Will 

 Day, manager of the Louisville mill of that concern, have gone East, expect- 

 ing to be away about ten days or two weeks. 



A building permit has been secured by the Southern Veneer Manufactur- 

 ing Company, Louisville, for an addition to Its plant. 



At Manchester, Ky.. the Columbia-Panama Company is planning to 

 install a plant to manufacture lumber and hickory products. This com- 

 pany has extensive lumber and coal interests in the section. 



C. W. Inman, president of the Inman Veneer & Panel Company, and 

 Inman Furniture Company, on March 3 lost his daughter. Miss Estelle 

 Inman, twenty-eight years of age, who died of pneumonia, following an 

 attack of influenza. 



It was recently reported from Danville, Ky., that the Bland & Stagg 

 Lumber Company has purchased the business of the Danville Lumber & 

 Maufacturing Company, taking possession on March 1. 



A new dispatch from Whitesburg, Ky., on March 4, stated that George H. 

 Holmes, a Canadian lumberman, had closed deals on some large timber 

 tracts on Shelby Creek, along the Shelby-Pike county border. Mr. Holmes 

 is reported to start developments at an early date, with plans for manu- 

 facturing heavy ship timbers. 



William Mulligan, fifty-three years of age, who for several years was 

 a well-known lumber inspector of Louisville, died on March 4, following 

 a short illness. Three sons survive, Jamc.s, William and Lieut. Bryan 

 Mulligan, the latter having just arrived in New York from overseas. 



Will Hanafee of the Wood-Mosaic Company, managing the company's 

 new plant at Jackson, Miss., was called home to New Albany, Ind., last 

 week on account of the death of his father, John Ilanafee. 



A new office is being erected by the Kentucky Lumber & Millwork Com- 

 pany at 1521 South Sixth street. 



Clyde Tustin of the Tustin Hardwood Lumber Company, Memphis, Tenn., 

 was a recent visitor to Louisville. Mr. Tustin reported an excellent volume 

 of business and a good month in February. 



Following a trip East S. E. Booker of the Booker Box Company stated 

 that the demand for boxes was generally off, but due to the fact that 



there had Iteen no overproduction or stock accumulation of moment, It 

 would be merely a question of a short time before business opened up again. 



Walnut is in much more active demand, according to the Wood-Mosaic 

 Company of New Albany, Ind., which is now operating its Cincinnati 

 plant full time on walnut alone. The company at the close of the war had 

 tremendous walnut stocks on hand, but the demand is so keen that log 

 stocks are being rapidly reduced. 



That the veneer business is unusualy good is shown in the report of the 

 Louisville Veneer Mills, which shows the second largest month in its his- 

 tory for February. One month in 1917 went ahead of February of this 

 year, but it was the only month on the company's records. 



C. C. Mengel of the Mengel interests is expected back shortly from a 

 vacation spent In Florida, after a busy two years of war work. C. H. 

 Jlengel is back from a trip to the East. 



At a meeting of the Louisville Hardwood Club on February 4 several 

 members discussed market conditions, sales, prices, etc., bringing out the 

 fact that business with the trade is generally very active. Walnut, ash 

 and quartered oak were reported to be very active, with veneers in big 

 demand. Several concerns reported very heavy business during February 

 at top prices. Orders and inquiries were reported as highly satisfactory. 

 The trade was shown to be in a very optimistic frame of mind. 



BEAUMONT 



If present plans are carried out the Sabine Tram Company will before 

 the end of the year have in operation one of the largest hardwood mills 

 west of the Mississippi. Tentative plans call for a double band mill with 

 resaw capable of turning out 80,000 feet a day. There is also under con- 

 sideration the erection of a single band mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet 

 a day, this capacity to be increased as the hardwood business develops. 

 The company has an ample supply of timber to keep the larger mill in opera- 

 tion for several years, but may adopt the small mill for the present. A 

 decision on the size of the mill may not be made for several weeks. 



J. Frank Keith, president of the Keith Lumber Company, has come 

 forward with a plan for logging the vast amount of hardwood in the 

 Neches river bottoms north of Beaumont, and this may be brought about 

 by the appropriation of the government for clearing the upper stretches 

 of the Neches. Mr. Keith's plan is to place three dams across the Neches 

 river between Beaumont and Sheffield's landing, 150 miles above Beau- 

 mont. These dnm.s, in addition to holding fresh water for rice irriga- 

 tion, would flood the swamps, which in some cases are five miles wide, and 

 permit the logging of the hardwood at a minimum cost. It was pointed 

 out by Mr. Keith that to use barges in getting the logs to Beaumont would 

 represent a large investment which could be used only during high water 

 and make the cost of logging a very serious item. 



It is estimated that this swamp covered with virgin hardwood will aver- 

 age a mile in breadth on each side of the river, making a total of 9G.000 

 acres. The timber is composed of red and white oak, tupelo and red gum, 

 hicl(ory, magnolia and beech. Average this at a stumpage of 4000 feet 

 to the acre, a very low estimate, would give a total of 384,000,000 feet. 

 Giving this the low stumpage value of .'54 a thousand would yield a little 

 over «l..'iO0,000. Mr. Keith figures that this lumber will average, when 

 manufactured, .$30 a thousand, which would realize the stupendous sum 

 of ,$11,500,000. This timber is now inaccessible, but with the proposed 

 dams would be accessible at all times of the year in addition to making 

 tlie river navigable at all seasons. 



MILWAUKEE 



The Ahnapee Veneer & Seating Company, Algoma, Wis., one of the 

 largest concerns of the kind in the Middle West, has changed its corporate 

 style to Algoma Panel Company. At the same time the capital stock has 

 been increased from $100,000 to $600,000 to accommodate the increase 

 in the business and to provide for future extensions of the facilities. M. W. 

 Perry is president. 



Ori J. Sorenson & Co., LaCrosse, Wis., manufacturers of office and bank 

 fixtures and similar high-grade hardwood finishing material, are preparing 

 to build a large new factory with an area of 112 by 175 feet. Plans have 

 been completed and work will begin at once, so that the new facilities may 

 become available for production by early summer. 



The I. Stephenson Company. Wells, Mich., is giving its big flooring mill 

 a general overhauling and placing it in prime shape for an indefinite run 

 at an enlarged capacity. The mil! closed at the end of February and prob- 

 ably will resume operations about April 15 or May 1. 



The Rust-Owen Lumber Company, Drummond, Wis., has become a part 

 of a permanent historical record of the logging industry of Wisconsin. 

 Early in March Professors Swenehart and Tuttle of the University of 

 Wisconsin spent several days in the Rust-Owen logging camps for the 

 purpose of taking motion pictures of the various operations which will 

 be preserved by the university for future generations. 



The Miller Broom Company. LaCrosse, Wis., contemplates the erection 

 of a new factory, including a handle mill, which will involve an investment 

 of $20,000 to $25,000. Albert L. Miller, 111 South Front street, is presi- 

 dent and general manager. 



The Willow River Lumber Company, Hayward, Wis., will build a new 

 veneer mill in connection with its big sawmill at that point, according to 

 well-defined reports. The company has decided to carry its logging opera- 



