HARD WOOD RECORD 



Two other plants almost as large are planned in California. Other 

 installments nearly or quite as large as that at Keokuk might, and 

 doubtless will, be built on the upper Mississippi. More power is 

 running to waste in the streams of the Kocky Mountains than that 

 region can ever make use of. Two enormous power stations are 

 utder way in West Virginia, with room for a dozen more. That 

 power will be available in the region between the Great Lakes and 

 the Atlantic coast. New England and the southern Appalachians 

 have enormous possibilities in the way of hydroelectric power. 



The work is going on far more rapidly than the people realize. 

 It is a fact that has been pointed out by historians that great move- 

 ments, changes, and revolutions are seldom understood or appre- 

 ciated by the people who actually live in the midst of the movements. 

 The revolution in the development of mechanical power now going 

 on in this country is a movement of that kind, and it is attracting 

 comparatively little notice from the general public. The people will 

 wake up in a few years and find that the United States has been 

 electrified, and that the water power has been harnessed. 



Lumbermen Should Stand by Wood 



A TIMELY, SEXSIBLK WAENIXG is sounded by The Con- 

 struction News to those who handle and sell lumber that they 

 should stand by their product. The warning is aimed particularly 

 at dealers who sell lumber but 



are not averse to handling all 

 kinds of substitutes on the side. 

 They sell paper roofing, metal 

 ceiling, makeshift flooring, cor- 

 rugated siding, when they ought 

 to stand up for lumber and per- 

 suade their customers to take it 

 and let sham substitutes alone. 

 These dealers are willing to sell 

 the substitutes because they think 

 they see more immediate profit 

 for themselves. They handle such 

 things as a side line, and count 

 all the profit as clear gain. They 

 charge all expenses up to lumber, 

 because they regard that as their 

 main business, and if they can 

 run in a substitute they seem to 

 think it is good business. It is 

 mighty poor business. They are 

 helping to give wood a bad name 

 by allowing buyers to believe 

 there is something the matter 

 with it, and that cheaper mate- 

 rials will answer as well. Deal- 

 ers in wood owe it to their busi- 

 ness to stand up for their busi- 

 ness and to quit nibbling at the bait dangled before them by the 

 manufacturers of substitutes. 



Timely Organization 



ELSEWHERE IN THIS ISSUE OF HARDWOOD RECORD will 

 be found a report of a gathering which can well be considered 

 as of great importance insofar as its bearing on the manufacturing 

 and marketing of gum is concerned. This meeting was called bj- 

 men prominently known as red gum manufacturers, and was held 

 at Memphis on October 18. Those familiar with the trend of the 

 gum market during the last few months readily understand the 

 reason for and significance of the meeting, and it has been clearly 

 understood by gum manufacturers that some concerted action 

 must be taken in order to prevent this most excellent American 

 hardwood from again becoming the drug on the market which it 

 formerly was. 



The value of concerted action in association work has been too 

 conclusively demonstrated in connection with the lumber busi- 

 ness of the United States to leave room for a minute for any 



UNSOLICITED testimonial; 



IrTicfegtjurg export Xumber Co. 



M.\NUFACTURERS AND EXPORTERS OF 



SOUTHERN HARDWOODS, CYPRESS 

 AND YELLOW PINE 

 MrLLS: 



Valley Park. Miss. 

 Smedes, Miss. 

 Fenwick. Miss. 



VIcksburg, Miss., October 6, 1913. 



HARDWOOD RECORD, 

 Chicago, Illinois. 

 Gentlemen: — Enclosed please find check covering state- 

 ment as per enclosed. 



Delay In attending to this matter was caused by the 

 writer's absence from the city. 



We hope that the RECORD will resume its appearance 

 in our mails at once, because we "need it in our business." 

 With kindest regards, we are, 



Yours very truly, 

 VICKSBURG EXPORT LUMBER CO.. 



per G. B. Wilson, 



Sales Mgr. 

 FH-S 



argiiinent unfavorable to the proposed organization of gum manu- 

 facturers. Hence the logical conclusion was, in face of the unfa- 

 vorable conditions prevailing in the market for gum, that the 

 only salvation of the trade was close association with a view to 

 putting into effect uniformity of manufacturing and sales methods, 

 and also to insure some concerted action for merchandising 'the 

 product of the gum mills. 



It could hardly have been expected that at the first meeting a 

 permanent organization would be perfected, nor was such a step 

 really to bo desired so precipitantly, inasmuch as a hastily formed 

 organization would unquestionably not embody the proper con- 

 stitution and by-laws to lend themselves with sufficient elasticity 

 to changing conditions. Steps were taken, however, in the appoint- 

 ment of committees of representative gum manufacturers, to work 

 to the end of forming a permanent organization. These commit- 

 tees will report back to the meeting of the same people four weeks 

 from the date of the first meeting. 



The value of such a gathering was demonstrated "by the Mem- 

 phis meeting in spite of any sentiment that might have been 

 encountered against organizations, inasmuch as through the reports 

 from those in attendance it was learned that the situation of the 

 gum market is really not nearly in such bad shape as it has been 

 considered for several weeks. With this condition apparent, the 

 meeting will have a strong 

 moral effect on the holders of 

 gum and the result will be a no- 

 ticeably strengthened market. 



While the meeting was closed 

 to representatives of trade pa- 

 pers, it was stated by those in 

 attendance that the sentiment 

 was strongly in favor of a per- 

 manent organization and that 

 there is every probability *;hat 

 such an organization will be 

 perfected within a very short 

 time. If this comes to pass, 

 and if the ambitious plans on 

 foot for exploiting the products 

 of the gum mills are carried 

 through successfully, the next 

 few months will see gum placed 

 back among the leaders in the 

 hardwood market of this coun- 

 try and abroad. 



Not Practical 



T TDER A RECENT DATE 

 '^ H.VRDWOOD Record had a 



communication from a man in- 

 terested in the marketing of for- 

 est products on the Pacific coast. The letter inquired for possible 

 sources of supply for cheap three-ply red gum panels, it being 

 suggested by the writer that he saw no reason, inasmuch as red 

 gum had attained considerable usage in the West for interior 

 finish, why it could not be used very readily for packing case 

 construction. 



From the physical point of view, considering merely the qualities of 

 the wood and its adaptability for the use suggested, there can be 

 absolutely no doubt that packing cases made from red gum panels, 

 three or five-ply, would, even in as small a thickness as one- 

 quarter inch, if properly reinforced and constructed, suit the purpose 

 admirably. 



The correspondent, however, overlooked one important factor, which 

 absolutely eliminates the possibility of building up a trade in this par- 

 ticular line in the Pacific coast states, especially under present con- 

 ditions. That factor is freight rates. 



It is probable that the cheapest veneer he could get for the purpose 

 would be stock costing five dollars per thousand at the mill. To 

 utilize three-ply stuff would mean three times that cost for the area 



