26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 10, 1922 



Louisville Traffic Division Selects J. G. Brown as 

 Leader for 1922 



At the annual meeting of the Louisville division, Southern Hard- 

 wood Traffic Association, at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Ky., 

 February 7, J. G. Brown of W. P. Brown & Sons Lumber Company 

 was elected vice-president in charge of the Louisville office, suc- 

 ceeding A. E. Norman, Jr., of the Norman Lumber Company, who 

 had served two years. J. S. Thompson, district manager, continues 

 in charge. 



The same budget as needed last year will be used again this 

 year, although it leaves a rather scant margin, the operating costs 

 of the office being approximately $15,000 a year. 



There were forty men present at the dinner and meeting, repre- 

 senting about twenty-five members, out of a total of forty-nine 

 members. 



Talks were heard from J. Van Norman, attorney for the asso- 

 ciation, and from J. H. Townshend, manager, Memphis, concerning 

 the Washington fight for reduced freight rates. 



Pertinent Information 



Industrial States will Lead in 1922 Building Activity 



The greatest buildins activity in this country during 1922 will be in the 

 industrial states, according to a forecast of the building outlooli made by 

 the committee on statistics and standards of the Chamber of Commerce 

 of the United States. 



It Is pointed out by the committee that there will be a good many busi- 

 ness buildings in 1922, and a large number of them will be In the shape 

 of alterations and enlargements. On the other hand, it says, it is unfor- 

 tunate that not a great many farm buildings, such as dwelling houses, 

 barns, cribs and the like, are contemplated. 



According to the committee, California leads the other states with 

 respect to probal)le construction, while good lilielihoods of construction 

 lie In the Central West and in the East. 



"There are also a great many possibilities for building in the southern 

 states," It says. "These possibilities arc greater than seemed likely under 

 the stringent conditions which prevailed prior to the rise in the price 

 of cotton. 



"The prospects for building in the strictly agricviltural states are not so 

 favorable. There are several reasons for this, principally the exceedingly 

 low and unremunerative prices on farm products, which seriously reduce 

 the purchasing power of the farmer. In addition, the banks generally 

 throughout the agricultural sections fully are loaned up, so that the 

 farmer finds it difficult to obtain either ready money or credit. In such 

 circumstances there is not likely to be much building In these states, 

 especially on farms, for the simple reason that the farmer financially is 

 unable to build. 



"Three factors enter largely into the problem of building during the 

 coming months : The high price of material, high price of labor and the 

 question of olitaining funds for construction. Prices of material, on the 

 whole, are much the most favorable of the three factors. It is only here 

 and there that there Is any apparent diflJculty in this respect. The matter 

 of too high-priced labor does not stack up so well as that of material, but 

 there is a general belief that not only are matters improving in this direc- 

 tion but when springtime comes, the long period of probable idleness of 

 labor naturally will tend to bring about a much more favorable solution 

 of this problem than now is presented." 



Dodge Predicts Heavy Building Program for 1922 

 December building contracts in the twenty-seven Northeastern states 

 of the country, as reported by the F. W. Dodge Company, amounted to more 

 than for any previous December, with the exception of December, 1919. 

 The total amount of these contracts was $198,518,000, an increase of 

 3 percent over the November figure, whereas December usually shows a 

 decline from November. The closing month of 1921 showed an increase 

 of 98 percent over the corresponding month of 1920. 



The total amount of construction contracts let during 1921 was 

 $2,359,018,000, only 8 percent under the 1920 total. It is doubtful 

 whether any other business fared so well in 1921 as the construction 

 Industry as a whole has, even though the volume of construction has been 

 unevenly distributed as to classes of projects and as to locality. 



The predominating factor In the year's program was residential build- 

 ing, which amounted to $880,052,000, which was 37 percent of the 1921 

 total, and represented an increase of 54 percent over 1920 residential con- 

 struction. Public works and utilities took second place, amounting to 

 $459,184,000, or 19 percent of the year's total. Other important items 



Map Predicting Relative Amount of Building in the Various Parts of the 



Country During 1922. Prepared and Issued by Committee on Statistics and 



Standards, C. of C. of the U. S. 



were : business buildings, $336,920,000, or 14 percent ; educational build- 

 ings, $242,562,000, or 10 percent (this figure representing a very con- 

 sideralile increase In a number of projects and In total value over 1920) ; 

 and industrial buildings, $173,325,000, or 7 percent of the year's total. 



FORECAST FOR 1922 

 The remarkably good showing of the month of December, following the 

 good records of the four previous months, give added confirmation of the 

 revival of construction activity. Every present indication is that 1922 

 will see a measurably larger volume of construction than the program 

 carried through In 1921. 



The principal factors favorable to a big construction year are the still 

 unsatlsfie<l demand for buildings of every class and the steadily Increasing 

 amount of money available for Investment In construction projects. These 

 factors are not uniiormly favorable everywhere. Recovery in recent months 

 has been rapid in the East and very slow In the Central West. This 

 unevenness In the rate of recovery may be expected to continue well into 

 1922. The recovery of general prosperity in the Central West will continue 

 to be slow, and general business conditions in that section will retard speedy 

 revival of construction activity, particularly in agricultural communities. 

 While It's reasonable to expect Increased activity in every class of con- 

 struction projects. It Is probable that residential building will again pre- 

 dominate. Ptiblic works, business buildings and educational buildings, all 

 of which made good records for activity in 1921, may be expected to con- 

 tinue at a satisfactory rate. Even industrial buildings, which special class 

 is likely to be about the last to return to a normal rate of activity, should 

 show an increase over 1921. 



The records of construction that was contemplated during the past 

 three years Indicate that the community comprised within the F. W. Dodge 

 Company's territory (including about three-fourths of the total construc- 

 tion of the country) has collectively worked toward a three-billion dollar 

 total each year. The average accomplishment per year has amounted to 

 two and a half billions. The year 1920 was the only one since the war 

 that started oft at a sufficiently high rate to rejich a three-billion dollar 

 total. That rate was maintained tor four months, and then the reaction 

 came. This reaction was caused not only by the reaction In general busi- 

 ness conditions, but it was also influenced by the fact that there was a 

 sufficient supply of neither materials, labor nor transportation facilities 

 to carry through the extensive program that was mapped out. 



In 1922 the community's collective effort will be toward a three-bllllon 

 dollar construction year (or four billions for the entire country). The 

 supply of materials, labor and transportation facilities is still inadequate 

 to carry through such a large program. It is neither likely nor desirable 

 that a program of such magnitude be actually started. Slowness of recovery 

 in general business, labor disputes still unsettled, and other retarding 

 factors may be expected to curb a too rapid boom In construction. If 

 this year shows a moderate margin over two and a half billions invested In 

 construction contracts in the twenty-seven Northeastern states (say an 

 increase of 8 or 10 percent over 1921) rather more evenly distributed 

 than the 1921 construction was. It will justify present expectations and 

 spell Increased prosperity for the industry. 



Saws Explained to Forestry Students 

 H.-C. Atkins, president of the E. ('. Atkins & Company, Indianapolis, 

 Indiana, spoke at convocation of the New York State College of Forestry 

 on the use, adaptability and maintenance of saws in the manufacture of 

 lumber and many other wood products. Mr. Atkins showed a motion pic- 

 ture by the Atlas Educational Film Company in which was depicted inter- 

 esting lumbering operations as conducted in many sections of the Dnlted 

 States, particularly In the South. He brought with him some twenty va- 

 rieties of saws and samples of saw teeth, which proved of great Interest to 

 the three hundred students of the Forestry college. 



Mr. Atkins said that a new era was dawning in the manufacture of 



