February 25, 1922 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



The affable disposition and genius for leadership, ivhich was dis- 

 played by Ted T. Jones of Minneapolis, as their president during 

 1921, was recognized by the members of the Northern Wholesale 

 Hardwood Lumber Association when they unanimously re-elected 

 Mr. Jones to the presidency at their annual meeting in Milwaukee 

 at the Athletic Club on February 13. Mr. Jones is head of the 

 T. T. Jones Lumber Company. 



At the same time Arthur Jarvis of Steven & Jarvis Lumber Com- 

 pany, Eau Claire, Wis., was elected vice-president; J. B. Andrews, 

 Andrews-Early Lumber Company, Wausau, Wis., was re-elected 

 treasurer, and J. P. Hayden of Minneapolis, secretary. The fol- 

 lowing were elected directors to serve two years: C. P. Crosby, 

 Rhinelander, Wis.; H. E. Christiansen, General Lumber Company, 

 Milwaukee, and Mr. Telle, W. J. Campbell Lumber Company, Osh- 

 kosh. Wis. 



In his annual address to the association President Jones directed 

 the attention of the members to the fact that while their organiza- 

 tion "is not the biggest lumber organiza- 

 tion in the North, it is an immense factor 

 in the marketing of hardwoods." He con- 

 tinued: 



Its members produce or manufacture one- 

 tourth to one-sixth ot the entire hardwood 

 lumber in Wisconsin, Northern Michigan and 

 Minnesota, and it marliets one-third of the 

 entire output produced in these states. To 

 show you the immense power of this associa- 

 tion in the niarlcet, I wish to asl5 you just one 

 question. If the members of this association 

 should go into the market in the next two or 

 three weeks and buy seventy-five to a hundred 

 million feet of new and old lumber, as they 

 have done for a great many years every spring, 

 what would happen to the present market in 

 hardwoods? This is mentioned merely to show 

 j'ou the great market power this little associa- 

 tion has. If an act like this was done, low grade 

 would move up and stabilize at a fixed price 

 and there would not be the guessing what the 

 value of lumber is that there is now. Instead 

 of that there would be a fixed market and con- 

 sumers that lack confidence in this market 

 would begin to buy and the present unsatisfac- 

 tory conditions that we have — with unsettled 

 prices — would be done away with. 



Service Is Vital This Year 



Ted T. Jones, Re-elected President 



Another question that Mr. Jones covered in liis address was that 

 of "Service." He said: 



The members of this association are experts on market conditions and 

 the marketing of lumber, and in this connection I wish to say there is a 

 chance here for improvement. The word Service has gotten kind of hack- 

 neyed. A number of people that hear It mentioned become slightly dis- 

 gusted. Service is all right, but the understanding some people have of 

 this word is wrong. As jobbers and marketers of lumber, Service is our 

 big point. It is not necessary to talk it, but it is necessary to furnish it. 

 I look at service as being one of the great things connected with the dis- 

 tribution of lumber. Our position in the North — so close to the consuming 

 market — gives us a great chance to give better service than the competitor 

 that has to ship his lumber a long distance — like the lumbermen in the 

 South and West. 



Real service with an individual or firm means filling orders in a way that 

 is satisfactory to the person or firm that they have accepted it from. 

 Service is the simplest thing in the world, but it means hard conscieotious 

 work. I believe this year that we can't work too hard trying to keep our 

 customers satisfied. This matter I have mentioned is merely one of the 

 things that members of this association can do to enlarge their trade. 

 There are a number of others, but I feel that you would not want to be 

 hurdened with anything but a few short remarks from me. 



There are two places where a man who markets anything learns his 

 business, or rather there are two points that when thoroughly understood 

 will mean success. Not to recognize them does not mean the person or 

 firm will not be successful, but it does mean that he has missed two chief. 



simple rules about market. One of these rules, without any doubt, he wUl 

 have forced on hlni ; the other he can use or not, as he sees fit, and he wUl 

 get benefit depending on how much or how little he uses it. The second, 

 as you will see, Is closer bound up with association work. The two points 

 are, first, you get very well acquainted with your customers whenever you 

 have a kick ; second point, or place to learn of your business is through 

 your competitor. I consider these the two big things in a jobbing busi- 

 ness. In the first you either make your customer into a better customer 

 by the way in which you handle the kick, and in the second you learn how 

 it happens that somebody else with a system different from yours is able 

 to make a go of things. Through your competitor you Icarn how to suc- 

 cessfully increase and improve your buying and selling ability. 

 Problem of the Lower Grades 

 During the usual discussion of conditions the persistent problem 

 of the marketing of the lower grades assumed an outstanding posi- 

 tion, and President Jones took the position that it was up to the 

 wholesalers as experts in the merchandising of lumber to attempt 

 to solve this problem. This resulted in the problem receiving the 

 attention of the resolutions committee when it made its report. 

 This committee, comprising G. A. Vangsness, chairman; W. W. 

 Brown and John Adams, recommended 

 that the president appoint a committee of 

 three to investigate the advisability and 

 means of educating the hardwood consum- 

 ing industries, particularly the sash, door 

 and mill work and furniture industries, to 

 the more extensive use of the lower grades. 

 It was recommended that the committee 

 be instructed to report the result of its 

 investigations at the next meeting of the 

 association. 



The recommendation was unanimously 

 adopted and President Jones made Mr. 

 Vangsness, who is head of the G. A. Vangs- 

 ness Lumber Company, Chicago, chairman. 

 To serve with Mr. Vangsness he named 

 E. J. Clark, the Cortez Lumber Cora- 

 jiauy, Chicago, and H. A. Walker, H. A. 

 Walker Lumber Company, Chicago. The 

 president selected three Chicago men for 

 the committee so that it would be easy for 

 them to get together and accomplish some- 

 thing. 



Another extremely important accom- 

 plishment of the association at its annual 

 meeting was the selection of a candidate to 

 represent the association on the directorate of the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association, and the selection of a committee of three 

 to work for his election. L. H. Wheeler of the Wheeler-Timlin Lumber 

 Company, Wausau, Wis., was selected as the candidate, and the com- 

 mittee which nominated him made permanent to campaign for his 

 election. This committee is composed of H. E. Christiansen, the 

 General Lumber Company, chairman; Wm. Kelley, the Kelley- 

 O'Melia Lumber Company, and C. L. Tillotson of the Wolfe Elver 

 Lumber Company. 



Improved Conditions Reported 

 The general discussion of conditions brought out many contra- 

 dictory opinions, leading President Jones to remark that this is a 

 day of contradiction in the lumber industry. But the majority 

 of the opinions seemed to be that there will be a quiet, steady 

 improvement in demand for hardwood lumber throughout the year; 

 that there will be no general advance in prices; that the upper 

 grades are relatively scarce, but that there has been a good produc- 

 tion of lumber in the North this season. It was emphasized that 

 this is no time to talk of high prices, but that undoubtedly from 

 time to time certain items which become scarce will advance sub- 

 stantially. It was said that when a seller discusses higher prices 



