28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 25. 1922 



The appointment of the committee was decided upon at the annual meet- 

 ing of the N. L. E. A. after an open session on January 25, to which rep- 

 resentatives of the Transatlantic Steamship managers were invited. Some 

 twenty-flve of them accepted, including a representative of the United 

 States Shipping Board, and the subject of ocean freight rates and other 

 related matters were discussed at considerable length. It was at this meet- 

 ing that the proposal for a joint meeting of committees was made. 



Notable Program Prepared for Second Annual Meeting of the 

 American Wholesale Lumber Association 



Assurance that the "Second Annual Convention and Merchandising Con- 

 ference" of the American Wholesale Lumber Association will be a unique 

 and memorable affair is given in the carefully prepared program, which 

 Is rapidly being completed at the headquarters in Chicago under the Inspir- 

 ing direction of L. R. Putman, the directing manager. The meeting takes 

 place on March 9 and 10 at Chicago in the Gold Room of the Congress 

 Hotel. 



The program will show a few "New Turns" that will make the lumber 

 industry sit up and take notice, and it will also bring on a headliner and 

 some other performers who will keep things humming from start to finish 

 and make attendance a profitable adventure. 



The afternoon of the Erst day will be notable for the appearance of the 

 Hon. Joseph W. Fordney, chairman of the ways and means committee of 

 the House of Representatives, to speak on the sales and turn-over tax, 

 the bonus bill, income taxes, the tariff and the American valuation plan. 

 Congressman Fordney is probably the foremost tax legislation expert in the 

 country if not the world, and one of the outstanding men of the Republican 

 party. With twenty-three years of service in Congress to his record, Mr. 

 Fordney will speak on these taxation questions with an authority that can 

 be challenged by no one. 



The progressive and original nature of the meeting will be expressed in 

 another striking way by the stunt which will feature the dinner and 

 smoker the night of March 9. The curtain will go up on a stage revealing 

 scenes familiar to those present. One of the prominent members of the 

 association will be in charge of a railroad and Industrial purchasing office, 

 and known as a "hard boiled" purchasing agent. He will be approached 

 by another equally prominent wholesaler, who will undertake to sell him 

 on his lumber requirements. It goes without saying that the dialogue 

 which will ensue will be equal to a university course In lumber sales- 

 manship and its problems. 



The second act of this merchandising drama will present a retail lumber 

 office in charge of one of the foremost retail lumber merchants of the coun- 

 try, and again a member of the A. W. L. A. will attempt to sell this "hard 

 boiled" retailer. 



Presence of Frank Fish Is Feature of Southwesterners' Meeting 



Though the FeliruMry meeting of the Soutlnvostorn Hardwood Miinu 

 facturers' Club followed within little more than two weeks from the annual 

 meeting in January, there was a good attendance and a highly interesting 

 session at the New Orleans Lumbermen's Club quarters on Wednesday, 

 the Sth. President-elect H. G. Bohlssen occupied the chair and gave the 

 Southwesterners an example of the tact, vigor and thoroughness with 

 which the club meetings arc going to be conducted during the next year. 



The principal speaker of the day was Frank F. Fish, secretary of the 

 National Hardwood Lumber Association, Chicago, and other interesting 

 addresses were made by various lights of the industry from the South- 

 western states comprising the club. Vieing with the address of Mr. BMsh 

 for Interest was a report of the club's special taxation committee, who 

 assured the members (that is, those from Louisiana) that their mission to 

 Baton Rouge before the Ixiuisiana Taxation Commission had been alto- 

 gether successful, and that for the current year there would be a sub- 

 stantial reduction in hardwood taxation under that prevailing heretofore. 

 The reductions, according to the committee's report, should range as high 

 as 50 per cent on some items, and the committee was heartily thanked for 

 the sticcess with which it had met at the hands of the hard-boiled tax com- 

 missioners of the state. 



The Southwestern manufacturers were also especially pleased with the 

 promise of Mr. Fish for greater consideration with regard to the associa- 

 tion's inspection service throughout the extreme South and Southwest. 

 Manufacturers some time ago had expressed a desire for more Inspection 

 service, and this desire was met by a statement by Mr. Fish that the asso- 

 ciation already has increased its inspection in and about New Orleans con- 

 siderably, and that in the future it will strive its uttermost to meet every 

 requirement. According to Mr. Fish, the association already has installe<l 

 several inspectors in and about New Orleans, one in Mobile, another in 

 points in Texas and others scattered throughout Mississippi and Louisiana. 



A discussion of costs was led by C. J. Coppock, Cybur Lumber Company, 

 Cybur, Miss., former president of the club, and other members contributed 

 to the common fund of information on this important subject, including 

 J. E. Welch, Dubois Lumber Company, Lake, Miss. ; John DeBlieux, Soniat 

 & DeBlieux, Opelousas, La. ; G. H. Damon, H. H. Wiggin Lumber Company, 

 Plaquemine, La., and others. 



C. D. Bordelon, general agent of the Southern Pacific lines, assured the 

 club that his was among the first routes to endeavor to lower freight rates 

 on hardwood lumber, stating that the railways realized that such action 

 would result in more business for them while at the same time Increasing 

 the business of the manufacturers. 



Harry T. Kendall, Kirby-Bonner Lumber Company, Houston, outlined to 

 the club the plans of his vast pine company for embarking in a most com- 



prehensive manner in the hardwood business and assured the members that 

 they would soon become members of the club. 



Due to the meeting on March 7-S of the American Hardwood Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association at Louisville, Ky., the club voted to hold its 

 March meeting on the first, and beginning in April the date will revert 

 back to the second Wednesday of each month. 



Indications were that the Southwestern Hardwood Manufacturers' Club 

 would be represented in goodly number at the Louisville conclave. 



Memphis Club Unanimously Against Soldier Bonus 



The Lumbermen's Club of Memphis is unalterably opposed to the pay- 

 ment of a bonus to American soldiers either in cash or Its equivalent on 

 the part of the government of the United States. This was made per- 

 fectly clear when, at the regular semi-monthly meeting at the Hotel Gayoso 

 Saturday afternoon. February 18, the members voted unanimously against 

 this proposition. The club, however, is in favor of appropriations by the 

 Congress to provide funds for the vocational education of those soldiers 

 who desire this. H. B. Anderson of the Anderson-Tully Company, who 

 served with the American forces in France, made an impassioned appeal 

 for the provision of funds for vocational education of those who were 

 called to the colors during the war, declaring that this amounted to little 

 more than an extension of the public school system of the country, and 

 that the number who would avail themselves of such educational training 

 would represent but a few thousand out of the more than 4,000,000 who 

 were called up. 



The bonus question came before the club in the form of Referendum 38 

 of the United States Chamber of Commerce. Opposition to the bonus as 

 applie<l to all veterans was based primarily on two facts : The burden of 

 taxation is already too heavy, and there is distinct unwillingness on the 

 part of members of the club to capitalize patriotism. 



On motion of F. T. Dooley of the Dooley Lumber Company, Joe Thomp- 

 son, president, was authorized to appoint a committee of five to Investigate 

 the feasibility of estat)lishlng a cooperative plant at Memphis for the 

 fabrication of No. 3 common oak and other items of the same grade in 

 Memphis and the Memphis territory. This committee will report at a 

 subsequent meeting. The highness of freight rates has almost stopped 

 the movement of No. 3 common hardwoods to market, and it has cut off 

 most of the outlets that were open before the advances went into effect. 

 The coiiperative plant Idea is based on the belief that, if facilities are 

 established here for the fabrication of this material, the fabricated product 

 can be sold at a profit and an outlet can thus be provided for this stock, 

 which is now largely unsalal)le. 



The entertainment committee was instructed to take proper steps look- 

 ing to the entertainment and pleasure of the members of the Northeastern 

 Retail Lumber Dealers' Association who will visit Memphis March 11 and 

 12. Present plans call for a special train to convey the visiting lumber- 

 men to all the lumber and woodworking plants in Memphis and for a 

 smoker in the evening. These gentlemen will arrive on the morning of 

 Saturday, March 11, and will leave Memphis Sunday afternoon, March 12. 

 John M. Pritchard, secretary-manager of the American Hardwood Manu- 

 facturers' .\ssociation, extended a pressing invitation to members of the 

 club to attend the forthcoming third annual of this body at Louisville, Ky., 

 March 7 and 8. He said that a very interesting program is being arranged, 

 and that a large number of consumers would be present to discuss some of 

 their problems with the manufacturers. 



John W. McClure, president of the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' 

 Association, also invitetl members of the club to attend the thirtieth annual 

 of this body, to be held at Washington March 22 23. He declared there 

 would be very few set speeches, but that, on the contrary, most of the 

 two days would be given to intimate discussion of the problems of the 

 industry. Entertainment, too, will be a conspicuous feature of the conven- 

 tion. This will consists of a formal banquet, a dinner dance for the ladies 

 and a reception at the White House. 



Six new members were elected : Franklin T. Turner, H. D. Love, F. G. 

 Woods and C. W. Parham, all of the Turner-Farbcr-Love Company, which 

 was recently formed in Memphis ; Carl White, Breece Manufacturing Com- 

 pany, and C. H. Larabee, E. Sondhoimer Company. 



New Southern Traffic District Offices Opened 



District offices of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association have been 

 established in the Emanuel building at Mobile, Ala., with J. J. Martin as 

 acting manager, and with S. B. Adams, Lucas E. Moore Stave Company, 

 as vice-president in charge thereof, according to announcement made by 

 J. H. Townshend, secretary-manager, with headquarters at Memphis. 



Mr. Martin has had thirteen years' experience as a traffic man. He 

 served the Mobile Lumbermen's Club for a time as traffic expert, and more 

 recently he had been employed in the New Orleans district offices of the 

 association. Mr. Adams, who was the unanimous choice of the firms com- 

 posing membership in the Mobile territory as vice-president, is one of the 

 best known lumbermen on the gulf coast. 



The Mobile district offices are the sixth created by this body In the past 

 six years. The first was established at Louisville, Ky., in February, 1916, 

 and the others in the order named : Helena, Ark., New Orleans, La., 

 Cincinnati, O., Memphis. Washington and Mobile. 



Mr. Martin will also act as agent for the American Overseas Forwarding 

 Company at Mobile, and It is expected that the establishment of offices at 

 Mobile by the latter will materially increase the tonnage of hardwood lum- 

 ber and forest products clearing through that port. 



