April 2:,. 1017 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



=^ PITTSBURGH y. 



O. H. Babcock of the Babcock Lumber Company, reports that there is 

 very little improvement in the railroad situation taken as a whole. 

 Labor scarcity is also making it extremely difficult for lumbermen to do 

 business at the mills. C. W. McDaris, yellow pine manager o£ the Bab- 

 cock Company, is now in the Sfauth. 



Joseph C. Cottrell, president of the J. C. Cottrell Lumber Company, 

 finds that it is hard work to get any lumber shipped. Prices cannot be 

 relied upon from one day to the next. Mining trade, he says, is strictly 

 lirst-class. 



The Frampton-Foster Lumber Company has recently bought three more 

 country mills which will increase its hardwood output considerably. It 

 is making splendid shipments this spring to points in Canada and Maine 

 and also to Canada and St. Louis. 



The Warren Cooperage Company of Warren, O., has bought the plant 

 of Specie Brothers at Pocahontas, Ark., and will make extensive Improve- 

 ments to make it one of the best plants in the Southwest. 



The Kendall Lumber Company will start its new operation at Cheat 

 Haven, Pa., probably about May 10. Sales Manager Young reports that 

 business would be excellent if there were cars to handle it and labor to 

 get out the lumber. 



The Acorn Lumber Company has been progressing steadily this spring 

 in sales of hardwood and also in building up new markets. It is well 

 prepared to take care of any hardwood business and President H. F. 

 Domhoff is an aggressive buyer at all times. 



A. P. L. Turner, the new lumber wholesaler, is paying special attention 

 this spring to the window glass and manufacturing trade. Very few men 

 in the Pittsburgh district arc better qualified by experience along this 

 line than he. 



The American Lumber & Manufacturing Company looks for higher 

 prices. President Johnston is taking a conservative view of the situation 

 but believes that on the whole business in the Pittsburgh district is 

 going to remain good for some time. 



Pittsburgh payrolls are now running over $1,200,000 per day. Pitts- 

 burgh bank clearings total over $13,000,000 per day. National bank 

 deposits here last month showed $347,000,000, or a gain of $87,000,000 

 over March, 1916. With $100,000,000 consisting of steel to be bought soon 

 for the United States Government, it is not likely that the Pittsburgh 

 district will fall down much in business for some time to come. 



=-< BOSTON y- 



A serious fire occurred on .\pril .". in tlie Warebani street building of 

 the Joseph F. Paul Company, Boston, causing heavy damage to a large 

 and valuable stock, comprising mainly high-grade hardwoods. 



The spruce manufacturers of New England have evidenced their loyalty 

 by two policies recently adopted ; one to accept all orders subject to delay 

 by reason of government needs and the other to appoint a committee to 

 assist military authorities in purchasing and procuring lumber supplies. 



Two Boston lumber firms, each with a long and active history, are now 

 closing out their stocks and withdrawing from the trade — McNeil Bros, of 

 57 Stanley street, Dorchester, and Perkins Woodworking Company, Ware- 

 hi^m street. 



John G. Krener, Jr., has become New England selling agent for the Bright- 

 Brooks Lumber Company, with offices at SS Broad street. 



The yard and mill properties of the Geo. W. Gale Lumber Company at 

 Mt. -\uburn have been sold to Atwood & McManus, a large box manufac- 

 turing concern at Chelsea, Mass., which will enable the liquidators of the 

 Gale company to send out another substantial dividend and probably result 

 in a very large total return to the creditors. 



=■< BALTIMORE >-= 



As an indication of tlie increase in prices that is in progress, it may 

 be stated that a letter was received here from the East Jordan Lumber 

 Company, East Jordan, Mich., anuouncing an advance of $3 in the price 

 of maple flooring. Even this price, tb.? conununication stated, would not 

 hold longer than 90 days, no orders being booked on this basis for delivery 

 after that time. 



The Xess Bros. Spoke and Wheel Works, York. Pa., were destroyed by 

 fire of suspicious origin .\pril 10, with a loss of $30,000. The plant was 

 working upon a large contract for the Russian government at the time. 



Richard P. Baer of Richard P. Baer & Co. is back from a visit to Ashe- 

 ville, N. C. where he went to confer with Mr. Warner, the firm's repre- 

 sentative, about business matters. 



^»< COLUMBUS y 



.\ccording to a statement from the Columbus Builders' Exchange, there 

 will be a great deal of building around Columbus and central Ohio, despite 

 the opening of war. The statement calls attention to the fact that the 

 exchange now has a large number of plans on file, asking figures on differ- 

 ent pieces of work, soon to start, and that none of these have been with- 

 drawn. Prospective builders who have made a careful investigation of the 

 conditions have become convinced that there is practically no chance of 

 the cost of building materials or the cost of labor declining as long as 

 the war lasts. In fact, the consensus of opinion is that materials and 

 labor may advance. For this reason many persons who had planned to 



build are now arranging to have the work pushed since the withdrawal of 

 many men from the trades for service in the army will have a tendency 

 to increase wages. 



Fire destroyed the mill of the Claude Nease Lumber Company of East 

 Liverpool. O., consuming a large quantity of lumber. The loss is estimated 

 at $25,000, partly covered by insurance. 



The Slagle Lumoer Company, Lima, O., has been incorporated with a 

 capital of $150,000 to deal in lumber. The incorporators are W. C. Slagle, 

 J. H. Blackmore. E. L. Bush, R. E. Van Derveer and Amos Thornton, Jr. 



E. A. Drew has entered the wholesale hardwood business in Dayton. He 

 has been engaged in traveling for some time. 



The Sterling Lumber & Supply Company of Chicago has sold its branch 

 .yards at Lima and Tiffin, O., to the Slagle Lumber Company of Newark. 



J. W. Stiger has taken over the business of the Martin Lumber Company 

 of Bradner, O. 



The Dickelman Cumber Company is the name of a new concern at 

 Tiffin, O., which has taken over the business of the East Side Lumber Com- 

 pany. 



R. W. Ilorton of the W. JI. Ritter Lumber Company reports a good de- 

 mand for hardwoods with prices showing unusual strength. Buying is 

 about equally divided between retailers and factories. The car shortage is 

 delaying shipments to a large extent. 



J. A. Ford of the Imperial Lumber Company reports a good demand for 

 West Virginia hardwoods with prices firm in every particular. 



H. D. Crasher, head of the H. D. Brasher Lumber Company, has returned 

 from a long business trip throughout the South. 



<CLEVELAND->- 



Prospects for resumption of business in the hardwood and allied indus- 

 tries seem as remote as ever at this writi'ng, as there is no indication of 

 settlement of the controversy between the Building Trades Employers' As- 

 sociation and the individual unions of employes identified with the Build- 

 ing Trades Council. The latter body and the employers have signed the 

 agreement, embodying ten cardinal principles, but several of the individual 

 unions refuse to accept these arrangements unless they receive higher 

 wages or the employers make additional concessions. Present indica- 

 tions are that a settlement of the trouble will not be reached until the 

 present trial of officials of the main union bodies, indicted upon charges 

 of graft, is completed. The unions that want more concessions from the 

 employers are the electrical workers, the laborers, the roofers and the 

 sheet metal workers. It is understood in building material circles that 

 the council was to call a special meeting, ordering all unions to sign the 

 agreement or go back to work under the old conditions that existed before 

 the lockout. Sixteen of the unions are said to be ready now to accept the 

 new terms of the employers. Hints that the employers' association might 

 sign certain new agreements to end the lockout has brought out a protest 

 from the Hunkin-Conkey Construction Company, one of the largest con- 

 sumers in the district. W. J. Hunkin at a luncheon in the Builders' Ex- 

 change threatened to withdraw liis company from the association if such 

 action were taken. He made this statement in connection with the declara- 

 tion that certain labor leaders had threatened to run his company out of 

 business. Although no hardwood is going into building construction to 

 speak of, and in spite of the fact the outlet is mainly into manufacturing 

 channels, the lumber interests of the city are firm in their support of the 

 employing contractors in their contentions as outlined in this column in 

 last issue of Hakdwood Recori). 



George E. Breece, president of the West Virginia Timber Company, and 

 George N. Comfort, of bis own company, who have been in the South the 

 last month with a view toward improving transit conditions, are back in 

 town, and recent arrivals seem to show the effort expended in that 

 connection has been worth while. 



=-< CINCINNATI y 



The Freiberg Lumber Company, a large hardwood concern here, is having 

 plans prepared by the Reliance Engineering Company for the building 

 of a one-story brick storage building at Dalton and Findlay streets. It is 

 expanding rapidly and additions are necessary to take care of the big 

 business. 



Through the United States Collector of Internal Revenue, A. C. Gllli- 

 gan, the Pape Brothers Molding Company, located on Boulevard Bend, 

 manufacturer of molding and frames, has tendered its plant to the United 

 States government for any use to which it may be found adaptable for 

 manufacturing government necessities. This patriotic concern further 

 declares it will install any new equipment in the way of machinery, etc., 

 that is necessary. 



Upon leave of court here last week, G. C. McDowell of Roba, Ala., a 

 creditor, filed an intervening petition in the involuntary bankruptcy pro- 

 ceedings of Joshua W. Oden and others against the McFall-Heyser Lumber 

 Company of this city, setting up a claim against the alleged bankrupt for 

 $390 alleged to be due for lumber sold and delivered. Roba joins in the 

 prayer of the petitioning creditors for an adjudication in bankruptcy 

 against the defendant company. This case has been in litigation for sev- 

 eral months and is keenly contested by the McFall-Heyser concern. 



Coal and lumber operators in the Hazard, Ey., district (rich in timber 

 and coal property) have suffered during the past two weeks more than 

 ever because of the shortage of cars. About a half dozen of the largest 

 concerns in the district declare they have had sufficient cars to run only 



