4S 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Jnne 25, 1917 



Petitions for Extensive Bond Issue 



The district court of tlie United States for the western '(Hstriot of Michi- 

 gan has issued a petition of tlie Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids, 

 Mich., receiver for VF. H. White Company, Boyne City, Mich., in which 

 it is aslied that the petitioner be authorized to accept bonds of a proposed 

 issue of the Boyne City, Gaylord and Alpena Railroad Company to apply 

 on an Indebtedness of $330,000 of the railroad company to the W. H. White 

 Company. It is also asked that the petitioner be authorized to cause the 

 W. H. White Company to borrow $450,000 from R. E. Olds of Lansing, 

 Mich., against which will be deposited bonds of the railroad company and 

 stock of the Tillamook Yellow Fir Company which is owned by the W. H. 

 White Company. As further security it is stated that R. E. Olds shall 

 have a lien on the stock of the White Brothers Lumber Company. 



I Pertinent Infor mation 



Facts on Wooden Car Construction 



The special railroad committee has secured ilata showing the decline 

 in the use of wooden cars. Data given on the basis of replies received from 

 294 roads with a mUeage of 235,406 in the tinited States, and eight roads 

 operating 31,299 miles in Canada. There were but three wooden passenger 

 cars constructed in 1916 and but ten were under construction January 

 10, 1917. 



The following table shows percentage of steel, steel undcrframe and 

 wooden cars 1909-1916 : 



PERCENTAGES 

 Steel 



Acquired in Total Number Steel Underframe Wood 



"?9 1.880 26.0% 22.6% 51.4% 



1910 3,638 ■ 55.4 14.8 29.8 



1911 ••■» 3,756 59.0 20.3 20.7 



1912 2,660 68.7 20.9* 10.4 



1913 3.350 63.0 30.4* 6.6 



1914 4,495 74.6 29.9* 4.5 



1915 1,696 73.7 20.1* 6.2 



1916 1,445 92.5 7.3« .2 



January 1, 1917 (underconstruc- 



tion) 1,759 82.5 16.9 .6 



•This figure includes wooden cars reconstructed with steel under- 

 frame. 



The number of wooden cars In service January, laiz. was 48,126. As 

 there are now approximately 39,169 in service, there have been 8,937 

 repaired in four years. 



The report gives an interesting analysis of cost of replacing wooden 

 cars as follows : 



Average 



Number Co.st Amount 



Postal 237 $19,000 i 4,503,000 



Mail and Baggage 2.251 17.5(I0 39.392.500 



Mail, Baggage and Passenger 547- 17. ".00 9,572,500 



Baggage and Passenger 3,129 17.500 54.757,500 



Baggage or Express 6,608 1 t,.SOO 97.798,840 



Passenger 20,906 2;{.iiiii) 480,838.000 



Parlor, Sleeping, Dining 4.432 ST.nrtO 163,984,000 



Business 736 26.000 15,136.000 



Motor 323 35,000 11,305,000 



TotJll 39,169 $881,287,340 



Annual interest charge at 5<,i $ 44,064,367 



Still Further Export Reductions 



The last month brought a further contraction In the exports of lumber 

 from Baltimore, some additional items being omitted from the list, while 

 others were greatly reduced both with regard to volume and value. No 

 shipments of logs were made, while those of boards were confined to 

 poplar and spruce, which latter wood constitutes by far the largest propor- 

 tion of the shipments. Not only did the shipments of spruce attain what 

 are probably record proportigns, but while the increase over the correspond- 

 ing month in 1910 amounted to about a third, the declared value was ap- 

 proximately double that of May, 1916, showing conclusively that the range 

 of values is steadily going up, even on this side of the Atlantic, with no 

 freight rates counted in. No shooks were shipped, the list being narrowed 

 to Just seven items, against at least double that number under normal con- 

 ditions. 



Call for Lumber Growing 



The location of one of the sixteen cantonments to be established for the 

 training of the great army to be raised for the war in Europe at Admiral, 

 about seventeen miles out of Baltimore, has given the lumbermen of this 

 section much to think about, especially when it is coupled with large 

 requirements in other directions, such as the erection of dwellings for the 

 many thousands of workmen attracted by the new industrial establish- 

 ments that have gone up In Baltimore and vicinity of late. According to 

 the government estimates, the cantonment will call for about 13,500,000 

 feet of lumber. Most of this will be yellow pine, but there will also be 

 some hardwoods, cypress or poplar, and the trade Is on the alert to see 

 how the contracts tor this great quantity of lumber will be placed. There 

 are some who maintain that the quantity of lumber actually needed will be 

 closer to 25,000.000 than to 1:1,000,000. But even the lowest estimate is 

 of such magnitude as to make it certain that the tilling of the government 

 requirements by lumbermen of this section would have a very distinct 

 Impression upon the trade. It has been suggested that a combination of 



lumbermen represented at the mills in the South is likely to get this order, 

 but members of the trade here contend that the government could get 

 lower prices, when allowance is made for the railroad freight rates, than 

 if the lumber is obtained down South, with a freight rate of five or six 

 dollars or even more to pay. One of the obstacles is the unwillingness of 

 yardmen to deplete their stocks by the withdrawals of the items the gov- 

 ernment may want, which would leave them unable to take care of their 

 general business ; for it would be very dilBcult now to supply these de- 

 ficiencies by drawing on the mills. If the government were satisfied to 

 take over the entire stock of a yard, the question would be different, but 

 just to pick out some things and leave the others would cause embarrass- 

 ment to the yards. The developments in connection with the cantonment 

 proposal, therefore, will be watched with the keenest interest and may 

 be expected to have an important bearing upon the trade. 



In connection with the program to build a large fleet of wooden vessels 

 it is to be said that the government has placed contracts with the Mar.v- 

 land Shipbuilding Company, recently organized by J. E. Aldred, chairman 

 of the Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and Power Company, and his asso- 

 ciates, for six vessels. The company has acquired property on Bear Creek 

 for yards, and the preliminar.v work of erecting the necessary ways and 

 other structures is already in progress. The first hull is to be delivered 

 by them to the go.vernraent by AprU 30, 1918, and the others are to follow 

 at intervals of one month. The engines may also be built in this city. 



.\s another outlet it is to be mentioned that hundreds and even thou- 

 sands of houses are going up or wUl shortly be commenced in the sections 

 Just around Baltimore to house the population attracted b.v the new in- 

 dustrial plants. It is estimated that each of these houses will call for not 

 less than 10,000 feet of lumber, so that many millions of feet will be used, 

 with yellow pine making up the great biilk of the orders, but with the 

 hardwoods also receiving a share of the attention. 



Big Bills of French Timber 



The timber bill in three months for the British trenches in France is 

 about 15.000,000 feet. Most of this is in the form of round poles and 

 logs, used to wall up the trenches, construct bombproofs, and make plat- 

 forms tor guns. Some of this timber can be used a second or third time, 

 as the British lines move forward and the Germans edge away a little 

 farther toward the Rhine. Some of the timber abandoned by the Germans 

 in their periodic retreats can be used by the British, but not a great deal, 

 for most of it Is badly broken by the shelling it gets before the Germans 

 begin to move back. 



Oak Bark for Tanning 



Tanning material Is at a premium in Europe. Oak bark has been selling 

 in England at $45 a ton, and some predict that it will reach $55. More 

 has been peeled this season than ever before in a like period. The cutting 

 of timber has been more extensive than ever before. They are also peeling 

 larch bark for tanning purposes. 



Mississippi Running High 



The Mississippi river at Memphis is showing quite a high stage for this 

 time of the year, practically 34 feet at Memphis. This is within one foot of 

 flood stage and is the highest water recorded so late in the summer for many 

 years. Considerable land between the levees and the banks of the Missis- 

 sippi Is under water, but there has been no overflow, and unless more water 

 appears there will be none so far as the territory protected by levees is 

 concerned. This means that lumber interests have not been adversely 

 affected by the rise and that they will not be so unless oflicial calculations 

 as to the crest of the present stage are wrong. 



Heavy rains occurred in the Memphis territory some days ago and 

 caused some delay in logging operations. Practically perfect weather Is 

 noted at present, however, and the ground is drying at a very satisfactory 

 rate. The scarcity of labor for work in the woods is an Item of consider- 

 able importance, according to some owners of timber lands. One of the 

 most prominent lumbermen here, owning large timber properties In Arkan- 

 sas, says that labor is both scarce and not dependable. Tlie shortage of 

 cars is affecting the handling of logs after they have been prepared for 

 shipment, and, even after making allowance for the recent heavy rains and 

 for the scarcity of labor, more logs are ready for delivery to the mills than 

 there are cars to handle them. Most of the timber being made ready Is 

 that cut from tlmberlands owned by the big manufacturing firms. The 

 supply of logs offering in the open market is reported very light compared 

 with normal, and prices are said to be unusually high. 



Building Operations for May 



The building permits, issued in 113 principal cities of the United States 

 for May, were about two-thirds the aggregate estimated cost of those Issued 

 In May, 1916. The oflicial figures as received by the American Contractor, 

 Chicago, total $75,168,153, against $114,331,891 for May last year, a de- 

 crease of 34 percent. 



It looks like a distressing shrinkage of building operations. In a sense, 

 it Is. But there are "mitigating circumstauces." There is hope for the 

 future. In groping about for comparisons, if is peculiarly appropriate to 

 compare present conditions with those which followed the opening of the 

 war, nearly three years ago. There was th'u the same drop in new con- 

 struction work. The comparative loss was small In August, 1914, but In- 

 creased to 32 per cent In September, and readied a maximum of 41 per cent 

 in December, 1914. Then the tide turned, and In December, 1915, the 

 building permits Increased 84 per cent over those of the previous December. 



