July 10, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



of lumber held up by" the car shortage and his records show that, if 

 the advances had been allowed, they would have cost shippers $300,000 

 additional on this 'class of delayed shipments alone. 



W. B. Burke, vice-president and general manager of the Lamb 

 Fish Lumber Company, Charleston, Miss., who, with George Land, 

 traffic manager for the same firm, toolc an aggressive part iu the 

 rate contest, is also much pleased with the decision. He says: 



I hope that the commission's decision will convince the carriers that 

 rates on logs and lumber are already high enough. It is exceedingly 

 annoying likewise very expensive for hanlwood shippers to be called 

 upon to defend their rate structure. I hope we will not soon be dis- 

 turbed again by the carriers. 



J. H. Townshend, who spent much time in Washington in con- 

 nection with this case and who gave to it all the energy, intelli- 

 gence and ability at his command, enjoys the distinction .iust now 

 of being the happiest man in the South over the outcome. Here is 

 what he has to say: 



After we had put in our testimony and the carriers had put in their 

 rebuttal, I felt confident the advances would not be allowed. Further- 

 more, I do not believe that there will be further advances on hardwoods 

 until the carriers can show need of additional revenue and then such 

 additional revenue must come from advances on other commodities 

 first. 



Mr. Townshend intimated several times before the decision was 

 announced that the lumbermen stood an excellent chance of winning 

 a temporary victory and also of converting this temporary defeat 

 of the carriers into a permanent one. It would seem from his lan- 

 guage that permanent victory in this case is already at hand. 



Lumbermen are profuse in their praise of the successful fight 

 made by the association. Here is what some of them have to say: 



Fullerton-Powell Hardwood Lumber Company, a non-member, 

 South Bend, Ind.: "Accept our heartiest congratulations on the 

 successful outcome of the 15 per cent advance rate case. Although 

 we have all worked hard for this result, we attribute the commis- 

 sion 's decision to your untiring efforts and to the forceful manner 



in which the interests of the lumber industry were presented to 

 the commission by your association. ' ' 



Harlan-Morris Manufacturing Company, a non-member, Jackson, 

 Tenn. : "I want to congratulate you on the good work you have 

 done. I believe that all the members of the different groups of 

 the timber industry ought to take a day off to celebrate this 

 decision. " 



Russe & Burgess, Inc., Memphis, through their sales manager, 

 "W. F. Ganimage, says: "We, as members of the Southern Hard- 

 wood Traffic Association, wish to congratulate the association on 

 the fight it has made in this case. We feel that it is due only to 

 the vigorous and intelligent fight made by your association that 

 the lumbermen have defeated this proposed advance." 



The Southern Hardwood Traffic Association is young in years 

 but old in accomplishments in behalf of the hardwood lumber in- 

 dustry. It is a big institution, officered by big men and backed by 

 the strongest lumbermen in this part of the country. It is capable 

 of handling big problems in a big way and does not mind throw- 

 ing down the gauntlet to any railroad or any group of carriers, 

 even if all of them are involved, when it feels that the interests 

 of its njembers are at stake. 



It has some wonderful victories to its credit but the last is the 

 biggest and the most far reaching, saving hundreds of thousands of 

 dollars to shippers and clearing the atmosphere in a way that prob- 

 ably means a long and fruitful period in which the rate structure 

 will be undisturbed. 



."Harmony conferences" have given place to open combat before 

 the greatest railroad tribunal in the world and the lumbermen of 

 the country have no cause for complaint that the association, real- 

 izing the inevitable conflict between carriers and sliippers, has 

 changed its tactics and fought for the protection from the carriers 

 which the situation demanded. 



All honor to the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association. 



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Memphis Shippers Slightly Relieved 



There is a slight increase reported in the number of box cars and 

 other equipment for the handling of outbound shipments of lum- 

 ber, according to J. H. Townshend, secretary-manager of the South- 

 ern Hardwood Traffic Association. He says there is quite a notable 

 gain in Mississippi but that there is some decrease in Arkansas at 

 the moment, though net changes are in favor of lumber shippers. 

 Lumbermen themselves bear testimony to the same developments. 



There is no increase to report, however, in the number of flat 

 cars for handling shipments of logs to mills at Memphis. Most of 

 the latter are operating but they are rather poorly supplied with 

 logs, as a rule, with the result that thej- are forced every now and 

 then to suspend for two or three days at a time or even longer. 

 Most of them are running from hand to mouth so far as their log 

 supplies are concerned and they themselves fullj' appreciate the 

 narrow margin on which the.v are working and are likewise keenly 

 alive to the fact that any interruption to the present car service 

 would be a most serious matter for them. 



W. A. Waddington, general manager of the Valley Log Loading 

 Company, throws interesting light on the car situation and on the 

 log supply both at the mills and on the rights of way of the rail- 

 roads in the following statement : 



We have loaded more than 1200 cars on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley 

 line of the Illinois Central within the past thirty d.ays. We have had no 

 difficulty in securing cars and have been able to taiie care of all the logs 

 offered us for loading. We have bad practically no cars on the Memphis- 

 Marianna branch of the St. Louis. Iron Mountain & Southern and there 

 are more than 400 cars of logs awaiting loading on that particular line. 



I believe that I am safe in saying that, if logging should stop in the 

 valley, every log ready for loading could be moved within ten days. I 

 further believe I am safe in saying that, if the car service were to be cut 

 oft as it was a short time ago, the average supply of logs at the mills in 

 Memphis would not. on the avernge, iteep the hardwood plants here run- 

 ning more tlian ten days at tlie outside. 



Mr. Waddington is perhaps better informed on the general log 

 supply situation than any other man in the Memphis territory be- 

 cause his firm loads for nearly all the mills, which makes it pas- 

 sible for him to take a general rather than an individual view of 

 conditions. 



The weather is much more favorable for logging right now than 

 it has been in a very long while. Most of the overflow and sur- 

 face waters incident thereto have disappeared and it is now possible 

 to get into the lowlands successfully for the first time since early 

 in the winter. The bulk of the timber lies in the lowlands, hence 

 the importance of this development. Owners of timberlands are 

 aware of the shortage of log supply as well as of the big demand 

 for lumber which makes big operations at their mills imperative if 

 the requirements of the trade are to be taken care of. They are 

 therefore putting forth every effort possible to get somewhat ahead 

 on log supply against the time when they may be unable to cut. 

 There is notable complaint of log scarcity so far as the open mar- 

 ket is concerned. Frequently owners of timberlands are able to 

 supplement their log supply by purchasing logs in the open market 

 but there is little chance of their doing so under present conditions 

 for the reason that there are so few logs ofliering. Labor scarcity 

 is proving something of a handicap and between the labor shortage, 

 the car shortage and the unfavorable weather of the first six months 

 of 1917, those millmen who have any considerable supplies of logs 

 ahead are subjects for lively congratulation from their competitors 

 not so fortunately placed. 



It looks like they started to build wooden ships, then stopped to 

 wrangle about it and to debate the old question of the relative merits 

 of wood and iron. A little more building and a little less debating 

 would be more to the point. 



