August 25, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



Will Develop Timber Property 



Early in the present iiinnUi M- X. iirt'utt vi Hiintinston, \V. Va.. and C. 

 Boles of Richmond, A'a., elose'l tiie deal for the purchase of the property 

 of the Joe Creek Lumber Company on Coal river, Boone county, W. Va. 

 A band mill goes with the purchase, also a large amount of timber, logs, 

 and lumber. The purchasers win develop the property, under the firm name 

 of Offutt & Boles, with the principal office at -Huntington. 



Lumbermen in Memphis Barge Project 



W. n. Kusse of Russe & Burgess, Inc.. and K. H. Darnell of It. .T. Dar 

 nell, Inc., both of whom are prominently identified with the hardwood, 

 lumber Industry of the Memphis section, are among the incorporators of 

 the Liberty Transportation Company, which has been organized for the 

 purpose of building and operating a line of boats, barges and other craft 

 for handling lumber, cotton and other classes of heavy freight from 

 Memphis and other river points to shipside. The company has taken out 

 a charter under the laws of Delaware and is capitalized at .f t.noii.u »0. 

 I: plans to establish its shipbuilding plant at the mouth of Nonconnah 

 creek, which empties into the Mississippi a few miles below Memphis. 

 This creek is very crooked near its mouth and government surveys are 

 now being made with a view to straightening it for some distance back, 

 and, if these surveys show that this can be done, the company will, fol- 

 lowing the completion of this work, proceed with its plans. Money for 

 the work on Nonconnah creek will come from funds provided for the 

 improvement of the Mississippi at ilemphis and in the vicinity of this 

 city. The idea of the promoters and incorporators of the Liberty Trans- 

 portation Company is the furnishing of prompt and ready service in the 

 handling of cotton and lumber, as well as other products, but chiefly 

 the two former, to shipside, thus putting the exporters of these commo- 

 dities in direct touch with the European markets which are expected to 

 be particularly active following the closing of the present world-wide war. 



The foregoing represents one big angle of the proposition of greatly 

 increasing the use of the ilississippi and its tributaries as a handler of 

 freight on a big scale. Another is to be. found in the results of the vote 

 held here August 16 to determine whether or not the city of Memphis 

 should issue .$500,000 in bonds tor the purpose of building extensive 

 terminals here lor the loading and discharge, as well as general handling, 

 of freight on the Mississippi. The election resulted overwhelmingly in 

 favor of the issue and it is now up to the city authorities to take the next 

 step. It has been realized for some time that the railroads were nnalde 

 to handle the vast traffic of the country and that their facilities would 

 have to be supplemeutcd by those of water transportation. It has likewise 

 been fully realized by lumbermen, cotton Interests and other business men 

 here that the first step in this revival of water transportation lay In pro- 

 viding adequate terminal facilities. These are now assured and further 

 developments in the rehabilitation of river transportation are awaited 

 with much interest by all the business men of this territory. 



Thomas Marston 



Thomas Marston, one of the founders of the Samuel Cupples Wooden- 

 ware Company, St. Louis and Chicago, died at his summer residence on 

 Fowler lake, Oconomowoc, Wis., on August 17, at the age of eighty-eight 

 years. He was horn in Carlisle, England, and came to America when 

 eighteen years old. With Samuel Cupples, he founded the wholesale 

 woodenware firm of Cupples & Marston, and in 1861 he established the 

 firm's Chicago branch, now one of the largest industries of the Cupples 

 group. 



Stoner L. Virum 



Stoner L. Tirum, logging superintendent of tlie Johu Week Lumber 

 Company. Stevens Point, Wis., and one of the pioqeers of the logging 

 industry of Wisconsin, died August 3 after a long illness. His death 

 occurred on the same day as that of his employer and companion, Andrew 

 L. Week, secretary and treasurer of the company, who passed away at 

 Hollywood, Cal. Mr. Virum was born in Norway in 1S.50 and joined the 

 AVeek company in 1.S71 as a timber cruiser. 



J. A. Gorman Joins Officers' Corps 



The trade will be interested in learning that J. A. Oorman, representing 

 Vilas County Lumber Company of (?hicago and Winegar, Wis., has joined 

 the Secoml OtHcers' Reserve Corjjs and will be stationed at Fort Sheriilan, 

 111. John Edinger, who has also been with the company for some years, 

 will have charge of sales during the absence of Mr. -Gorman, and W. ,S. 

 Winegar. president of the company, whose residence is in Grand Rapids, 

 expects to give a gond deal of his time tu the ntt:iirs ,if the Chicago office. 



Pertinent Information 



Lumbermen Cooks in Demand 



The lumber companies in the Lake States ha\-e responded cnthusiastic- 



. ally to the call for trained cooks for the war, chiefly men with ability to 



train others as cooks for the ureat national army. The lumber camp 



'cooks are tlie most highly trained men in the world in preparing appetizing 



food to be served in quantities to men under daily physical strain. Their 



training is specially adapted to the cantonment requirements of the new 

 array, and the oflicers' training camps have already utilized lumber camp 

 methods in preparing food for the business men who have for three months 

 been in training to become officers in the new army. 



Relative Advance in Lumber Price 



Roger W. Babson, the well-known statistical autliority, in a bulletin just 

 issued, gives a tabulation of the prices of ninety-six leading commodities 

 on -Vugust 1, 1914, and July 1, 1917. The Items covered include agri- 

 cultural products, chemicals, building materials, iron and steel, petroleum 

 products, etc. Mr. Babson's figures show that these ninety-six commodities 

 have advanced an average of 127 per cent since August 1, 1014. In view 

 of the fact that the lumbermen have generally claimed that their product 

 has advanced less in price than many other commodities, and still remains 

 one of tlie most easily obtainable, readily worked, and reasonably priced 

 materials, the following figures taken from ^Ir. Babson's report are of 

 special interest ; 



^ Building — Present and Prospective 



The statement of building operations for July, as shown liy the building 

 permits issued in the principal cities of the United States, is one that may 

 be very readily misinterpreted and misunderstood. On Its face it Is an 

 egregiously bad showing, for it records a slump of 49 per cent as coni- 

 pareil wdth July, 1916. But most of this loss is satisfactorily accounted 

 for. Here are the official figures, as received by the American Coniractor, 

 Chicago. The building permits issued in 116 cities total for July $5S,- 

 726,904, as compared with $115,313,797 tor July, 1916, a decrease of 49 

 per cent. Most of this loss is occasioned by the borough of Manhattan. 

 New Xork City, wlJich totals for July this year only $1,894,095, against 

 $49,205,220 for July last year. The to_tal of Manhattan for July, 1915, 

 was $4,845,303. The zoning law of New York City went into effect a 

 little more than a year ago. It imposed severe restrictions upon the 

 construction of large office buildings. To evade the conditions of the law, 

 hnilding permits were sought and obtained just before the law became 

 effective for a large number of speculative enterprises, which have never 

 materialized and many of which had a very slight chance of ever material- 

 izing. Placing the Manhattan totals at those of two years ago, which may 

 lie regarded as normal, the loss of 49 per cent in the July statements 

 slirinks to only about 17 per cent, which is quite another story, though it 

 does not entirely eliminate the loss. However, It would be a better state- 

 ment than that for June, which showed a loss of 36 per cent and hetter 

 than that for May, which recorded a loss of 34 per cent. Compared with 

 May and June, the July figures may be accepted as distinctly favorable. 



It is to be noted, moreover, that in 47 of the 116 cities the comparison 

 is favorable — a few of them decidedly so. The fine showing of Phlladel- 

 Iihia is due to the issuance last month of a permit for the $2,535,000 public 

 library building. 



Elaborating on this analysis of the situation, the Contractor says that 

 conditions have changed almost as much during the past few months as 

 during the past two years, particular stress being laid upon the character 

 of building that is now developing and may be expected to develop still 

 further, due to the readjustment to a war basis. It says that It is use- 

 less to argue that such a fundamental Industry as building would not be 

 affected by the vast changes in the industrial structure of the country. It 

 maintains that Instead of the phrase "curtailed building operations," the 

 phrase "change in building trend" should be used. It says further that it 

 is altogether probable that the total volume of building operations during 

 the war will continue to be great; that the thing to bear in mind is that 

 much of this work will he war construction. It says that this tendency 

 towards industrial building is already apparent. It gives the following 

 figures covering the central and eastern sections of the United States : 



Increase 

 or de- 

 June. 1917 June. 1916 crease 



Manufacturing operations $14,501,000 $9,474,1100 +53% 



Residential operations 28,851,000 39.743,000 —37% 



Miscellaneous operations 87,719,000 51,389,000 -f70% 



The report also prophesies radical expansion In farm construction. 



Second Lumberjack Regiment Probable 



The regiment of lumbermen, officially known as the Tenth Engineers 

 (forest) and nicknamed the "lumberjack regiment." has been recruited to 

 full strength, and the Forest Service, which has been securing the men, 

 has been notified by the War Department to list no more candidates for 

 service with this regiment. In anticipation, however, of a possible call 

 soon for another regiment of the same character, the listing officers all 

 over the country have been Instructed to continue listing names of suit- 

 able men who may be summoned when needed. 



The "lumberjack regiment" is not a fighting force, but will be employed 

 in woods operations in Fi-ance, getting out material for army use. The 

 recruits are now being assembled in Washington, where they are drilled daily 

 by the officers assigned to command them. Colonel Woodruff of the regular 

 army, who will head the regiment, is In charge and with the assistance of 

 a stalf made up of practical lumbermen and foresters Is providing an 

 . quipment of the most up-to-date character for the type of woods operations 

 ..illed for, in the list of the experience of the Allies. The regiment will 

 tike with it both stationary and portable sawmills with everything neces- 

 -MV for logging and sawmill work and for transporting the product. 



