3« 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



September 10. 1917 



Ralph .1\ii-(k'n of Meiuplils. accompanied by Mrs. Jurden, started from 

 nctrolt last week for a visit among friends in Michigan and Indiana. He 

 reports business very active at this time. 



Roland Darnell, president of R. J. Darnell, Inc., Memphis, Tenn., was in 

 Chicago a few days recently looking after railroad and other business and 

 incidentally seeing his family who are spending their vacation in Michigan. 

 He expects to take a few days off himself this week. 



R. J. Wiggs of the Darnell-Love Company, Leland, Miss., spent several 

 days in Chicago recently and picked up some nice orders for gum. He was 

 well pleased with hi.s trip to the East on the same mission, lie says the 

 company is cutting 2,000,000 feet a month and that the business outlook 

 is ver.v good. 



Col. D. E. Kline, better known as "Pop," head of the Louisville Veneer 

 ilills, accompanied by our own "Auntie." spent a week in Chicago, and 

 Mother Kline says it is the greatest summer resort in the world. The 

 Colonel is 'not in the best of health right now, and is trying to let Harry 

 Kline and Snyder do the work these days. 



R. M. Weidman. secretary of Weidman & Son Company. Trout Lake, 

 Mich., was in Chicago recently. He is anxious to join the lumberjacks who 

 w-ill shortly take over the limber interests in I<"rance to assist in the fur- 

 nishing of the allied governments with timber. 



R. M'. Carrier, Sardis, Miss., accompanied by Mrs. Carrier, is spending 

 a few da.vs visiting the family of E. V. Babcock of Tittsburgh. R. M. says 

 he did not get as much of a visit as he wanted with E. V. because he 

 (E. V.) is running for mayor of Pittsburgh, and with the kind of speeches 

 he is putting im before the Pennsylvania people, if they do not elect him 

 mayor it will be a strange thing. E. V. has not been a political aspirant 

 heretofore, although active in the republican council. Those of us in the 

 lumber trade know bow capable he is and if we bad the opportunity of 

 voting for him be would be elected. He is a splendid business man and 

 imbued with a lot of good common sense, is a great debater and presiding 

 ofticer. and a clear thinker. Tf we had more men of that character in public 

 offices today it would mean much to the people and certainly would protect 

 I he business interests of .\nierica from the office holders who now seem 

 lo preside in national and local otTues. When people in a community do 

 not elect a man like Babcock it is because they do not know what tbcy 

 arc doing; there are certainly enough impracticable men elected and 

 K. V. is a practical politiean as well as an bnnest liusiness man, and we 

 hope Pennsylvania will not ilisgraci' our nativity by electing a man other 

 than E. V. as iiiavor. 



The Riecks-McCreight Lumber Company is largely interested in a new 

 operation known as the Giles Bay Lumber Company, which is building a 

 sawmill at Florence, S. C. C. V. Mci'reight of this company is down at 

 the new operation this week. 



The American Lumber c& Manufacturing Company reports business fair 

 in all lines except yard trade. Shipments are coming forward probably 

 70 per cent good. The company is looking for a very bad car shortage 

 this fall, which is likely to brace up prices. 



The J. C: Cottrell Comiiany says that there is considerable business 

 going around among the manufacturers, who are taking hardwood for their 

 fall needs. The stocks at local mills are not large and the tendency In 

 both demand and quotations is very firm. J. L. Lytic reports the general 

 situation not very bright. Yard trade is almost entirely lacking and whole- 

 salers have to look to industrial concerns tor most of their business. 



H. K. Domhoft, president of the Acorn Lumber Company, is taking a 

 week's vacation in his auto, and H. W. Henninger of the same company 

 has just returned from a two week's outing in the country. Mr. Hen- 

 ninger reports a very good trade with the glass companies, who are taking 

 from 30 per cent to 35 per cent more for their stock than last year. 



R. F. Utley, Chicago manager for the Aberdeen Lumber Company, is 

 down South looking over stocks of gum and Cottonwood. The Aberdeen 

 expects a very good fall market with all manufacturers who use these 

 stocks, as available yard stocks are not large. 



The Bradley Lumber Company had the biggest business In its history in 

 -August, especially in shipments. Mr. Bradley reports a fair demand in most 

 lines for lumber and believes that fall business will be quite up to the 

 average. 



-■< BUFFALO > 



A leading Buffalo member of the trim trade said recently that his 

 business was about as dull as he had seen it in a long time. Building has 

 run down very fast this season and members of the trade say that it is 

 wages and specialties that go into it that have produced the falling off. 

 The actual cost of lumber is not far enough advanced to cause any such 

 standstill. It is the plumber and the carpenter who have cut out build- 

 ing. 



Buffalo is trying hard to return to the building of wooden ships, but will 

 not be ready to do much this year, so that oak and other timbers suitable 

 lor that business have to so mostly to Ibe coast for a market. The 

 inquiry is good lor this kind of stock. 



August made one of the poorest record.s in tin; local building trade. The 

 total cost of permits was .fl,2in,000, as against ¥1,750,000 in August. 

 191G. This is a falling oft of 30 ijer cent. For the first eight months of 

 the year the costs were ,'i;7,233,000, compared with $8,(',.".3,0(Hi in that 

 time last year, a decline of 10 per cent. Influence of the war is manifest 

 in the trade, and builders and lumbermen are not inclined to be very opti- 

 mistic as to the remainder of the year. 



The receipt.s of lumber by lake for August were on a larger scale than 

 in August, 1910, though for the season as a whole a decline of 22 per cent 

 is shown. August receipts were 9.905,000 feet, as compared with 8,S9S,000 

 in that month of 1910. For the season to September 1 receipts were 32.- 

 I.M.OOO. as against 39,102,000 feet in the same period of last year. 



Handlers of lundier and flooring from Michigan and Wisconsin report 

 continued troubli' in getting shipments forwarded from the mills. It has 

 been found advisable to have a representative on the ground in order to 

 get the lumber started to this market. The roads are unable to get cars 

 enough to keep stocks moving. 



H. B. Gorsline, of the National Lumber Company, has been spending two 

 weeks in Michigan, looking after the shipment of maple flooring from the 

 mills, which are unusually short of cars. 



The steamer Northwest, one of the finest i asscnger boats on the Great 

 Lakes, has been sold to Charles A. Finnegan, of tins city. The vessel has 

 been out of commission for the past six jears as the result of a serious 

 fire, but the engines and boilers are still in good shape. The Northwest 

 was built for .lames J. Hill in 1892 and was a floating palace with splendid 

 mahogany trim and everything in keeping. The cost was .'?1, 000. 000 and 

 so great that the vessel never was able to pay expenses during the short 

 lake season, though she and a sister ship, the Northland, ran Un- years 

 between Buffalo and Duluth. 



= -< PITTSBURGH >-= 



< BALTIMORE y 



Having received information that it would be possible to obtain steamer 

 room for France, Ferd Brenner of the Ferd Brenner Lumber Company, 

 Alexandria, La., has gone on a trip to New York to see about the matter 

 in the hope of getting off a number of large shipments intended for the 

 French republic. He has also taken steps to get details about steamship 

 conditions at other ports, with a view to having extensive shipments at 

 eastern terminals moved to their destination. Mr. Brenner's visit, how- 

 ever, bad a two-fold object, the other being to see his son, who has been 

 commissioned a lieutenant in the Forestry Regiment, raised in the United 

 States for France, off at New York. He was accompanied by his wife and 

 stopped over in Baltimore for a lengthy conference with Ilarvcy M. Dick- 

 son, secretary of the National Lumber Exporters' .Vssociation. Mr. 

 Brenner was here on -Vugust 28. Ills company has been doing a large 

 export business. 



.-\notber visitor was D. E. Matthews of L. O. Snuth & Co., hardwood 

 exporters at Charleston, W. Va. Mr. Matthews arrived here on .Vugust 

 31 to inquire into the movement of various cars of lumber which have 

 been held up. He got in touch with the railroad officials and also saw 

 Secretary Dickson of the N. L. E. .\., whom he consulted with regard 

 to the prospects for a prompt movement of exports. 



The present activity in the construction of woo4len ships has given a 

 lug impetus to an indvistry which ordinarily receives little attention — 

 that of the manufacture of tree nails. These are rounded pieces of locust 

 about one inch in diameter and from a toot to several feet long, which are 

 used for fastening the deck planks in vessels and for other work con- 

 nected with the building of craft. The J. S. Ho.skins Lumber Company, 

 -Maryland Casualty Company tower, nuikes a specialty of these tree nails 

 and ships carloads as far as the Pacific coast. The Iloskins company 

 reports the demand for various wood jiroducts which it handles, such as 

 piles and planking, very active and that it is far behind In its deliveries 

 because of a lack of railroad cars. It could use 2."iO cars immediately, if 

 they were availabb 



=-< COLUMBUS > 



K. V. Babcock, president of the Babcock Lumber Company, is making 

 an unusually strong run for mayor of Pittsburgh. He was endorsed this 

 week by the Pittsburgh Wholesale Lumber Dealers' .\ssoctatlon. 



The report of the building dciianiiii'iit lor .Vugust shows that building 

 activities are still slow hut department officials declare that the sharpness 

 of the decreases is partly due to the fact that 1910 was a banner year for 

 building and that comparisons with the figures of 1916 arc bound to 

 show a greater decrease than would ordinarily be the ease. In .Vugust, 

 1917, 130 iiermits were issued as against 284 the year before. -The valua- 

 tion was $283,725 compared to .1>54S.720 the preceding year, .luly figures 

 were 101 permits with a value of .f20S.735 in 1917 and 20S permits with a 

 total value of $503,085 in 191G. 1 Hiring the eight months of 191t;, 2,234 

 permits were granted by the department with a valuation of 15,273,240 

 and in the first eight months of this year 1,523 p'-i-mits were taken out 

 valued at .$2,987,190. 



("(dumbus real estate men ami building contrac-tor- ar<' getting ready 

 for the real estate and building show which It is practically assured will 

 be given here some time during the first part of the year. .Vt a meeting 

 last week the t'olundtus Builders' .and Traders' Exchange pledged Its 

 co-operation m furthering the plans for the show and a committee of five 

 was appointed to work with a similar committee from the real estate 

 board in arranging iletalls and selecting a plan for promotiijg the show. 

 L. C. Vinson and his brother Merritt A. Vinson of Cleveland, who have 

 been getting up these shows for several .years will have charge of the 

 Columbus exhibition which will be held at the Ohio state fair grounds. 



The Commercial Improvement Company has started work on a one-story 

 huilding at Third and Spring streets, that will cover one-fourth of a 



