20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



octiiiiiT •>:•. r.ni 



latter rpc'i'ivoil soiiio onlcrs for hardwood ship Sfhodulos before tho 

 policy was adojitod of placinjj orders elsewhere. 



Tlie developiiioiits of interest to the hardwood industry in connection 

 with tlie wooden shipbuilding program are tho report that a lot of 

 oak Hitch timber may be ordered to be used instead of yellow pine 

 flitclu's in some instances, and that osage orange has been tested to 

 deti'nnine its suitability for the manufacture of treenails for use in 

 buildiufj wooden sliijjs. It is said that osajje orange has been found 

 satisfactory, and the present understanding in hardwood lumber 

 circles is that it may be useil for treenails as well as locust, oak and 

 eucalyptus, heretofore siiecified for that jiurpose. 



Hardwoods Not Affected by Commandeer Order 



The second comuiandcor order of the shii'iiing board did not hit 

 hardwood any more than the first order of this kind. The second one 

 merely modifies the first commandeer order with reference to yellow 

 pine timbers, so that it will not apply to car sills, some other car stock, 

 certain bridge timbers and other materials not needed by the shipping 

 board in such <)uantities as they are available. The modification also 

 excludes certain luniher and timber over 30 feet long, absolutely 

 all of which was commandeered under the first order. 



Lumbermen say that the new order will ease u|i on many mills 

 which are loatled up with some of the smaller stuff that the shipping 

 board previously commandeered. It will relieve the demand for some 

 of this material in the market and enable mills cutting ship schedules 

 to unload some of tho stuff they have on hand. The modification 

 was roconnnonded by prominent lumbermen and by railroad men who 

 thought that the building of cars might be stopjjed under the first 

 order. 



Tho modification does not go so far as to permit free shipment of 

 the larger timbers actually needed by the shipping board, but which 

 aro not up to that Ijody's standard of specifications as to grade, etc., 

 but it is expected that the shipping board officials will be lenient in 

 this matter as in the matter of boards and other stock not very heavy 

 but which is included within the terms of the new order to com- 

 mandeer all lumber having a 12-inc)i face and 24 feet or longer. 



The policy of the board oflicials, it is understood, has been to 

 permit many individual shipments for private purposes even under 

 its first commandeer order, which was much broader than the new 

 one. Such permissions were granted pending modification of the order 

 and because the board officials realized that they did not need every- 

 thing they commandeered at first. The modified commandeer order 

 as signed by Admiral Capps, general manager of the Emergency 

 Fleet Corporation, is as follows: 



The need for lunihcr in the larger sizes for shipliuililing purposes is so 

 great that it appears to be necessary to take radical steps in order to secure 

 the success of the wood shipl)iuldin;? program. On account of unsatisfac- 

 tory deliveries to ilatc. wc find it necessary to control, to a certain extent, 

 the sawmill output of large sizes in long leaf yellow pine. 



By authorily vesteil in the President ot the I'uileil States by Congress in 

 nn act entitled ".Vn Act nialsiug appropriations to supply urgent deficiencies 

 in appropriations for the military and naval establishments on account of 

 w-ar expenses for the fiscal year ending June .'JO, lillT. and for other pur- 

 poses." which act became a law on June 30, 1917, and by authority dele- 

 gated to the fuitcil ."States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation by 

 executive order of the President in his proclamation dated the 11th day 

 of July. 1017, copy of which is attached hereto : I hereby reiiuire and order : 



That you place at the disposal of the I'nited States Shipping Hoard 

 Emergency Fleet Corporation all long leaf yellow pine lumber prttduced by 

 .vou haviug a face 12" wi<lc or over ami a length of 24' or l<>iiger. and de- 

 liver the same, or parts thereof, in such cpiantities and at such times and 

 to such persons as may be specified in orders iiereafter to be given you, 

 and that you do not sell or dispose of said lumber or any part thereof 

 unless you first obtain authority from the United States Shipping Hoard 

 Eftiergency Fleet Corporation or the Priority Committee of the War Indus- 

 tries Koard, 



This letter supersedes all previous instructions of a similar nature. An 

 immediate acknowledgement of the receipt of this letter is requested. 



Confident of Continuance of Wooden Ship Program 



The shipjiing board lias been periuitting sliipincuts of '>0-foot stock 

 by mills that are not cutting ship schedules. 



The question of a retroactive price for the first 100 yellow pine 

 ship schedules was not settled at the last reports. F. L. Sanford, 

 representing the Southern Pine Emergency Bureau ship price com- 

 mittee, was in touch with the shipping board officials for some days 



carrying on negotiations over the matter, liut there was no :igrcemeut 

 before he returned south. The luiuberinen want .$40 or more per 

 1000 feet, it is reported. 



It is further reported that as a residt of the alleged disagreement 

 on th? subject between the lundiernien and the shijiping board, the 

 Federal Trade Commission has been asked to serve practically as 

 arbitrator, in accordance with the terms of the understanding reached 

 some time ago between the board ami the southern [line people. The 

 trade commission has been investigating the cost of production in the 

 lumber industry for some time, especially with reference to ship 

 sehedides, but its report is said not to be ready. With a view to 

 getting quick action in the way of a report which will be utilized 

 by the shipping bojird in fixing the retroactive price on ship schedules, 

 it is said that a number of lumbermen h,ave advised the commission 

 that they will waive hearing on the tentative findings of the com- 

 mission as to tho cost of production. 



The trade commission 's investigation has gone far enough to con- 

 vince lumbermen here who are well informed that pine ship schedules 

 ordered by the government hereafter will be pjaid for at prices a good 

 deal higher than those heretofore agreed to by the government author- 

 ities. If this should turn out to be true, the question is likely to bo 

 asked, Why .should not hardwood ship .schedules bring higher prices 

 al.so ? as the cost of production, including labor and materials, and 

 the difliculties of operation, have increased in tho harclwood industry 

 as well as in other branches of the lumber industry. 



That there can be and probably will be a great many more ship 

 schedules produced in the United States than have yet been ordered 

 unless the war should suddenly come to an end, is the belief of lumber- 

 men here who are well informed about the timber resources of the 

 country. They hold to this belief despite recurring reports that the 

 wooden ship program has been abandoned, etc. Tho basis for the latest 

 report along this line is apparently found in a letter from Admiral 

 Capps to Senator Chamberlain of Oregon, in part as follows: 



As you will recall In our very recent interview, I stated at considerable 

 length the conrlitions governing the action of the tieet corporation at the 

 present time with reference to the construction of wooden vessels. The 

 present unsettled conditions of labor on the west coast and the difficulty of 

 obtaining material of suflicient (juantity ami with suHieient promptness on 

 the Atlantic and (Juif coasts are seri'Hisly interfering with our wooden 

 ship program. I also stated very frankly that the Iiuilding of compara- 

 tively small eapacit.v wooden vessels if large cai)ncity sti'el vessels could 

 be built as (juickly was not to the advantage of the government in this 

 crisis. 



This was dateil .September 17 and it is claijiied that conditions, espe- 

 cially in the South, have improved considerably since then. Although 

 writing against wooden ships, there is reason to believe that govern- 

 ment officials, who realize the seriousness of the submarine campaign, 

 would be glad to have more wooden ships or any other kind of vessels. 

 As a matter of fact, it is claimed that the full wooden shipbuilding 

 resources of the country are not being utilized. There are said to be 

 many small yards that are not being utilized, the policy seeming to be 

 to give contracts to large yards and to build government shipbuilding 

 yards, which takes a long time. 



In connection with the latter it is reported that 50,000,000 feet or 

 possibly more timber and heavy lumber will ultimately be required to 

 build docks, ship ways and other preliminary construction at the Hog 

 Island government shipbuilding plant where the fabricated steel vessels 

 are to be put together, it is said, at the rate of one per day, more or 

 less. 



Orders for 20,000,000 feet of this stuff, besides a lot of piles, have 

 been distriljuted at the suggestion of the lumber committee. Piles 

 were ordered by the thousand from the Georgia-Florida Yellow Pine 

 Emergency Bureau, it is understood, at 8 cents each. The same 

 bureau received orders for about 3,000,000 feet, dividing with the 

 Southern Pine Emergency Bureau on the basis of one-fourth and 

 three-fourths, the order for some 12,000,000 feet of timber less than 

 12 inches square. The Douglas Fir Emergency Bureau was given 

 orders for about 8,000,000 feet of timber 12 by 12 inches and larger 

 for Hog Island construction work. 



One difficulty about the government shii)ping program, it is as- 

 serted, is the lack of terminal facilities sufficient to handle the traffic 

 that will be borne overseas for American army and allied needs. 



