34b 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



IK-<cmbcr 10, 1917 



Association, was instructed at tlic Joint meetlnp to proceed to Washington 

 to prepare for the coiiiinitloe's visit, lie will nscertnin wiiat is necessary 

 to be (ione to (il)taln ri'llef, so tliat tlie comnilttee will lie in position to lake 

 ilie must effective inc'iuis piisslhle to acconip'isli tlie purpose of the visit. 

 Mr. Townshend left lieci'iiiber 4 for Waslilnston. Meantime the committee 

 will hcRln the compilation of the data hearluR on the subject nt issue and 

 will respond immediately to a call friiin Mr. Townshend to come to 

 Washington. 



The report to lie compiled by the ciimmlttee will not only show tn what 

 extent hardwood nmnufacture Is being forcibly curtailed through the short- 

 age of cars. b\it It will also show how many government onlers in the 

 hands of hardwiM.d manufacturers are luMng delayed through lack of the 

 necessary cars for handling raw material to the mills. The committee 

 will also. In accordance with a motion offered by .John W. McClure, prepare 

 -tatistics showing the enormous quantities of hardwood lumber on hand 

 at present at the mills, as result of shortage of equipment for its trans- 

 portation, and will also show imw vast are the requirements of the gov- 

 .rnnient for liardwood lumber. 



Reports made to the meeting showed tliat logs are piling up along the 

 lines of railway in the southern liardwood region because of inability of 

 the railroads to furnish transportation to the mills and that lumber plants, 

 in consequence, are operating with only a scant supply of logs on hand. 

 They also indicateil that many of the mills are being forced now to shut 

 down at intervals because they have to await logs before they can operate. 

 .T. W. Dickson, president of the Valley liOg Loading Company, said that 

 his firm Imd been seriously handicapped all autumn through car shortage 

 and that part of Its machinery would have to suspend oiierations because 

 there are not sufficient cars to keep the loaders busy. He said that it had 

 licen impossible to operate the equivalent of two full weeks on the Mem- 

 phis-Marianna cut-off on the St. I.ouis, Iron Mountain & Southern the 

 entire fall. 



W. B. Morgan of the Morgan Veneer Company. I'ine Bluff. Ark., reported 

 the car supply in the I'ine Bluff district wholly inadequate with the result 

 that many mills were on the verge of a shut-down. 



Operators nf mills in the country districts declared that they liave large 

 quantities of fuel wood ready for moving and no cars in which to move it. 

 It was decided that efforts should be made to secure cars for handling this 

 fuel wood with a view to relieving the coal shortage. 



Transit arrangements also came in for much discussion. Under present 

 plans lumber manufactured from certain logs must be shipped out over the 

 line of railway which brought in the logs. It was agreed that some modi- 

 fication of this arrangement would be necessary during the period o/ the 

 war. since any effort of the roads to insist on the terms of this transit 

 agreement would render ineffective, a general distribution of cars among ail 

 the roads. This will also be taken up with the authorities at Washington. 

 Walker Wellford of the Chickasaw Cooperage Company and president of 

 .\ssociated Cooperage Industries, gave it as his opinion that the car supply 

 in the South would not be materially increased until more export freight 

 is moved through the gulf ports. He declared that South Atlantic and 

 gulf ports have been practically abandoned since the beginning of the war, 

 with tremendous resultant congestion of freight cars enroute to North 

 Atlantic ports. 



Frank F. Fee of the Fee-Crayton Hardwood I..umber Company suggested 

 that proper thought be given to the building of cars for logs and lumber 

 to give greater capacity. 



Elliott Lang of R. .T. Parneli, Inc.. recently returned from Washington, 

 said he had enlightened the Car Service Commission on the car situation 

 south as affecting hardwoods and that some relief had been promised. 



Other lumbermen back from Washington reported that the government is 

 anxious that hardwood mills be operated continuously at full capacity 

 because their operation is regarded as a vital factor in the successful 

 prosecution of the war. 



E. O. Davis, acting secretary of the recently launched Southwestern 

 Manufacturers' Club, Beaumont. Tex., announced that that organization 

 would co-operate in any movement looking to relief from the present un- 

 favorable car situation. 



The opinion was freely expressed during the meeting that the railroads 

 are not doing their utmost to furnish relief. Complaints were registered 

 on the score of delays in placing empties, of pulling loaded cars, of poor 

 handling, of insufficient switching and of other deficiencies in the man- 

 agement of the roads. These complaints, substantiated by relation of 

 actual experience in this respect, will be embodied in the report to be 

 submitted to the Car Service Commission and tite Interstate Commerce 

 Commission at Washington. 



The need of a representative of the Southern Hardwood Traffic -Associa- 

 tion in Washington for the period of the war was discussed favorably but 

 action thereon will not be taken until the next meeting of the board of 

 governors of this organization. 



Transportation Committee Meets 



The transportation comndttee of the National Lumber Manufacturers' 

 As.sociation nu't December I at the Lumber Exchange building, Chicago, 

 and the following representatives were in attendance: 



California Redwood Association — W. K. McMillan. 



ilichigan Harilwood Manufacturers' Association — .T. C. Knox. 



.N'ortbern Hemlock & Hardwood Manufacturers' Association — A. L. Os- 

 born. 



.Southern Cypress Manufacturers' Association — E. W. McKay. 



Southern Tine .Vssoclation — A. G. T. Moore, W. T. Hancock, F. G. 

 Wlsner, <i. F. Thomas. 



West Coast Lumbermen's Association and Western I'ine Manufacturers 

 .\ssoclatlon — L. S. Mclntyre. 



North Carolina I'ine Association. Northern I'ine ,\ssoi'iatlon. Western 

 Carolina Lumber & Thnber .\ssoclatlon — Represented by W. A. Wlmblsh. 



.Vatlonal Lumber Manufacturers' Association- -R. S. Kellogg. 



National .Vssoeiatlon of Box Manufacturers — .Tas. C. Jeffrey. 



The main purpose of the meeting, as announced in the call, was the con- 

 sideration of the tentative final report of Examiner* Esch under I. C. C. 

 Docket No. 81.31. After full discussion of the various aspects of the case 

 the following resolution was unanimously adopteil as exiiresslng the atti- 

 tude of the committee thereon : 



The transportation committee of the National Lundier Manufacturers' 

 Association once more reafhrms its position with respect to the proposed 

 reclassification of lumber as expressed in the rcsidutioii adopted at the 

 meeting on Seriti'inber l(i, 11)15, the meeting on .January 

 17, l'.iI7. and still further expressed through the proposed classi- 

 lication recommended by the committee under date of April 4, 

 11117. the latter elassilication specifying three groups of articles — viz., 

 (Jroup N'o. 1 listing products of saw and planing mills and aecessor.v lumber 

 plants that should move uniformly on the lumber rate throughout the 

 United States, whether in straight or mixed carloads; (Jroiip No. 2, prod- 

 iK'Is of a more advanced stage of manufacture which may properl.v take a 

 higher rate than lumber, and Group No. 3. miseellaneous forest products 

 which should be accorded specific rates based up(»n the merits of individual 

 eases, and in general lower than lumber rates, but in no cases higher than 

 lumber rates. 



The committee reaffirms all of its previous declarations and statements 

 of position presented to the commission under Docket 81.31, which are a 

 matter of record, and believes that the tentative conclusions of Examiner 

 lOsch in this case are not in accordance with these prini'iples nor based 

 upon e\'idence presented at the hearing. 



In view of the existing conditions confronting the countr.v growing out 

 of the war and the radical nature of the examiner's tentative conclusions 

 and the disruption which would result if adopted, we urge that this case 

 be put on the indefinitely suspended docket, and if the commission do not 

 see fit to sanction such procedure that the report of the examiner be sub- 

 ject to further hearing by the commission and presentation of pertinent 

 evidence by counsel representing the National Lumber Manufacturers' As- 

 sociation and its affiliated interests. 



The secretary was instructed to transmit copy of this resolution to the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission, and also to the carriers who appeared 

 in the ca.se. He was also instructed to ask the secretary of the affiliated 

 associations to furnish .Judge Wlmblsh with a statement of their exceptions 

 to the Esch findings and proposals not later than December 10, in order 

 that he may bring all of the matter together for presentation to the com- 

 mission. 



Baltimore Lumber Exchange 



The annual meeting of the Baltimore Lumber Exchange was held Decem- 

 ber 3 at tlie Merchants' Club, and an attempt was made to put the exchange 

 on a better footing. That was the keynote of -Pembroke M'. Womble's 

 address. He pointed out that concert among the members was what was 

 needed, and he urged that pettj- jealousies be forgotten and all members 

 work together. 



This idea found further expression in the recommendation, contained 

 in the annual report of the president, Parker D. Dix. that a room or rooms 

 be secured, which would be used as permanent headquarters of the 

 exchange, to be open during certain hours every day. where the members 

 might meet to get better acquainted and where business and other matters 

 rould be talked over, witli the result of making the headquarters a central 

 point for the trade. This recommendation was approved by the exchange 

 by unanimous vote. 



A patriotic touch was introduced, suitable to the war situation, when 

 Rufus K. Goodenow proposed that a standing toast be drunk to the Presi- 

 dent of the United States. 



John L. .\lcock in the course of a few remarks at the dinner following 

 the business session expressed his high appreciation of the privilege of 

 being an .\merican citizen, which, he said, lie had gained, not by birth, but 

 from choice, he having come from England and been naturalized. Mr. 

 Alcock went on to say that this privilege carried with it certain solemn 

 obligations, which at this time called for self-sacrifice and high patriotism, 

 to the end that the blessings of peace might again be vouchsafed to the 

 peoples of the world. 



Various other short addresses were delivered as the company lingered 

 over coffee and cigars. 



The dinner lacked some of the more elaborate features of similar events 

 of former .vears in consideration of the fact that this is war time. The 

 decorations and entertainment were omitted, though the menu was very 

 substantial and not less enjoyable than before. The feast was preceded 

 by the business session at which the annual reports of the officers were 

 read and the annual election took place. The reports showed the exchange 

 to be in good condition, with 9,140,082 feet of hardwoods inspected during 

 the j'ear, which is rather over the average and shows a good volume of 

 business done. Of course, the vast bulk of the business going through 

 the hands of the Baltimore lumbermen is not inspected here, so that the 

 records of the exchange inspection do not really show the amount of 

 trade. 



President Dix in his address stated that the volume of business for the 

 past year compared favorably with former years, though the past year 

 was one of the most trying and vexatious the exchange has had in its 

 history. He expressed apprehension that the coming year would bring 

 trials and vexations, and that owing to the enormous calls for foodstuffs 

 and other supplies, the bo.x and shook manufacturers will have consider- 



