42 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



IllM'I'llllll 



T. J. McDonald, well-known timber estimator of Knoxville, Tenn., has 

 been spending the past couple of weeks in Chicago on important timber 

 matters. Mr. McDonald reports that the timber business Is showing 

 considerable activity at this time and promises even more after the first 

 of the year. 



r. J. Moore of the Expanded Wood Company, a subsidiary of the 

 ICvansviiie Veneer Company, Evansvllle, Ind., was in the city for a couple 

 of days last week. Mr. Moore reports that there is a promising future for 

 his expanded or sewed veneer for package purposes as soon as It gets 

 through certain red tape connected with government sanction. 



Mr. Hancock and Mr. Eddy of the Grand Kapids Dry Kiln Company, 

 Grand Rapids, Mich., represented their concern in Chicago during the 

 sessions of tlic farm wagon manufacturers. 



N. A. Gladding, vice-president in charge of sales of E. C. Atkins & Co., 

 Inc., the silver steel saw company, Indianapolis, was in the city for a few 

 days about ton days ago and honored II.mihwooo Ukcoiui l)y calling at its 

 offices. Mr. Gladding says that there is extreme activity in the saw 

 business and that his company has been fortunate in being able to take care 

 of Its trade in good shape. 



E. J. GiUouly, formerly sales manager of the Foster-Latimer Lumber 

 Company, Mellen, Wis., now captain in the twentieth engineers forestry 

 regiment, passed through Chicago on Thursday of last week to take up his 

 duties at Washington. Mr. C.illouly is enthusiastic over the prospective 

 work ahead of him. 



Other prominent northern visitors were H. F. Bekiw of the liolow Lumber 

 Company. Stanley. Wis. ; W. C. Boden, Kneeland-McLurg Lumber Company. 

 Phillips, Wis. : William Dawley of Dawley Lumber Company, Wausau. and 

 Fred Eader of John S. Andrews Lumber Co., Escanaba, Mich. 



Maurice Welsh of the Lamb-Fish Lumber Company, Charleston, Miss., 

 was also in town last week. 



=-< PITTSBURGH >= 



The American Lumber & Manufacturing Company is making splendid 

 headway in delivering its order of 21,000,000 feet of ship timbers to the 

 United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation at Portland, 

 N. H. Oak is being shipped from the company's new planing mill at 

 Lenox, Ky., and the flr timber from Its mills at Aberdeen, Wash,, and 

 Highland and Portland, Ore. 



Jos. W. Cottrell of the Jos. W. Cottrell Lumber Company has Its south- 

 ern mills busy cutting hardwoods. Its trade is very dull with the Indus- 

 trial concerns and Mr. Cottrell complains bitterly of the difficulties in 

 getting lumber shipped. 



The West Penn Lumber Company is making a specialty of industrial and 

 manufacturing trade this year and finds that in this line business is bet- 

 ter than fair. Prices are good and the demand is pretty active in many 

 places. 



Fred R. Babcock of the Babcock Lumber Company and W. H. Schuette 

 of William Schuette & Co. have submitted to the War Industries Board 

 a plan which they believe will prove of great assistance to the government 

 in connection with handling the problem involved in securing an adequate 

 supply of lumber. This involves an organization of lumbermen meeting 

 voluntarily for the government and under conditions which would make 

 possible the supply of lumber material so badly needed now. 



-•<, BOSTON y 



The annual meeting of the Massachusetts Wholesale Lumber Associa- 

 tion, Inc., was held at Boston, December 13. The officers elected are : 

 President, H. W. McDonough ; vice-president, H. M. BicTiford ; treasurer, 

 E. C. Hammond ; secretary, Arthur M. Moore ; directors, the president, vice- 

 presidcnt. treasurer and Wm. Bacon, Geo. E. Fisher, Morris A. Hall, Harry 

 C. I'hilbrick, K. W. Hobart, H. B. Stebbins, W. M. Weston and C. P. 

 Woodworth. One item In the calendar of the meeting was an establish- 

 ment of a uniform practice among the trade in accounting and assum- 

 ing the three per cent freight tax. After considering many views, the 

 majority being in support of the policy finally agreed on, it was voted 

 that the members should in future quotations or other reference to prices, 

 formally advise tliat the same are "free from tax and freight advances." 

 It was not thought practical to adopt any recommendation on current 

 transactions. The Massachusetts association voted to join the Chaml)er of 

 Commerce of V. S. A., to commit the subject of credit reforms and intro- 

 duction of acceptances for later report and to conduct an energetic cam- 

 paign for the Halifax Relief Corp. F. A. H. Street, 1st Cand. Contingent, 

 related personal experiences and conclusions after three years in the 

 trenches ; much Interest was manifested, as many of those present have 

 sons or relatives in the service at this time. 



=-< BALTIMORE >- 



plied by the Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and Power Company of this 

 city, and the company, being unable to get coal except in small quantities 

 from day to day, last week cut off the current, forcing the factories to 

 shut down. The interruption was only for a short time, to be sure, but 

 tlie situation continues grave, and it may be necessary to close again at 

 any time. 



To meet the need of increased housing facilities to take care of the 

 additional population attracted by work in munitions and other plants 

 iiere a corporation has been formed under the name of the Dundalk Com- 

 pany to erect some 500 frame houses at Dundalk, a section on the way 

 toward the plant of the Bethlehem Steel Company at Sparrows Point. 

 Tlie Dundalk Company has invited bids tor the erection of the houses, 

 tliougli there is a possibility now that the coal famine and the suspension 

 of work lit Sparrows Point, until almost the entire plant is closed, may 

 cause a deferment of the operation. Hundreds of other houses in dif- 

 ferent sections are projected because of the pressure for homes, and the 

 outlook for the use of large quantities of luml)cr is very encouraging. 



The Bagby Furniture Company, manufacturer of furniture in this city, 

 has leased for a term of years a five-story wareliouse at 109 West German 

 street, and will use It as show and sales rooms. The company is now 

 located on Hanover street. 



A report has been received here to the effect that the Winchester and 

 Western Railroad Company, which has embarked upon the construction 

 of a line from the Baltimore & Ohio at Winchester. Va., to WardensvlUe, 

 W. Va., a distance of about forty miles, will continue work all the winter 

 In order to get the road in operation as soon as possible. The project 

 is being promoted by capitalists interested in the Lost River Lumber 

 Company, of which former Governor William B. Cornwell of West Vir- 

 ginia, is president, and the road will serve as an outlet for the products 

 of the lumber company, though also doing a general transportation busi- 

 ness and opening up a valuable section of West Virginia rich in natural 

 resources. 



President R. E. Wood of the R. E. Wood Lumber Company, is in receipt 

 of a letter from his brother. Major G. L. Wood, formerly vice-president 

 and general manager of the company, who resigned to Join the Forestry 

 Regiment for service in France. Major Wood writes that he is well, but 

 that the command has experienced much bad weather, with a good deal 

 of snow and frequent fogs. As to his work there he is, of course, 

 reticent. 



George Brenton Cearfoss, formerly engaged In the hardwood trade, mak- 

 ing a specialty of walnut logs, with offices in this city, died at his home 

 in the suburbs, December 14, after a lingering illness. Mr. Cearfoss was 

 born at Hagerstown fifty-six years ago. He retired some years ago owing 

 to increasing Infirmities. He Is survived by his wife, a son and two 

 daughters. 



Unusual cold with mucli snow has interti red greatly with the lumber 

 trade. Some of the mUls have had to shut down for the most part, and 

 logging has come wellnigh to a standstill, giving the end of the year a 

 far more quiet aspect than is ordinarily the case. The bad weather, but 

 even more the railroad situation, has served to interfere with the coal 

 movement to such a degree that many of the woodworking plants are 

 seriously inconvenienced, and extensive suspensions of operation are quite 

 frequent. Some of these factories are operated with electric power sup- 



=-< COLUMBUS >■= 



That building cost is as low at present as it is likely to be for some 

 time is the keynote of a report recently made by the Columbus Lumber 

 Company. According to Seymour Brown, head of the concern, dealers in 

 hardwoods and in fact all lines of building materials should campaign on 

 that line. He says that throughout the United States there are a lot of 

 far-seeing individuals who are putting their surplus money in safe 

 Investments in real estate and buildings. He claims that there is no 

 chance for lower prices for several years to come, even after the close 

 of the war. 



At Columbus the Hedges & Clark Company has sold out to the E. A. 

 Prentice Company. 



The court of common pleas of Williams county has entered an order 

 dissolving the Montpelier Hoop & Lumber Company. 



Fire of a mysterious origin destroyed the yard and plant of Fred Hoff- 

 man Sons at Toungstown, O., about the middle of December. The loss is 

 estimated at $60,000. 



One of the features of the lumber business is the strong demand from 

 rural districts. This is especially true in the more prosperous farming 

 communities. Farmers are building barns, outbuildings, corn cribs and 

 houses of all kinds. In fact there is more building in the rural sections 

 of Ohio than has ever been known. The lumber interests and especially 

 hardwood business is benefiting by this building movement. 



R. W. Horton of the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company reports a good 

 demand for hardwoods, although bad shipping facilities are holding up 

 deliveries to a large degree. He says orders for future shipment are 

 coming in well, both from retailers and factories. The inventory period 

 is now upon dealers and they are not buying so readily as formerly. 

 Prices are firm and every change is toward higher levels. 



■< CLEVELANDy 



Considerable low-grade hardwood, for use in packages being made for the 

 government, was destro.ved in a fire which razed the plant of the Cleveland 

 Box Company, West Third street and Cuyahoga river, when the storm that 

 hit Cleveland last week was at its height. All told .$50,000 damage was 

 done. Only by strenuous efforts of the firemen was the blaze prevented 

 from spreading to other plants in the vicinity. 



Max Mehrlander, one of the best known members of the hardwood Indus' 

 try of Cleveland and northern Ohio, died and was buried here last week. 

 Prominent members of the lumber and building materials Industries were 



