January 2j, 1918 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



4S 



Indianians Come Home Again 



Hoobier hardwood men met again at the famous annual home- 

 coming in Indianapolis on Thursday, January twenty-four. 



The Claypool Hotel was once more the meeting place. In spite 

 of groat diflicultics in traveling there was a recorii crowd on liand, 

 many former Iloosicrs now located at distant points preferring to 

 risk the long trip rather than miss the visit with old friends from 

 the home state. 



Fish Gives Valuable Information 



Secretary Frank F. Fish of the National Hariiwood Lumber ^As- 

 sociation was the principal speaker. Mr. Fish who has put in most 

 of recent months witli Washington ofbcialdom and who is now in 

 charge of the new War Service Bureau whicli the National has just 

 installed at Washington was most interesting in his description 

 of things as he found them in the nation's capital. He reviewed 

 the history of lumber purchases by the many government depart- 

 ments and with startling statements of amounts involved brought 

 a realization of the vital importance of agencies to facilitate the 

 stupendous buying job which confronts those responsible. 



He told of ways in which his bureau has already been of big 

 help and urged Indiana hardwood men to speedily file with him the 

 complete information he is seeking in order to keep himself posted 

 up to date on stocks, character of timber producing facilities and 

 ability to produce specialized materials, available among the mem- 

 bership. 



Mr. Fish spoke of the splendid work done by R. H. Downman in 

 charge of lumber purchases for this and allied governments. Illus- 

 trating the magnitude of the purchases ho said that the navy 

 buys a million feet of lumber a day. Much of this stock is going 

 into shipyards, docks, boats, etc. At one yard alone (Hog Island) 

 two hundred million feet have been used to provide facilities for 

 building fifty ships at one time. There are four or five other yards 

 of equal importance. In the hardwood end one contractor alone 

 has consumed over thirt}' million feet of oak in making cabin trim 

 for steel merchant boats. 



He said "After my frequent visits to the various departments 

 at Washington I am convinced that the shipping board is doing 

 better work than ever and that the progress being made cannot 

 possibly be measured from outside observation. It is because we 

 can offer the government so much real aid with our nine hundred 

 members having large producing capacity and full stocks on hand 

 that the Washington oifice was opened. We are at the service of 

 the whole hardwood trade and hope that if you have received our 

 letter you will speedily give us the information we seek therein." 



Mr. Fish said that the association will finance the bureau for 

 the present and then -went on to teU of various directions in which 

 trade can be increased in government work which assures quick 

 delivery of shipments. He said that since the first of August the 

 army vehicle board has sold to Uncle Sam one hundred and thirty- 

 four thousand escort wagons, twenty-five thousand carts and one 

 million extra wheels. This material from now on wdll be pur- 

 chased from eighty wagon manufacturers interested in govern- 

 ment orders. 



Commenting on the threat of embargo on non-essentials, Mr. 

 Fish said that there apparently is no danger of the furniture peo- 

 ple shutting 'down, judging by the flood of desks and other office 

 equipment going into Washington. He raised the further point re- 

 garding embargo of non-essentials that with production shut off 

 the government's revenue from such sources would also cease and 

 chaos and hardship follow. He spoke of the formation of a war 

 committee by millwork interests which have suffered heavily 

 through slackness in building. This committee offered its ser- 

 vices to the government and has recently been given the largest 

 order for handles ever placed. He told of the desire for coopera- 

 tion shown by government officials. 



Analysis of Tax Beports 



The revenue office at Indianapolis was represented by Mr. Rich- 

 ardson who told correct methods of filling out revenue reports and 

 straightened out many hitherto vexing problems. He urged em- 



ployers to assist employees to make prompt and proper returns on 

 income. 



Mayor Jcwett of Indianapolis pleaded that it is the business 

 man's responsibility to see that business is kept going as nearly on 

 a normal plane as possible in order that disturbance of the vital 

 balance in our business and industry may not result with disaster 

 to the country. 



President Wcrtz expressed the opinion that advances in lumber 

 prices have not been at all out of line with advances in every- 

 thing making up lumber costs. He said that further advances on 

 all items would lie vitally necessary this year. 



President Wertz recommended that the ofiiccs of secretary and 

 treasurer be consolidated, which recommendation was favorably 

 acted upon later by resolution. 



Secretary Richardson announced an increase of twelve in llir 

 membership and then read a favorable report from Treasurer Buck- 

 ley who was absent because of illness. 



After a vote of thanks to Frank Fish for his instructive talk the 

 members listened to a most able address on questions of forestry, 

 prepared and delivered by W. A. Guthrie. 



The nominating committee reported with recommendation for 

 the election of the following officers: 



PitEsiUENT : Walter Crim, Salem. 



FiusT VicK rnK.siDf:NT : G. H. Palmer, Sheridan. 



Second Vice-1'kesident : W. A. Guthrie, Indianapolis. 



Secketaki-Tueaslrf.u : Edgar Richardson, Indianapolis. 



Directors : Charles H. Barnaby, J. V. Stimson, S. M. Burkbolder, C. 

 Kramer, II. B. Sale, Mr. Kitchen, Mr. Smith, W. W. Knight, Mr. Waters, 

 Mr. Shepherd, Mr. Reynolds and Van B. Pcrrine. 



Tile business sessions then adjourned. 



Lumber Resources Mobilized 



"For the first time in its history the lumber industry has been 

 mobilized," says R. S. Kellogg, secretary of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association, in his annual review of conditions in 

 the lumber business. "Previous to April, 1917, the lumber indus- 

 try, like other great American industries, was a sleeping giant, 

 occasionally showing signs of awakening, but never fully aroused. 

 Then the war came to America with its demands upon every resource 

 of men, money and materials. Among the first requirements was 

 lumber — pine, fir, cypress, spruce, hemlock and redwood, with which 

 to house the army; heavy timbers of yellow pine, Douglas fir and 

 oak to build ships; long, clear sticks of spruce for airplanes; oak 

 for artillery and transport wheels; walnut for gunstoeks and air- 

 plane propellers; willow for artificial limbs, and some forty species 

 for munitions and commissary boxes. Every kind of wood grown 

 in the United States was called upon to meet some particular item 

 of the multitudinous demands for war material. 



Since early in May, 1917, approximately 1,250,000,000 feet of 

 lumber has been sold either direct to the government or to con- 

 tractors working ujion government orders through the agency of 

 emergency bureaus and a new record has been established for speed 

 in doing big business under war conditions. The prices charged 

 have been reasonable throughout, and in many cases less than those 

 prevailing on the open market for the same material. In addition 

 to this great quantity of lumber handled by the emergency bureaus 

 for direct government purposes, very large quantities have also 

 gone through the usual channels into the manufacture of boxes for 

 munition and commissary sujiplies, while other requirements of the 

 army and navy and industrial construction in connection with war 

 orders have been large. All together perhaps as much as 2,000,000,- 

 000 feet of lumber has gone into use for purposes of national defense 

 during the past eight months. This is a great deal of lumber, and 

 yet a demand of this size does not interfere with the supply for 

 all the usual commercial purposes, because the lumber production 

 of the United States in 1917 has been in the neighborhood of 

 40,000,000,000 feet, or 20 times as much as taken by the war. Due 

 to car shortages and unsettled labor supply the cut has been four 

 or five percent less than in 1916, and there will be no large accumu- 

 lation of stocks at the beginning of the new year. 



