February 10. 191S 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



41 



The Shipping Situation 

 The shipping situation came up for discussion, and it was shown 

 that the ports on the gulf were not as busy as they might be, in view 

 of the congestion of eastern ports. It was stated that shipments were 

 being made from the gulf for government account, but they were 

 going from Port Arthur, rates to which were higher than to Galveston. 

 The reason probably was that they were taking fuel oil at Port Arthur ; 

 but in the meantime the wharves at Galveston were idle, and there were 

 600,000 tons of coal there for which there was no use, with largo 

 amounts of goods in warehouses and the elevators full of grain. 

 Mr. Deutsch thought some steps should be taken to secure more ship- 

 ping through gulf ports, especially with vessels burning oil; prac- 

 tically all the fuel oil is produced west of the river. 



The meeting again got back to a discussion of the matter of 

 reporting sales, and the debate turned upon the plan by which the 

 work should be done, whether members should report their sales 

 weekly with the average price, or report the individual orders. 'While 

 no definite conclusion was reached, the consensus of opinion apparently 

 was that the latter was more satisfactory and convenient. As to 

 whether the reports should show names of customers, it was stated that 

 the Manufacturers' Association had left off the name when it was 

 a consumer, and more recently had left off the name when a whole- 

 saler. J. M. Thompson thought it might be necessary for the member 

 to report the name of the customer, and in this connection explanation 

 was made by Mr. Palmer of the necessity recognized in the pine 

 exchanges of either having the name actually reported or having the 

 sale so identified in the report that in case of inquiry by the Federal 

 Trade Commission as to whether facts were being adhered to the 

 name of the customer could be procured and the correctness of the 

 report verified. It was also discussed whether the reports should be 

 compiled by a central office or the members should simply exchange 

 reports with each other, it being generally thought the former was the 

 only practicable plan. 



In the afternoon meeting, which was the first formal session, Secre- 

 tary A. O. Davis reported upon recent events of special concern to 

 the club, particularly the five-day closing order and its apparent effect 

 upon business. New needs for hardwood are coming up aU the time 

 and business is stimulated thereby. Interior finish factories have not 

 been doing so well as some other branches of the industry; but the call 

 for interior trim for ships is expected to improve the situation. 



The secretary's report went somewhat fully into the railroad situ- 

 ation as it has been affected by the appointment of a director-general. 

 The outlook was not viewed as altogether promising for the reason 

 that for the next six months many things will be tried experimentally. 

 The secretary said Mr. McAdoo appointed six men as a board of 

 control, all raUroad representatives who had been strongly opposed 

 to government control of railroads. Shippers ought to be represented 

 on the board. 



He also referred to the fact that the hardwood men in this territory 

 had not received any business to speak of from the Hardwood Emer- 

 gency Bureau, which Mr. Pritchard explained was because the orders 

 received had been for delivery at eastern ports, on the cheapest freight 

 rate, which shut out the southwestern manufacturers. As an offset 



Pit was proposed that the gulf ports be opened to shipments of lumber 

 and other supplies, which would relieve congestion in the east. He 

 described the delays incident to getting shipments through the eastern 

 ports, and said movement could be greatly expedited by shipping 



» through the gulf. 

 The secretary expressed the opinion that members of the club would 

 be able to secure a better share of the government orders if they had 

 a representative in Washington to keep them advised of the business 

 coming out, especially of contracts awarded for which the contractors 

 were to buy the material. The suggestion was discussed at considerable 

 length, it being suggested that it would conflict with the Hardwood 

 Emergency Bureau, but Mr. Johnson, who had recently been in Wash- 

 ington, thought it could work in harmony with Mr. Pritchard, who 

 he thought would be glad to have the assistance of a representative of 

 the club and to give him desk room in his office. The question arose 

 whether a man should be kept in Washington permanently, or whether 

 various members should take turns in going there, such men to be 



furnished by their companies and their expenses paid by the club. 

 It was finally decided that the latter was preferable for the time 

 being at least, and the discussion ended in the determination to try 

 it for sixty days, having four men take their turn in Washington 

 for four weeks each, each member to contribute $50 for expenses. 



The plan for compiling and publishing daily reports was adopted, 

 and the details were left in the hands of President Deutsch to bo 

 worked out. 



The following members of the club were in attendance at the 

 meeting: 



Albert Deutsch, Sabine River Lumber & Logging Company, San Antonio. 



A. O. Davis, Snblne Tram Company, Beaumont. 



Geo. W. Cleveland, Jr., South Texas Lumber Company, Houston. 



H. B. Johnson, MansfleUl Hardwood Lumber Company, Wlnnfleld, La. 



J. A. Texada, Jr., Boyce Lumber & Realty Company, Boycc, La. 



S. R. Cecil, Holly Uldge Lumber Company. Meeker, La. 



Geo. B. Wilson, Bomer-Blunlis Lumber Company, Blanks, La. 



Ferd Brenner, Ferd Brenner Lumber Company, Alexandria. 



H. J. Brenner, Ferd Brenner Lumber Company, Alexandria. 



G. V. Patterson, Alexandria Cooperage & Lumber Company, Alexandria. 



J. M. Thompson, Newell Lumber Company, Eunice, La. 



Roy Burkholder, S. Burkholder Lumber Company, Homer, La. 



W. D. Brewer. Brewer-Nlenstedt Lumber Company, Jllltonherg, La. 



C. H. Clark, Purdy-Hess Lumber Company, Belledeau, La. 



C. A. Weis, Alexandria Cooperage & Lumber Company. Alexandria. 



B. L. Borum, United States Shipping Board, Alexandria. 



Looking Ahead 



An old grove of ash trees in England is being cut for airplane 

 stock and the wood is of excellent quality. The point, however, 

 is that two ash trees are being planted for every one that is cut, 

 and the object is to provide airplane stock for some future war, 

 perhaps a century hence. That is a long look ahead, and no doubt 

 many persons believe that the wood will never be needed for war 

 purposes. If not needed, so much the better; but if it shall be 

 needed, England will have it. This is not the first instance in 

 England of planting trees to provide for future trouble. At the 

 close of the Napoleonic wars, England was bare of certain kinds 

 of wood used for war material. Among such was alder, which at 

 that time was the best for making gunpowder. Large areas were 

 then planted in this wood. This alder seems not to have been 

 particularly mentioned of late, but it is a safe guess that it has 

 already done its duty in the present war after having been con- 

 verted into charcoal and then into powder. 



The Cedars of Lebanon 



If the British army in Palestine continues to advance it will 

 shortly occupy Lebanon, where the famous cedars grow. This belt 

 of timber has a sentimental value on account of ancient associa- 

 tions; but so far as money value is concerned, it is not there. Eecent 

 surveys or examination of the areas show no good timber and not 

 much of any kind. What is there belongs, or recently belonged, to 

 the head of a religious association, probably a bishop of the Greek 

 orthodox church, but under the political control of Turkey. Esti- 

 mates of the quantity of cedar of Lebanon to be found are not 

 definite, but the description indicates that all told the amount 

 would fall short of 100,000 feet. The statement has been often 

 made that the cedars are all old and that no young trees are to be 

 found. The fact is, plenty of young cedars sprout every year, but 

 goats eat them so closely that none escape unless they are given 

 protection. Where stone walls exclude the goats, seedlings come 

 up and grow well. If the British capture and hold the region, it is 

 probable that some sort of forest protection will bo afforded; but no 

 one should expect Lebanon to become a forested region in the 

 modern sense of the word. Lebanon is drained, in part, by the 

 head streams of the river Jordan, and lies approximately one hun- 

 dred miles north of Jerusalem and inland fifteen or twenty miles 

 from the Mediterranean sea. There are historical records that lum- 

 ber operations were carried on there more than 5,000 years ago and 

 some of the cedar cut in very remote times is still in existence and 

 may be seen in the Field museum, Chicago. That was 2,000 years 

 before Solomon's time. 



