Ki-bruiiry 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



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Pertinent Information | 



Building Permits for January 



Kvcr since the l"iiil>'<l States eulereil the war last April the inonthly 

 -latements of lnillilinK permits, Issueil In the prineipal iltles. have shown 

 l.isses loinpareil with the previous year. Throughout l!lir> there hail been 

 ualns. The liuiUlinK of fartorles had lieeome almost enormous, ami this 

 larrleil with it iiiuih eonstruetion of a ml.seellaneiius eharaeter. This 

 increasiMl I'.llti activity, notable during the first half of the year, shrank 

 to slender proportions In later months. There were slight losses during 

 the tirst several months of lOlT ami these became very pronounced after 

 .Vpril. 34 per cent in May, 4!l per cent In July, back to '^' per cent in 

 Septi'inber : then swinging down again to a ijT per cent shrinkage in 

 Ueceniber. 



Now comes the Januar.v statement. It shows a decrease of 46 per cent, 

 which Is somewhat better than the showing for December. Construction 

 work may be said to be running along about as it has been doing for nine 

 months. One kind of obstacle after another has been thrown in its way 

 anil the current building is much below requirements. I'ractically every- 

 thing now built is of the essential type. There Is need of increased hous- 

 ing almost everywhere, and Ijecause the houses are not going up rents 

 are rising very sharpl.v In maii.v places. 



In 111 principal cities of the United States the building permits issued 

 in January, as officially receiveil by the Amrrican Contractor, Chicago, 

 total jl26.SS9.0,'<2. as compared with .•?4!).S()!).4.>i6 for .Tanuary last year, 

 a decrease of 40 per cent. Of these. 25 show an increase. The cities 

 eaining are wiilely distributed, but the West is conspicuous among the 

 favorable returns. Los Angeles. Cal.. makes the notable gain of r.2.5 per 

 cent, and among other western cities that thus inilicate building activity 

 ■ire Denver. Des Moines. Grand Rapids. Lincoln. Xeb.. Omaha, Salt Lake 

 City. San Diego. .Seattle, Tacoma and Superior. Wis. Taking rank among 

 the eastern cities that kave gaineil arc T'uffalo, New Haven. New Bedford. 

 Mass.. and I^ortland. Me. 



License Needed for Foreign Parcel Post 

 The war trade board has sent out warning from Washington that much 

 unintentional and siune intentional breaking of the law Is being done by 

 persons who send merchandise out of the countr,v by parcel post. Such 

 • ■xports require license the same as shipments by cargo, and the same 

 penalties ma.v be imposed for failing to procure the necessarj* license. 

 Most of the shipments without license have gone by parcel post to .Amer- 

 ican siddiers in France: but the senders of the parcels had no intention 

 to break the law. and were unaware that they were doing so. But un- 

 ■^crupulous persons have taken advantage of the situation to send mer- 

 ' hanilise for sale without first procuring license. The law on the 

 siilijec t reads : i 



Anv person who shall e.\port. ship, or take out. or deliver, or attempt 

 to deliver for export, shipment, or taking out. any article in violation of the 

 title, or of an.v regulation or order made hereuniler. shall be fined not more 

 than ?10.ono. or if a natural person, imprisoned for ntpt mori- than two 

 years, or both ; and any article so ilelivered or exported. shij>pe(l. or taken 

 out. or so atteinpte*! to be delivered or exported, shipped, "or taken out. 

 shall be seized and forfeited to the Lnited .States, and any otHcer. director, 

 or agent of a corporatism who participates in any such violation shall be 

 liable to like fine or imprisonment, or both. 



Those who wish to send packages abroad may apply for licenses at the 

 r.ureau of Kxports. 14.^.'i K street. N. W.. Washington. I). ('.. or at any of 

 the liranches of the bureau, which are Ntcated in the following cities: 

 Seattle. Portland. San Francisco. Los .Vngeles. Nogales. El I'asr). Eagle 

 Pass. Oalveston. New Orleans. Mobile. Savannah. St. Louis. Chicago. 

 I'.fiston and New York. 



The Market for Cordwood 

 The scarcity of coal has created the best market for cordwood in ,vears. 

 :ind a large Increase in production ma.v be expected. North Caredina is 

 • ne of the states that are preparing to take ailvantage of the opportunity, 

 ■nd conditions there are likely not much difTerent from most regions. 

 The state geological survey has puldi^hed a bulletin on the subject, show- 

 ing that the farmers control the hardwood sltuatiim. Taken for the whole 

 •-fate, the average prl<-e per i-ord for hardwood Is $4.7.'*. delivered, anrl 

 pine Is about 25 cents less, which is an Increase of from 30 to 50 per 

 cent over prices prevailing a year ago. The <*r)Ht of cutting wood varies 

 from ."(I cents to $2. .50 a cord, the average being $1.0K. The average dis- 

 tance iif hauling by wagitns is a little less than four mih's and most towns 

 are supplied by wagons from the surrounding country. It is generally 

 calculated that two pounds of dry wood is eipial to one pound of coal for 

 heating purpi'ses. ()r one cord of good hardwood Is eiiuivalent to one toti 

 of coal. 



Speed Record on Building 



What Is believed to be a rt rd for fasi building was established at 



tnlted States army Camp .loseph E. Jackson recently when 104.001) 

 feet of lumber were converted into an army warehouse measuring lijO by 

 <;o feet In less than three hours. .\ working gang of 2H0 men were moved 

 to the site on which the building now stands at lo :.">0 In the morning and 

 at 1 :4.'j the same afternoim the last nail had been driven and the building 

 was reail.v for occupancy. 



The sills of tile bidlding are S by 13 timbers and exactly three minutes 

 after starting work they were all set. Fourteen minutes later all the 



Door Joists were In place. Then enough of the floor was laid so that the 

 posts could l>e erected and the remainder was laiti while the building 

 was lieing closed In. There was no rehearsal or drilling of the men and 

 no picking of individuals or gangs: l>ut all the nnilerlal was lui hand. 



Regarding the Wire Rope Situation 



The last liullctin from flu- ilardwinid .Manufacturers' .Association of the 

 I'niti'il Stall's contains the following interesting Information from nn 

 authority regarding the prospects for future supplies of wire cable : 



Trenton. N. J.. January 22. litis. 

 Mr. Kverett Xlorse. Member Priorities Committee. 



Council of .National Difense. Washington, D. C. 



Dear Sir: I atii in receipt of your letter of the l.-.th insfant. tile .SSOii. 

 in which you ijuote friim a communication from the National Lumber Manu- 

 facturers' .Association ami show their estimated reiiuirements. which 

 amount to between twelve and thirteen million feet of rope of various 

 kiiiils. It is iinderstooil. of course, that this total of roue covers the 

 requirements of the lumber Industry spread over the entire year litis. 



1 hardly think that it would be f'easllile for the rope Industry to attempt 

 to take on and cover these requirements for the whole year (even should 

 the reqviirements be in shape of fixed, irrevocable orders), for the reason 

 that there is much uncertainty, in times like these, particularly as 

 regards the proiiuction. and uncertainty as to the selling price of the 

 product. It has not been the custotn, even In times when contracting for 

 customers' requirements was general, to cover customers for more than a 

 six months' period : and for siune time past (due to uncertainty) the cus- 

 tom of contracting has lieen practically dropped. 



It is obvious that the manufacturers wish to have some assured source 

 of suppl.v. and. in the regular course of events, there does not seem to be 

 any question but that there will lie sufficient rope available, so that each 

 particular manufacturer will be aide to secure what he absolutely needs 

 from his own regular source of supply, as the output of rope is steadily 

 increasing and. before a very great while, the stringency will be mate- 

 rially relieved. Of course the military liranches of the government ma.v 

 come in at any time with staggering orders which may I'ug-age the entire 

 productive rii|)e capacity of the country (as has happened once or twice 

 before), but these matters cannot be helped. The government orders must 

 always get the right of way. and it is impossllde to foresee what may 

 happen in this regard. 



Therefore, considering matters from the normal standpoint only (the 

 only basis on which we can figure). I would suggest that the Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association instruct its constituent members to place with 

 their various sources of supply, their absolute bona fide requirements, not 

 to exceed three months. Such requirements to be not in the nattire of an 

 option, but bona tide orders, and I have no hi'sitation in saying that at 

 the end of this three months' iieriod there will lie no difficulty whatever 

 in getting a source of supply for the next three months' period. 



It w'ould be unfair to the rope manufacturers to expect them to cover 

 the industry for any quantity, or at any price, for a longer period than 

 three months at a time. I believe that for this period it can be arranged. 



Very truly yours. 



(Signed) K.\RL <i. KoEBI.l.Sli. 



Cluiirman. Sub-Committee on Wire Uopi-. 



Regarding General Orders Five and Six 



The February Is bulletin of the llanhvood Manufacturers' .Association of 

 the United States contains the following information regarding general 

 orders five and six that should prove interesting to manufacturers owning 

 or operating common carriers : 



(ieneral order five calls upon the director general's railroad wage com- 

 mission to make a general investigation of compensation of j)ersons in the 

 railroad service, the relation of railroad wages to wages in other industries, 

 the conditions respecting wages in different parts of the country, the 

 siiecial emergency respecting wages which exists at this time owing to war 

 conditions and the high cost of living, as well as the relation between dif- 

 ferent classes of railroad labor. Officers, agents and employes of railroads 

 are directed to furnish any information called for by the wage commission. 



General order six. issued by the director geiieral. is addressed to 

 "Officers and Directors of Railroad Companies." It calls attention to the 

 necessity of <are in handling the carrier's revenues during federal con- 

 trol and directs that they shall not be expended as follows : 



1. For tile payiiK'nt of agents or other persons who are emploved In 

 any way to elTect legislation. 



2. For the employment of attorneys who are not actually engaged i.n 

 the performance of necessary legal work for the company. 



3. For the payment of the expenses of persons or agencies constituting 

 associations of carriers unless such association Is approved In advance 

 by the director general. 



4. For any political purpose or to directly or indirectly influence the 

 election of any iierson or an election alTcciing any public measure. 



It is further ordered that no free transportation sliall be issued in the 

 future unless expressly authorized by the .Act to Regulate Commerce. The 

 or.iir applies to all carriers under federal control, whether interstate or 

 intrastate. 



Why Wooden Pins Are Best 



It is not generally understood why the builders of wooden ships insist 

 on wooden iiiiis. and why they do not use Iron bolts in fastening the 

 tindiers together. Iron is much stronger than the strongest wood. Wooden 

 treenails are not demanded because they are superior to Iron in strength, 

 duraliilify or convenience. Neither are they cheaper. They are used be- 

 cause they are softer and more yielding. When iron bolts are employed 

 In fastening together ship timbers, the twisting, straining and bending 

 or the vessel while on rough water causes the holts to cut the wood, en- 

 large the auger holes In which the holts are driven, and in course of 

 time this cutting results In leaks round the bolts. .Such a leak may be 

 <<mall. lint hundreds of them at one time will let in enough water to be 

 troublesome. The wooden pin yields as the vessel strains ami twists, anil 

 the holes in which the pins have been driven are not worn larger, and no 

 leaks result. A better Job of carpentry can be done with wooden pins 

 tnan with Iron bolts. The protruding heads of the bolts are unsightly 

 on the oulsble of a ship's hull. Protruding wooden pins can he adzed 

 smooth, and when a coat of paint has been applied the ends of the plus 

 become Invisible. Though wood is less strong than Iron, it Is strong 

 enough to meet all requirements as treenails. 



