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Copyright. Thi Babdwood Coupani, 1917 



Publlthed in ihc InlrresI of the American Hardwood Forests, iKe Products thereof, and Logging, Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the lOlh and 23lh of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defcbaugh, President 

 Edwin W. Meeker, Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor' 



Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 



537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 



Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



Vol. XLIV 



CHICAGO, MARCH 10, 1918 



No. 10 



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[Q^.C'A^O-V' -v^^y: 



Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



TXDICATING THE GROWING CALL FROM THE GOVEEN- 

 1 MENT for hardwood stocks, the latest word on wagon construc- 

 tion shows a total of 240,000 army wagons and a million extra 

 wheels already ordered. It is estimated that this will call for some 

 ''.00,000,000 feet of thick stock which will have to come from fine 

 logs, carefully manufactured and taking the cream of the mill 

 production. The word coming from every direction heralds a 

 growth of war business that will make the past and present con- 

 sumption appear insignificant in comparison. Such business is of 

 especial importance in that it is mostly specialized and to a large 

 measure it demands a selection of choice stock. In fact, much of 

 the material is of such nature that the ordinary lines of com- 

 mercial stock cannot be manufactured to any great extent in con- 

 junction with it. 



In the face of all this government business, normal industries 

 aeem to have kept up their sales to a remarkable degree, and it 

 has recently been authoritatively stated that while January furni- 

 ture markets showed sales of only fifty per cent of normal, this 

 does not indicate the condition of sales for the remainder of the 

 year, as wholesale buyers of furniture are following the same 

 policy as buyers in all other lines, i. e., they are not meeting needs 

 for very far in the future. Furniture trade will be compelled to 

 hustle after business for the remainder of the season, but accord- 

 ing to the best evidence there is a strong likelihood that the aggre- 

 gate when the season is closed will show a pretty close to normal 

 turn-over of stock. The greatest trouble in the furniture and simi- 

 lar industries has been the difficulty in getting shipments. It is 

 stated that there are several hundred carloads of furniture stored 

 in Grand Rapids awaiting shipment. The same undoubtedly holds 

 in all other producing centers. 



On the other hand, there are certain industries where the pro- 

 duction of commercial commodities directly interferes with produc- 

 tion of government business. For instance, there is a rumor going 

 about that within thirty or sixty days the government will arbi- 

 trarily stop the manufacture of pleasure cars and turn over to 

 the production of war vehicles the entire facilities of the auto- 

 mobile factories. There is no definite statement on this score 

 although the recent curtailment in this direction practically halving 

 the authorized production of pleasure automobiles, signifies what 

 might come later. So far as this having a deterring effect on hard- 

 wood sales is concerned, it will probably, as a matter of fact, have 

 the opposite influence, as the war vehicle seems to require more 

 wood in its construction than docs the pleasure vehicle. 



Close analysis of stock reports shows steadily increasing prices 



and growing shortages in a good many of the standard lines of 

 hardwoods. In fact, there seems to be hardly an item showing 

 any accumulation, nor does there seem to be the slightest chance 

 that hardwood prices will not continue to show strength. There 

 is a definite movement on foot in hardwood circles looking toward 

 the working out of definite cost figures which if compiled will un- 

 doubtedly reveal such startling increases that manufacturers will 

 be strongly fortified in their contention that they must get more 

 money to break even. 



Promise of car relief having failed to materialize so frequently 

 in the paist, similar promises now are taken as something to be 

 desired rather than to be expected. However, there is a more 

 definite tone to the reports of greater ease in shipments that are 

 coming from some sections, although in other originating points 

 of hardwood shipment the greatest pessimism prevails on the 

 question of adequate transportation facilities. In the Memphis 

 territory the railroad companies seem to have fallen down miser- 

 ably on their promises to give more cars for the handling of logs 

 and as a result the production in many plants in that region is 

 threatened and millions of feet of logs stored ready to load are 

 menaced by inability of the railroads to supply sufficient log cars. 

 The moist, warm season is rapidly approaching in southern woods 

 and before very long it will not be safe to leave logs in the woods 

 for any length of time. 



A notable development is the increased demand for oak for 

 commercial purposes. Oak veneer is going fast and lumber to go 

 with it is feeling a similarly increased call. Buyers have come to 

 understand how the government needs for high grade oak will 

 affect the supplj' of commercial stock, and many of them are pro- 

 tecting their future roquircmcnts l)y buying now. Rotary veneers 

 continue sky high with prices still going up. This holds in all 

 lines. Low grades for boxes and crating are not procurable in 

 sufficient quantities to meet the call, and needless to say, there is 

 no quest imi as to price on this material. 



Want Legislature Abolished 



IF THE PEOPLE OF MISSISSIPPI are correctly represented by a 

 bill recently introduced in their state legislature, they want that 

 body abolished, or, at any rate, want a chance to vote on the question 

 of abolishing it and substituting in its place a commission form of 

 government consisting of thirteen members. 



Cities have tried the commission form of government, with some 

 successes and some failures, but Mississippi appears to be the first 

 state that proposes to dispense with its legislature and try a commis- 

 sion. It was hardly to have been expected that the experiment would 



