March 25, 191S 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



Tided for. On the other hand they have little to stlmulnli' thorn If thoy 

 sec their children hungry and without food, sick and without medical 

 attention, ragged and without clothing. We are working to build up the 

 morale of theso women and there Is no way In which It can be done so 

 successfully as through the ten cents n day that generous business men 

 and women of America and other countries are sending to each child 

 they are taking care of. It their morale Is broken there will be a reflec- 

 tion of this condition In the morale of the men on the llrlng line and there 

 Is no way of measuring the harm that would follow to the cause of the 

 allies." 



Subscription blanks were much In demand when she had closed her brief 

 but powerful appeal. 



J. II. Townshend, secretary-manager of the Southern Hardwood TrafiBc 

 Association, said that J. F. Porterfleld, general superintendent of trans- 

 portation on the Illinois Central system, had stated that he would secure 

 and put Into service 150 more cars on the Yazoo & Mississippi line as soon 

 as possible for log handling, thus bringing the total to 700. Mr. Porter- 

 field came here as a result of the recent conference held by Memphis lum- 

 ber Interests with C. II. Markbam, regional director of railroads for the 

 southeast. 



Mr. Townshend also advised members of the club that the Interstate 

 commerce commission had adopted the suggestion of the association for 

 an advance of one cent per hundred pounds on lumber shipments from 

 southern producing territory to destinations in Central Freight .Vssocia- 

 tlon and Eastern Trunk Line territory instead of granting the fifteen 

 per cent advance sought by the carriers. He said that no definite time 

 had been set for the new rates to become effective, as tariffs would have 

 to be prepared covering them. He Intimated that it might be several 

 months. 



On motion of S. B. Anderson, the club voted in favor of the naming 

 of a special committee to draw up "terms of sale" for hardwood lumber, 

 which, after adoption, are to be used by all members of the Lumbermen's 

 Club of Memphis. This is regarded as a long step in the direction of more 

 general use of "trade acceptances." It is also expected that it will 

 eliminate the wide divergence In the practice of selling lumber which is 

 now so apparent. 



On motion of Earl Palmer, chairman of the civic committee, an Invita- 

 tion was ordered extended to the Rotary Club of Memphis to attend a 

 dinner to be given in the near future by this organization. The entertain- 

 ment committee will make the necessary arrangements. It will be a 

 social and good-fellowship meeting. 



John W. McClure, Bellgrade Lumber Company, was selected as delegate 

 from the club to the annual of the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' 

 Association at the Waldorf, New York City, March 27-2S. 



J. H. nines, chairman of the law and insurance committee, called the 

 attention of the lumbermen to the importance from their standpoint, of 

 thrj passage of the War Finance Corporation measure, in that this would 

 make It possible for the government to render financial assistance to the 

 firms or corporations engaged in manufacturing war necessities, and in 

 that it would stablUza the value of Liberty bonds and make of them a 

 genuine medium of exchange. He also urged more general use of the 

 trade acceptance, saying that this would make capital liquid and release 

 about $4,000,000,000 now tied up in open credit accounts, 



Mr. Hines also referred briefly to the legislation in congress designed 

 to make the purchasing power of the .\merican dollar in every foreign 

 country of the world par Instead of about elghty-flve cents as at present, 

 thus greatly facilitating purchase of foreign goods. This legislation, he 

 explained, will afford guarantees that Liberty bonds will be paid in full 

 at maturity, with accrued interest, by placing the entire resources of the 

 government behind them. 



Hardwig Peres, one of the Four-Minute men of Memphis, delivered a 

 stirring address to the lumbermen, urging them to stand by President 

 Wilson by paying their Income taxes cheerfully and promptly and by 

 resisting In everj' possible way the German propaganda designed to create 

 the Impression that this Is a "rich man's war." 



H. J. M. Jorgensen responded briefly to this address, saying that the 

 lumbermen had only one object In life now, that of making money, but 

 that every dollar they made was available tor helping to carry on the 

 war and to Insure victory. "Our money is good for that. It will be good 

 for nothing If we let the Germans win," he said In conclusion. 



Resolutions of respect and sympathy were adopted by the club In con- 

 nection with the sudden death from heart disease, Friday morning, March 

 15, of T. R. WlnflBld, a member of this organization, president of the 

 Cole Manufacturing Company and an ex-prcsldent of the Business Men's 

 Club. These were ordered spread upon the minutes of the club while 

 the secretary was Instructed to send a copy thereof to the family and to 

 the business associates of the dcaccased. 



There were more than 75 members and visitors present. The usual 

 luncheon was'served. J. F. McSweyn occupied the chair. 



Townshend's Statement on Rate Victory 

 Regarding the recent decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission 

 on the question of re-opening the fifteen per cent advance of freight rates, 

 J. H. Townshend, secretary-manager of the Southern Hardwood Traffic 

 -Association, makes the following statement to the membership: 



We have Just received a press dispatch from Washington to the effect 



that the commission has handed down Its decision In the Northern and 

 Eastern flfteen per cent case. 



This case was the re-opentng of the flfteen per cent case which was 

 heard at Washington last spring. Our testimony In the reopening of this 

 case was given on November IS. 1H17, at Washington. In nur testimony 

 we stated that the members of the Southern Hardwood Tralllc Association 

 were as patriotic as any other citizens In the United States and were 

 willing to do anything and everything In their power to sustain the gov- 

 ernment in the prosecution of the war, and were perfectly willing to pay 

 additional freight charges if necessary to successfully prosecute the war, 

 but that the members were fully convinced that they arc now paying 

 more than their due proportion or the transportation charges, while many 

 other commodities were not paying their due proportion : that in an.v 

 event they were opposed to a tifteen per cent increase because it would 

 disrupt the present relationship, and as an Illustration, we pointed out 

 to the commission that under a fifteen per cent advance. Pine Bluff, Ark., 

 would pay about Ic per 100 pounds more than Wausuu. ^Is., and in some 

 Instances, Evansvllle would receive a Ic greater advance than Louisville, 

 and that St. Louis would receive a greater advance than Cairo, 111., etc. ; 

 and that the onlv logical way to establish an advance on lumber would be 

 In cents per lOO'pounds : that under no circumstances should the advance 

 exceed le per 100 pounds. . 



The press dispatch indicates that the commission while allowing a 

 fifteen per cent advance, with one exception, on all of the commodities 

 which we showed in our exhibits as being on a better basis than lumber, 

 they allowed lumber and forest products rates to be increased only Ic 

 per 100 pounds, and whereas, these advances effect the Ohio and Mis- 

 sissippi river and northern territory, the through rates from this ter- 

 ritory coulil not be advanced to exceed Ic per 100 pounds. As a fifteen 

 per cent increase would have averaged from .Sc to 4c per 100 pounds 

 advance, we feel that we have won a great victory. _ „ . , 



We hardlv think that the new rates will become effective for several 

 months, but" just as soon as we hear something definite on this point, we 

 will advise our members promptly. 



Our members are aware of the fact that this association took the 

 initiative in handling this case, and this thoroughly illustrates what can 

 be accomplished through co-operative efforts. 



States that 'VVoodstock Committee Doesn't Fix Prices 



Harrwood liECORD has received the following letter from A. B. Thielens, 

 chairman of the Woodstock committee of the National Vehicle and Imple- 

 ment .Vssoclation, which has in charge the work of handling contracts 

 for the production of army wagons : 



2. The committee meets in Chicago at the La Salle Hotel on Thursday 

 of each week and as in the past will always be glad to confer with the 

 lumbermen, singly or collectively. The impression gathered through the 

 misunderstanding on the part of some of the lumbermen is to be regretted 

 of course but the facts are : 



(a) The contractors making army vehicles and spare parts, including 

 wheels for the Government, have not combined to purchase Woodstock, 

 lumber or other materials, but a committee has been organized and is now 

 known as the Woodstock committee or Information Division, whose duty 

 It is to assist the contractor and producer in connection with Woodstock, 

 requirements. 



1. It is the oflJcial committee of the Jeffersonville depot. Advisory 

 to the Quartermaster in charge of that depot. 



2. It is a committee oflaciaily recognized by the office of the 

 Quartermaster-General in Washington. 



3. It is a committee officially recognized by the War Industries 

 Board at Washington. 



4. It is also an official committee of the National Implement and 

 Vehicle Association. 



(b) Tlie Woodstock committee does not arbitrarily fix prices but releases 

 to the contractors and producers alike a list of prices recommended as 

 being fair and reasonable. The plan under which this comnuttee operates 

 has been freely distributed and will be sent upon inquiry to interested 

 parties, 



,3 The committee does not undertake to adjust differences of opinion 

 that mav arise between the contractor and the producer, but -niil act in a 

 frien.Uv' manner on request of either party. There has never been, by 

 requestor inllination. any effort on the part of the committee tojnfluence 

 contraAors in cancellins 

 ducers. 



orders that may have been placed with pro- 



Wkh the Trade 



Close Big Arkansas Timber Deal 



rrobably the biggest single deal in hardwood timber lands ever con- 

 suniated In Arkansas was last week closed by W. L. Hemingway, president 

 of the Mercantile Trust Company of Little Rock, representing Hough & 

 Iledficld of Connecticut and others, when 80,000 acres of hardwood tim- 

 ber land 111 South Arkansas were sold to the Arkansas Timber Land 

 Company for a consideration of .$625,000.00. Frank May, president, and 

 L. K. Salsbury, secretary-treasurer, both of Memphis, acted for the timber- 

 land company. 



The land lies In a solid tract In Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Quachita and 

 Union counties. It was granted to the State of Arkansas by the United 

 States under the Swamp Land Grant of 1850, soon afterwards granted 

 by the state to certain railroad corporations for the purpose of encourag- 

 ing and assisting In constructing railways, later, upon failure of the rail- 

 roads to comply with the terms of the grant, the laud reverted to the 

 state, and was bought by Hough and Redfleld, who held the land for 

 many years, selling it a few years ago to the American Timber Company, 

 an Iowa corporation. The American Timber Company defaulted in the 

 payment of bonds Issued against the land, and foreclosure proceedings 

 were brought. The land was sold under court orders and Hough and 

 Itedfleld again became the owners. 



The new owners will develop the land, cutting off the vast quantities 



