44 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 10. Irtis 



Lumber Company, was one of the young men to leave here for military 

 service on April 2. the contingent going to Camp Dlx. 



The Standard Hardwood Lumber Company Is about to start upon the 

 erection of a new dry kiln to replace the one which was recently destroyed 

 by Are. The company has a large demand from the local trade (or dry kiln 

 service. 



Fred M. Sullivan has been spending some days at Camp Hancock, 

 Augusta. Ga., where he is visiting his son, Lieut. F. Fleming Sullivan, 

 who expects soon to go to France. 



Canadian consumers of hardwoods are having a good deal of difficulty 

 in getting their orders filled these days, particularly where the lumber 

 is not intended for war order plants. The government is frowning upon 

 the shipment of stock for regular woodworking lines and is denying per- 

 mits without taking the trouble to express Its regrets. The hardwoods 

 can, of course, be put to excellent use In the United States, and this fact 

 Is recognized by the lumbermen, who, however, are sorry that war must 

 force them to turn down orders from old customers across the line. 



Davenport & Ridley are getting quite a stock of crating lumber from 

 Canada, mostly white pine, and this business is said to be fully up to 

 that in the hardwood line. 



Building permits in BuCfalo are comparing favorably with last year so 

 far, but planing mills and retailers say that their trade is not yet show- 

 ing much increase in activity. 



:< PITTSBURGH >-= 



Quile a uumbor of rittsbiugh wholesalers went down to New York 

 recently to attend the convention of the National Wholesale Lumber 

 Dealers' Association, as follows : Fred R. Babcock of the Babcock Lumber 

 Company, W. H. McGowan of the Allegheny Lumber Company, H. F. 

 DomhoflE of the Acorn Lumber Company, C. V. McCreight of the Ricks- 

 McCreight Lumber Company, Alex. Willson of Willson Brothers, F. E. 

 Lillo of the Terhune Lumber Company, Walter Rodgers of the Empire 

 Lumber Company and Edward Eiler. 



The Kendall Lumber Company is pushing its hardwood operation as 

 much as it can in the face of unsatisfactory labor conditions, poor ship- 

 ments and especially of poor and irregular demand for stock. Its mills 

 are still running, although it finds that business in some lines, especially 

 with the mining companies, is falling oft somewh.nt this month. 



The American Lumber & Manufacturing Company is rushing business 

 down at its hardwood plant at Lenox, Ky., in order to get out its big ship- 

 ments on government contracts for shipbuilding material. President W. D. 

 Johnston is spending a good deal of his time at the different plants of 

 the company. 



The Acorn Lumber Company reports business only fair. It tal<es a lot 

 of plugging to "get 'em across," as President Domhoff remarks. Demand 

 for hardwood is away better than for every line of lumber, but says prices 

 are very satisfactory. In fact they are much at the wholsaler's option, 

 if he has the stuff. 



The Frampton-Foster Lumber Company is taking the output of a large 

 number of country mills and is making a specialty of oak. Possibly no 

 other concern In the city is so well equipped to furnish oak on short notice 

 as this mighty live "cover," which started In business In one room In the 

 Bessemer building some five years ago and now has Its offices stretched 

 clear across one side of that big building. 



Building additions In Pittsburgh are extremely unfavorable. Very few 

 large contracts are being let and those jobs which usually call for a big 

 lot of hardwood are held up in architects' offices or even before they are 

 put on to the boards. There is very little encouragement in sight in this 

 respect and wholesalers are gradually coming down to the belief that this 

 will be a very badly off year in the hardwood lumber business here. 



-.•i BOSTON >.= 



The New England trade should note the action of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission in again suspending the reciuired cancellation of the 

 proposed stop-over and reconsignment tariffs to May 1. 



A strong effort to place a large representation of lumber dealers In the 

 All-America parade at Boston had to be given up ; the disparity in the 

 available contingent was so marked when It became known that 80,000 

 participants had already entered that the authorities of the wholesale 

 and retail associations in Boston felt that it was manifestly Impractical 

 to make a proper showing of the lumbermen. 



Wm. E. Litchfield of Boston has been selected as delegate from the 

 Massachusetts Wholesale Lumber Association, Inc., to the annual meeting 

 of the Chamber of Commerce of U. S. A. at Chicago, April 10. 



-< BALTIMORE >•- 



mechanical equipment is ver.^ complete, with the exception of an edger, 

 for which there does not appear to be any use, since nothing Is wasted, 

 and use is made of every portion of the tree. By means of crosscut saws 

 the ends are squared. As tor the general conditions, he seems to find 

 them very acceptable, stating that he Is In excellent health, though 

 obliged fo work hard. 



There seems to be no prospect of Maryland and especially the eastern 

 shore getting additional contracts for wooden vessels from the govern- 

 ment. This discouraging information was brought to Annapolis last 

 week by Secretary of State Simmons, who, with a delegation from Dor- 

 chester county, called on Chairman Hurley of the United States Shipping 

 Board at Washington, to seek such contracts. Accompanying Mr. Sim- 

 mons were former State Senator W. F. Applegarth, W. Vernon Bradley 

 secretary of the Cambridge Board of Trade ; W. Irving Mace of Cambridge, 

 and Charles N. Crowe, a former resident of Dorchester, but now a ship- 

 builder in Texas. Mr. Hurley told the visitors that because of the lack 

 of transportation facilities, it would be impossible to enter extensively 

 upon wooden shipbuilding on the eastern shore. 



P. T. Staats of New York, representing the Laurel River Lumber and 

 Logging Company of Stackhouse. N. C, was in Baltimore last week not 

 so much to look after orders as to get In touch with officials of railroads 

 and see about permits to have lumber shipped from the mills. He indi- 

 cated that his conferences with the railroad officials had been compara- 

 tively satisfactory, and further dropped the hint that writing is generally 

 wasted, letters being productive of little more than the reply that the 

 letters would receive due consideration, whereas personal appeals fre- 

 quently brought tangible results. 



Among those who attended the annual meeting of the National Whole- 

 sale Lumber Dealers' Association in New Y'ork List week was John L. 

 Alcock of John L. Alcock & Co. He declared himself as greatly im- 

 pressed with the dignity and the Importance of the gathering, from 

 which much Is expected in the way of concrete results for the benefit of 

 the lumber trade. He said that the banquet was a most imposing affair, 

 a large number of ladies being present, and that the closest attention was 

 given to the speakers. The attendance was large and the deliberations 

 were followed with the deepest Interest, contrary to the general impres- 

 sion that business men from a distance go to New York mainly to have a 

 good time or get diversions that are usually not accessible to them. 



Fire from a passing engine set ablaze the lumber in the yard of the 

 Keystone Manufacturing Company at Todd Siding, W. Va.. March 31, 

 causing a loss of not less than $25,000, It is estimated that 700,000 feet 

 of hardwoods were destroyed. 



As an Illustration of the rapidity with which hardwoods are going up 

 in price. It is to be mentioned that the latest lists received here from 

 the Case-Fowler Lumber Company of Macon, Ga., one of the largest 

 manufacturers of poplar In the country, show a heavy Increase. More 

 than 60 per cent of the Items on the list have been marked up from $8 

 to $10 per 1,000 feet, while the rest Is advanced from .$2 to $6. This is 

 the second increase since January, and the prediction is made that the 

 list will go still higher. 



Harry Bowers, who had been engaged in the lumber business with his 

 father at Frederick, Md., died April 2 after a long Illness. He was fifty- 

 three years old and served for a time as county clerk. 



The check upon building here continues, and the total declared value 

 of the new stnictures for which building permits were Issued last month 

 did not exceed $160,000. This Is only a small part of the normal 

 activity and shows strikingly to what extent the builders are being re- 

 tarded by the scarcity of lalior and by the high cost of materials. 



The Mann & Parker Lumber Company, this city, has heard from H. T. 

 Snyder, who was formerly in Its employ as salesman and buyer, and 

 who last year joined the forestry regiment in training at the Washington 

 university. Mr. Snyder was shortly afterward made top sergeant, and in 

 course of time was sent to Prance, along with the others of his command. 

 He is In Company C, Third Battalion, being the supply sergeant, and he 

 writes giving considerable information alHiut the work of the regiment 

 behind the lines. The regiment is engaged in cutting railroad ties and 

 other timber for the use of the fighting forces, and he states that the 



=-< CLEVELAND^ 



One of the active workers this month In the Third Liberty Loan cam- 

 paign here is W. B. Martin of the Martln-Barris Company, who has been 

 named a captain of one of the fifteen teams which will cover the Cleve- 

 land district. 



Of Interest to hardwood people here Is the appointment of Richard P. 

 Tappenden of East Cleveland as Inspector of woods for aeroplanes for 

 the United States Signal Corps. He Is a graduate of the forestry school 

 of Ohio State Oniversity, and a post-graduate student at Yale Uni%-ersity. 

 Mr. Tappenden has been assigned to the factory of the Dayton-Wright Air- 

 plane Company at Dayton. 



Use of wood in war work Is being explained to engineering regiments 

 at military encampments in certain parts of the country by Arch C. 

 Klumph, president of the Cuyahoga Lumber Company, this city. Mr. 

 Klumph has just returned from Camp Sheridan at Montgomery, where 

 he addressed several engineering regiments, and explained the uses of 

 various woods in actual warfare. Mr. Klumph was appointed by the 

 United States government to compile statistics on the use of woods for 

 military purpose and is now completing his findings. 



=-< COLUMBUS >= 



The report of the city building department for March, 1918, shows a 

 considerable falling off In the value of permits granted as compared with 

 the corresponding month In 1917, but the decrease is not so large as 

 might be expected under the circumstances. The department issued 236 

 permits, having a valuation of $378,810, during the month, as compared 

 with 293 permits and a valuation of $571,245 in March, 1917. For the 



