HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



WHEKEAS, the Xational Lumber Exporters' Association has under con- 

 sideration the eircular letter adopted by llie London and Liverpool timber 

 brokers and issued by their respective associations, reyiardiug through 

 bills ot ladint; from interior points to I'oreign destinations, and 



WiiKUEAS, the export trade depends upon the conditions of transporta- 

 tion as one of the most important accessories to the satisfactory result 

 ot their business, therefore be it 



Kksulved, that we view with regret the action of the above associations, 

 and, inasmuch as the United States courts have declared the through 

 bill of lading a negotiable document, this association cannot agree to 

 or be governed by the aforementioned circular letter, as the conditions 

 would result in a restriction of trade, and create an adverse view ot the 

 validity of through bills of lading. 



Turther, the. following resolution was adopted at thb annual meeting: 

 Resolved, tha't in the opinion of the National Lumber Exporters' 

 -Association, in annual convention assembled at Memphis, January, 21, 22, 

 1913. that on shipments made against c. i. f. contracts consummated prior 

 to the outbreak of the war there is absolutely no moral or legal obligation 

 on the part of the shipper to pay war risk insurance premiums ; that 

 such premiums are, and can be only, for the account of the buyers or 

 brokers ; that this also applies to shipments against the so-called bondon 

 "qualified" c. i. f. sales. 



Tliese resolutions were embodied in the letter of Mr. Tiffany, 

 w!;ich bep.rs the date of March Xo, and was mailed from Leamington. 

 The reply of the London and Liverpool brokers is now being awaited. 



' cw5;^;iiM»aimaimai:>iWitmi»&t^^ 



Making Sure of the Profit 



In a recent issue of System there was an ai'tiele by Eilward P. 

 Leeds under the above title. He outlined and explained a method of 

 keeping cost in a factory in such a way as to check the items against 

 the original estimate, and tluis determine whether the profit is really 

 being earned. 



Inasmuch as payment on the order is usually made on the basis 

 of eighty per cent of the amount of actual labor performed and paid 

 for by the man who does the work, and the material used, it is \ital 

 that these costs be accurate and arranged in such a form as to cm- 

 brace every detail. In some cases payment is made on the report 

 of a firm of certified public accountants, who examine the books 

 monthly and sometimes find it necessary to trace the actual work 

 for which payment is made. 



Progressive firms keep track of a job by dividing it into parts, 

 each of which is separately followed. For instance, if it is milhvork 

 for a large building, the items may be numbered : Doors — 1, windows 

 — 2, sills — 3, mantels — 4, moldings — 5, sash — 6, trim — 7. The whole 

 job is given a number, and each part a sub-number. At the begin- 

 ning of the work a copy of the original estimate is given to the cost 

 clerk. 



Labor costs are collected in the factory on a series of job tickets, 

 punched for time by the individual workman and containing all the 

 essential information. At the end of the day these cards are 

 gathered and arranged in series, according to the numbers ot 

 employes. A single employe may have worked on several jobs during 

 the day and the time spent on each is shown, and the total time on 

 the cards must equal the hours of the day during which the workman 

 was employed. At the end of the week a trial payroll is made up 

 from these miscellaneous cards, and, so far as the individuals are 

 the same, this payroll must agree with the shop payroll. 



After the payroll is finally corrected, the cards are assorted by job 

 numbers by departments, and costs are entered under respective head- 

 ings. The costs are totaled and must again agree with the payroll 

 figures. 



The cards are next sorteil by operations, and the total expended 

 under each operation is entered, and the details making up the 

 total are always at hand. The means are always available for 

 checking up the progress to determine how far the job has progressed 

 toward completion. 



The Materials Used 

 Jobs require materials as well as labor. When material is ordered 

 the cost clerk is furnished with a copy of the purchase order, from 

 which he can tell the kind of material ordered, the quantity, price and 

 the job number for which it is ordered. He enters this on the cost 

 sheet under the proper job number. When this material is actually 

 received and paid for, the account again passes through his hands and 

 he immediately takes it from the column where it was previously 

 entered and places it in its proper place as a paid account against the 

 job. 



The reason for making entries in this manner is that, in the first 

 place, there may be a thorough and concise account of the job in 

 the cost book; secondly, it frequently occurs when establishing the 

 cost of a jiartially completed job that material which has been ordered 



and checked off the estimate of material required is not included in 

 the cost book because no bill has been passed tlirough for it. 



Materials used from stock, such as small hardware, lumber, paints, 

 and so forth, are drawn out on a regular requistion which specifies 

 the job number. When filled, these requisitions are sent to the cost 

 clerk who extends cost and enters it in the proper place. 



As to overhead, all employes turn in daily time cards showing 

 the length of time they worked on each particular class of work. 

 These cards are extended, sorted as pef classification of work and 

 entered in the proper maintenance account, such as "machinists," 

 "carpenters," "millwrights," "electricians," "clerks," "sweep- 

 ers, ' ' and so on. The percentage of burden is then determined on 

 the basis of the proportion of direct to indirect labor, computed in 

 terms of dollars and cents. Expense accounts of men traveling on 

 jobs erected on outside orders, are kept separate. 



Lumber Exports for February 



The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce has published the 

 February figures showing the export of lumber and other forest prod- 

 ucts during that month, together with corresponding statistics of ex- 

 ports for the corresponding month of 1914. In every item, except 

 cooperage and box shooks, there was a decline in the 191.5 shipments 

 comjiared with those of the preceding year. In some instances the 

 decline amounted almost to elimination. The most important items 

 are shown in the following list: 



Feet, 1914 Feet, 1915 



Hickory round logs 1,282.000 9:!,000 



Black walnut round logs 644,000 14.000 



All other round logs 6,874,000 1,036,000 



Hewed timber 1,467,000 69,000 



Sawed timber 14,979,000 3,544,000 



Cypress lumlier 1,080,000 478,000 



Douglas fir lumber , 36,306,000 13,936,000 



Gum lumber 2,494,000 482,000 



Oak lumber 13,311,000 5,788,000 



White pine 5,089,000 1,206,000 



Longleaf pine 63,704,000 17,205,000 



Shortleaf pine 1,118,000 435,000 



All other pine 6,076,000 3,279,000 



Yellow poplar ' 2,063,000 1,268,000 



Redwood 7,364,000 1,514,000 



Spruce 1,710,000 1,079,000 



All other lumber 7.617,000 3,600,000 



Joists and scantling. , 1,117,000 31,000 



Railroad ties (pieces) 444,017 237,129 



Shingles i number) 2,746,000 692,000 



Box shooks (number) 783,486 781,004 



Barrel shooks (number) 49,866 39,536 



Staves (number) 4,002,284 2,423,231 



Heading (value) $24,741 $18,474 



All other cooperage (value) $189,636 $100,875 



The total value of wood exports of all kinds in February was 

 $6,497,662 in 1914, and $2,89.3,432 in*1915. 



According to the returns, not one dollar's worth of lumber went 

 to Belgium, France or Germany in February 1915, though all took 

 large shipments in the corresponding month of 1914; but twice as 

 much went to Italy last February as during the same month in 1914. 



