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Coijyri^ibt. The FIardwoud Company, 1!115 



Published in the Interest of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging, Saw 



Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the 10th and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh, President 

 Edwin W. Meeker. Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor 



Entire Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 

 537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 

 Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



Vol. XL CHICAGO, JULY 10, 1915 No. 6 



Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



THE SERIOUSNESS of disturbances in Chicago which has re- 

 sulted in shutting down all plants handling building materials of 

 all kinds is emphasized by reports from different shipping points 

 which have seriou.sly felt the result of this cutting off of a large 

 and usually profitable market. Memphis territory particularly has 

 suffered from this shutting down of Chicago's operations, a great 

 deal of hardwoods being shipped ordinarily from Memphis and 

 surrounding countries. Northern shipping points have also been 

 hampered by this same condition, as cargo shipments have ceased 

 entirely and rail shipments, except to the factory trade, having prac- 

 tically ceased. Thus the action of a few thousand artisans who are 

 tying up the entire building industry of the second largest city in 

 the country because they want more money than their present wage 

 scale, which is the highest of an}' city in the United States, is 

 working a hardship not only upon local industries and business men 

 but upon other industries, in some cases well over a thousand miles 

 away. As noted in the Chicago market report in this issue, how- 

 ever, there is a probability that some amicable action will be taken 

 within the next few days, and it goes without saying there will be a 

 marked activity in the handling of lumber stocks locally when that 

 action is consummated. 



Most worthy of note is the report of continued belief that the 

 usual summer dullness will not be apparent this year, this sjiasmodic 

 buying promising to continue straight through the sunnner months. 

 In the end such a development will tend to strike an average mean 

 in the total sales of different classes of lumber as compared with 

 the ordinary sales when the trade is brisk up to the dull months of 

 the summer when it falls off to practically nothing, comparatively 

 speaking, untU the fall trade comes in again. Distributing the 

 . purchases in this way more evenly will undoubtedly help out the 

 situation in the long run. 



The advances in ocean carrying chiuges have resulted in a slacken- 

 ing somewhat in shipments of export lumber, although large quanti- 

 ties have continued to move during the duration of the boost in 

 the export business. A partial completion of grain shipments has 

 released a good many steamers for the handling of other materials, 

 and through this means lumber has benefited to a distinct degree. 

 This long period of subnormal shipments abroad with the abnormal 

 demand for such materials coupled with the difficulty in securing 

 shipments from countries ordinarily sending lumber to the United 

 Kingdom in particular, would indicate that those manufacturers 

 who can more accurately foresee the end of hostilities and who are 

 in position to carry lumber stocks would profit distinctly by laying 

 up enough lumber at the proper period in advance of the settle- 



ment of the war so that it will be in good shipping condition uhen 

 shipments can be made on a normal basis. 



Regarding the factory trade, particularly the furniture trade, 

 the expositions are opening up in pretty fair shape, although there 

 is not the enthusiasm or the interest which is ordinarilj' apparent. 

 However, the summer shows are never as popular as the winter 

 shows, which condition accounts to a degree for what seems to be 

 a rather dull exhibit. 



Reports from sources whoso information is of a general character 

 bearing on business in its various branches throughout this country 

 are rather optimistic not only regarding the future but the present 

 The fact that the lumber business continues to be slow should not be 

 taken as an accurate criterion from which to judge the business 

 situation as a whole. It is true there are a great number of failures 

 in all lines, but while a good many excellent institutions whose trade 

 has always been appreciated by those from whom they purchase 

 have gone on the financial shoals, the results of the present conditions 

 will be beneficial in the long run in that it will effect a weeding 

 out that will make for more stable business in the future. It is 

 gratifying to note the attitude of bankers in certain instances 

 toward their clients in industries the importance of which makes 

 them worth preserving. No one will accuse the banks of acting 

 from a philanthropic standpoint, nevertheless they have come to 

 the rescue of certain industries which have been hard hit by tem- 

 porary conditions, and instead of forcing them to the wall are using 

 good judgment and assisting their clients where it seems expedient 

 to do so. In this wa\' many a stable, well-established business 

 house will be able to weather the storm, whereas were the banks to 

 consider each individual case as it might ordinarily be considered 

 under normal circumstances trade in every dircctiou would be greatly 

 demoralized. 



The Cover Picture 



KEEN COMPETITION EXISTS in the contest for th« largest 

 hardwood tree. It is natural that various localities should have 

 candidates for the honor. Indiana is in the fore at present with 

 its sycamore, which is matched against the giant Cottonwood that 

 recentl}' furnished the picture for the cover of H.vrdwood Eecokd. 

 The Cottonwood was the contribution of Illinois, and this week the 

 Hoosier state comes forward with a representative which has no 

 occasion to feel backward about presenting its claims. It stands in 

 the valley of White river, in Greene county, about seventy miles south- 

 west of Indianapolis and one and a half miles southeast of Worth- 

 ington on a farm belonging to Solomon P. Dixou. The photograph 

 from which the illustration was made was furnished, by the Indian- 

 apolis News. 



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