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Co|jyrisllt, I HE llAliDW(ioU COMI'AM, 1'.I15 



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

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the lOlh 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 8086-6087-8088 





Vol. XL CHICAGO, AUGUST 25, 1915 No. 9 



Review and Outlook 



^Sai 



General Market Conditions 



XTOTATIONS OF IMPKOVED CONDITIONS and prognostiea- 

 ^ ' tions as to the future of liardwood stocks are rather risky these 

 uueertain days because of the impossibility of comprehending all 

 conditions. The market report which will be entirely justified from 

 one man's viewpoint will be altogetlier wrong from that of another 

 who apparently should have the same position as his neighbor. But 

 in spite of this uncertainty it can be stated, without fear of offend- 

 ing the stickler for accurac}', that sales of hardwood lumber are on 

 a better plane now than they were a few weeks ago. Not that the 

 level of prices is much better or that consumers are changing their 

 policy of letting the lumbermen hold the stocks, but there is a 

 greater freedom of inquiry, a report of evident lessened inclination 

 to kick, a gradual tendency toward uniformity of prices and in fact 

 a general air of greater optimism which seems to permeate the 

 entire structure of hardwood manufacturing and selling. As direct 

 influences toward this end, there can be cited the improvement in 

 the pine market which results from various causes, such as continued 

 purchases by the railroads and good building operations. Also, the 

 practical certainty that crops are going to be good and the farming 

 element will be in a relatively prosperous condition has encouraged 

 manufacturers of finished goods who have been holding considerable 

 quantities of excess stock in their storerooms in anticipation of an 

 accelerated movement. Thej- seem to feel now that this surplus is 

 going to be reduced to a minimum in the next month or so, and 

 while they are not anticipating needs to any extent they are taking 

 more lumber than formerly and in many cases volunteer the infor- 

 mation that they believe the end of September and the month of 

 October are going to see them in the market to protect themselves 

 by purchasing lumber for future use against rising markets. 



Also as having an important bearing on the hardwood situation 

 is the fact that fairly good weather has made possible the rapid 

 completion of preliminary stages of building operations and has 

 ■prepared the way for the sale of a great amount of interior finish, 

 which was held up on account of the slow development of buildings 

 because of discouraging weather in the early summer months. 



Conservatism is the watchword of lumber manufacturers in tlie 

 North and South but this conservati.^m has not been carried to the 

 extent of refusing to see favorable developments from month to 

 month. Many of the southern mills are still down while many 

 others are manufacturing in a limited way so that in spite of the 

 inactivity of some mills in the southern territory, the condition of 

 southern hardwood stocks is still good. ' 



In the North the month of August is showing up to be in some 

 cases the best month of 1915, and this is true of mills manufacturing 



diversified linos for rail shipment. This type of operation reflects 

 the business situation in the North more accurately than does the 

 water mill as the contact with the ultimate purchaser is more direct 

 and more continuous. While northern operators are still aUve to 

 the handicap under which they are working through wrong funda- 

 mental conditions, they recognize the fact that these underlying 

 causes are not linked with the transient condition of the consuming 

 markets and that they will be remedied by slow means whUe the 

 presence of such conciitions will not prevent their taking advantage 

 of sharpening in immediate demands. 



With prices steadying themselves gradually, although not showing 

 much inc'ination to advance as yet, with continued maintenance of 

 control over stocks at producing points and paucity of stocks at con- 

 suming points, the prospect for the hardwood business is better 

 than it has been for some time. Not the least of these helpful indi- 

 cations is the generally cheerful tone of the trade, which will go a 

 long way toward tiding over any period of continued depression and 

 toward preventing further ofl'enses in the way of flagrant price cut- 

 ting. The trade throughout the East and entire Middle West is 

 undoubtedly better than it has been. It remains to be seen whether 

 speculations of further improvement with gradual price increases 

 in the fall months will materialize. However, everything at present 

 seems to bear out the contention that they will and if so hardwood 

 lumbermen will finally have closed in 1915 a year which will have 

 been satisfactory, considering what has transpired. 



The Cover Picture 



V.\MPING AND VACATION rather than lumbering are sug- 

 gested by the cover picture which illustrates this issue of 

 ilARDWooD Record. Visions of trout and other game fish appear in 

 dubious form in the whitemaned waters of the mountain stream, 

 and the railroad which constitutes the central portion of the picture 

 is apt to claim little attention at first; yet from the lumberman's 

 point of view, the railroad is the main thing. It is the natural 

 supposition that it is a logging road, one of the taplines which 

 have become famous on account of the prominent and perplexing 

 ]ilaee they have lield in the activities of the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission and in court rulings. 



All taplines are not parts of lumber operations, but so many of 

 them are so connected that the common conception of a tapline 

 railroad is that it is one built to bring logs or lumber out of the 

 woods and deliver it to some trunkline which has connections for 

 delivering the material to the world's markets. These short roads 

 reach out in all directions in search of freight. They penetrate 

 regions which would otherwise be without traffic facilities, and by 

 so doing they spread development. 



