M 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



August 2:>, lOia. 



and cyprcM pcoplr won- llic worn! BUlT<-r>Tii tlipre; but tlio movi'input of 



h"'-'" ' ■' ■' ' ■'■■ i-onut In cunxtaut, ntiil In mniiy plniv* tlii'M> 



nil with. It Is not lii'lli-visl. h.iwrviT, IliiH 

 I' ■ - r|,.ii> .MS ihow rpNultiiii: (iciiii Mississippi 



locHls In former years 



The Big Log from Arkansas 



Arkuniuui may be ii little liilr In liiiiilinu Its \:tirr white uiik Iuk at the 

 .San Krandaco Kxpoiilllon. hut If the I'lroris i.> plao' It <in view are siie- 

 ccmful, the exhibit uiieht lu nllrnet iilleiiiluii mi iIk- rncllle eiiaitl, where 

 all the Inrse Iobd are soft woods. Thi> ArkausaB while oak hpeelnien Is 

 thirty feet long, live feet In diauieter at the small end and six feet ai 

 the large, and Is without llnw or blemish. It would take n lone search 

 tbrouRh the records of logdom to ilnd a better while oak than thai. 



Large Shell Contract 

 One of the largest shell contracts ever given In this country was 

 recently placed In .Maryland. It calls for lOO.Oon lulice v.n-.N ..r oyst.i- 

 shells for macadamizing highways. 



Philippine Forestry Report 

 The annual report for the I'hillpplne Forestry liurcau for 1914 has 

 been published at Manila and copies have been received In this country. 

 W. F. Sherfesec Is director of forestry. The report contains much valu- 

 able Information on the subject of timber resources and the means by 

 which these resources are developed and protected. The fact is worthy 

 of more than passing notice that the Philippine Forest Service not only 

 pays Its own expenses but returns considerable revenue to the govern- 

 ment. 



Cuts Alaskan National Forest in Half 



The area of the ('liii;;aLh nnlional loii st, .\la.ska, which is to he crossed 

 by the railroad that the government is building from Seward to Fairbanks, 

 Is reduced nearly one-half by a proclamation, signed by I'resident Wilson, 

 returning approximately ."i.SOli.OOO acres to the public domain. This 

 action follows classllicatlon of the land liy the Forest Service showing that 

 tie areas Involved arc not of high enough timber value to warrant govern- 

 ment protection, and means the largest elimination of national forest land 

 ever made by a single presidential i)ioelamation. 



The boundaries of the forest, as redrawn by the President's proclamation, 

 now contain approximately S.Sl.S.OOO acres, supporting about .><.000.000.000 

 feet of merchantable timber. On the area thrown out of the forest there 

 is In the aggregate a largo amount of timber, but it Is so sparse and 

 scattered as to be of little or no commercial value. The land remaining 

 within the forest, however, contains the largest and most accessible supply 

 of timber for the development of the great mineral fields to the north of 

 Bering river, and is the region in wiiich the Alaskan Engineering Com- 

 mission has been authorized to cut 85,000,000 feet of timlier for use in 

 constructing the government's new railroad. On account of the time 

 required for cutting and seasoning construction timber, the commission 

 has had to purchase some lumber from Washington and Oregon, but as 

 cutting has already commenced on the Chugach, it is expected that the 

 Alaskan timber will soon be serving the needs of the railroad builders. 



The lands eliminated by the proclamation are in three large tracts; one 

 along the entire southerly slope of the Chugach mountains, the second 

 lying northeast of Seward, between Itesurrection bay and Kings bay. and 

 the third, northwest of the Kenai mountains In the region around 'i'usta- 

 mena and Skiiak lakes. In addition, the towns of Hope, Suniise, Kenai. 

 and Niuilchck are eliminated. .According to the Forest Service, the chance 

 of locating homesteads in the excluded lands is extremely small, since 

 they contain few agricultural areas, although In some localities there arc 

 said to be small patches suitalile for farming. 



Red Gum for CofHns 

 A large order for red gum coffin boards has been placed with manu- 

 facturers in Arkansas. The boards are to be twelve inches wide. The 

 lumber is said to bo intended for England, there to be made Into coffins 

 for soldiers who are killed in battle or die in hospitals. 



Lumber Trade with China 

 Notwithstanding the railroads iu China curtailed their purchases of 

 luinbi-r in the si eonil half of l!)14. thi- total imported Into China from 

 the United States increased 40,000,000 feet when compared with the 

 figures for 1913. The demand for lumber in the interior of China con- 

 stantly increases on account of new developments sucli as cotton mills, 

 and silk factories. The dislocation of business consequent on the war 

 has greatly interfered with demand for lumber. Most of the imports 

 entering China are shipped from the Taciflc coast of the United States. 

 American sellers of crossties now meet very keen competition In the 

 China markets. The increase in ocean freight between California and 

 China, which amounts to from eight to twelve dollars a thousand feet, 

 may cause an advance in selling prices. 



Building Operations for July 

 The building operations of tl.e country, as revealed by the permits 

 issued in the larger cities, still show a moderate recession, as compared 

 with the corresponding period of 1914. There is for the month of .July a 

 gain both in the totals and the percentage, as compared with June, the 

 shrinkage last month as compared with .Tuly, 1914, being 1.T per cent, while 

 the comparative loss for June was 23 per cent. The outlook is more 

 favorable than a month ago. The labor troubles in the building trade at 



Cblcoso have been overcome. The indumrlal actlvltlri of the country at 

 large are gradually creeping upward and thi> ngrlciillural prospects are 

 ulnwlng. The story of tiw riilluny earnings has opened a chapter IhnI 

 promises a happier ending than the returns of that nature for some monthh 

 past. Another cIrcumHtance \favornble to tli'- purely MtatlBlleal view- 

 point Ik Ihat the compnrlHunH for the remaining months of the year will 

 be with that period of 1014 that was the more depresHol and decided 

 gains may therefore reasonably be anticipated. 



The olllclal reports of building permits iHsiied In 71 eliles during July, 

 as received by the American Conlraclnr. Chicago, total $.'>!). 1 114 ,()U), n" 

 compared with *."4,740.30.'i for June and with »iO,3((S,ri(>9 for July last 

 year. Nearly one-third of the cities, or •-•:!. show gains, the more notable 

 of these Including Lincoln, Neb., with a .'103 per cent gain to Its credit ; 

 South liend. '^M per cent; Kvansvllle, Ind., •-•11 per cent; Akron, O., 183 

 per cent: Topeka, 102; Troy, HI; Scrantoii. SO; New Haven, 85; St. 

 Joseph, 77, and ItulTalo, Qi:. 



For the first seven months of the year the total building permits Issued 

 in «C cities reach a total of ?302.3.S3,01S, compared with ?443,420,770 for 

 the corresponding period of 1014. In detail the figures are as follows: 



I'er Cent 



July, 101.1, July, 1014. Gain. l^ss. 



Akron J l,148..%7o ? 4(l.-..0(i(l 183 



Albany 4|l!.7r,(i (IDL'.iio.-, ... 4u 



.Vtlunta 013,1411 4;i."..o<i2 110 



Baltimore ij'.i.'i.;!7.'> .v.!?, l.^iK ... 17 



Itirmingbam l.'i;3,9.S7 4i(s,;i,s.'i . . . .M' 



Boston 170.CS1 .-i'JS.()i;4 ... 0(1 



BulTaio 1,404.000 0S."i,(i00 .-i:; 



Cedar Rapids 107,000 10(S,OliO 



Chattanooga 3'J,37.'; 1 Ht,370 ... 72 



Chicago C,4.''i.';,030 0,148.700 ... 28 



Cincinnati 1.27.'i.ip(i l,055,3:iO 21 



Cleveland 2,310,'<80 2,.''.32,050 ... 8 



Columbus .104.08.% .■i03,35.'> 



Dallas I>.10.124 041,080 ... 30 



Dayton 2.'!J. 1 0". 080,700 ... 06 



Denver 177.000 222,220 ... 20 



Des Moines 181.405 140,000 20 



Detroit 2.003,080 3,121,750 ... 15 



Duiuth 201.422 200.250 ... 24 



Kast Orange 144.S4S 100,522 ... 14 



Kvansviile .'tlT.oso 111.555 211 



Ft. Wavne 2o1,.-.mi 333.500 ... 30 



llarrisburg 1 I l,.;25 223,.'{75 ... 35 



Hartford 4tl,7il7 311,985 41 



Indianapolis 5;i>-,u7S 1,140,900 ... 47 



Kansas City l,418,0(i(i 1,012,055 41 



Lincoln 272.335 58.750 303 



Little Kock 72.412 09.003 ... 27 



Los Angeles 03e..S73 2,081. :!Oil ... 55 



Louisville 548,740 483.74(1 13 



.Memphis 245,285 333,000 ... 20 



.Milwaukee 010,025 043,724 ... 3 



.Minneapolis 1,474,205 1,320,005 11 



Montciair 104,770 145,730 ... 28 



Nashville 220.005 4D4.030 ... 51 



Newark 5S1.133 1,172.043 ... 50 



.New Haven 788,454 427,215 85 



.New Orleans 513,510 505, .'192 2 



New York Citv 13,750,520 13,927,74:'. ... 1 



Manhattan 4.S45,.'{03 5,325,084 ... 7 



Bronx l,9U:i.993 2,263,983 ... 13 



Brooklyn 4,100.000 3,670,046 14 



(Jueens 2.540.260 2,:t36,:J65 



Uichmond 204,355 322,:{65 . . . 37 



Oklahoma 81,530 20,880 29 



Omaha 550,780 402.005 38 



Paterson 140,775 2211.546 ... 36 



Peoria 119,840 l!i:!.100 ... 38 



Philadelphia 3.050,040 4,001,850 ... 21 



Pittsburgh 1,180,032 1,510.212 ... 21 



Portland 373.375 870.745 ... 57 



Richmond 328,007 401,040 ... 29 



Rochester 702.123 1,067,101 ... 28 



Salt Lake City 174.550 238.7.50 ... 27 



San Francisco 1.500.200 2,008,537 ... 27 



St. Joseph I43.i;{5 80.007 77 



St. Louis 015.148 1.287,850 ... 52 



St. Paul 770.018 1,053.220 ... 27 



Schenectady 230,148 278,210 ... 14 



Scranton .' 310.370 107,155 89 



Seattle 315,010 2,520.590 ... 87 



Shreveporl 40.884 149,212 ... 68 



Sioux Citv 218.200 .320,050 ... 32 



South Bend 22II.'.'10 04,412 236 



Spokane r.i;. ■_'(;:; 220.0.'{5 ... 71 



Springfield. Ill o::.5ijii 74.SOO ... 15 



Syracuse 752.057 854.:i03 ... 12 



Tacoma 31,101 lMi.551 ... 68 



Toledo 534.012 500.570 ... 6 



Topeka lils.iioi 04.490 162 



Troy r.'.'i.li'.l 51,827 141 



Utica, N. y 11 -'.20.-. 138.375 ... 10 



Washington 1.424.207 1,102.882 10 



Wilkis Barre 45.i:i:'. 108,413 ... 08 



Worcester 703.320 571,749 23 



Total $50,104,001 $70,368,509 ... 15 



Sycamore Is Honored 



It is the fashion for every slate to adojit an official tree, which Is 

 supposed to be typical of the forests of the state, and West Virginia Is 

 tile latest to comply with the fashion. It has selected the sycamore, 

 which is not a bad choice in some ways, and in others it is not particu- 

 larly happ}-. The sponsors for the name go a long way back to quote 

 history, and refer to the fact that Zaceheus (according to the Scriptures) 

 climbed a sycamore tree at Jericho to get a good view of a procession. 

 The value of the citation may not lose much, but scholars who claim to 



