HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



Eighth Annual Convention of the Rational Hardtoood 



Lumber Association. 



Tin' eighth annua] convention of tin- Na- 

 tional Hardwood Lumber Association was 

 held in Buffalo, X. V.. on Thursday and Fri- 

 day, M.i\ I s and 19, and was by far the 



11:11-1 successful iting ever held by this 



1 1 ganizat ion. 



The number of participants was larger 

 than ever before in the historj of any of its 

 annual meetings, and, in character and com- 

 mercial worth, was made up 

 nf the best element oi thi 

 hardwood trade connected 

 h itli the assoeia tion 



The proceedings of the 

 convention and the legisla- 

 tion enacted were marked 

 by dignity and w isdom, and 

 harmony prevailed through- 

 init all the sessions. Duo 

 consideration was given to 

 every element of the hard- 

 wood trade throughout the 

 country, and all former dif- 

 ferences nf opinion appar- 

 ently were adjusted on an 

 entirely sal isfai torj basis. 



The officers and directors 

 fh-ctcd are men nf charac- 

 ter and ability, and a great 

 forward movement was 

 made toward conciliating all 

 factions of the hardwood 

 industry into a mutual un- 

 derstanding of the necessi- 

 ties, rights and deserts of 

 every branch of the trade. 



Outside of the desidera- 

 tum of harmony that pre- 

 vailed during the meeting, 

 the inosi important doings 

 oi the association lay in its 

 enthusiastic reception and 

 indorsement f M . M . 

 Wall's brief analysis of for- 

 est conditions I forestry 



M. i --it ies, and the pledge 

 nf the association jointly 

 ;iinl individually to aid in 

 the movement of t he Ameri- 

 can Forestry Association 

 to the end of rebuilding the 

 hardwood f or es ts f 

 America. }lr. Wall's ad- 

 dress i- reproduced not only 

 within this report, but is 

 given particular prominence 

 mi the second editorial page of this issue of 

 1 he Hardwood Record. 



The entertainment accorded to the visitors 

 by the hardwood lumber dealers of Buffalo 

 was most genuine in it- hospitality and pro- 

 claimed tile loyalty of the Buffalo hardwood 

 dealer- to the tenets of the National Haul 

 wood Lumber Association. The hardwood 

 fraternity of the city of Buffalo includes 



about a dozen concerns, each one nf high 

 commercial standing, anil for integrity and 

 fair and successful dealing 1- exceeded by 

 no community of lumbermen in the United 



Slate-. 



Buffalo. 

 In connection with thi- report, ii i- timely 

 that a word should be said about the city 



EARL PALMER, PADUCAH. KENTUCKY. 

 RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT 



of Buffalo, the place at which thi- most SUC- 

 1 .--tul meeting was held. 



The city of Buffalo has borne that title 

 seventy-three years and has been a place .if 

 residence for white people about a century, 

 .lining which time it ha- made -1 

 growth, though to assert it- superiority over 

 its immediate neighbor- it had t.. absorb 

 Black Rock, -till bearing its old name in a 



local way, a- .1 special part nf the Niagara 

 front ii 1 h lii.h i- at no very remote day 

 1 xpei ted to join hands as a single city ft ont 

 Lake Erie to I. ike ( tatario. 



It was tl if! current of the Niagara 



liver and Niagara Falls that gave Buffalo 

 ii- lead, for the first settlement was al Lewi- 

 ton mi the lower river, but that was before 

 ii was imagined that there was to be a 

 mighty lake 1 rade 1 hat must 

 stop short oi \ i.ii'. 1 1 .1 1 iver. 

 Though Cpmmodore Perry's 

 licet fitted out at the n ■ 

 .ii iln Ska jai quada 1 reek, 

 some feet b l.m Lake Erie's 

 level, it was soon found that 

 there must be a port on 

 1 hat level, so Buffalo creek, 

 1 he last -t 1 earn to enter the 

 lake before it How- into 

 Niagara, was chosen. This 

 hoice n as gh en a great 1 1 

 enforcement by the comple- 

 tion of the Erie .anal, in 

 1825, which also had t ■ ■ be 

 brought up to the Lake Erii 

 level before it could find the 

 proper terminus. The grow 1 h 

 of Buffalo from this time 1 n 

 was due la fgelj to its watei 

 traffic. 



Before the water traffic 

 reached it- height, railroads 

 were taking the lead, and 

 they at once sought the 

 lakes as a link in what was 



- i to be a great through 



route to the West. The rin- 

 ishing of the Erie railroad 

 to Dunkirk, in 1851, was the 

 beginning of through bu-i- 

 ness by rail and. but for the 



fact that Buffalo was - 



found to be a better railroad 

 center and forty-five miles 

 further down the lake, it is 

 likely that Dunkirk would 

 have been the lower termi- 

 nus of the lake trade in- 

 stead of Buffalo. Buffalo 

 ha- acquired prominence as 



a :.n 'lvial center attrib 



utal.le to it- transportation 

 facilities. General merchan 

 di-e. main, live stock, lum- 

 ber and iron ore p. a - - 

 through the port in quantities sufficient in 

 give it first place on the lake- ami fourth 

 or fifth in the port- of the world, without 

 mentioning the equal h large traffic bj raii. 

 Though the Erie canal ha- been distanced in 

 the railroads through failure 1.1 maintain it 

 properly, it i- believed thai the convei i □ 

 of it into a thou-aml ton barge .anal, on 

 which work has now begun, will restore tin- 



