HARDWOOD RECORD 



3* 



There have been heavy rains in the Memphis 

 district during the past fortnight. Some mills 

 which had just started up for a long run after 

 a tiresome shutdown occasioned by the wet 

 weather in the Mississippi valley have been 

 forced to stop their plants again. There is a 

 considerable amount of lumber on sticks and 

 it is not intended to convey the idea that there 

 is anything like a famine, but there is no surplus 

 lumber in this territory, and should there de- 

 velop a large demand, such as the trade antici- 

 pates, there wi'l undoubtedly be higher prices 

 and a scramble for dry lumber such as has not 

 been experienced in some years. 



New Orleans. 



The domestic and export trades are just now 

 pursuing rather divergent courses. New Orleans 

 exporters maintain that the recent advance con- 

 tinues in Europe and that France and Germany 

 are still a good market for oak, especially inch 

 size. Toplar is dull, while cottonwood firsts 

 and seconds are fair. The sales of ash logs 

 have been better than almost any other line. 

 The demand for oak staves is excellent. 



While the domestic situation is rather quiet 

 in New Orleans itself, there is rather a strong 

 local demand by reason of the extensive building 

 operations. The numerous dwellings being erect- 

 ed, many of which are of the better class, are 

 taking considerable hardwood for interior finish. 

 A very superior lot of hardwoods are at present 

 arriving from Central and South America suitable 

 for furniture and special work. The building 

 activity furnishes a fair demand for this stock. 



JANNEY - WHITING LUMBER COMPANY 



WHOLE5ALE CASH BUYERS OF 



SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN WHITE PINE AND HARD- 

 WOODS, SQUARES, BALUSTER STOCK. ETC. 

 Yard and OHice 1151 Beach St. Pier 52 North Wharves 

 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



...Oak Wanted... 



We are in the market for 

 500,000 feet nicely figured, 

 dry Quartered White Oak 

 for prompt shipment. 



JOHN DULWEBER 4 CO., 



CINCINNATI. 



OHIO. 



WHITING MANUFACTURING COMPANY 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



BAND SAWN STOCK WIDTHS IN 

 HARDWOODS AND WHITE PINE 



ELIZABETHTON, 



TENNESSEE 



[cottonwood! 



GUN and HARDWOODS 



PAEPCKE-LEICHT LUMBER CO. 



Mills: 



Cairo, 111. 



Marked Tree, Ark. 



Arkansas City. Ark. 

 /" Blytheville, Ark. 

 / Greenville, Miss. 



General Offices: 



Tribune Building, 



There is a decided increase of interest in the 

 oak situation, owing to the tremendous stave de- 

 mand and prospect for a good sugar crop next 

 season. This, however, is confined chiefly to the 

 preparation for exploitation of oak lands in ter- 

 ritory not already opened up. 



Kansas City. 



The demand for hardwoods at this point and 

 in the southwest is not as active as reported a 

 few weeks ago. The usual summer dullness is 

 at hand, and after a very active season hard- 

 wood dealers are having a breathing spell and 

 are devoting their time to shaping up their stocks 

 for a fall demand which they expect will be 

 large. The falling off in country trade is con- 

 siderably more noticeable than in local business. 

 Hi'- demand for furniture and implement stock 

 has also fallen off this month. A good many 

 factories have closed down or are running on 

 short time, and for the next month or so the 

 factory trade will be confined to small orders 

 for rush jobs. 



•Hickory wagon stock is very scarce and is in 

 good demand, and mills having any stock of this 

 kind are able to get their own price for it. 

 There is a strong demand for railroad material, 

 due to the excessive activity in railroad bui'ding 

 all over the South and Southwest, and oak mills 

 which make a specialty of railroad stock are 

 months behind on their contracts. There is also 

 considerable call for oak car stock, but this trade 

 has during the past year or two gone largely to 

 yellow pine, because of the constantly increasing 

 price of oak. and the hardwood people no 'onger 

 count on much trade from the car manufacturers. 



Estimates given by the Kansas City Directory 

 Company show that the population of Kansas 

 City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., is 413,194. 

 To take care of the ever-increasing population 

 building here is very active and a respectable 

 percentage of the residences are of the better 

 class, calling for more or less hardwood lumber. 

 This trade is keeping the local yards from idle- 

 ness, and they report a very satisfactory move- 

 ment of stock locally, notwithstanding it is the 

 dull season. 



The weather conditions in the South are very 

 discouraging. A couple of weeks of good weather 

 the forepart of June raised the hope of a dry 

 spell, but the latter half of June and the fore- 

 part of July show almost continuous rains, flood- 

 ing the lowlands and putting the woods gener- 

 ally in bad shape. Logging is being done only 

 under great difficulty and most mills are short 

 on logs and are making slow shipments. Not 

 only are stocks light, but the mills are consid- 

 erably oversold, and it will take some time, 

 under the most favorable weather conditions, for 

 them to clean up the orders they now have 

 booked. There is therefore not much prospect 

 for the mills to accumulate much stock during 

 the next sixty days. Tbere is no marked scarc- 

 ity of anything with the exception of plain oak. 

 The hardwood people here predict that there 

 will be a scramble to secure enough plain oak 

 to go round all through the year, for, while the 

 mills expect to'cut more stock from now on than 

 they have thus far this year, the prospective 

 demand promises to call for it faster than the 

 mills can get it ready for shipment. The present 

 high range of prices on plain oak will in all 

 probability continue through the year. As this 

 entire territory is in a highly prosperous condi- 

 tion the hardwood people are well pleased with 

 the trade prospects. Prices on all kinds of hard- 

 woods are firm, and have been stationary for 

 some time. 



CHICAGO 



i0 J 



Louisville. 

 Louisville hardwood people have faith in 

 quarter sawed oak notwithstanding the fact that 

 it has not been selling as well this year as plain 

 oak. Mill nien say that there is as much profit 

 in quartered oak at market prices as there is 

 iu plain oak. and they continue to make 

 best logs into quartered oak. The difference 



in quotations here on quartered <>ak in 



--up are probably due in part to the 



thai some stocl being sold green. Green 



quartered oak is now hands here at 



560. 

 lie- Louisville box factories have been buying 

 till p.. [iiar ai sir, lately, but mill men. 

 have a good reputation as to grades gener- 

 ally hold for $16 and * 1 7 The continued high 

 pn.. of yellow pine Indicates that there will 

 undouotedly he a ready sale for low-grade poplar 

 'Hilling and other poplar t" take the place 

 el low pine boards. since low-grade poplar 

 La- been very dull poplar manufacturers feel 

 i over the present outlook. The demand for 

 tipper grades of poplar continues fairly good, but 

 pi -h es are not up to what they ought to be. 

 Poplar siding is in better demand and judging 

 from the present high prie-e "i yellow pine it. will 

 be used extensively rhi^ tall for the large number 

 of projected frame buildings. Chestnut is in 

 good demand, hut buyers are not willing to pay 

 the price for this lumber, which serves in some 

 measure to reduce the volume of business. 



Minneapolis. 



There is not much interest locally in anything 

 but oak, and as dry northern stock is hard to 

 find, southern oak continues in fair demand. 

 Some consumers have taken up with it perma- 

 nently for special purposes, and it is reported 

 that contracts have already been closed at good 

 prices for next year's supply, delivery to begin 

 shortly after Jan. 1. 



The continuous rains have prevented new stock 

 from getting properly air dried, and the conse- 

 quence is that there is no overplus of lumber 

 thrown on the market at this time. The princi- 

 pal consumers are taking stock only iu smal* 

 quantities for immediate needs, and deferring 

 their heavy buying in the hope of larger offer- 

 ings and more favorable prices. Business is 

 slow with most of them, and they do not find 

 it necessary to add much to their lumber piles 

 for a while. As Chicago, which consumes a 

 large share of the lumber sold by local dealers 

 from Wisconsin mills, is taking little or nothing, 

 it is rather slim picking for them and if large 

 amounts of stock were thrown on the market 

 prices could not hold up. Basswood is weak for 

 the reason that some of the smaller mills con- 

 tinue to ship without sales, and stuff has to be 

 sacrificed on reaching here. It is claimed that 

 mill cull basswood has sold here recently for as 

 low as $10 a thousand and shipping culls for 

 $12. Birch is in fair supply and is being used 

 to quite an extent by the sash and door fac- 

 tories, though the furniture factories are not 

 much in the market at present. I'.lm is short in 

 supply and more quiet in demand than at any 

 time this summer. Flooring of various kinds is 

 also slow, owing apparently to the slackening 

 of work on building operations at this time. The 

 large share of houses going up have not pro- 

 gressed beyond foundations, and the sash and 



.1 | pie saj their shipments up to the present 



are largely cellar casings. 



London. 



the market Joes not show any great signs 

 of improvement and the arrivals at the moment 

 are not heavy. Plain oak hoards are still in 

 good demand, and, although arriving in a fresh 

 n are being readily sold at fair prices. 

 i : Lads of 3 and (inch planks 

 ecently arrived in the docks on conslgn- 

 and have more than met tile demand. With 

 ■athei "' they will undoubt- 



ful and lose their appearance in the buy- 

 uid further parcels are not wanted. 



-,: itl ii is i" command a good mar- 



in lis ai no! t"" heavy at the mo- 



Good wah '"minues scarce aud par- 



iiat are an ,s - White- 



and twos is in 

 at lower grades are difficult ot 

 ally culls. 



