60 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



January 25, 1921 



The CHICAGO 



APPROVED PORTABLE 



Watchman's 

 Clock 



with its •pecial Waltham moTement, iti lock 

 stations and its superior quality throughoutt is 

 especially desirable for mills and factories and 

 for either in-door or out-door patrol. 



Write for booklet 



CHICAGO WATCHMAN'S CLOCK WORKS 



No. 9 Church Street, NEW YORK 

 1526 So. Wabuh Ave., CHICAGO 



FOR SALE 



Southern Hardwoods 



OAK, GUM, ASH, ELM, 

 MAPLE, CYPRESS, 

 HICKORY, POPLAR 



WRITE OR WIRE 



Jerome Hardwood Lumber Co. 



JEROME, ARKANSAS 



WE SHIP STRAIGHT OR MIXED CARS OF FLOOR- 

 ING, OAK, ASH, CYPRESS AND GUM LUMBER 



J. V. Stimson & Co. 



OWENSBORO KENTUCKY 



Finely Figured Quartered Oak 

 Soft Textured Plain Oak 



ah 



so 



Poplar 



Hickory 



Elm 



Chestnut 



Walnut 



Gum 



Maple 



Beech 



Sycamore 



Cherry 



Cottonwood 

 Firm Textured White Ash 



You will like our careful method of handling 

 orders, either domestic or export for mixed 

 or straight car load shipments. 



BAND MILLS 

 Owensboro, Ky. Campbellsville, Ky. 



down of many plants has put a bad crimp in the mining business and this 

 trade, which was first-class all through the fall, has dropped off a great 

 deal lately. Buying, on account of factory trade, is slow and orders are 

 not satisfactory as most of them are badly mixed. There Is no retail 

 yard trade to speak of at present. Prices are holding fairly well, all 

 things considered, and it Is hoped that when business resumes its normal 

 course there will be considerable activity in the hardwood trade. 



BOSTON 



However optimistic one would like to be in regard to the hardwood out- 

 look here, and however Inclined one may be to paint the rosy side of the 

 picture, the undeniable truth is, as all the hardwood dealers would testify, 

 that trade is practically at a standstill, that there is practically no busi- 

 ness of any volume worth mentioning, and that trade, In other words, is 

 positively dull. No improvement has really been shown in any depart- 

 ment of the hardwoods trade since the opening of the new year. There 

 is very little inquiry for anything now in the line of hardwoods. 



Though this Is ordinarily a dull time of year, more especially as it is 

 the time inventories are being taken, it is all the more so because of the 

 labor situation and because of the tightness of money, so there is no 

 dwelling house construction, and office building and industrial construc- 

 tion is badly held up. Before any solid Improvement comes, money must 

 be easier and the labor situation here must be cleared. At present the 

 carpenters receive $1 per hour. Their two year wage agreement Is wind- 

 ing up. They demand $1.50 per hour. The builders are determined not 

 to let them have it. They have even gone so far a.s to declare a cut to 

 90 cents per hour. But doubtless they would be willing to give a $1 on 

 another definite time wage agreement. But the unions want a wage agree- 

 ment without any time clause. 



The manufacturers of furniture throughout New England are finding 

 themselves very well stocked indeed, and they have not sent out the 

 inquiries they usually do at this time of year. They have also been await- 

 ing the outcome of the Grand Rapids and Chicago sales. The piano manu- 

 facturers here and in the state are much overstocked so that trade with 

 them Is likely to be dull for some time, especially as they have had a lot 

 of their pianos sold on conditional sale returned to them. Trade with the 

 chairmakers in this state Is dull, as is also, the musical instrument business. 

 There is some business passing In factory flooring but it is very little. 

 Indeed the call for Interior trim is quiet because work on large office 

 buildings and factories is held up by the money and the labor situation. 

 And of course there Is no call for dwelling house trim now. The demand 

 for stock for repair work Is email. There has been a little call stirring for 

 northern common birch and for some of the lower-priced New England 

 hardwoods, chiefly, it is thought, by refrigerator making concerns. 



Prices here now, as one wholesaler put it, "are auction prices to the 

 man who wants to buy." Quite a lot of stock Is being offered bene below 

 cost, but many are refusing to sell till they can get some profit based on 

 this year's costs. Quite a lot have marked off cost or market value on the 

 past year. It is well known that there is a very small supply of hard- 

 woods anyway, of good hardwoods, but this argument does not now avail 

 with the consumer, who is holding off purchasing any more than he needs. 

 His necessary orders are small in size. He thinks prices may go lower, 

 and he will not buy till he sees the situation settled. But the man who 

 is cutting the market today is very apt to be the commission man who 

 has no interest in lumber. The wholesalers and manufacturers are not 

 offering stocks Indiscriminately. 



BALTIMORE 



There have been no material changes in the hardwood trade during the 

 last fifteen days. Buyers continue to show a disposition to hold off, and 

 it Is largely a case of providing only for immediate and urgent needs, all 

 other business being deferred. If a purchaser really needs a lot of lum- 

 ber he will buy it, with little or no haggling over the price ; but If he has 

 no imperative uses to meet he cannot, as a rule, be prevailed upon to 

 enter into a commitment, regardless of what the figure proposed may be. 

 In the last few days or weeks, of course, a somewhat better feeling has 

 begun to manifest Itself, though so far It has progressed little. Indica- 

 tions of an assertion of larger wants can be seen here and there, some of 

 the consumers having resumed operations and finding It necessary to aug- 

 ment their lumber holding.s. It is also to be said that certain of the more 

 far-seeing members of the trade are about persuaded that the time has 

 arrived when orders can be placed with a view to enlarging the selections 

 in yards, with a fair prospect that the basis on which such transactions 

 are concluded will make it possible to realize profits. There is a growing 

 belief that prices have worked downward about as low as they can well 

 go unless the producers want to make a positive loss in every transaction : 

 an<l with many of the mills still shut down the production Is only a small 

 part of what may be regarded as normal. Without making any sweeping 

 statements, it is to be said that the beginning of a recovery ha.^ been 

 witnessed, with a very fair prospect that the signs will become more 

 definite before long. With the curtailment in the output is to Be con- 

 trasted the low supply of lumber at practically every point. If there 

 should be anything like a real revival, there seems to be little doubt that 

 a very decided shortage would develop, as buying has been deferred for a 

 Ions: time. The export situation presents an aspect that is no more 



