62 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



January 25, 1821 



May we quote you on 

 our present stocks of 

 Southern Hardwoods 



Oak Poplar 



Chestnut Ash 



WILLUmS 



not much life to the lumber trade and one large manufacturer here stated 

 a few days ago that his firm was making no effort right now to push 

 business, but was simply waiting for the turn in the tide. Luml)er stocks 

 remain low and stocks are in many cases badly depleted. For this reason 

 the lumbermen believe that when business does pick up and the demand 

 for lumber gets normal again that the prices are bound to advance. 

 Lumber manufacturers say that the man who has a largu stock of lumber 

 on hand and is able to go along in an easy way now, hold his lumber and 

 meet overhead expenses, is going to be fortunate later on when he will 

 be able to get good prices for his products. The fact that the furniture 

 factories and other woodworking plants in Evansville continue to operate 

 on part time lessens the demand for lumber here. The plants have not 

 resumed as quickly as it was believed they would a month or two ago. 

 Collections are fair. Reports from the rural communities say that busi- 

 ness is very slack and that farmers are buying very little now. Building 

 operations in most of the towns In southern Indiana are almost at a 

 standstill at the present time, and it is not believed there will be any 

 material improvement before next spring. Contractors believe there will 

 be a fair amount of building in this section during the coming year, 

 although they are not expecting anything like a building boom. 



MANUFACTURERS 



BAND mills: 



TAYETTVILLE .TENN. 



BASS.ALA. 



EnrETTVILIiE ,TEHH. 



Tennessee Red Cedar 



(AROMATIC) 



Basswood Maple 



Elm Walnut 



OTHER HARDWOODS 



WE WANT TO SELL 



the following 



Dry Northern Michigan 



HARDWOODS 



BIRCH 



4/4 No. 1 & Btr 4«,0flO' 



4/4 No. 2 Common 115,000 ' 



5/4 1st & 2nds 50,000' 



5/4 Selects 80,000 ' 



5/4 No. 1 Common 60,000' 



5/4 No. 2 Common 200,000' 



6/4 1st & 2nds 10,000' 



6/4 Selects 30,000' 



6/4 No. 2 Common 75,000' 



8/4 No. I Com. & Btr. . 35,000' 



SOFT ELM 



6/4 No. 2 & Btr 90,000' 



HARD MAPLE 



4/4 No. 2 & Btr 40,000' 



5/4 No. 1 & Btr 300,000' 



5/4 No. 2 Common 175,000' 



6/4 No. 1 Common 20,000' 



6/4 No. 2 Common 175,000 ' 



8/4 No. 2 Com. & Btr. . .150,000' 



10/4 No. 2 & Btr 60,000' 



BASSWOOD 



4/4 No. 1 & Btr 200,000' 



4/4 No. 2 Common 200,000' 



SOFT MAPLE 



4/4 No. 2 & Btr 100,000' 



6/4 No. 2 & Btr 11,000' 



Can furnish all kinds of 



Hemlock and Hardwood Crating 



BAND MILLS AT 

 CHASSELL AND ONTONAGON. MICHIGAN 



C. H.Worcester Co, 



NOT INCORPORATED 



19 So. La Salle Street, CHICAGO 



MEMPHIS 



The gieater portion of January has joined the limbo of the past and 

 yet no material improvement is reported in the hardwood market, so far 

 as manufacturers and distributers at Memphis and in the immediate 

 valley territory are concerned. More inquiries are being received from 

 both domestic and foreign sources and the tone of the market is regarded 

 as .somewhat better but the fact remains that business is very quiet and 

 that comparatively few orders are being booked. Most of the buying is 

 confined to more pressing needs of consumers and distributers, which is 

 only another way of saying that shipments are mostly in small quantities, 

 with mixed cars quite a prominent feature, as is usually the case under 

 such conditions. 



But, even though there has been little improvement, there is quite 

 general disposition on the part of lumber interests to look hopefully to 

 the future. It Is now quite generally conceded that there will probably 

 be comparatively little buying during the remainder of this month or 

 during the month of February. But it is held by some meml>ers that the 

 market will develop a more positive trend after March 1, under the 

 stimulus of rather heavier. If somewhat gradual, buying. 



Lumber Interests are extracting some comfort from the disclosures made 

 at the furniture show at Grand Rapids, Mich., and there Is not a little 

 encouragement taken from the more optimistic outlook In practically all 

 lines of Industry and commerce. 



Two marked features characterize the foreign situation : A decided 

 advance in the rates of exchange, notably the franc and the pound 

 sterling, and a noteworthy reduction, from one dollar to seventy-five 

 cents per hundred weight. In conference ocean freight rates from south- 

 ern gulf ports. Foreign exchange has shown more .strength and activity 

 during the past fortnight than for an almost Indefinite period, while ocean 

 freight rates have declined enough to make this an Important factor. 

 There has been little complaint among foreign buyers of .\merlcan hard- 

 woods regarding first cost In America. All of the complaint has had to 

 do with prohibitive exchange rates and high ocean freight rates — factors 

 tending to materially Increase the cost of delivering lumber to European 

 buyer.s. The advance In exchange rates and the decline in ocean freight 

 rates both help to lower this delivered cost and exporters believe that, if 

 there Is further improvement in the exchange situation, there will be 

 material Increase In foreign buying of southern hardwoods in this country. 

 In this connection, It may be noted that considerable attention Is being 

 pa^d by export Interests to the revival of the War Finance corporation at 

 Washington, to the launching of the Federal International Finance Cor- 

 poration at New Orleans, La., and to steps which are being taken looking 

 to the formation of a similar organization at Chicago for the purpose of 

 stimulating foreign trade through provision of funds with which to make 

 extension of long-term credits. Some members of the trade here frankly 

 regard the export outlook as rather better than that In this country for 

 early revival of business. 



There is not the slightest change of policy apparent in the matter of 

 hardwood manufacture. Member.s of the trade here who have their plants 

 closed down are doing nothing looking to resumption of operation. It 

 may be noted in this connection, too, that the small percentage of manu- 

 facturers now attempting to operate their plants are able to make only 

 very modest headway for the reason that weather conditions are proving 

 quite adverse. In the meantime, shipments of hardwood lumber are prob- 

 ably rather larger, on the whole, that the quantity being placed on sticks. 

 This is only another way of saying that stocks, already considerably 

 below normal for this time of the year, are showing a further gradual 

 decrease through excess of shipments over the quantity being manufac- 

 tured. It can be stated definitely that. In the ca.se of the eighty-seven 

 per cent of southern manufacturers who are not running their mills at 

 the present time, every foot of lumber shipped means a reduction in their 

 holdings. The loss Is absolute, because nothing Is being made to offset 

 what is being shipped. The only question, therefore, is whether or not 

 the thirteen per cent who are running are producing more lumber daily 

 than they, and the eighty-seven per cent who are closed down, are shipping 



