60 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



January '2ij. 1921 



The CHICAGO 



APPROVED PORTABLE 



Watchman's 

 Clock 



with it! ipecial Waltham moTcment, itt lock 

 station! and ita tuperior <]ual!t7 througboat, is 

 eapccially desirable (or mills and factories and 

 for either in-door or out-door patrol. 



IVrite far bookitt 



CHICAGO WATCHMAN'S CLOCK WORKS 



No. t Cburcb Street. NEW YORK 

 1526 So. Wabaah 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 



WE WANT TO SELL 



the follozving 



Dry Northern Michigan 



HARDWOODS 



BIRCH 



4/4 No. 1 & Btr 40,00(1 • 



4/4 No. 2 Common 115,000' 



S/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. 1 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 



greatest curtailment of hardwood production tlirougliout the southern 

 field that has ever been witnessed. 



Among the nianofaoturers here who are preparing to resume for runs 

 of sixty to ninety days are : Gayoso Lumber Company, May Brothers. 

 McLean Hardwood Lumber Company and James E. Stark & Co., Inc. The 

 only firm which is planning to resume operations on the basis of business 

 received is the Allen-Eaton Panel Company. New South Memphis, which 

 is engaged in the production of built up woods and veneers. 



The export situation is not particularly promising at the mnmcnt. 

 Demand is failing to develop and business is quite restricted. 



There is little to be said on the subject of prices. These havn not 

 undergone important change within the past two or three weeks. Many 

 buyers are just "shopping" around and are not placing orders until they 

 are al>Ie to do so on terms they consider favorable. 



LOUISVILLE 



Tiif i;(iH-r:il market is showing improveiiH'nt. and prospects arc con- 

 siderably better than they have been. While there is some talk of a 

 much higher mark later in the year, much of this talk is being discounted, 

 as a bit too optimistic. Some men are arguing that prices will be fifty 

 per cent higher six months hence, but some of the really well posted 

 operators don't figure for more than a fifteen to twenty per cent gain at 

 the most, and believe that it would be better for the industry as a whole 

 if prices do not go too high, as that would reduce consumption. The 

 furniture factories are buying better as a result of fuller operation since 

 the shows. The automobile, vehicle and musical instrument industries 

 are not doing much. Hardwood flooring and interior trim is promising. 

 Plain oak is outselling quartered oak by a big margin, while walnut is 

 selling fairly well and poplar is good in all grades. Box materials are not 

 moving very freely. Gum in better grades is active. Mills continue idle 

 for the most part, and production is low. Stocks are in excellent shape 

 as a whole. 



ST. LOUIS 



With nearly all the furniture factories shut completely down, or working 

 part time, the automobile factories closed and the stagnation in building, 

 the hardwood market in St. Louis is in the same condition as has ol>tained 

 for the past few months. As far as can be learned there are only two 

 furniture factories working full time and the balance are either shut down 

 completely or working with fifty percent of their force. Automobile fac- 

 tories, notably the General Motors Company, which gave promise some 

 time ago of re-opening after the first of January, have not re-opened and 

 have in fact cut their working forces further. Railroads seem to be out 

 of the market at the present time. Although, according to reports, they 

 are far behind in car repairs and car building. 



That the low level of prices has been reached is generally conceded but 

 an occasional cut by hardwood nmnufacturers does not help the situation 

 and buyers hesitate to place orders. 



While furniture factories were reported as expecting to resume opera- 

 tions late in January, they have not done so, there have been practically 

 no furniture ordered from the factories for some time. 



Some automobile dealers have reported a slight increase in their busi- 

 ness and this may mean an increased automobile factory business shortly, 

 but this condition has not as yet become effective. 



Building prices of course are standing in the way of resumption of 

 building, the only item of building material which has declined in price 

 being lumber. The demand for structural lumber will depend on an 

 alteration of this condition. The upturn in British exchange is expected 

 to improve the long-dormant export demand. 



There were 444 building permits issued in January with a total value 

 of .'i;333,025.00. as against 334 building permits issued in January 1920, 

 with a total value of $1,236,320.00. It will be noticed that while there 

 were over a hundred more permits issued in January this year than Jan- 

 uary 1920, the dollar value declined nearly a million dollars. 



MILWAUKEE 



Although signs are disccrnablo of a more hopeful and encouraging sitna 

 tion in the northern hardwood industry, the improvement so far has been 

 slight in the waj' of actual business. As one large operator .said, the 

 betterment so far has been largely in the direction of a resumption of 

 inquiry. While the absence of business of a substantial nature is a fact, 

 nevertheless the character and volume of inquiries is so much better than 

 it has been at any time since early last December that it has raised 

 tangible hopes. 



The mild temperatures and absence of snowfall during the greater part 

 of the winter have affected logging operations unfavorably, but in view of 

 the curtailment of woods work decided upon at the inception of the logging 

 season, due to the flat demand, the climatic condition is not the material 

 factor it would be under more nearly normal conditions. A large number 

 of concerns are carrying woods work forward at a rate of 75 to SO per cent 

 of the ordinary input, while many others are cutting only 25 to 30 

 per cent. 



Manufacturers of furniture arc manifesting more interest in the hard- 

 wood market than for more than three months, but so far not much actual 

 buying has developed. Purchase*; are to fill in here and there, and con- 



