56 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



March 10, 1921 



May we quote you on 

 our present stocks of 

 Southern Hardwoods 



Oak Poplar 



Chestnut Ash 



MANUFACTURERS 



BAND mills: 



TAYETTVILLE .TENN. 



BASS.ALA. 



FAYETTVILLE ,TEini. 



Tennessee Red Cedar 



^AROMATIO 



Basswood Maple 



Elm Walnut 



OTHER HARDWOODS 



llllllll 



J. V. Stimson & Co. 



OWENSBORO 



KENTUCKY 



Regular Width and Lengths; Dry 



Ash Com. & Bet. 4/4 to 



Ash No. 2 Com. 4/4 to 



Chestnut Com. & Bet. 



Red Gum Com. & Bet. 4/4 to 



Qtd. Red Gum Com. & Bet. 4/4 to 



Qtd. Red Oak FAS 3/4 to 



Qtd. Red Oak. . No. 1 & 2 Com. 3/4 to 



Qtd. White On'; FAS 1/2 to 



Qtd. White Cah. No. 1&2 Com. 5/8 to 



PI. Red Oak FAS 4/4 to 



PI. Red Oak... No. 1&2 Com. 4/4 to 



PI. White Oak FAS 4/4 to 



PI. White Oak. . . No. 1&2 Com 5/8 to 

 Poplar All Grades 4/4 to 



16/4 

 8/4 

 4/4 

 8/4 

 8/4 

 8/4 

 8/4 

 8/4 

 8/4 

 16/4 

 16/4 

 8/4 

 8/4 

 8/4 



You will like our careful method of handling 

 orders, either domestic or export for mixed 

 or straight car load shipments. 



BAND MILLS 



Owensboro, Ky. Gampbellsville, Ky. 



shown in the quotations made on inquiries for a few cars of stock. This 

 unfortunate feature is expected to continue until business gets better, 

 when the sellers are not likely to be so hungry for orders as at present. 

 The opinion among most hardwood men is that trade will improve 

 considerably within the next month or two. Many concerns are planning 

 to start up more actively soon, if they have not already done so. Auto- 

 mobile and furniture plants are among those which report a better out- 

 look and which are beginning to look around for hardwood supplies. The 

 building business is still slow, and there is not much big work in sight to 

 give a stimulus to the hardwood trade, though builders anticipate that 

 small buildings will be erected in large numbers. 



CLEVELAND 



Ilanlwooil materials, which have hitherto held their own fairly well 

 as to price, have reacted in the last fortnight, and a 10 per cent reduc- 

 tion is now in effect here. The slow movement of material into consump- 

 tion and the equally slow movement of material from manufacturing points 

 to regular markets have aided in bringint; about this deflation. The drop 

 in prices has not altered the buying situation here. There is little new 

 building yet contemplated in which these materials would iind any signifi- 

 cant outlet. Members of the trade here are of the opinion that the market 

 has about reached bottom, but it is another matter to convince the buying 

 luiblic that such is the case. The attitude of the manufacturing trades 

 toward their hardwood purchases still is of the slow character noted 

 through the last few months. Therefore the trade must continue to look 

 to the building industry for real outlet for hardwood materials, and this is 

 yet to be heard from. There is no oversurplus of hardwoods in this market 

 at present ; but, owing to the slow demand, there is more than sufficient 

 to meet all needs, and hence the buying in wholesale and manufacturing 

 quarters is still quite limited. Present indications are that only an early 

 spring with its usual revival of building operations will move hardwood 

 stocks in more favorable manner. 



PITTSBURGH 



Demand is very light and inquiry is scattering. The tendency among 

 all buyers of hardwood is to wait. Part of them are waiting for lower 

 prices. Some of them, especially the retailers, are waiting until they 

 unload their stocks. Others are putting off buying until a satisfactory 

 wage adjustment can be secured. General building is at a standstill and 

 this makes retail yard trade poor. Manufacturing concerns are down in 

 so many places that business from these sources is anything but satis- 

 factory. Hardwood mills in the southwest and also in tri-state territory 

 say that they are cutting lumber at a loss. It ia not thought possible by 

 most 'wholesalers that anV big improvement in hardwood buying will take 

 place for possibly another month. 



BOSTON 



Uusiness here in hardwoods is rather quiet, it must be admitted, and 

 such business as there is seems to be quite unevenly distributed among 

 the wholesalers here. Another and perhaps better way of stating the 

 case is to say that there are some wholesalers who note no improvement 

 in business at all, and some who are quite enthusiastic over the way 

 inquiry is coming in and the way demand has improved, though it is quite 

 true that this second and optimistic class admit that their trade is below 

 normal. It is utterly impossible for the most farseeing here to tell just 

 what the true outlook for spring trade is because of the existence still of 

 the strike of union building trades. Though this strike directly affects 

 only from twelve to twenty per cent of the hardwoods sold in this section, 

 the general effect of the strike on the entire hardwoods trade is very 

 demoralizing and discouraging. Of course for house trim there cannot 

 now be much of any trade till next fall or the late summer at the best. 

 And all efforts to settle this strike have failed, so that all construction 

 and repair work of any kind is held up in this city, and has been for more 

 than six weeks. In the judgment of the union men and many others 

 there can be no settlement of the strike in any event before April 1. Of 

 course this does not augur well for the trade. 



But while: the demand for hardwoods here for use in dwelling houses 

 and other construction work is pretty dull there is no doubt but that 

 a little impetus, if ever so little, is being experienced in demand from 

 the manufacturing consumers of hardwoods. In other words, some indus- 

 tries are making a start and consequently are gradually coming into this 

 market for hardwoods. But the improvement in demand is not great and 

 is unevenly distributed, and some dealers note inquiry and some note 

 practically none at all. 



There seems with some to be a specially marked improvement in poplar. 

 It is firm as mill stocks are limited. This demand is coming from 

 machinery manufacturers, cabinet work and specialty box manufacturers. 

 Oak is dull. Accumulation of stocks seems to be in the cheaper grades 

 right through the hardwoods list here. What trade improvement there 

 is exists in the better grades of hardwoods. And so with prices — the 

 stiffening, what there is of it, is in the upper grades, and the lower grades 

 are weaker. 



The furniture trade furnishes about all the business there is now 

 passing in hardwoods here, and likewise most of the improvement is 



