26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



March 25, 1921 



Faris Disqualifies Himself in Pine Case 



The propriety of the appeal of the leading defendants in the case 

 of the United States Government against the Southern Pine Asso- 

 ciation, et al., that Judge Charles B. Faris, of the Federal District 

 Court at St. Louis, Mo., be disqualified from hearing the suit, has 

 been admitted by the judge in question. The motion for disquali- 

 fication, filed on behalf of Charles S. Keith, president of the Cen- 

 tral Coal & Coke Company and the Southern Pine Association; 

 E. A. Long, John B. White and others, on March 10,' was endorsed 

 by Judge Faris on March 15. In disqualifying himself. Judge Faris 

 stated that he would certify the case to the presiding judge of the 

 St. Louis circuit, Judge Sanborn, for designation of a judge to try 

 the suit. 



The demand for disqualification of Judge Faris was based on the 

 fact that he was a member of the Supreme Court of Missouri, and 

 wrote the opinion of that court in the so-called "Yellow Pine 

 Ouster Suit," which was much the same as the case now pending. 

 On behalf of Messrs. Keith, Long and White the motion pointed 

 out that in the decision written by him Judge Faris singled out 

 these three for special condemnation, thereby establishing a 

 prejudice in his mind which would prevent him from giving impar- 

 tial consideration to the suit brought by the U. S. Department of 

 Justice. The judge was quoted as having said in this decision: 

 "We deal in no fulsome praise, and render honor where honor is 

 due, when we say that in the affairs of the Yellow Pine Associa- 

 tion throughout its career these men were facile princeps in 'bad 

 eminence.' " 



"Thereby intending to convey," the motion states, "that the 

 defendants were leaders of wrongdoing comparable only to the 

 wickedness of Satan himself, and requiring for apt allusion and 

 adequate emphasis to Book II, line 1, of Milton's Paradise Lost, 

 as follows: 



"High on a throne of royal state, which far 

 ' Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Ind — 

 'Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand 

 'Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold 

 'Satan, exalted, sat, by merit raised 

 'To that bad eminence.' 



Pertinent Information 



Charge of High Lumber Prices Challenged with $1,000 Offer 



A statement that construction lumber prices are 150 per cent above the 

 prices of 1914, which was printed in the Chicago Tribune of Sunday, March 

 20, has been challenged by the Lumbermen's Association of Chicago with 

 the offer of a reward of ?1,000 cash if the statement can be prored to the 

 satisfaction of a committee composed of the mayor of Chicago, the presi- 

 dent of the Chicago Association of Commerce and the president of the 

 Illinois Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. 



The reward was offered through a page ad in the Chicago Tribune, signed 

 by the Lumbermen's Association of Chicago and its president, N. C. Mater. 



The statement to which objection is taken was originally made by F. K. 

 Davidson, an architect. In the March bulletin of the Illinois Society of 

 Architects, and reproduced on the "Real Estate News" page of the Tribune. 

 To demonstrate his contention that retail lumber prices are 150 per cent 

 above the pre-war level, Mr. Davidson displayed a table in which the cost 

 in 1014 of the yellow pine lumber for a six-story flat building is compared 

 with the prices tor the same lumber quoted in Chicago March 8, 1921. In 

 a discussion of this table the architect says that while lumber manufac- 

 turers and dealers are calling attention to the fact that present retail 

 prices on timber and lumber are about 50 per cent below the 1920 peak 

 prices, they neglect to mention the comparison which he obligingly makes. 



In another table Mr. Davidson makes a comparison of pre-war prices of 

 such materials as common brick, stone, gravel, lime and cement, with 

 present prices, showing that present prices of these materials are but 96 

 per cent on the average above the 1914 figures. 



Mr. Mather declared that these statements are "so erroneous and mis- 

 leading" that he considers it his duty as a lumberman and as president of 

 the Lumbermen's Association of Chicago "to publicly challenge ths, quoted 

 authority for both the article and the comparison, to prove the truth of 

 both as they appeared." 



Mr. Mather countered with a table of prices covering the same period 

 examined by Mr. Davidson. In which he demonstrates that prices are now 



(Continued Jrom page 19) 

 and returned to the planning department, checking and posting 

 on piece parts record. Stock requisition (Fig. 7), like production 

 ticket, is available for a number of years' use, resulting in the 

 saving of time in writing up the information each time it is needed 

 for production. It is also made use of by the timekeeping depart- 

 ment to check the quantity as turned in by man making the 

 delivery. This method is in daily use in a plant having 28,000 

 piece parts made up of steel, cast iron, malleable iron and wood. 

 It can readily be seen the vast amount of work necessary to write 

 up the production tickets and delivery requisitions, especially so 

 if it were done each year, or production period. It is often found 

 desirable to assemble several piece parts prior to the assembly 

 of the bundle or the whole, a sort of sub-bundle. These assemblies 

 are treated as part assembly designated by the prefix "P. A. " 

 (parts assembled) to bundle number of which it is a part and 

 must meet the piece parts for final or complete assembly. The 

 finishing or paint department has information as to delivery dates 

 or time the goods are wanted in warehouse or shipping department. 

 The foregoing presents a general view of the layout, method and 

 operation of the planning department, showing how the order 

 passes from record to record, finally reaching the piece part pro- 

 duction department, and brings us to the most important part of 

 our subject. Thus far we have dealt in material things only, but 

 from now on we must deal with a complex and ever changing 

 factor, the human element, which, when thoroughly understood 

 and properly met, means success to any business, large or small. 

 (Contitiued in April 10 Issue) 



February Building Statistics Show Sixty-nine Per Cent Gain 



Exceeding January statistics by over a 50 per cent margin, February 

 building permits offer optimistic hope of a real start in building activity. 



Official reports from 196 cities to The American Contractor give a total 

 of 27,261 permits, estimated valuation $96,493,229, as against 21,722 per- 

 mits, estimated valuation $62,150,461, from 203 cities for January of 

 this year. 



While the valuation shows a marked increase over January, a decrease 

 is shown when comparison is made with the $113,649,318 valuation of the 

 permits issued in the same cities during the second month of 1920. How- 

 ever, the number of permits issued during that month was only 22,140, 

 which would tend to show that although the 1920 valuation was greater 

 the contemplated activity was more restricted. 



There are only twenty cities whose permits Issued In either January 

 or February of this year have gone over the million-dollar mark. Twelve 

 cities passed this mark in January and sixteen in February. A tabulation 

 of these cities follows : 



CITIES GOING OVEK THE MILLION -DOLLAR VALUATION IN 1920 



January February 



City Valuation Valuation 



Los Angeles $ 3,301,714 $ 3,131,670 



San Francisco 1,246,808 3.126,581 



Chicago 4,119,000 15,306,000 



Indianapolis 1,025,529 617,834 



Baltimore 1,737,240 4,086,640 



Boston 502.695 3,969,300 



New Bedford 1,981,766 116,700 



Detroit 3,981,943 2,659,280 



Minneapolis 379,480 1,354,855 



Kansas City 1,672,200 598,850 



Jersey City 230,156 1,809,685 



Newark 375,884 1,074,606 



Buffalo 663,000 1.088,000 



New York City (five boroughs) 12,539,130 21.912,765 



Cincinnati 1,506,060 624,090 



Cleveland 2,200,250 2,163,500 



Portland, Ore 646,560 1,334,220 



Philadelphia 1,124,440 1,345,170 



Dallas 589.808 1,269,710 



Milwaukee 914,904 1,191,723 



$40,738,567 $68,841,179 



Comparison of total activity In these twenty cities shows an Increase 

 of 69 per cent for February statistics over those of January. 



Great gains for the second month are shown In both New York City 

 and In Chicago, the latter more than trebling Its figures for the first 

 month. Included in Chicago's permits are two especially large ones, an 

 apartment permit, $1,000,000, and a bank permit, $3,500,000. Out of 311 

 permits, 181 are for residence construction. 



The total value of permits for the five boroughs of New York City 

 {Continued on page 30) 



