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The humhcrmans Round Table 





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Can the Price Be Too High? 



A hardwood lunil>or roccntiv rc|iortcd, in a riitlicr ag 



grieved tone, Khst be ^ ^■<-'. a unique cxpcrionre. His bosi had 



"called" him for selliBK a carload of lumber at a price which ho, the 

 bo«s, coniidercd too high. 



"This is cood businras if it will stick," said the head of the con- 

 cern to • in, "but the trouble iit that you invite cancelation 

 e^-ery t. .kc an or.lor for n price that is out of lino with 

 the markrt lu any con^ \tcnt. lii);ht now quotntionn are ad- 

 vancing, and we are y io; but if some other saleiiinnn were 

 to como aloni; and offer the same stock at a lower price, but one that 

 we would have been glad to sell at, the buyer would probably take it, 

 and likewise tell us not to ship. It's good business to get profitable 

 prices for lumber, but it 's dangerous to got nioro than the stock is 

 worth." 



Those who hoard the salesman's story agreed with him that after 

 the experiences of most lumbonnon during the past few years, the at- 

 titude of the boss was really remarkable. On tho other hand, there 

 is certainly some logic in his contention that the be-'t wny to protect 

 an order is to givo the customer good value. 



Availability of Logs 



Many trees which won' ton far t'roni the railroad, or were con- 

 sidered unavailable for other reasons ii few years ago, are now being 

 marketed and bandied at a profit to the owner of the timber or the 

 lumber manufacturer. 



It is not necessarily because transportation conditions are any 

 bett«r, though of course improvement in this respect makes it fre- 

 quently possible to reach timber that could not be handled before, 

 but it is because market values of timber have risen in the mean- 

 time that it becomes practicable to undertake a difficult logging 

 operation. 



Logs worth $15 per thousand will obviously stand less handling 

 expense than those that are worth $30. The timber buyer who speedily 

 "passed up" the timber when it was cheap — and cheap because it 

 was plentiful in more accessible regions — now studies tho situation 

 carefully before he abandons the stuff as not worth the cost of moving 

 to the mill or railroad. 



An old-time lumberman told recently of a trip he had made into 

 eastern Kentucky ten or twelve years ago after poplar, only to find 

 that the timber he wanted to look at was too far from tho railroad, 

 and would cost too much to move. The same timber is now being 

 "snaked out" by means of an overhead conveyor, and hauled with 

 almost as much expense as would originally have been required. The 

 answer is that poplar is worth a good deal more now than it was then, 

 and consequently can absorb much more expense in handling than 

 could possibly have boon done when the tract was first cruised. 



Contracting for Lumber Deliveries 



As has been pointed out heretofore in connection with contracts 

 for lumber, the desirability of the contract depends altogether upon 

 market conditions; and, in fact, the validity of the contract, as a 

 practical working proposition, depends on that factor, for the most 

 part. 



A year ago lumber consumers as a rule refused to contract, because 

 they saw that values had been hit by the war and that it would 

 probably be more profitable to buy a car at a time in order to get 

 low prices. Now, with quotations steadily ascending, many lumber 

 buyers would gladly make contracts with manufacturers covering their 

 requirements during the next twelve months. 



The chances are that a contract entered into now by a lumberman 

 would hold good, and that he would be permitted to ship every foot 

 called for in the docimient, because the probabilities favor a strong 

 if not rising market during most of 1916. But what would happen 

 to the contract if the market happened to decline t 



Some consumers, it is true, would take the lumber and pocket what- 

 ever loss was involved. A good many others would take just as little 

 as necessary, and would buy where the buying was good. On this 

 basis it looks as if the buyer who contracts for his lumber is playing 



—22— 



„ 'hoadS'I'Wiu taiU■^<' if tlic morokt ((ona up, he i« 



I>rutoct«d, and if it goaa down ho can forget oil about hii runlracl. 



A„ . .,. I tiiure ore consumer* who would observe tho letter of 



their ' and take tho lumber; but they arc hardly to b» 



rcuariii'.i u- r. i'tinrntative. Tho liimWrman who is thinking ulwut din- 

 posing of hi.t next year's ouput by contract ought to figure on 

 probable ailMiincH in values, and at Uio fanio time ought to protect 

 himself by -ipecifying qiiantilies and fihijijiing dates in hia ajfree- 

 ment. 



The Circular MUl 



^Vhilo band-sawn lumber is standard, and has many advantages 

 with which everybody is familiar, largely in connection with uni- 

 formity and reduction of wnsto in saw kerf, lots of circular mills arc 

 still running out in Uic country, and lots of consumers arc using 

 lumber made in such mills. 



Wholesalers who handle circular stock believe that there :iro ad- 

 vantages in it, not only to themselves, but to buyers. One hard- 

 wood man who moves several million foot n year, most of which 

 is manufactured at circular mills, pointed out recently that measure- 

 ments are usually more liberal in connection with lumber of that 

 kind, and that allowances are more often made for waste in cut- 

 ting and trimming than is necessary in connection with band-sawn 

 stock. 



"Xo matter how well made a board may be," ho went on, "the 

 chances .arc that when it gets to tho mill or factory, a couple of inches 

 at each end must be trimmed oiT to got a clean, sound surface, and 

 to take care of weather stains, checks, cracks, etc. If the board 

 was accurately cut and measured in the first place, this means net 

 loss to the consumer. On the other hand, the circular mill man does 

 not trim his boards to length carefully, and gives tho benefit of 

 extra inches to the consumer. This permits the latter to do all the 

 trimming necessary without actually suffering a net shrinkage in 

 usable stock" 



The wholesale yard which is handling circular-sawn lumber is 

 doubtless able to find other talking-points in favor of this kind 

 of stock; and this very fact suggests that it is a good plan not to 

 combine both sorts, which would create a hybrid condition, but 

 handle either one sort or tho other exclusively, so that it will run 

 uniform as to character. 



Suggestions from Employes 



A leading woodworker recently published a booklet on "Safety 

 First," in which not only were suggestions given for accident pre- 

 vention, but the co-operation of employes was invited along other 

 lines. One of the features was that employes endeavor to make sug- 

 gestions to the company for betterments in every direction, and 

 that cash awards would be made for those which proved usable. 

 ■The idea is so good that it might well be taken up by lumber manu- 

 facturers and those in allied lines. The announcement of the con- 

 cern referred to was as follows: 



"All our employes are invited to be on the lookout for anything 

 concerning tho welfare of this company and its employes, and are 

 requested to make suggestions whenever they have anything to offer. 



"Cash awards will be paid to workmen and all other employes in 

 all departments of the business who send in suggestions of value 

 to the company. 



"We invite suggestions relating to the improvement of our goods 

 or materials, or methods of making or handling same, the stopping 

 of leaks, waste or damage of any kind, for the improvement of our 

 service or for the welfare of our employes. 



"Every employe should keep this offer in mind and not hesitate 

 to express himself on anything done or that might be done to bring 

 about an improvement in connection with this business. 



"Write out your suggestions briefly, sign your name, address en- 

 velope to superintendent, and hand same to timekeeper. 



"All communications will be treated as confidential, and per- 

 sonal interviews will be granted upon request of any who wish to 

 make their suggestions in person." 



