November 10, 1915. 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



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Pertinent Information 



Mistake Somewhere 



There is evidently a mistake in tlie report ol tlie purcliase uf l.iiod.oiio 

 crossties in Ariiansas for the Russian government, to be used in doultle- 

 fracking the railroad from Moscow to Archangel, and that the ties are to he 

 shipped via New Orleans and Vladivostok. Wh.v should Russia hu.v cross- 

 ties here when it has more erosstie timber at homo than there is in the 

 I'nited States? And if it should for an.v reason buy crossties, why should 

 they be shipped from New Orleans to eastern Siberia and thence carried 

 5,000 miles by rail to Europe, when they could be shipped direct from New 

 Orleans to Ardiangcl at less than halt the distance and the whole route 

 by water? There are many fakes i)Ublished these days on the subject of 

 war orders, and this Russian erosstie order bears the earmarks of being one 

 of them. 



West Virginia Silver Spruce 



,\n inquiry has a]ipearcd In one or more lumber Journals concerning 

 (he identity of eastern or West Virginia silver spruce, and some have 

 expressed doubt as to the wood's identity. This term was fully exi)lalned 

 In Hardwood Rkookd. page 10, of Ihe issue of .Tune 10, liil.'i. It is a 

 new term and seems to have come into use among the purchasers of wood 

 for war aeroplanes in 

 England. It means 

 the red spruce (IHcea 

 rubeittt) which reaches 

 Its highest develop- 

 ment in West Vir- 

 ginia, though it grows 

 in most northeastei'U 

 states and eastern 

 Canada. The name 

 silver spruce is now 

 applied occasionally to 

 Sitka spruce of the 

 I'aclfic coast ; but 

 when West Virginia 

 silver spruce is spoken 

 of it can mean no 

 other than red spruce, 

 liecause that is the 

 onl.v commercial 

 spruce found in that 

 state. 



Zimmerinan 

 -Dewey 



Mr. and Mrs. Hurt 

 P. Zimmerman of Mus- 

 kegon have announced 

 the marriage of tlieir 

 daughter, Laura 

 l'"isher, to James E. 

 Dewey, sales manager 

 of the Stearns Salt & 

 Lumber Company, I udington, Mich. The couple were united at the home 

 of the bride's parents on October 21. Mr. and XIrs. Dewey will nuike their 

 home in Ludington and will be at home to friends after .Tanuary 21, 1910, 

 at 004 East Ludington avenue. 



Wood Is Reliable 



Recently sixty-four small wcKiden kegs arrived by express in rhiladel- 

 phia, each weighing 2:iO pouuds. and each keg carried gold worth ,$80,00(1. 

 This was some of the war gold which came from Europe by way of 

 Canada to buy supplies; but the interesting point is, it was shipped in 

 wooden containers, and there was not a "substitute" package in the whole 

 lot. Moral ; When you have valuable merchandise to ship and want it to 

 arrive in good condition at its destination, use wooden containers. If you 

 are expecting to mal«' a shipment of 18,000 pounds of gold and want 

 to send it safely, don't risk it in fiber board, strawboard. pulplmard. 

 or any other untried material, but use old-fashioned wood for kegs or 

 boxes, and you need not lose any sleep worrying about the safety of the 

 shipment. 



American Lumber in Portugal 



A report on the lumijer situation iu I'ortugal was recently made by 

 Consul W. L. Lowrie, who is stationed at Iasl>on. 



Most of the foreign lumber used in I'ortugal is imported from Sweden 

 and the United States, especially from the Gulf ports — Pensacola, 

 Apalachicola, Guifport, New Orleans, and Galveston. Yellow pine, oak. 

 ash, and red gum are the kinds of* American lumber in demand. Yellow 

 pine is used for roof building and flooring, oak and ash for building rail- 

 way cars and trucks, and gum for furniture making. 



The present price of pine in Lisbon is between 50 and 02 cents per cubic 

 foot, as compared with 42 cents before the war. The difference is not due 

 to an increase in tlie price of the lumber itself, but to the exortiitant 

 freight rates and the upusually low exchange. 



JAMES E DEWKV. LUDINGTON. 

 MICH. 



The average sizes of yellow pine imported are 27 Vj and 30 cubic feet. 

 The usual sizes of Swedish lumber imported are 3 by 9 and 3 by 10, em- 

 ployed mainly for beams and for rjiaking doors and windows. The price, 

 owing to present circumstances, has increased about 70 per cent. 



The stock of foreign lumber on hand is very small, but dealers state 

 Ihat Ihey have no desire to increase it, in view of present conditions. The 

 cheap native lumber, which sells for aliout 2.") cents a cubic foot, is being 

 used extensively, thus replacing to a considerable extent the imported 

 product. Occasionally small shipments of pine from New Orleans are 

 received, to suppl.v the most urgent demands <if tlie market. 



Valencia's Lumber Trade 



A consular report from Valencia. S|iain. says that construction lumber 

 stands third ordinarily among leading imports at Valencia,' liut in common 

 with nearly all other products in 1914 receipts were considerably less 

 than those of the preceding year. Russia and the United States together 

 supplied two-thirds, the former leading by a small margin. (Jther sources 

 were .\ustria, Sweden, Germany, Einland, and Norway. Here also war 

 conditions have caused trade to turn to the United States, whence all 

 suiiplies are coming at this time. Hardwood imports totaled 781 metric 

 tons, of which 507 tons were from Culia. This material is consumed in 

 the thriving catiinetmaking industry of the region, which has succeeded 

 .so far in preventing competition of foreign furniture. 



Good French Demand 



The London Timhrr Trndos ■liiutniil, speaking from the English view- 

 point, says that activ- 

 ity still reigns iu the 

 French market ; In 

 fact, merchants are as 

 busy as the state of 

 the freight market 

 will allow. As In the 

 case of (Jreat Britain, 

 the high prices are 

 not affecting consump- 

 tion, and the volume 

 of business is limited 

 onl.v by the number of 

 steamers available. So 

 jtressing are the 

 needs, and so much 

 lias trade been dis- 

 organized, that part 

 of the orders are go- 

 ing through English 

 firms, and several of 

 our English Importers 

 have recently made 

 the jouruey to France 

 endeavoring to negoti- 

 ate sales. In France 

 the competition from 

 .\merican wood is 

 more effective than in 

 I'^ngland, owing to the 

 proportionately higher 

 freights from the Bal- 

 tic to French ports, and some important negotiations are on foot for Amer- 

 ican cargoes. The demand, although running somewhat on the usual lines, 

 is of a more .comprehensive nature, and shippers' specifications are often 

 accepted "en bloc" : it is felt that time cannot be wasted in discussing 

 details, the main object being to secure the wood and a boat simultaneously, 

 aud to conclude the business witli tlie greatest possible dispatch. 



Sash and Doors in Italy 



Consul Jay White, writing from Naples, Italy, recently stated that in 

 spite of war conditions there is considerable building being carried on in 

 Naples. Apartment houses are being erected in the Vomero, Piedegrotto, 

 Torretto, and other sections, one of tlie finest being in course of erection 

 near the center of the city on the reclaimed ground to the south of Santa 

 Lucia. The contracts for these works, however, were all let before the 

 European hostilities began. 



Construction work in Naples is different from that in the United States, 

 the only point of resemblance being in the use of steel and iron girders 

 for strengthening the floors of buildings. Window frames, doors, and 

 shutters are all made by hand, and there would seem to be an opportunity 

 in this business for American enterprise. American flooring and trim- 

 mings are used, but up to the present .\merican builder's hardware and 

 plumbing goods have not been able to compete in Naples with European 

 products on account of prices. 



American Veneers in Brazil 



According to a recent report by Consul General Gottschalk, stationed at 

 Rio Janeiro, Brazil, the (futlook for the sale of veneers in that country is 

 far from encouraging, though .\mcricans have already turned their atten- 

 tion to feat field in search of sales. Brazilians make little veneer from 

 native woods and buy little from abroad ; but when they do buy, they are in 

 the habit of purchasing in Europe. Veneered work does not stand well in 



.MKS. J.\MES V 



. DEWEY. LUDINGTON, 

 MICH. 



