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The Lumhermens Round Table 



The Silver lining 



A prominent walnut man who recently thought that things had 

 gone against him pretty badly because a lot of his logs were tied 

 up in Hamburg with no prospect of getting out, is now feeling 

 much more cheerful over the situation. The price of walnut, as 

 well as other hardwoods, is going up over there, because the wood 

 is needed for military purposes by the German government, and 

 is going to be bought at a figure which will provide satisfactory 

 recompense for the delay that has been involved. 



From various sources there are indications of a demand abroad 

 for waliiut, ash, hickory and poplar, all of which are needed in 

 large quantities for military supplies and operations. The in- 

 quiries will probably come in a roundabout fashion, but there is 

 no doubt that the need is developing, and that the combatants are 

 looking to America to supply the material. 



One Phase of Coutract-Breaking 



It is a remai'ltable thing that many business concerns feel no 

 compunction over breaking a contract to tal^e lumber if they find 

 that they can buy it in the open market at prices lower than they 

 had agreed to pay to the contractor. Many reports have been 

 received from hardwood concerns indicating that the proportion of 

 consumers who are willing to resort to this method of making 

 money, and to admit it, quite frankly, is very large. 



There is more than the mere moral aspect of the situation, 

 though in a large sense this is the most important fact developed. 

 The thing to remember is that the concern which agrees to take 

 say ten cars of hardwood lumber usually gets a material reduction 

 in the price compared with the buyer who wants only one. If, 

 after talking in one or two cars on the contract, the customer re- 

 fuses to accept the remainder, and violates his contract, he is 

 picking the pocket of the seller to the extent of the difference 

 between the price of lumber in single carlots and the price on tho 

 ten-car order. That is one way of "beating the game," similar 

 to the old gag of asking for a "sample car," but it should not 

 commend itself to houses of any standing or pretensions to class. 



Incidentally, the concern which lives up to its contracts soon 

 gets a reputation for so doing, and lumbermen make concessions jn 

 its favor. A certain large concern in the store equipment field 

 has inconvenienced itself on several occasions by talking lumber 

 which it had contracted for but did not need at the time. The re- 

 sult of this policy, however, is reflected in the rock-bottom prices 

 that are quoted it, and the general disposition of the lumbermen to 

 give it the cream of the stock. Such a plan pays and paj's well. 

 The Good Inspector 



What makes a good inspector of hardwood lumber? 



In the first place, of course, knowledge of the rules is one of 

 his attributes. After that come reliability and willingness to 

 work, but probably the quality that should stand out most promi- 

 nently in the make-up of the inspector is steadiness and judgment. 

 The man whose cars are uniform, and who doesn't vary widely 

 from day to day, is a good inspector. On the other hand, the chap 

 who will be hard on the lumber today, because he feels that way, 

 and easy tomorrow, when his digestion is working better, is a very 

 unsatisfactory employe. 



"That inspector is too erratic to fool with," declared a lum- 

 berman regarding an employe of a large woodworking concern 

 which is an impotrant buyer of hardwood. ' ' As long as he is 

 there X am not going to solicit their business. Some days he lets 

 anything get by, and on others he calls every other board a lower 

 grade than it really is. It's too expensive to be constantly arguing 

 technical points, and until a new inspector is put in charge we 

 don't want that business." 



This may be a case of passing up orders without due cause, and 

 may hurt the lumberman; but it hurts the consumer also to have 

 that kind of reputation about his organization get out, and sug- 

 gests that the job of inspector is more important, in its efifects, 

 than some lumber buyers seem to think it is. 



— 24 — 



Automobile Dimension Stock 



A good deal of dimension lumber is purchased for use in manu- 

 facturing motor cars, and concerns which handle woodwork for 

 automobiles are frequently inquiring for stock cut to size for use 

 in their operations, realizing that they can save waste and freight 

 bills by buying that way. A large manufacturer of this class of 

 goods recently asked dimension houses for quotations on 6,000 

 boards, 4 feet long by 10 inches wide, of good ash or oak, for use 

 as automobile running boards. The material was to be clear, 

 though a good Xo. 1 grade could be used. 



Motors in Wholesale Yards 



One advantage of having some sort of equipment for remanu- 

 facturing lumber in a wholesale yard is that a lot of this work 

 can be done during idle times when it would be necessary other- 

 wise to let the men go. A large hardwood concern which has a 

 motor-driven saw in its yard is putting in a good deal of time at 

 present having boards worked over and defects cut out, the work 

 being a good investment of time and labor, since the grade of the 

 lumber is raised, and the sawyer is kept on the job when ordinarily 

 it .would be necessary to let him go. In yards of this kind the 

 plan is usually to work the stock when it is received; but some- 

 times with a lot of lumber coming in all of it cannot be given at- 

 tention, and the work is done as the stock is loaded out. At pres- 

 ent much of the time is being put in in sawing up broken boards, 

 sticks and scraps for sale as baker-wood, a considerable revenue 

 being realized, and the yard being iloaiu'd up at the same time. 

 Do You Enjoy Your Work? 



The only happy man is he who likes his business, and revels in 

 his work. If you are discontented with your lot, and feel that 

 you are in the lumber business simply because you can make a 

 living out of it, you are extremely unfortunate. On the other 

 hand, if j-ou find things to be keenly interested in, entirely apart 

 from the commercial angle of the proposition, you are going to 

 take enjoyment in carrying on your business. That is the ideal 

 condition, and it is not only one that makes for personal happiness, 

 but for business efficiency. The sawmill operator who is interested 

 in making his mill do the best possible work, for the sake of the 

 work, will produce the best lumber at the lowest cost. The cheer- 

 ful, interested man can always get better results than the grim- 

 visaged grouch, who imagines that having to work is a punish- 

 ment, instead of being one of the greatest blessings imaginable. 



The capacity to take interest in everything pertaining to one's 

 business is one of the requisites of a good association or club mem- 

 ber. The man who has enough breadth of vision to see what can 

 be gained by co-operating with others is always enthusiastic over 

 organization effort. The sort who thinks that business of all kinds 

 is a bore wants as little to do with his fellows as possible, and 

 consequently can see no advantage to be gained from meeting them 

 in local and sectional and national organizations. 

 The Discount Hog 



In spite of all that has been said and written on the subject, 

 there are still plenty of people who hog all the discounts they can 

 whether they are entitled to them or not. Of course the lumber- 

 man who refuses to maintain his terms and allows the buyer to 

 say what the discount shall be has no reason to complain if it is 

 excessive; but the objection may logically be made against tak- 

 ing a discount that one is not entitled to. A case of "rubbing it 

 in" occurred recently when a lumberman sold a couple of ears of 

 oak to a big consumer, who, after agreeing to take it at a price 

 that was about as low as could be asked, said that his terms were 

 two per cent thirty days, instead of the usual ten. The lumberman 

 hesitated, but finally agreed to allow the extra time. He was con- 

 siderably irritated, however, when the customer waited nearly two 

 months and then took off the discount. The moral, apparently, is 

 that if you make one concession, another is always demanded, so 

 that it is just as well to stick to the letter of the law in the first 

 place. 



