HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



telephone, and he at once gave the Louisville & Nashville a written order to 

 switch the carload to a steamship dock, stating in such ordf^r the final 

 ■destination. 



If there were an extra charge for this switching service, there would be 

 greater justification for applying -the domestic rate, but the evidence 

 showed that the switching to shipside is without extra cost to shipper. 



The only charge made by the Louisville & Nashville is the seven-cent 

 rate applicable "for depot delivery." The switching expense, aniounting 

 to $2 per car for switching to dock, is paid by the Louisville & Nashville 

 to the Public Belt line, but this expense Is absorbed by the carrier out of 

 the seven-cent rate. 



Roads Answer Otis Complaint 



Gloves were not used by the carriers' attorneys in their briefs in 

 regard to the complaints of the Otis Manufacturing Company of New 

 Orleans. The Illinois Central filed its brief with the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission last week and the Texas & New Orleans Hallway Com- 

 pany presented its side of the case a few days later. 



It is charged that the Otis Manufacturing Company is only nominally 

 the complainant. The real influence behind the complaint is said to be 

 the Freight Audit Company of Chicago. It is stated by the carriers that 

 the ofl"'cers of the Otis company showed great indifference in the case 

 and that even the traffic manager of the concern was not at all active in 

 pressing the complaint. 



This point is made because it is the general understanding in Wash 

 ington that the commission frowns on cases that are brought up by pro- 

 fessional searchers for errors, in the hope of developing reparation cases. 



With respect to the complaint against the Ilhnois Central and other 

 lines in the matter of mahogany rates to Indiana and Michigan furniture 

 manufacturing centers, the carriers acknowledge that their tariffs have 

 not been kept perfectly lu line owing to the comparatively light move- 

 ment of mahogany. The general basis of making the rate five cents higher 

 than that on native lumber has been departed from in some cases owing 

 to fourth section complications aud constantly' recurring changes in the 

 lumber rate. 



It is asserted that mahogany should take a higher rate than native 

 woods because of the difference in value ; the volume of the tonnage ; 

 loading conditions and the difference in competitive conditions. The 

 carriers base average values as follows : Mahogany, -fOO per thousand : 

 oak, $40 ; cypress, $35, and pine, '$1S. 



Advantage as to competition is all with New Orleans, the brief 

 states. The Otis company manufactures its lumber right on the levee 

 of the Mississippi river. Logs are brought from the tropics in vessels 

 which discharge them into the mill pond. There is no rail haul. This 

 enables the Otis company, it is staled, to deliver each 3,200 pounds of 

 mahogany at Sturgis. Mich, (which is used as an example), for $4.96 

 cents less than a Louisville competitor. The Louisville manufacturer has 

 to haul logs from the Gulf coast by rail. There is considerable waste 

 on which freight has to he paid. It costs $14.56 to lay down 3,200 

 pounds of mahogany lumber in Sturgis if the manufacturing is done In 

 Louisville. Lumber manufactured in New Orleans can be placed in Stur- 

 gis for $9.60, it is said. This point is made by the railroads to show 

 .that the present rates from New Orleans to Sturgis and other points 

 are not excessive. It is stated that the carriers already are worlting 

 on tariffs which increase the rates on mahogany between New Orleans 

 and middle western points. 



In their effort to establish that there is large profit in the business 

 bandied by the Otis company, the carriers point to the prosperous con- 

 dition of the Otis firm. It has been manufacturing mahogany exclu- 

 sively for thirty-five years. The average monthly shipments by rail are 

 fifty cars. This represents only fifty per cent of the business done by 

 the companj', the brief states, the other portion moving by water. 



In objecting to the rates between New Orleans and Dallas and Hous- 

 ton, Tex., the complainants object to having mahogany classed higher 

 than walnut. The carriers say that the highest average price ever paid 

 for walnut. was in 1904 when it reached $45.64. In 1911, it is stated, 

 the average value of walnut was $31.70. Compared with mahogany, 

 which they average at $90, the carriers maintain, walnut should take a 

 much lower rate. It is charged that claims of competition with walnut 

 are not based on fact. The carriers fail to find record of an.v walnut 

 production :n Louisiana and Mississippi moving to Texas points and 

 state that no one in New Orleans is engaged in the manufacture or the 

 distribution and sale cf walnut in Texas. 



It is asked that the case be disnnssed. 



Reparation Probable on Freight Overcharge in Arkansas 



In the case of the C. E. Ferguson Sawmill 'Company versus the St. 

 Lonis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company and the United 

 States, with the Interstate Commerce Commission as intervcnor, the 

 federal court at Little Rock refused to grant the temporary restraining 

 order asked by the railway company, to prevent the enforcement of the 

 commission's order of reparation and to prevent the sawmill company 

 from prosecuting its suit against the railroad in the state court to 

 collect the reparation awarded, in the decision given out on December 5. 



This case arose over an award made by the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission to the Ferguson company in reparation of overcharges on 

 certain shipments of cypress lumber. The railroad refused to pay the 

 awarded reparation, and the sawmill company brought suit in the state 

 court to obtain judgment and execution thereunder. The railroad tbere- 

 npon sought to obtain a temporary restraining order against the sawmill 



compauy to prevent it from prosecuting the suit in the state court, 

 and further to enjoin the United States and Its Interstate Commerce 

 Commission from enforcing its award of reparation, upon the theory 

 that no damage to the lumber company had been shown. 



The conclusions of the court were that the railroad company over- 

 charged on the cypress shipments and that it owes some one the amount 

 of the overcharges, or the reparation awarded by the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission, but that the federal court would not attempt to 

 say to whoui the reparation belongs ; that these matters might properly 

 be brought up on the trial of the case in the state court. , 



Forest Exhibits for California 



Part of the government's exhibit for the Panama California exposition 

 at San Diego left Washington last week. This portion has to do with 

 the national forests of New Mexico, and will be shown in the New Mexico 

 Iniilding. the exhibit having been prepared in co-operation with the state 

 board of exposition commissioners of that state. The material also shows 

 specimens of the principal timber trees of New Mexico and their uses. 



Other exposition material is to leave soon for San Francisco, where it 

 will form a part of the Panama Pacific exposition. Part of this is being 

 prepared through co-operation between the Forest Service and the United 

 States Civil Service Commission. The commission passes on the qualifi- 

 cations of all candidates for positions in the Forest Service, testing the 

 fitness of those who wish to become forest ofiicers through outdoor ex- 

 aminations in riding, surveying, timber estimating, and similar matters 

 as well as by more conventional methods; its exhibit will illustrate the 

 duties of these ofiicers. 



Cooperation also exists, in the preparation of exhibit material, between 

 the Forest Service and the Bureau of Education. This shows how forest 

 subjects are used in the public schools, in connection with nature study, 

 commercial geography, agriculture, and the like. One of the exhibits 

 is a display made by the normal school pupils of the District of Colum- 

 bia, in which a number of those who are studying for teachers' positions 

 entered a prize contest on tree study. Each of the contestants prepared 

 a separate exhibit showing the life history and the products of individual 

 trees, such as white pine, hickory, or sugar maple. 



All Wood Declared Contraband 



The Germans have declared all wood contraband, even it only firewood. 

 The purpose of passing that order was to hinder shipments to England 

 from Norway and Sweden. Cargoes from certain ports of those countries 

 must pass across waters menaced by German war vessels, and shippers 

 will not care to take chances of being captured. Consequently, the 

 timber trade in that region is either crippled or at a standstill. The 

 interference hurts Norway and Sweden more than England. That country 

 can buy timber elsewhere, but Sweden and Norway have no other market 

 at present for that product, and cargoes ready for shipment are tied up. 

 This is another case where the innocent by-stander is hit. 



Imports of Sumac Bark 



The imports of sumac bark and leaves into the United States amount 

 to about 900.000 pounds a month, and it is valued at two and a quarter 

 cents a pound. Most of the supply comes from countries of the Mediter- 

 ranean region, chiefly Italy. Small branches with their leaves are cut, 

 dried, and in some instances ground to powder. It is used for tanning 

 fine grades of leather. At one time the industry of tanning goat skins 

 with sumac was carried on almost wholly in Morocco, Africa. Such 

 leather came to be called the name of the country that produced it, and 

 it has been known ever since as morocco, though very little of it now 

 comes from .\frica. 



Mahogany and Hardwoods in England 



-Vu English trade paper in ccnimenting on the market says the ma- 

 hogany trade continues flat, and the deliveries have in recent weeks 

 rarely exceeded twenty-five per cent of those in normal times. Of course, 

 the cabinet-making trade is slack, and until the war is over people will 

 not lay out money on articles of furniture that are not absolutely essen- 

 tial. This, of course, affects the trade in .\merican hardwood also, but 

 not so much as is the case where mahogany is concerned. It would not 

 be so very surprising, however, if some of the most inferior mahogany 

 finds a market away from the usual run in these times of almost phe- 

 nonienall.v high prices for certain dimensions of sawed softwoods. In 

 fact, the war may prove a blessing in disguise to the mahogany market 



Building Operations for November 



Building operations for November inaki- almost exactly the $ame rela- 

 tive showing, as did October, namely, a decrease of 20 per cent, as com- 

 pared with a year previous. The comparative loss for September was 

 greater, 32 per cent, so that the statement 'may be regarded as recupera- 

 tive. The shrinkage, however, is now the more general throughout the 

 country, indicating that the causes are countrywide. Of 71 cities, 56 

 show comparative losses. It is almost universally proclaimed that senti- 

 ment at present is distinctly better than a month ago, so that the index 

 finger of probability points to recovery. However as the momentum of 

 large bodies is not so easily swerved from its course as In lighter affairs. 

 It may be held questionable whether the full force of the sentiinental and 

 actual improvement will become immediately apparent. If the. statement 

 Is not specially encouraging, it cannot be regarded as discouraging. 



