HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



of only nine per cent as compared with those of the previous year. Dp 

 to August 1. when the European war began, the construction work was 

 almost identical in volume with that of the first seven months of 1913. 

 The loss occurred entirely during the last five months of the year. The 

 cause was apparent to everyone concerued in the building trades, namely, 

 the disarrangement of the financial market. Building operations, on ac- 

 count of the large units involved in this w^ork, compared with most other 

 industrial activities, are peculiarly sensitive to money conditions. The 

 unfavorable comparison is therefore not an index of anything intrinsically 

 reactionary in the building industry itself, but simply represents the 

 insuperable obstacles in the way of activity. Thousands and tens of 

 thousands of plans have been held back by the unresponsiveness of the 

 banks and this accumulated work will be renewed with the general ease- 

 ment of loans. 



The official reports of building permits issued by OS cities for the 

 year 1914, received by the American Contractor, Chicago, total $634,- 

 177,323, as compared with $697,.''i94,910 for 1913, a decrease of 9 per 

 cent. While the generality of reports are in harmony with the prevail- 

 ing tendency, there are some exceptions. St. Paul shows a gain of 5G 

 per cent for the year ; Salt Lake City, 38 per cent ; South Bend, 39 ; 

 Seattle, 3(> ; Denver, 34 ; Oklahoma City's totals makes an enormous gain, 

 on account of the new capitol building there commenced. 



December naturally makes the poorest showing of the year, since by 

 common consent new undertakings have been carried over into 1915. 

 The December figures are $34,310,484, as compared with $38,661,519 for 

 December, 1913, a decrease of 41 per cent. Twenty-one cities show gains, 

 some of them quite notable. The table below gives details : 



December, 

 1914 

 143.420 

 330.4fiO 

 lfi4,724 

 243.!J70 

 100.307 

 3.323.862 

 186.570 

 347,000 

 547.6.50 

 9,950 



Akron ? 



Albany 



Atlanta 



Baltimore 



Birmingham 



Boston 



Bridgeport 



Buffalo 



Cedar Rapids 



Chattanooga 



Chicago 6,214,050 



Cincinnati 209.045 



Cleveland 1.216,775 



Columbus 1.005.200 



Dallas 110.025 



Dayton 23.005 



Denver 503,510 



Des Moines 48.700 



Detroit 1,440.530 



Duluth 78.975 



East Orange 115.771 



Ft. Wayne 27.200 



Grand Rapids 125.75" 



Harrlsburg 34,000 



Indianapolis 219,460 



Kansas City 223.600 



Lincoln 35.600 



Little Rock 36.572 



Los Angeles 651.839 



Louisville 188,330 



Manchester 197.467 



Milwaukee 393.410 



Minneapolis 521,400 



Nashville 44,290 



Newark 311.632 



New Haven 494.970 



New Orleans 274,172 



New York City — 



Manhattan 1.544.744 



Bronx 292,072 



Brooklyn 1,598,315 



Borough of Queens 870.202 



Richmond 209.126 



Oklahoma 7,865 



Omaha 216.475 



Paterson 68,630 



Peoria 106,920 



Philadelphia 1,261,350 



Pittsburgh 3,473,100 



Richmond 212,502 



Rochester 363.599 



Salt Lake City 171,450 



St. Joseph 24,395 



St. Louis 379,966 



St. Paul 510,640 



Schenectady 83.878 



Scranton 128,406 



Seattle 1,298,105 



Shreveport 17.818 



Sioux City 66.610 



South Bend 35,980 



Spokane 18,700 



Springfield, III 33,375 



Syracuse 145.403 



Toledo 139.945 



Topeka 6.625 



Troy 61,335 



Utica, N. T 88.740 



Washington 433.036 



Wllkes-Barro 43,086 



Worcester 175,440 



December, 



1913 



$ 304.415 



234.3.53 



216.001 



419.031 



407.380 



1,969,140 



241,565 



1,284,000 



1,057,600 



48.880 



5.934.450 



376,390 



2,071,780 



432,550 



238,450 



16,030 



59,171 



114,600 



1,904,355 



83,855 



62,235 



69,510 



150,605 



11,250 



701,469 



472,695 



48,335 



132,529 



2,156,951 



137,820 



93,765 



867,468 



1,148,045 



51,578 



3,185,828 



1,400,420 



202,133 



15.331.841 



1,141,818 



3,295,375 



1,700,667 



1,049.424 



9,295 



149,475 



156,125 



79.925 



1.445,435 



917.355 



170,994 



725,185 



139,875 



21,985 



770,233 



705,184 



103.315 



150.988 



549.735 



103.90T 



75,920 



10,250 



63,625 



42,680 



193.975 



199.320 



102,375 



11,464 



138.900 



396.957 



53,0,30 



347,655 



Per Cent 

 Gain Loss 



28 

 40 

 75 



23 

 73 

 48 

 80 



44 

 41 



48 



903 



37 



110 



45 

 34 



22 

 11 



435 

 '9 



57 



24 



6 



(U 

 10 



69 

 53 

 26 

 72 

 70 



55 

 55 

 14 

 90 

 65 



90 

 74 

 51 

 49 

 SO 

 15 



43 



13 



51 

 27 

 19 

 15 



71 

 22 

 25 

 30 

 93 



19 

 49 



Total $34,310,484 .?58.061,519 .. 41 



Chicago Daily Gives Prominence to Statistics Favorable to Lumber 

 E. E. Hooper, secretary of the Lumbermen's Association of Chicago, 

 has summarized for the Chicago Herald the lumber business in Chicago 

 during 1914. He has incorporated in bis report statistics which show 

 without room for doubt that the much maligned frame house Is not the 

 cause of fire, and In fact on the other hand that fewer fires have occurred 

 in such structures in Chicago than in other types of structures. The 

 report follows : 



A decrease of one-third in Chicago's consumption of lumber during 1914 

 is attributable to the brick strike, the European war and the aftitaticm for 

 extension of the fire limils. 



Lumber conditions for the year are as follows : 



Feet 



Total lumber receipts 1914 L', 209, 254 000 



Total lumber receipts 1913 2'804'434'000 



Decrease 1914 393,180,0(1" 



Total shingle receipts 1914 491.918 000 



Total shingle receipts 1913 .".0(i',:;iP:;' 



Decrease 1914 8,474,0(10 



Total lumber shipments 1914 1,0l6!33l'o0t> 



Total lumber shipments 1913 954,ooo!oi>o 



Increase 1914 30,531,000 



City consumption of lumber 1914 1,19s, 723,000 



City consumption of lumber 1913 l,856,4.S2il07 



Decrease 1914 651.739,107 



The report of the Chicago City Manual shows that there were twentv- 

 five per cent more frame houses in Chicago than brick in 1913 and there 

 were seven per cent less fires in frame houses than in those of other con- 

 struction, 



A prominent official of the fire department made a statement in 1911 

 that with the water mains enlarged and high water pressure, with the 

 ^plendid fire department at his command, it would make no difference if 

 the building were of wood or other material, as he could then take care 

 of any fire. Therefore, it would seem that the city officials should take up 

 this important matter so that fires in buildings of both wood and other con- 

 struction would be greatly reduced. This would be of greater importance 

 to the people's interest than the extension of the fire limits, driving out of 

 the market wood as a competitor to other building material. 



St. Louis Shipments in 1914 



There was a falling off in shipmeuts of lumber by rail at St. Louis last 

 year but there was a gain in river shipments. In both river and rail 

 receipts there was a falling oft. 



SHIPMENTS. 



-Cars by Kail- 



1913 



January 10,339 



Februa'rv 11,219 



March 12,031) 



April 14,:!01 



May 14.970 



June 13.180 



July 12,655 



-Vugust : 12,729 



September 12,702 



October ll,99,s 



N'ovember ll,7:'.i( 



December 12,S70 



Totals 



1914 



10,377 



9,813 



11,340 



11,340 



11,768 



12,347 



11,999 



11,903 



11,288 



11,14.H 



9,702 



9,265 



132,298 



— I'eet by 

 1913 



98,000 



54,000 



83,000 



64,000 



38,000 



107,000 



161,000 



121,000 



81,000 



88,000 



River — , 

 1914 



80,000 

 144,000 

 239,000 

 171,000 

 144,000 

 177,000 

 189,000 

 294,000 



.151,40:1 

 RECEIPTS, 



-Cars by Rail- 



995,000 1,438,000 



1913 



January 10,1.'J7 



February 16,137 



March ^ 18,290 



-Vpril 16,723 



May 20,320 



Juiie 17,816 



July 16,371 



.\ugust 18,402 



September 17,5:si 



October is.o.'iii 



November 14,432 



December 14,510 



1914 

 14.480 

 14.378 

 16,735 

 15,770 

 15,418 

 16,488 

 17,440 

 17,270 

 10,417 

 14,899 

 14,503 

 14,358 



—Feet by 

 1913 



64,000 



■ 85,666 



98,000 



153,000 



164,000 



133,000 



41,000 



28,000 



64,000 



River — , 

 1914 



• 120,000 



9,000 



25,000 



67,000 



315,000 



74,000 



2,000 



012,000 



Totals 204,707 188,330 830,000 



The Hoo-Hoo House at San Francisco 



The finishing touches are being put on the Iloo-Hoo house at the San 

 Francisco exposition. The redwood contribution, in the shape of living 

 trees for decoration and bark for weatherboarding, has arrived and is being 

 set in place. This organization has taken much pains to make lumbermen 

 comfortable when they visit the exposition. 



Dermott Land and Lumber Company 



DERMOTT, ARK. 



