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Published in the Interest of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging, Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the 10th and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh, President 

 Edwin W. Meeker. Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor 



Entire Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 

 537 So. Dearborn Street. CHICAGO 

 Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



Vol. XXXIX 



CHICAGO, JANUARY 25, 1915 



No. 7 



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Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



THE FUENITUEE SHOWS -n-ere concluded at the end of last 

 week and resulted in mixed expressions on the part of manu- 

 facturers there represented as to business prospects indicated by 

 purchases at the exhibits. There were many who were extremely 

 pessimistic on account of lax orders, but there were many others 

 who were either satisfied that the business they actually placed on 

 their books, considering the present status of business as a whole, 

 was as much as could he expected, or left the shows with a genuine 

 feeling of entire satisfaction with the situation. Generally speak- 

 ing, there seems to be an almost unanimous belief that the shows this 

 year were fully up to shows of a year ago in all respects, which, in 

 view of what the country has been passing through and of the con- 

 dition of extreme turmoil which now marks the commerce and in- 

 dustry of the entire world, surely should be accepted as indicative of 

 a pretty healthy basic state in the country. Undue weight should 

 not be given to the expressions of the more pessimistic furniture 

 manufacturers, as even under normal conditions certain lines do not 

 take so favorably as others and there are bound to be some manu- 

 facturers who leave the shows even during bumper years feeling more 

 or less disgruntled with the outcome. Of course, the optimistic ex- 

 pressions of those who actually did realize handsome sales cannot 

 be taken as a criterion of all the exhibitors' experiences, but it is 

 altogether safe to say that the average amount of business done this 

 year was probably more than had been anticipated. Furniture manu- 

 facturers did not expect that they were going to experience excessive 

 sales, as there is no reason why the sales of furniture should experi- 

 ence an instant and drastic revival any more than the sales of any 

 other commodities. Furniture dealers have to contend with the 

 result of the general condition of the country as their sales are 

 made to the average person who experiences the average effect of the 

 present upset conditions. Hence, the retailer's sales could not rea- 

 sonably be expected to improve with a jump. As a consquence, he 

 in turn was more or less conservative in his buying, although in the 

 main the tendency of the buyer was to analyze the styles and offerings 

 as closely as possible seemingly in anticipation of the necessity for 

 placing orders within the next few months. 



It is gratifying to record that a great number of sales which were 

 actually placed on books were of unusually large proportions 

 as the retailers have let their stocks run down to a point where it 

 is absolutely necessary for them to stock up in large quantities in 

 order to have a full line to offer the public. 



Thus as a result of the sales some furniture manufacturers are 

 planning to operate on full time, others are going ahead on a con- 

 servative but satisfactory basis, while stUl others continue to be in 



a pessimistic frame of mind and not inclined to consider any expendi- 

 ture of money for any purpose. 



The significant fact remains, however, that the scarcity of orders 

 from this class of woodworking institutions has not been exactly be- 

 cause they have not been doing business or because they could not use 

 the lumber, but because they were simply desirous of with-holding 

 purchases in anticipation of the results of the sales in order that 

 their purchases might be made intelligently and with due regard 

 to the popularity of certain lines and the quantity of lumber neces- 

 sary to meet the public demand for certain styles of manufactured 

 articles. Now that the issue is settled along definite lines, the pur- 

 chasers will know where they are at, so to speak, and even though 

 a number of them might not have been altogether satisfied with the 

 amount of business transacted, these same people will unquestion- 

 ably be in the market for at least moderate amounts of stock, while 

 many others whose lines were most favorably received will unquestion- 

 ably be large purchasers. 



The furniture shows have been the most important feature during 

 the past two weeks, though this period has developed a real interest 

 among the yard men in an early stocking up to meet the demand of 

 building people, whose business will unquestionably be actively re- 

 sumed in the next two or three months. Yard stocks have been 

 pretty badly broken up and little or no effort has been made during 

 the past few months to keep the lists up to anything approaching 

 normal. However, the fact rem.iins there is a certain amount of 

 building construction which positively must be carried on in order 

 to take care of actual demands for housing of families and business 

 enterprises, commercial or industrial. This demand is constant and 

 while it cannot be filled during periods of depression, this partial 

 check during such times resulting in insuflicieut housing facilities, 

 must be made up when more favorable conditions present tliemselves 

 in order to take care of actual demands. Eeasoning along this line, 

 the fact that the money situation looks better and that both labor 

 and material are considerably cheaper now than they have been for 

 some time, it is altogether reasonable to exjiect that the early spring 

 months will see quite a marked activity in building construction. 

 The yard man who stocks up now in anticipation of this active call 

 for lumber, taking advantage of present low prices to realize good 

 profit on his stock when values are stronger, will play a wise game. 



There has been a very satisfactory nnmber of requests for bids 

 on railroad material during the past couple of weeks, in keeping with 

 the more active call from this quarter for some time past. It is re- 

 grettable that the railroads are stUl able to place a great many 

 orders at figures that are not in keeping with the actual worth of 

 stock sold, but it is most decidedly a fact that the comparative level 



