38 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



=-< PHILADELPHIA ^- 



(Leading Manuiacturers) 



Miller Lumber Go, 



MARIANNA, ARK. 



We have on our yards, in good shipping 

 condition, five milHon feet assorted Hard- 

 woods, consisting of Red and' Sap Gum, 

 Quartered and Plain Oak, Ash, Cypress, 

 Cottonwood, etc. 



Send us your inquiries 



Baker-Matthews Manufacturing Co. 



Sikeston, Mo. 



Band Sawn 

 Southern Hardwoods 



SPECIALTIES 



RED GUM, PLAIN OAK 



SEND US YOUR INQUIRIES 



OUR SPECIALTY 



St. Francis Basin Red Gum 



WE MANUFACTURE 



Southern Hardwoods 



Gum, Oak and Ash = 



J. H. Bonner & Sons 



Mills and Office, 

 4UIGLEY. ARK. 



Postefflee and Telearraph Offlc«, 

 HBTH, ABK. 



BUSS-GOOK OAK CO. 



BLISSVILLE, ARK. 



MANUFACTUKERS 



Oak Mouldings, Casing, Base and Interior 

 Trim. Also Dixie Brand Oak Flooring. 



As Well As 



OAK, ASH and CUM LUMBER 



Can furnish anything in Oak, air dried 

 or Iciln dried, rough or dressed 



MIXED ORDERS OUR SPECIALTY 



Notwithstanding tbe glowing proplicsies of a vigorous opening pros- 

 perity with the new year, it is evident that instead there is only a 

 strained activity. However, the strenuous efforts that are being made by 

 the large trade organizations and the leaders of the large corporations, 

 firms and financial institutions toward the development of new trade 

 centers for this market and which all feel must at a not remote period 

 be crowned with success, serves to keep alive a sustaining optimism. Buy- 

 ing at this time proceeds with fits and starts and mostly better grades of 

 lumber are called for, with values steady. Large concerns on account of 

 the stock situation at the mills are holding out for better prices, and as a 

 rule are getting them, although in some quarters goods are offered at 

 reduced rates. Everybody is hopeful that the spring will see an advance 

 in trading in all lines. Already there is an incipient improvement in build- 

 ing work as quite a number of permits have been obtained recently for 

 large operations for rows of dwelling houses — evidently the banks and 

 trust companies are somewhat less stringent as regards requested loans. 



An election permitting the borrowing of $G,000,000, the first install- 

 ment of about $150,000,000, for rapid transit improvements in subways, 

 elevated roads, docks, ferries, etc., etc.. will be held in April, which, if 

 successful, promises extensive employment of labor. This step is looked 

 upon as an enconrniriutr sign of the much looked for recuperation in local 

 business. 



=-< PITTSBURGH >-= 



Hardwood men are having altogether the best of it these days. They 

 are doing business right along. Orders from the big industrial and manu- 

 facturing concerns of this district are much more encouraging. The auto- 

 mobile manufacturers are also contributing more business. Prices are 

 holding up better than a few weeks ago. There is not such a glut of 

 stock being offered. Yard trade has not started up to any extent, but will, 

 it is expected, develop just as soon as the weather becomes suitable for 

 building operations. 



=■< BOSTON >.=== 



In most respects the market for hardwood remains about as at previous 

 reports. The reduced volume of trade becomes a subject of less complaint 

 as time goes on and there is closer application to business and adjust- 

 ment to conditions. The values In the market are more stable, although on 

 a scale generally considered under the market. Many favorable factors 

 apply to the local trade. The "build now" campaign is enthusiastically 

 urged by a local daily paper and the figures from the mayor's annual 

 report have Influenced many to prepare for a moderate spring revival of 

 business. The report referred to shows January construction from one to 

 two million dollars' advance over 1912, '13 and '14, and, further, the 

 construction in 1914 amounted to .$24,796,353 as against a little less 

 than $24,000,000 in 1913 and about $23,600,000 in 1912. The anti-fire 

 agitation in this state has tended to add to the consumption of hardwood 

 rather than otherwise on account of many buildings which would have 

 been built of wood with less expensive finish, having been constructed of 

 brick, cement, etc., with a correspondingly better finish. The necessity of 

 generally raising the confidence of investors by maintaining fair stocks 

 and in every reasonable way aiming at normal conditions has replaced 

 to a large extent the emphasizing of any current adversity In comparison 

 with old conditions. 



■< BALTIMORE >■ = 



The hardwood men of this city, or at least a portion of them, express a 

 measure of disappointment with the developments in the trade so far 

 this year, .\bout the middle of January it looked as though a decided 

 revival might be expected, but after that the interest in offerings of stocks, 

 appeared to lag, and so far the anticipations then entertained have not 

 been realized. It cannot be said that the situation is without encourag- 

 ing features, but the movement none the less leaves much to be desired, 

 and the manufacturers as well as the dealers are dispo.sed to pursue a 

 conservative course. The entire list seems to he affected about the same, 

 with the domestic buyers still rather undecided as to what the future may 

 bring forth. The railroads have thus far manifested no such wants as 

 might have been looked for as a result of the increase in freight rates 

 .iwarded them. The hardwood business seems to have gone back into 

 the previous rut of uneventfulness, so that in spite of the absence of heavy 

 accumulations, the situation is not so strong as it might be. Many of the 

 mills are still out of the running, and there is no eagerness on the part 

 of the owners to resume operations until the range of values works up 

 to a higher level. The lack of snap about the inquiry is responsible for 

 much unscttlemont in the quotations. It is still a frequent complaint of 

 the millmen that they do not know what they should ask for lumber, 

 and as a consequence the figures named show decidedly wide divergences. 

 In fact, there is a marked absence of a definite price level, everyone who 

 lias hardwoods to sell proceeding to do the best he can under the circum- 

 stances. To be sure, very little would be required to correct this state of 

 affairs, but in spite of tbe circumstance that assortments in the yards are 

 generally very much broken, the present time Is not regarded as pro- 

 pitious for any considerable adding to the selections of lumber In hand. 

 Most of the buyers prefer to go along from day to day, and this accounts 

 for the irregularity with which orders come In, some days being pro- 

 ductive of a number of them, while others show a decided scantness. For 



