42 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



WAN TED 



All Kinds of High-Grade 



HARDWOODS 



S. E. SLAYMAKER & CO. 



WK8TTIBG.N?l-87i;';'{"#T.CMBEBCO.. ^'^"^ ^^^"Cnuf"^"*' 

 Can. West Virginia. NEW YORK 



Over 



One Million Dollars 



in savings has been returned its members by the 



Manufacturing 

 Lumbermen's Underwriters 



and there remains to the credit of members over 



Nine Hundred Thousand 

 Dollars 



The membership, which is constantly increasing, 

 is now composed of nearly four hundred and fifty of 

 the best saw mil! plants in the country. Insurance in 

 force exceeds thirty-five million and nearly three 

 million dollars has been paid in losses. If you have 

 a first-class plant adequately protected and are inter- 

 ested in low cost fire insurance, correct policy forms, 

 an inspection service which may save you from a dis- 

 astrous fire, with the certainty of a prompt and 

 equitable adjustment in case loss does occur, and 

 wish a list of members and annual statement we will 

 be glad to hear from you. 



Rankin-Benedict Underwriting Co. 



HARRY B. CI.ARK 



Western Representative 



Portland, Ore. 



Attorney in Fact 



KANSAS CITY, MO. 



and Is just about the same as it has been for several weeks. There is a 

 slight strengthening in prices all along the line, with prospects o£ a gen- 

 eral increase when the demand becomes better. The cypress people re- 

 port a fair volume of ousiness with an increase in sight within the next 

 few weeks. Dealers in the territory tributary to St. Louis are doing a 

 fair amount of business in anticipation o£ Iheir spring trade, but the con- 

 sumers are not coming into the market as liberally as they should and 

 their trade is below the average. Prices are steady, with an upward 

 tendency. 



=-< DETROIT >■= 



The hardwood market is not improving so rapidly as was expected a 

 few months ago. There is little demand for all lines for interior finish, 

 due entirely to the slackening o£ new Duilding operations, in which De- 

 troit has suffered with the rest of the country. New building is largely 

 restricted to the man who has money enough to build what he wants as a 

 home. Investments in new buildings are few. 



The miinufacturing demand in Detroit is slack : in fact, cannot be said 

 to show any great improvement over that of the last few months in 1914. 

 Several of the consuming factories are not operating full forces nor are 

 they working full time. In some cases suspension of exports is the cause, 

 while in others a falling olT in domestic demand is at fault. 



=■< MILWAUKEE >= 



Judging from the inquiries which are Iieing made, there ought to be 

 plenty of business ahead. The actual orders which are being placed are 

 increasing slowly, although possibly not at the rate which lumbermen 

 would like to see. The factory trade is buying a little more freely, .and a 

 better business from this source is looked for later in the season when 

 spring building operations are more advanced. Stocks on hand at most of 

 the sash and door and general interior woo<lworking plants are light, as 

 these concerns have been buying carefully for so many months. It looks 

 as though it would be absolutely necessary for these industries to place 

 their orders more freely within the near future. Wholesalers say that 

 retailei's about the slate are making inquii-ies and are actually buying n 

 little more stock, in order to be in readiness for the building which will 

 be carried on about the state this year. The farm implement manufactur- 

 ing concerns in Milwaukee and other cities in southern Wisconsin are 

 buying fairly well. The furniture people are still buying rather care- 

 fully. 



Building operations in Milwaukee, which have betm rather inactive 

 since the opening of the new year, are now showing more life and the 

 indications are that much delayed building, held ever from last fall, will 

 now be carried on. Twenty-eight permits were issued during the past 

 week for striicttircs to cost $1G3,4.30, as compared with 30 permits and an 

 Investment of $110,150 during the corresponding week a year ago. .Vrchi- 

 tccts and contractors say that plans are being made for many new build- 

 ing projects. 



Prices on northern hardwoods arc holding firm, as stocks in this line 

 are light and will he unequal to requirements when once the spring trade 

 becomes more active. Wholesalers believe that birch, maple and beech, 

 and probably basswood, will show advances later in the season. It is re- 

 ported that both plain and quarter-sawed oak is a little stronger. There 

 are occasional rumors of price cutting, but this practice is not general. 



The mild weather of the past week or so has tended to melt the snow 

 and break up the logging roads in the northern Wisconsin lumber country, 

 although operations have not been interfered with to any extent as yet. 

 The weather has been so favorable all winter that it is anticipated that 

 the log output will be much larger than had been predicted earlier in the 



=-< LIVERPOOL y- 



The market here has been exceedingly active during the past two months, 

 but the activity has not been of much value to .American shippers. Prices 

 in Liverpool are materially higher but with G5 cents per hundred pounds 

 being paid for freight from southern ports to Liverpool tlie advance is not 

 of much value to shippers. Cypress boards are about the best points. 

 Stocks of 1x8 and up prime or select grade afe moving well at good prices. 

 Values, however, are very uncertain owing to the freight position. There 

 is practically no stock of boards left in Liverpool. Ash and hickory logs 

 for various government orders are also selling well. The advice given 

 recently as to oak staves seems to have served some shippers a good turn, 

 as many thousands are now being landed on the Liverpool quays. Nearly 

 all hickory logs arc cleared out and new arrivals would come to a very 

 firm market, but shippers should send logs as far as possible 12i,i feet and 

 up. The same applies to round ash. Very little birch is in stock and 

 prices are very high. There have been no public sales of mahogany since 

 .Tuly, though some sales have been made privately. Oak planks especially 

 free of heart stock are moving very briskly, particularly stocks which are 

 dry or nearly so. Ash planks are not nearly so strong, and shipments are 

 not advised. The congestion in Liverpool is the worst consideration, and 

 it is no uncommon thing to find ships hung up in Liverpool docks for over 

 a month before being able to discharge their cargoes. Then, when the cargo 

 is landed, considerable diflieulty Is found with railways due to the shortage 

 of labor and trucks. So many Ijancashire men have joined the British 

 army that labor is very scarce even for important war office consign- 

 ments. 



