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HARDWOOD RECORD 



This Speaks for Itself 

 E. S. Kellogg, secretary o( the National Lumber Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation, has sent out the following copy of a letter which recently came 

 to his attention. No comment Is neccessary. 



Worthless Lumber ox the Market 



To the Editor of The Modern Hospital : ., ^ ,. , , 



We have had occasion to buv a lot of lumber recently, for shelves, tor 

 benches for partitions, and some for flooring. The lumber seems to warp 

 badlv after it is on for a time ; rosin or some discoloring substance comes 

 throu"'h the paint ; the floors and the tongue-and-grooved partitions open 

 UP and the whole result is had everywhere. Is there no good lumber to 

 be had and if so. where can we buy It? Someone has suggested that we 

 can buy good second-hand lumber from the wreckers in the large cities, 

 and that it is the best because it is well seasoned. 



An Iowa Trustee. 

 Lumber has jumped in price until it is almost prohibitive now. Good, 

 well-seasoned lumber that will not contract under the heat of a hospital 

 costs from SCO to iSlOO a thousand feet. Such prices are certainly pro- 

 hibitive The trouble is that lumber is rapidly disappearing and those 

 who have it to sell find a ready market at exorbitant prices : consequently 

 lumber mills are working overtime and nearly all of them have equipped 

 creat drying kilns where they wheel in carloads at a time. The physical 

 conditions are not good for" drying under such circumstances, and the 

 result is that the pieces are dried only on the outside. As soon as the 

 lumber is laid in place in the hospital it begins to dry naturally, by the 

 evaporation of its native water, and there can be only one outcome, the 

 discoloration of the paint, of which you write, and the warping of the 

 timbers No doubt the wreckers of old buildings take out lumlier that, 

 under ordinarv conditions, would be ideal for building operations, but 

 Ihe trouble is "that this second-hand lumber is full of nails and therefore 

 difficult to handle. Old buildings used to have very heavy sleepers and 

 studdings two bv eights and two by twelves, and a good deal of excellent 

 flooring can be 'picked up from the second-hand dealers. If you could 

 take this two-inch stuff and have it sawed again and planed, it would 

 make the best possible lumiier you could get hold of. but the sawmills 

 will not saw It for vou. because of the nails, and It really cannot be 

 handled unless vou can use it just as the pieces come. Your alternative 

 is to do the best vou can with the poorly dried stuff on the market or 

 pay the exorbitant prices for thoroughly dried lumber. 



Reduces Rates Between Northern Points 



Railroads in northern Minnesota have just Issued a new tariff an- 

 nouncement reducing lumber rates to competitive water ports on Lake 

 Michigan one cent a hundred pounds. The rates became effective March 

 15. It Is stated that the reduction came as a result of action by the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission last November when the railroads were 

 given the alternative of reducing rates In the interior of the state, in- 

 cluding some 1,400 points In northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan, 

 or of Increasing the tariffs from ports on Lake Superior to Milwaukee 

 and other Lake Michigan points. 



The rate from Wausau to the latter points has always been ten cents 

 a hundred pounds. However, the rate from Rhlnelander and other cities 

 north of the Soo line has been eleven cents per hundred pounds, whereas 

 the rates from Lake Superior ports have been ten cents In order to meet 

 with water competition in spite of the fact that the distance by rail was 

 greater than from Interior points. 



The fourth section of the Interstate Commerce Commission act pro- 

 hibited higher rates from interior than from more distant points, except 

 where ruling to the contrary is made by the commission. 



The commission's decision handed down last November decided that 

 the railroads musl either increase their lake port rate or reduce their 

 rates for 32.") miles distance to ten cents a hundred pounds. The reduc- 

 tion of rates from interior points would greatly have exceeded whatever 

 loss the railroads could have sustained from water competition from 

 ports on the Wisconsin and Michigan fronts on Lake Superior. 



The reduction in rates from northern Minnesota points was made, 

 however, to offset this Increase In rates from Ashland and Duluth. Thus 

 a shipment of lumber from Virginia, Minn., to Duluth would cost four 

 and a half cents per hundred, while the same shipment destined for points 

 where the former competitive lake and rail rate of ten cents was in force 

 from Lake Superior points, would cost buttthree and one-halt cents per 

 hundred. 



There seems to be a question as to whether the reduction of rates 

 from Minnesota points to Milwaukee and Chicago will cause an appeal 

 to the Interstate Commerce Commission. 



The Freight Difficulty and a Remedy 

 It is not surprising that American lumber exporters feel that the steam- 

 ship conapanks are not treating them In the proper spirit by refusing to 

 accept lumber for I.'nitrd Kingdom ports, says tlic I^ondon Timber Trades 

 Journal. It lias put them in a position of sh\ittlng off their business whilst 

 the steamship lines are able to All their steamers with other commodities. 

 It is not at all improbable that, ou account of the position taken up by the 

 steamship companies, the hardwood luml)cr Interests in the southern states 

 will charter at the first opportunity steamers for London and Liverpool ; and 

 should they do this, and it proves satisfactory, it Is more than likely they 

 would keep these steamers going continually in order to protect themselves 

 against a similar position in the future. It seems a pity that a regular 

 steamship line cannot be started and maintained with New Orleans, London 

 and Liverpool for the carrying of lumber almost exclusively ; if this could 

 be done the present sltaation would not bo likely to be repeated. It Is 



strange that tbe large lumber exporters of the southern states do not com- 

 bine and secure a few steamers on long-time charter for the exclusive trans- 

 port of their goods. At present we believe a fair amount of business could 

 be obtained from New Orleans to London and Liverpool on a basis of an 

 ocean rate of sixty-flve cents per one hundred pounds, but for reasons best 

 known to themselves the steamship lines are not disposed to give shippers 

 of lumber any room, and where they have quoted the rate has been arbi- 

 trarily high, so as to make business impossible. Exporters of lumber are 

 very indignant, and prophesy that the time will come when the steamship 

 lines will be very pleased to have lumber shipments from New Orleans to 

 the United Kingdom, as well as from the North Atlantic ports in the United 

 States to the United Kingdom : and should the lumber exporters pool their 

 shipments and charter a few boats to take care of their foreign business, the 

 steamship lines may be very sorry that they declined to give the lumber 

 shippers facilities to carry on their trade during these trying times. 



Veneers Used in Piano Making 



It is somewhat diflicult to determine Just win re all the veneer goes. While 

 furniture manufacturers and door and millwork people now use much more 

 of the figured and the finer qualities of veneer than formerly, the piano 

 trade, it is said, still ranks conspicuously in the first place as a consumer 

 of the very finest veneer, especially in mahogany, rosewood and other of 

 the conspicuously figured veneer products. At least this is the opinion 

 expressed by a prominent mahogany manufacturer who was asked recently 

 if the furniture trade had attained to equal prominence with the piano 

 trade in the demand for the finest figured wood. He said that while the 

 furniture trade uses much more highly figured wood than formerly in 

 veneer, it is the piano trade that is looked to today as the principal market 

 for the extremely valuable and highly figuroil veneer in mahogany, rosewood, 

 Durls and other veneer products of conspicuous beauty and high value. In 

 fact, the piano and piano-player trade of today is a much larger consumer of 

 finely figured Wood than ever before, because there is a larger quantity of 

 instruments produced. 



Minnesota's Forestry Fight 



The advocates of progressive forestry in Minnesota have a severe fight on 

 their hands. The state forest service asked for $300,000 for the next two 

 years, and the appropriation was making headway through the legislature 

 when the senate finance committee cut it to $SO,000. Friends of forestry 

 are now trying to restore the appropriation to its original size. The cause 

 of the opposition seems to center round the fact that public money has been 

 spent, or Is likely to be spent, in extinguishing fires on privately ownefl 

 forest lands. Tlie opposition wants state money spent for state lands only. 

 The answer to this is that the people of the state are interested in the 

 preservation of all the forests ; that the private owners are often unable 

 to stop fires on their own lands : and that such fires In spreading from tract 

 to tract will often reach state lands and by that time will have gained so 

 much headway that the state wardens will have great dlfflculty in obtaining 

 the mastery. In other words, the place to begin the fight against forest 

 fires is at the beginning while they are small, no matter whether the fire 

 originates on private or public land. The spirit of economy In the Minnesota 

 legislature goes so far as to ask that twenty-five per cent of the salary of 

 Forester William T. Cox be cut off. 



American Lumber in England 

 Reports from the other side of the sea say that stocks of American hard- 

 wood lumber In Ixmdon are very light. Sap gum is in good demand, espe- 

 cially l"xl3" to 17" ; prime ash is also in good request, as also is yellow 

 poplar. Tliere is very little call for red gum, but 1" oak boards are in 

 good demand, especially In the lower grades, and there Is also a fair inquiry 

 for thin plain oak, mostly of medium quality. Oak, 3" and thicker is also 

 in great request. Generally speaking, there is an excellent all-round demand 

 for .yarded stocks, and that prices for these must increase, so long as freight 

 rates remain at the present level, Is assured — in fact, at the moment it is 

 Impossible to get the steamship lines to take lumber, and therefore importa- 

 tion Is practically suspended. The trade does not seem Inclined to make 

 forward contracts on the basis of the higher rates of freight that were 

 obtainable before the steamship companies declined to take lumber. It is 

 only a question of time when stocks in buyers' y.ards will become exhausted, 

 and must be replaced : and with these conditions existing, there should be a 

 reasonable amount of forward business going on on a basis of current freight 

 rates, provided these are not absolutely prohibitive. 



Changes in Japanese Forestry 



It is said that the Japanese are not planting hardwoods to take tbe place 

 of hardwood forests which have been cut to supply the market, but are 

 planting Norway spruce instead. This tree grows more rapidly than most 

 hardwoods, but it has not yet passed its experimental stages in Japan, and 

 it Is questionable whether too much ought to be risked on It. In some 

 countries it does well while young, but declines In vigor as maturity is 

 approached. 



Wooden Shoes in Mexico 



A recent consular report from Vera Cruz, Mexico, states that leather is 

 becoming so costly and scarce in that country that the people are wearing 

 wooden shoes. These are described as "sandals," and the published descrip- 

 tion leaves it uncertain whether the whole article is of wood, or only the 

 sole. The wood used is Spanish cedar — the wood of which cigar boxes are 

 made In this countr.v. It is said to cost J3.'j0 per 1,000 feet, Mexican 

 money, which is equivalent to $175 American money. Tliat seems wholly 

 improbable. Spanish cedar logs are landed at Tampa, Fla., for less than $30 



