HARDWOOD RECORD 



25 



Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The quality of timber is quite different 

 west of the Mississippi from what grows east, and the log-run value of 

 lumber Is less, and it Is not able to pay a higher rate In order to get 

 to market. 



In the district west of the river, owing to the fact that only choice lum- 

 ber can be sent to market, the size of the logs that can be cut Is determined 

 by the freight rate. If the rate is too high a great deal of the timber is 

 left on the land. 



The utilization of the Southern hardwood forests, under the present 

 adjustment of rates, Is extremely wasteful. It is evident that a great re- 

 duction should be made in the rates which are charged for hardwood 

 lumber from that region. The market which by great effort has been 

 established for somewhat Inferior hardwoods of this section, Is being lost 

 to substitutes like steel and fiber. The hardwood forest resources are being 

 squandered. The largest and finest timber Is being culled out In the ef- 

 fort to put on the market a product which can afford to pay the excessive 

 freight costs to market. 



No showing has ever been made by carriers that hardwood lumber is 

 not paying Its Just share of the cost of operation, and they have never 

 so much as presented a statement showing the proportion of the total 

 tonnage of their lines supplied by hardwoods. The great problem before 

 the carriers and lumber manufacturers today is to provide an Increasing 

 territory of distribution to take care of the rapidly increasing output of 

 low grade lumber. A majority of the mills are closed down because they 

 are not able to find a market for their low grade output. 



Chairman McCIure then introduced State Senator H. H. Casteel of 

 Jackson, Miss., who told in a striking way of his own observations 

 of the result of inadequate values for gum lumber, resulting in dead- 

 ening thousands of acres of gum all over the state. He deplored the 

 conditions which made necessary the farming of poor soil while the 

 rich bottoms of the delta remained covered because the timber cannot 

 be cut at a profit. 



Competition Lumber in Remanufacturing 

 F. B. Ackley of the Heywood Bros. & Wakefield Company, Chicago, 

 read a paper on the competition met by southern hardwoods with 

 other woods in the manufacture of chairs and tables. He said that 

 the consumer appears to be overlooked too often. In the manufac- 

 ture of chairs, for instance, the cuttings are small and can be got 

 out of lumber that is not suitable for stock which requires long cut- 

 tings; but the freight rate is the same on all grades, and if it is 

 excessive, it prevents. the use of low grades for chairs. The factory 

 cannot afford to pay a higli rate on material that goes into the 

 woodpile. 



The Forest Conservation Commission is trying to teach the people 

 to use as low a grade o^. lumber as is consistent with their manu- 

 factured product, and nearly all factories that keep a cost system are 

 doing this. Freight is the big item in figuring costs. For that 

 reason most consumers of lumber in factories, who are far from 

 the source of supply, are gradually working into a higher grade of 

 manufactured products, which materially reduces the quantity of out- 

 put. 



A short time ago nearly all th^ oak lumber manufactured into 

 lumber around Chicago came from Wisconsin, Indiana, and other 

 nearby points, which took loW freight rates, ■ and low grades could 

 be used. Much of the cheaper furniture is now made nearer the saw 

 mills, and this will be more and more so if the freight rates are 

 materially advanced. The people who manufacture a real high 

 grade article will not be so much affected, because a higher propor- 

 tion of this cost is in the workmanship; but articles where the cost 

 is chiefly in the material will be seriously affected. 



Relation of Cooperage to the Railroads 

 Walter L. Wellford, of the Chicasaw Cooperage Company of Mem- 

 phis, Tenn., addressed the meeting on the relation of the cooperage 

 industry to the railroads. He regretted that heretofore the coopers 

 had not been very successful in getting in close touch with the rail- 

 roads, but was encouraged to believe that a better understanding 

 was at hand. He complained of excessive rates, and said whereas 

 rates on other commodities are being raised five percent, the rates on 

 forest products have been advanced from ten to forty percent, and it 

 is an absolute impossibility for the industry to bear the extra burden. 

 The profits in the cooperage business base never been large and 

 in the past two years have wholly disappeajr^. An increase in the 

 price of barrels always means a reduction in the quantity used, and 

 the railroads will find that an advance in rates will be at the expense 

 of the tonnage. 



Previous to twenty years ago fully 90 percent of the slack cooper- 

 age staves, heading, and hoops, were made north of the Ohio river, 

 while today over fifty percent are made isouth of the Ohio. In some 

 respects the woods north of the Ohio are superior to those south. 

 They are lighter in weight, and the staves stain and decay less. Both 

 of these qualities are advantages in favor of the northern woods. 

 The slack barrel market is largely in the North. It is easy to see 

 that the southern manufacturer is at a decided disadvantage. If the 

 southern railroads are going to raise their rates on southern cooper- 

 age they will decrease their tonnage more than they can make good 

 by an advance in rates. 



The tight stave industry has not in recent years used any wood 

 in the South except oak, but the use of gum is now advocated, and 

 the price at which the gum barrel will have to be sold will not permit 

 of an increase in rates. 



Railroad Men Give Sincere Expression to Desire for 

 Co-operation 



Chairman McClure concluded tlie speeches by asking the railroad 

 men present for some expression from them on the subject before the 

 meeting. The following spoke: Frank B. Bowes, Chicago, 111., vice- 

 president of the Illinois Central; W. B. Biddle, St. Louis, Mo., Re- 

 ceiver for the 'Frisco System; Henry E. Farrell, St. Louis, Mo., vice- 

 president of the Cotton Belt; A. E. Smith, Louisville, Ky., third 

 vice-president of the Louisville & Nashville; C. E. Perkins, St. Louis, 

 Mo., freight traffic manager of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & 

 Southern; N. B. Helm, Shreveport, La., vice-president of the Louisi- 

 ana Eailway & Navigation Company; H. W. Morrison, Little Rock, 

 Ark., assistant freight traffic manager of the Chicago, Rock Island 

 & Pacific; E. H. Shaw, Atlanta, 6a., assistant freight traffic man- 

 ager of the Southern Railway, and Charles Barham, Nashville, Tenn., 

 general freight agent of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis. 



The unanimous sentiment was heartily in accord with the spirit of 

 the meeting. The railroad men themselves made the tentative sug- 

 gestion to get together a committee to get to the bottom of the mat- 

 ter. They explained the difficulty of the railroad man's position, 

 explaining that all are actuated by a genuine desire merely to return 

 a fair profit to stockholders. 



The earnest endorsement from the railroad side of any feasible 

 plan to eliminate correspondence and litigation by conference was the 

 most significant thought of the whole meeting, and something will 

 surely result from it. 



Definite Plans Launched 



At the request of the chairman, J. E. Stark of Memphis acknowl- 

 edged the gratifying expression from the -railroad. He offered the 

 motion that some definite plan be started by the appointment of a 

 committee of three shippers of forest products from east of the 

 river and three from west to meet with a committee of the same 

 representation from the railroads. < 



The motion was seconded by Frank B. Bowes and carried. 



S. B. Anderson, speaking in behalf of the association and Memphis 

 lumbermen, thanked the railroad men for coming. In summarizing 

 the purpose of the meeting he said that all the lumbermen want is 

 for the railroads to help them (the lumbermen) to create more ton- 

 nage for the carriers by making it possible to cut and ship timber 

 that now is of no value to anybody. 



The meeting then adjourned. 



COMMITTEES APPOINTED 



The governing board of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association 

 met on Thursday, and the officers appointed the following committee 

 to represent lumber in railroad conferences east of the river: John 

 W. McClure, S. B. Anderson, Anderson-TuUy Company, Memphis; 

 W. B. Burke, Lamb-Fish Lumber Company, Charleston, Miss.; west 

 of the river: F. E. Gadd, Wisconsin Lumber Company, Chicago; 

 E. L. McClelland, Paepcke Leicht Lumber Company, Chicago; Wal- 

 ker L. Wellford of the Chickasaw Cooperage Company, Memphis, 

 Tenn. Mr. McClure was elected chairman by the committee which 

 represents every factor of raw material from hardwood forests. The 

 railroads will have their similar committee selected in a few days. 



