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Copyritilit, The Hardwood Company, 1918 



Publithed ID llie Inlcrfsl of the American Hardwood Foresif, the Producia thereof, and Logging. Saw 



Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on ihe lOlh and 25lh of each Monlh, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh. PreiidenI 

 Edwin W. Meeker. Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell. Teclmic.l Editor' 



Seventh Floor Elliworth Building 



537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 



Telephones: Harrison 8C 



Vol. XLV 



CHICAGO. JUNE 25, 1918 



<TO7T-^^v7 7.w^ ^ ';T»l' iX^u ac>5^;i^!am;> im!™it!^ 



Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



TilK HKi (i.VTHKKING of liardwood iiion in t'liii'iiKo last week 

 gave a great opportunity for study of the problems within the 

 industry. The ever present question, of course, pertains to mar- 

 kets, to the probable quantity and extent of orders and to develop- 

 ments likely to occur in regard to prices. While this phase of the 

 hardwood business is being pressed for first importance by the 

 question of labor, the two are directly allied and arc usually dis- 

 cussed together. 



Xormally, there are always some people who take perhaps a too 

 optimistic view of markets and can always be counted upon to 

 claim excessive sales and stock piles cleaned up. However, under 

 normal circumstances there are always some on the opposite side 

 of the fence and the actual situation can be arrived at by dis- 

 counting one against the other and determining a happy medium. 



As it is today, though, the unanimous pronouncement is that 

 hardwood lumber is sold up, that prices are governed merely by 

 ability to furnish stock, that there is not the slightest chance of 

 production over-topping demand. The situation might be best de- 

 scribed by the statement that very few hardwood men today would 

 be willing to sell stock that they did not have actually bought. 

 The significance of this description lies in the fact that prices 

 climb so rapidly that it would not be safe to sell at a certain figure 

 without knowing definitely that the material sold could be pur- 

 chased at a figure leaving room for a reasonable profit. It is so 

 diflicult to locate any quantities of salable material in almost any 

 line that in the length of time necessary to locate stock with which 

 to cover an order, it is likely that the price would have climbed to 

 such an extent that the delivery would be made at an actual loss. 



As far as labor is concerned, this condition is almost beyond de- 

 scription and forms an absorbing topic of conversation whenever 

 hardwood men get together. There is a good deal of speculation 

 as to what the outcome will be, as it is inconceivable that condi- 

 tions can go on indefinitely as they are going today. There must 

 be a limit somewhere to the extent to which labor can dictate its 

 terms of employment, especially as the government is specifying 

 returns which may be rocoived for the product of manufacturing 

 operation. 



Put Pep and Patriotism in Letters 



AMERICAN BUSINESS MEN who want to put the United 

 States through the war on the winning side can help to that 

 end by never overlooking an opportunity to put that sentiment 

 into their business letters. The right tone tells, if it is only a 

 word or two. It shows to the man who reads the letter that there 



is push in it, not only a business push, but a patriotic push as well. 

 The patriotic spirit is contagious. It spreads from man to man. 

 A word of pep here, a point of push there, will amount to an enor- 

 mous force if everybody is doing it. 



The immediate result may be expected in our own country and 

 among our own people; but that should not be the limit of the 

 propaganda. Put the same sentiment in business letters which go 

 abroad. Let them convey the imiiression that there is solid sup- 

 port among our home people for the war in which we have engaged, 

 and that nobody here is apologizing for any step we arc taking 

 or are liable to take. Never apologize for your politics, your 

 religion, or your country; and in writing to foreign correspondents 

 sound that sentiment as clear as a bell. Letters sent to distant 

 lands will be read carefully to detect what we are thinking of the 

 war and what is our attitude toward it. Make that matter i)lain; 

 and say it so pointedly that the recipient of your letter will not need 

 to "read between the lines" to find out what you are thinking 

 about and what you are doing at this critical period in your coun- 

 try's history. Make it so clear that the reader not only may under- 

 stand you if he will, but so clear that he must understand you 

 whether he will or not. 



Letters to foreign countries are liable to be read by persons who 

 are not very friendly to us or to our cause, and who will catch at 

 any word or phrase which seems to imply that we are not in this 

 war soul and body. Do not let any of your letters afford comfort 

 to any man who might find comfort in our lukewarmness. Let your 

 letters, in a word, or line, or postscript, or elsewhere, shoot pep, 

 ginger and patriotism every time and on every occasion. It will 

 help to set us square with friends and enemies. 



The Future Promising 



A PROMINENT MEMBER of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association and a man who has been active in the formula- 

 tion and execution of many of the association policies is quoted 

 as having made a very apt reply to recent accusation. He was 

 accused of being always mixed up in association controversies be- 

 cause he loves a fight. The reply was that he does not love to fight 

 for the fight 's sake, but rather that he loves harmony and is wil- 

 ing to fight to secure it. 



Men's minds often meet more closely when through active com- 

 bat, either physical or mental, they have learned each to appre- 

 ciate the other's virtues and qualities which might not be brought 

 out were events to proceed in a tranquil manner. Many a man 

 has remained as a light under a bushel until some question of 

 principle has brought him out of himself and demonstrated to the 



