HARDWOOD RECORD 



Clubs and Associations 



Important Iniormat.on on foreign Trade 



riie olllcttil iirucveillngs o( tli>' liftli iintluiinl fun-lKU Iratle convention, 



.1.1 at Clmliinutl, April lS-:;i), ll^^ iiuw taiu Issuttl lu l>ounil furiu. Tin.' 



...k loulaliis m.uie COO \>u^vh iiikI Is for salt- by thi- Boorctary of tin- 



-Natloiiul Forelsn Trade Council, 1 Hanover Square, New York City. The 



lirlce |8 two (lollan,. 



Lumber Is covered In the flndlngs, as are a great many other topics 

 .■r prime Importance to this suhject. 



Wholesale Trustees Meet 



The regular meeting of the boanl of trustees of the National Whole- 

 .-ale I.umhcr Dealers' Association was held at New Vork on June 14. A 

 full report showing the progress and work of the committee on coii|H'ra 

 Hon with the government was submitted. In addition the support of the 

 association was formally given through resolution, to the recently formed 

 National liureau of Wholesale Lumber Distributors. It shownl the usual 

 reports of the oQIcers and committees, In which W. S. Harlan of the 

 Jackson I.uml)er Company. Lockhnrt. Ala., who was elected second vice- 

 president at the last meeting, submitted his resignation, which was accepted. 



W. II. Schuette of Pittsburgh was unanimously elected to ail the unex- 



itil term. 



President Taylor appointed the following committee to represent the 

 .•.■..--oclatlon before the Federal Trade Commission at Washington for lum- 

 ber price ll.\lng : II. W. McDonough, chairman, Boston, Mass. ; R. G. Kay, 

 Philadelphia, Pa.: Robert U. SIzer, New York City; Maurice M. Wall, 

 Buffalo. N. Y. : B. II. Ellington. Richmond. Va. : E. H. Stoncr, Pitts- 

 burgh. Pa. 



Furniture Trade Optimistic 

 The llfth annual session of the Uetall Furniture Dealers' Association 

 of Tennessee held at Nashville, Tenn., Juno i;M4. brought together some 

 of the leading furniture manufacturers, and a large group of dealers who 

 discussed problems entering Into furniture making at this time. It de- 

 veloped that the manufacturers present took the view that the lumber 

 market would he very firm for the balance of the year. High grade oak. 

 walnut for war and furniture uses, and poplar are now at the top notch, 

 gum likely to advance and demand large, with a complex labor situation, 

 a disappointment In summer logging. From the standpoint of furniture 

 sales, they hold up surprisingly well in view of the falling off In build- 

 ing. It seems that much remodeling and modernizing of buildings and 

 equipment In a measure takes care of decreased building and that the 

 furniture trade has not suffered much. .Summer and mission products 

 taking up lower grades. The cash and installment features. Improve- 

 ment In most of the states in country homes, hotel work, cxportations to 

 Central America and Cuba make the business a steady and growing one. 

 It was brought out that the metal bed trade is much impaired by the war, 

 materials high and scarce. This of course will help the wooden bed that 

 much. There Is a phenomenally good situation on refrigerators but a scar- 

 city of labor here, occosional strikes and the demand for machine gun 

 cases from the government made it an impossibility to lill ordiTs. and 

 faitories running three months liehind. 



Plans Being Perfected for Meeting of Southern Alluvial Land 

 Association 



The overshadowing feature of the forthcoming semi-annual of the South- 

 .111 Alluvial Land Association at Hotel Chisca, Memphis, July 12, will be 

 au address by William L. .Mitchell, treasurer of the Federal Land Bank, 

 St. Louis, Mo., in which he will outline plans looking to government aid 

 In developing and putting Into cultivation the millions of acres of cut- 

 over lands In the lower Mississippi valley. Bankers, land-owners not 

 IdentUied with the association, and other interests have been Invited to 

 atten.l and the belief Is expressed that this movement will represent the 

 beginning of a new era In the development and> colonization of these 

 propirtlis. 



Mr. .Mitchell attended a conference at Memphis, June 13, with a com- 

 mittee appointed by the association to discuss this subject. He outlined 

 tentative plans he now has under consideration but declined to give out 

 anything for publication until these plans have further matured. He 

 consented, however, to address the convention here July 12 on this sub- 

 ject and members are looking forward to this meeting with much Interest. 

 They have already pledged their hearty co-operation In the plans Mr. 

 Mitchell wlU discuss. 



Secretary F. E. Stonebraker has extended an Invitation to Hon. Franklin 

 K. Lane, secretary of the Interior, to address the semi-annual on the 

 plans of the government for providing lands for soldiers who return from 

 the war. The latter recently outlined these plans in a speech at Chicago 

 and since that time a movement has started on the Pacific coast with a 

 view to inducing the government to locate these soldier-farmers In the 

 Far West. Members of the association believe their cut-over lands In 

 the lower Mississippi valley are among the richest and most productive 

 in the world and that they are available on far more reasonable terms 

 than any other such property anywhere in the United States. 



Other details of the program will be announced later. 



Hardwood Traffic Association Wins Another Rate Victory 



The Southern Hardwood 'I'ralBc .\ssociation has another substantial 

 victory to Its creillt as a result of the visit of J. II. Townshend, secretary 

 manager, to Washington where he conferred with officials of the United 

 States Railroair-.\dnilnl8tratlon and with members of tho Senate commit- 

 tee on interstate commerce. 



The results acconiplishctl by this organization have been summarized by 

 Mr. Townshend us follows ; 



We have Just received advices from WnBhlngton that Mr. Mc.Vdoo has 

 acted favorably on ..iir riM|U. st for the cnncelliitlon of the $15 per car 

 minimum chatge on lo;;s. bolts and other rough iimterlal, also on cross- 

 town movements of lumber anil forest products. This charge will be 

 25 j)er cent hlgliii- than iiresi-ut charges for similar rftrvlcc when the new 

 rates becomv ill.. II v.' .luii.- •-'.'.. 



Mr. M..\.l. M I.,- ■ ■. ,! II,.,. II,.. „,h, 1, lnii,,.i;,i.. rates shall 



The saij ;' , . i ,.i, ■.,,. ■..:,.;, i ..-, - in the caso 



of riiti's ii,:m'. : ■ ,. ..is' Intention 



of advan. Ill- ..iti i... .il i.rr. j,'. ;.. i- ..ni Ih tii^ ruliM ili.ii tlie through 

 rate shall not ixii.o j:'. |jir .int. with o ii'iits |i.r buii.ir. il pounds as the 

 inaxinium. 



He has still further ruled that export rates shall not be advanced In 

 excess of 25 per cent, this advance to apply from point of shipment in 

 the interior to port of exit. 



Since the foregoing statement was Issued to members of the associa- 

 tion, it has developed that the minimum charge of $15 per car on log 

 shipments and on cross-town movements has been abrogated but that the 

 minimum of $15 per car on bolts and rough materials Into milling points 

 has not been cancelled. Mr. Townshend recently issued a supplemcnta. 

 statement to members of the association on this point, as follows : 



The mlnlnmm chnrse of $15 per car as applied to log rates and cross 

 town nii.viininrs Ims l,....n nlir.iL-.it..d llow.-v.-r tb.. railroads Intend to 



liiii'i:-ii 11" M .1!!, 1 h ]>..{]- iiihi Mii,..|' I., null material. We are 



bill . I .1. I ^I'l Kailrovl Administra- 



ii"ri II.. i-x.pciatlon to wire the 



mill". "I iiM-ii.ii.h :c,(i. ii;._ Hi:, I Ih. nil., i,,- amended to cover 



We Ic.'l iiinli.i.nt that it was the Intent of the railroad administration 

 to apply this rule to bolts and other rough materials but the railroads and 

 the sub-directors seem determined to adhere to the exact wording of the 

 supplemental onler. 



If they do publish this $15 minimum charge on bolts and other rough 

 materials, we arc confident that we can collect down to the same basis 

 as Is applicable on logs. 



The association is putting forth every possible effort to have all in- 

 equalities in the new rates Ironed out. In so far as they affect lumber and 

 lumber products, and It is meeting with considerable success. Mr. Town- 

 shend stated that there is a vast amount of work to be done to keep lum- 

 ber on a just basis as compared with other materlafs. properly classed 

 as construction materials, and that It will require a great deal of time to 

 do the needful. He Is confident that the advance will become effective 

 June 25 and that it will apply on both old and new business practically 

 without exception. 



Mr. Townshend said that general order No. 25 issued by the Railroad 

 Administration, bearing on payment of freight, had provided that the 

 rule, requiring payment of freight charges within forty-eight hours, should 

 not become effective on lumber and forest products until August 1. 



Manufacturers of southern hardwoods are doing everything they can 

 to get out shipments of lumber, sold on the basis of present rates, before 

 the new rates become effective at midnight June 24. They arc encounter- 

 ing considerable diflSculty, however, for the reason that there Is quite a 

 pronounced shortage of equipment In the way of box cars and motive 

 power. Lumber interests here hoped to clean up all their old engagements 

 before the date named but present Indications arc that they will fall 

 considerably short of this mark. Officials of the Southern Hardwood 

 Traffic Association say they are receiving many complaints on the score 

 of car shortage as affecting the movement of hardwood lumber. 



There is likewise an increasing shortage nt lint .a is i..i- handling log 

 shipments Into mills at Meiii|.lii> nil. I .N. will I i^ ry. Officials 



of. the Valley Log Loadini; in i in i.| ii ,v Mississippi 



Valley road has taken off i|iiii' i in-!. I.: t cars here- 



tofore available for log loadii,;,- ami ihi i! . Id in check 



on this account. There Is likewi.sc .. i i ige on some 



other lines. Mills at Memphis are 1" n - tlic shortage 



of flat cars because this Is resulting; m .: i ipts of logs. 



Some of them are having to operate inti rnuu.iiiiv m pns.ni and In some 

 cases the shut-down periods are becoming somewhat embarrassing. 



The association on June 18 Issued the following statement to its mem- 



The Count: y's Silos 

 More than 400.000 silos are doing duty In the United States. Wisconsin 

 lends In capacity, with room in its silos for 4.785.000 tons of feed. New 

 York has as many silos as Wisconsin, but their average size Is smaller. In 

 Minnesota the average capacity of silos Is ninety-five tons. The total ca- 

 pacity of the silos for the whole United States Is 31,000,000 tons. The 

 average capacity is about seventy-eight tons. The softwoods get most of 

 the silo business, but in some regions the hardwoods are In demand. The 

 usual woods for silos are pine, hemlock, cypress, cedar, redwood and Doug- 

 Ins fir. 



