36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Careful consideration was given to tlie July 1, 1918, stock list. Thi. 

 total stoelfs of No. 2 common & better hardwoods on hand July 1, 1918, 

 compared with July 1, 1917, indicate 10,000,000 feet less ^n hand ; 

 35,000,000 feet less on hand than July 1, 1916, and 63,000,000 feet less 

 on hand than July 1, 1915. 



No. 3 common hardwood stocks on hand July 1, 1918, are 27,000,000 

 feet less than July 1, 1917 ; 52,000,000 feet less than on hand July 1, 

 1916, and July 1, 1915. 



In considering the above facts in connection with the report' of ship- 

 ments exceeding production from month to month, it is unnecessary to 

 dwell very long upon the healthy condition of our hardwoods. It is 

 simply n question as to how long our production will be able to keep up 

 with the demand. 



Hemlock. 



Hemlock stocks on hand are 24,500,000 feet less than ,5^ year ago 

 which Is 24 per cent less than we had on hand Julyl, 19i7. A reduc- 

 tion of 24% in a twelve-months period on a stock which was subnormal 

 to begin with certainly places our hemlock in a very enviable position. 



General business conditions continues favorable. 'J^be^record of com- 

 mercial failures during the first halt of 1918 is the 'lowest,' both os l.i 

 number and total liabilities, since 1917 and the figures for the s. . .uhi 

 quarter are better than for the first. General business conditi.m^ i- 

 reflected very plainly in the lumber business. The one big feature «hi- h 

 we must all watch very closely is that the price at which we markei uur 

 product be kept advanced in line with our advancing costs of production. 



The attached list of values, as near as we are able to judge from re- 

 ports of sales and other Information at hand, represent the present market 

 values of our various commodities. 



There was considerable discussion of the market situation, thi 

 tone of the talk being decidedly optimistic. The labor situation is 

 threatening lumber production, which will undoubtedly be ma- 

 terially lessened this year due to this and other causes. 'While the 

 volume of inquiries has somewhat slacked since the recent radical 

 advance in freight rates, the Michigan mills are well sold up on all 

 stocks and approach the fall and winter seasons with a very evi- 

 dent spirit of optimism. 



The election of officers showed the appointments as follows: 



President — W. L. Saunders, Cadillac. 



First Vice-President — Oscar Larsen, Manistee. 



Second Vice-President — L. M. Richardson, Kaco. 



Treasurer — Henry Ballon, Cadillac. 



Secretary — J. C. Knox, Cadillac. 



Executive Committee — W. C. Hull, John C. Uoss and O. S. Ilawes. 



Following the meeting, the members and visitors were accorded 

 the usual luncheon which took p'.aee in the iiieeting r0om, the entire 

 ]irogram having been taken cure of in one session. .;'>_ 



Better Transportation Service 



Officials of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association report a 

 larger number of cars in the logging service in the Mississippi valley 

 and a better supply of cars for the handling of outbound shipments 

 of lumber and forest products. 



It was announced some time ago that the Yazoo & Mississippi 

 Valley railroad, the principal timber-bearer in the valley territory, 

 would increase by at least 200 cars the number in the logging 

 e.vice, and it is apparent that this number has been supplied. 

 Alills here and at other points in the valley territory served by 

 this line are receiving more logs than for some time. 



There are practically no complaints regarding scarcity of cars 

 for handling outbound shipments except in the case of a few de- 

 tached lines, which are poorly supplied with equipment, including 

 the Southern Railway in Mississippi. 



The association also announces that there has been a lifting by the 

 Pennsylvania lines of the embargo through the Pittsburgh and 

 Allegheny gateways, though F. T. C. permits are still necessary in 

 the case of shipments to certain ports, including New York, New 

 York harbor points, embracing Brooklyn and Jersey City, Camden, 

 N. J., Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia. 



\:«Miam''; ^iWit!faim'jiTOTO!i™HW!^^ iiJi(iroaatw9tii>}W!»tm!i>ii!»^ 



Clubs and Associations 



Northern Wholesalers Will Hold Meeting 



Nortlu'ru \A'linIi's;iIe 11,11 i]\\(n.d l.iniiber Association that the next meet- 

 ing of the :is .. i:iiiMii mil Im lirM at the Bellis hotel, Wausau, Wis., on 

 Wednesday. .Iiil.\ .M riir :i iiiMiuneeniont says ; 



This meeting; will l.c impni i:iiit ; hut it is especially to be desired th:it 



all 



nbers att 

 igement 

 Id effort 



the 



,-hn giv 



Will Ascend to Mountain Tops 



Combining business with pleasure, the board of directors of the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association will hold the sessions of their three- 

 day quarterly meeting at Seattle, Wash., at the summit of either Mount 

 Tacoma or Mount Rainier. The meeting has been called for July 2o to 27, 

 when the West Coast Lumbermen's Association will hold its semi annual 

 meeting. Seattle was selected at the invitation of the West Coast Lum- 

 bermen's Association. The directors will go from Chicago to the coast by 

 special car. 



The meeting of the West Coast Lumbermen's Association and National 

 directors will be of the greatest importance, because it will bring tot;ether 

 many of the most representative lumbermen on the Pacific coast for further 

 co-operation with the Government so as to speed up war preparations to 

 the maximum. 



News of the Manufacturers' Association 



President Robinson announces the following executive committee, the 

 appointment of which was authorized at the meeting of the board of 

 governors held at Cincinnati, July 2 : K. O. Robinson, chairman, B. B. 

 Burns, J. W. Mayhew, M. W. Stark, W. V.. ivr.nner. 



Secretary Gadd announces that he Iki- ein|,iMyr.l two assistant secre- 

 taries whose names will be announced iiiM \\..k. These men will begin 

 work .\ugiist 1 and will have active (■li;irL:e nt ilie aiigressive membership 



appointment 



announced : 



Hand Book and Bulletin— M. W. 

 Advertising— J. E. Burke, chairn 

 Labor — W. E. DeLaney, chairma 



The Open Competition Plan was extended July 1 to cover gum. tupelo 

 aii.l eyiji-ess. The association is very much gratified at the success of 

 its :.n]i]i report, the first report having in it sales of over one million feet. 

 This is I'vidence that the gum report will fully reflect market conditions on 

 that wood. 



The following meetings of the open competition plan for August are 

 announced : Cincinnati, C, August 13 ; Shreveport, La., August 21. 



'The executive committee will also meet in Cincinnati on August 13 

 and monthly -thereafter on the same date as the open competition meet- 

 ings are held in the eastern territory. 



Seven new members were received during the past week, five of which 

 were in the southern territory. 



The association expects to occupy its new offices on the loth floor in 

 the Union Trust building about August 1. 



Southern Hardwood Traffic Association Activities 



A distinct victory is recorded by the Southern Hardwood Traffic Asso- 

 ciation in that it has been able to induce the railroad administration 

 to order correction of recently issued tariffs so that the minimum charge 

 of .$15 per car will be eliminated so far as logs, bolts, billets and other 

 rough materials, as well as fuel wood, cordwood and mill waste, are con- 

 cerned. The association is undertaking securing of reparation on all 

 expense bills of its members west of the river who paid on the basi%of the 

 $15 per car minimum. 



J. H. Townshend, secretary-manager of the association, recently ap- 

 peared before the railroad administration at Washington, in conjunction 

 with officials of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, and 

 argued that the maximum advance on lumber and forests products should 

 not exceed three instead of five cents per hundred pounds. He contendeil 

 that, in some localities, an advance of three cents is more than Is justified. 

 The railmad ndniinistrntion has made no ruling on this subject but the 

 assoei.itien expects "modifications and reductions" in rates, as recently 

 granted the ciiriers. 



The associatiun also announces that it expects favorable recommenda- 

 tion shortly from the railroad administration looking to milling in transit 

 arrangements that will protect the through rate from point of origin to 

 ultimate destination via gateway of transit point, plus a charge for stop 

 over privileges. It anticipates that this charge will be on the basis of two 

 cents per hundred pounds or $10 per car. 



It also anticipates that orders will be issued in the near future that 

 tariffs be so corrected that "present net rates shall be made applicable into 

 milling points without the necessity of keeping any record on the out- 

 bound tonnage." 



The association, at its next monthly meeting, will consider plans look 



