14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



reciprocal demurrage law that shall penalize railroads if they do not 

 move and deliver commodities with reasonable promptness. 



An Executive Committee of nine members was appointed to pro- 

 ceed at once to Washington and present the crux of the situation to 

 President Eoosevelt, requesting him to present a special message to 

 Congress urging the passage of a reciprocal demurrage law. This 

 committee was authorized to add to its number one representative 

 from each of the many associations interested in transportation 

 matters throughout the United States, which are favorable to this 

 movement. 



The convention was primarily one of education and agitation, and 

 it is hoped that it will result in speedy relief to the shippers of the 

 country. 



Justice to Consumers. 



Today consumers of hardwood lumber are required to make their 

 purchases based on certain specific inspection rules promulgated and 

 carried into effect by sundry lum- 

 ber associations and exchanges. 

 These organizations not only make 

 the laws under which hardwood 

 lumber is inspected but also exe- 

 cute them. In case of dispute 

 over the quality or measurement 

 of a lot of lumber the only re- 

 course the buyer has is the ex 

 parte machinery of reinspeetion 

 offered by the association or ex- 

 change under whose rules the 

 lumber was purchased. 



It appeals to the ' Hardwood 

 RECORD that this is not an emi- 

 nently fair deal. If the lumber 

 buyer by bargain agrees to accept 

 certain specific rules of inspection 

 he certainly should be entitled to 

 know that, if it becomes necessary 

 to reinspect this lumber, he will 

 be treated justly. This reinspee- 

 tion is entirely out of his hands 

 and- is practically under the con- 

 trol of the seller, as ordinarily 

 the seller only is a member of the 

 association or exchange under 

 Hfhose rules the lumber was pur- 

 ehased. 



It would seem but just and 

 equitable that the wholesale con- 

 sumer of hardwood lumber be ad- 

 mitted to at least a certain form 

 of membership in lumber associa- 

 tions that would give him the same 

 rights in the matter of reinspee- 

 tion that redound to the seller. 

 It' this class of membership 

 should carry with it no other 

 rights to the buyer than an as- 

 surance of a square deal on reinspeetion, it certainly would lie of 

 manifest advantage to him. The suggestion is therefore made to 

 both associations and exchanges that if they would fully satisfy the 

 wholesale buying element of the country that they are willing to 

 live up to the system of grading they promulgate, buyers should 

 certainly be recognized on what might be known as a "board of 

 arbitration ' ' in the event of a controversy over grade or measure- 

 ment. ' 



Misinformation Conceining Mahogany. 



The secular and eve'n the lumber press is prone to disseminate a 

 vast amount of misinformation on the subject of mahogany. One 

 of the recent paragraphs that has appeared in the daily newspapers 

 and in some of the lumber trade journals states that an associate 



Cbe Prayer of a Good fellow. 



O Powers That Be, make me sufficent to my own occa- 

 sions. Teach me to know and to observe the Rules 

 of the Game. Give me to mind my own business 

 at all times, and to lose no good opportunity of holding 

 my tongue. Let me never lack proper pride or a due 

 sense of humor. Preserve, oh! preserve me, from growing 

 stogy or unimaginative. 



Help me not to cry for the moon or over spilled milk; 

 to manage my physical constitution and my practical 

 affairs discreetly; never to dramatize my spiritual discom- 

 forts. 



Grant me neither to proffer nor to welcome cheap praise; 

 to distinguish sharply between sentiment and sentimen- 

 tality, cleaving to the one and despising the other. 



Deliver me from emotional excess. Deliver me from 

 atrophy of the emotions. 



When it is appointed me to suffer, let me, so far as may 

 humanly be possible, take example from the dear well-bred 

 beasts, and go away quietly, to bear my suffering by myself. 



Let me not dwell in the outer whirlwind of things and 

 events; guide me rather to the Central Calm, and grant 

 that I may abide therein. Give me, nevertheless, to be 

 always a good comrade, and to view the passing show with 

 an eye constantly growing keener, a charity broadening 

 and deepening day by day. 



Help me to win, if win 1 may; but— and this, Powers, 

 especially — if I may not win, make me a Good Loser. 



Vouchsafe me not to estrange the other me at my elbow; 

 suffer not my primal light to wane; and grant that 1 may 

 carry my cup brimming, yet unspilled, to the last. Amen. 



ELIZA ATKINS STONE. 



of the C. C. Mengel & Brother Company of Louisville, Ky., the 

 well-known mahogany importers, has been in Saginaw recently iu 

 search of experienced lumberjacks to take to Africa for the lumber 

 i-amps and for building logging dams, it alleges that the gold coast 

 is rich in mahogany for four hundred miles and that this com- 

 pany has concessions of many thousands of acres in that region. 

 The veracious chronicler also tells glowing stories of wealth that 

 outdo Michigan records, stating that he has rafted out single 

 mahogany logs worth $300 each and that shipments of mahogany 

 are frequently sent to America that are worth over $2,000,000. 



Primarily, it is safe to assume that the C. C. Mengel & Brother 

 Company is not responsible for the foregoing and cannot be held 

 liable for the silliness of the papers of the country on this subject 

 and the absurd statements promulgated. 



Take this valuation of $300 per log, and assume that every log in 

 a ertain cargo is north that price (which is apparently considered 

 an extraordinary one) and note how it figures out. The steamers 



running in the mahogany trade 

 are among the largest boats afloat 

 which engage in log carrying' and 

 with timber the size of this Af- 

 rican w 1 they could not carry 



more than 1,200,000 feet, or 2,500 

 round logs to a cargo. Tins 

 would show a cargo value of 

 $750,000, which is not only wildly 

 extravagant, but extreme, accord- 

 ing to the figures quoted. 



Taking the figures the other 

 way, and assuming that a possible 

 cargo of mahogany could really 

 be worth over $2,000,000— on the 

 basis of what the cut of a cargo 

 itself would be — it will be found 

 that a ship would have to contain 

 20,000,000 feet of logs in order 

 to carry a cargo worth $2,000,000, 

 as the average price of the wood 

 does not run over In cents a foot. 

 Attention is called to this speci- 

 men of the ridiculous statements 

 promulgated about mahogany as 

 it has the effect of creating false 

 ideas and does a vast amount of 

 harm to the legitimate mahogany 

 trade. 



Car Shortage. 



There is no gainsaying the fact 

 that to the mind of the average 

 shipper of lumber the car situa- 

 tion is desperate. For example, 

 it is said that in the state of 

 Washington there are 800,000,000 

 feet of lumber in pile awaiting 

 shipment, and that nearly 150 saw- 

 mills are shut down because of 

 the impossibility to secure transportation facilities. 



There is only one redeeming feature of the situation. The close 

 of the books for last year will probably show that the average lum- 

 berman has shipped more lumber than he has manufactured during 

 1906. While he did not deliver this lumber with promptness, never- 

 theless he delivered it, and eventually received returns for his com- 

 modity. This very shortage of cars, combined with the general short- 

 age of lumber, has contributed materially not only to steadying but 

 to advancing prices. It is without doubt true that the loss that has 

 been entailed by the manufacturer and jobber because of this 

 shortage has been more than made up by the increased prices they 

 have received for their lumber. As a matter of fact, the real suf- 

 ferers in the car shortage matter are the consumers of lumber rather 

 than the producers. They are the people who are paying the piper. 



