HARDWOOD RECORD 



^V; I'roctz LiimlHT Com|iau.v. Stewart E. Greer, and Franz Waldstoin of the 

 Waldstein Lumber Company were witnesses for the Lumbermen's Exchange 

 of St. Louis. E. E. Gilbert, C. G. Miller, XI. S. Carter and F. H. Atwood 

 represented the Cairo Lumbermen's Association. William H. Perkins of the 

 Davis Bros. Lumber Company, E. Brandt of the Gayoso Lumber Com- 

 pany. S. M. Nickey of Nickcy & Sons, J. D. Allen of the Hardwood 

 Manufacturers' Association of the United States, T. E. Sledge, traffic 

 manager for May Brothers ; F. B. Robertson of the Anderson-TuUy 

 Company represented the Memphis Lumbermen's Club. 



Walker I>. Weliford was the main witness for the cooperage industry. 

 He said that further advances would be a serious handicap to the 

 cooperage industry. The coopers could not stand it. They did not ask 

 for less rates but only wanted , the railroads to take into consideration 

 that any advance of rates would curtail the business and would hurt 

 the railroad business as well. •. 



Witnesses from Omaha were F. S. Welty, purchasing agent for the 

 .Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railways Company ; George Rasmussem, 

 manager of the Nebraska Bridge Supply & Lumber Company. One of the 

 strongest witnesses for the shippers was F. S. Knapp, president of the 

 Omaha Box Company. lie stated that he was now paying nineteen 

 cents per hundred pounds but objected to paying twenty-three cents. If 

 the increase were granted, he said, it would mean a loss to his business 

 of from thirty to forty per cent. It is almost certain to drive out of 

 business some of the smaller lumber manufacturers. 



P. E. Gilbert, general sales agent for the Wisconsin Lumber Company, 

 occupied the stand for some time. His testimony dealt with comparative 

 values and weight, per car of hardwood and yellow pine lumber. H. M. 

 Slater, rate clerk for the International Harvester Company and the 

 Wiseoiisiu Jjumber Company, also testified. 



The hearing occupied the entire week.- 



Vi ;mi>aa m:W:;im!rotg)ti»»tWK^^ 



Pertinent Information 



Rate Matters in Arkansas 



The Arkansas liailroad Commission, on May 2.j, issued an order reijuir- 

 ing the Fourche River Valley and Indian Territory railroad to accept lum- 

 ber and other freight at points along its line west of Beilevue. This 

 action on the part of the commission is the result of a petition asking for 

 better service along the road, and it is stated that the railroads' former 

 refusal to accept freight west of Beilevue was due largely to lumber 

 manufacturers owning interest in the railroad. 



The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court, reversing the 

 ruling of the Interstate Commerce Commission with regard to the tap- 

 line railway has met with general approval throughout the state of Ar- 

 kansas. This is not only from among the tap line owning lumber manu- 

 facturers, but by railroad officials, and officers of the Arkansas Railroad 

 Commission. W. F. McKnight, chairman of the Arkansas Railroad Com- 

 mission, in commenting on the case, stated that the commission had always 

 favored the tap lines in the matter of receiving a division of the freight 

 charges on long or interstate hauls. "These roads," said Mr. McKnight, 

 "are required to comply with all of the state laws in their operation, to 

 obtain a charter and also use the same tariffs that the trunk lines use. 

 That they should have a share of the freight rates is nothing but right. 

 If they are deprived of this they have no source of revenue except from 

 charges on short-line hauls, which is no'minally a switching charge." 



IS. P. Allen, formerly chairman of the Arkansas Railroad Commission, 



"The building of tap lines in a more or less undeveloped country will 

 do more for the section through which they are built than anything else, 

 and the only way these roads will be built and operated is through pri- 

 vate interests. The trunk lines will not build them for the reason that 

 they must be operated at a loss for a number of years. 



"If a share of the freight charges is taken from these tap lines, leav- 

 ing them only the regular rate of their road for short line hauls, their 

 source of revenue is so decreased that they cannot afford to operate, 

 and when this occurs the development of that section of country is 

 stopped. 



"These roads, in addition to assisting the development of lands, are 

 constant feeders for trunk lines, which get thousands of cars of lumber 

 and other products from that source that they would not otherwise get. 

 Alter the country along the line is so far developed that operating the 

 road is a paying proposition, they in nearly every instance are taken over 

 by the large lines, and the section of country is thereby given railroad 

 facilities that it would never have had if the large roads were their only 

 chance." 



Moderate Forest Fire Losses in Michigan 



Nearly complete reports by fire wardens in the upper Michigan peninsula 

 and estimates for the lower part of the state show that the state has 

 not suffered severely this season from forest fires. The heaviest loss 

 reported in the upper peninsula was in Schoolcraft county, and it will not 

 exceed $5,000. The next largest loss was in Chippewa county, $2,600. 

 The whole damage in the upper peninsula will not exceed $50,000. It is 

 believed that the loss in the lower part of the state will not go above that. 



The slight loss is parti, 

 system of patrol in fori 



the tavorab 

 forested par 



of the 



and partly to 



An English 'View 



The London Timber Trafles Journal recently said that in their efforts 

 to develop the principle of trade organization the Americans are sadly 

 hampered by anti-trust laws, .\lthough the paper disclaims any intention 

 to criticize tlie laws of the United States, it says that it is obvious that 

 practically every trade requires powers of combination for various pur- 

 poses, and it is not surprising to find that the leaders of American com- 

 merce, chafing under the restrictions imposed, are seeking to obtain legis- 

 lative modifications. The Chamber of Commerce of the United States, a 

 body which was organized at the suggestion of the national authorities to 



serve as a jxttvii m :m|\ i . r in business matters, has appointed a special 



committee t : ' is late trade commision bill. After the com- 

 mittee has icmi . I i ■ I, i -ii;;ation, it is proposed to refer some seven 

 different propo-n i..:, i.. Ani.iis commercial bodies throughout forty-seven 

 states, and to takc> ;i direct vote upon them. Six of the seven questions 

 are mainly domestic in character, and do not therefore call for reference 

 in England ; but the seventh is of a different category. Put briefiy, the 

 proposition is that Congress should direct the proposed commission to 

 investigate and report at the earliest practicable date on the advisability 



The Ferd. Brenner Lumber Co., Alexandria, Louisiana 



ii^rPP^i"'.V uu..LliM 



Manufacturers of High Grade Hardwoods 



A lot of splendid assorted American Walnut 

 logs, squared up and ready for export, are 

 shown in the above photograph, which illus- 

 trates a section of our exporting yard at Kan- 

 sas City. 



All work, from the selecting of the trees in 

 the woods to the final loading, is done by men 

 trained in our employ and is under our close 

 personal supervision. 



Hence we can guarantee satisfaction in both 

 export and domestic shipments. 



FRANK PU RCELL 



Kansas City, Mo. U. S. A. 



