•^.■ 



t#' Chicago's Wood-UsiJjg Industries *#^ 



r;j;tir.- I,:n.- t'i<i> jMiLlifboil iiiimmlly for imiiiy vvuth uliowmn 

 tUe 4uuiitilio» uf hiiiiliiT M'loivo.l iu I'lii.utJO from tho vurious 

 rnilrontU on.l l.v l.oiits t.ii the liike*. Tlieso totals hnvo placed 

 this city firmly in tbo fri.ut rniiksi of lumber centora. It in cleorly 

 the largest ilepot iu tlie world for the receipt iiuil ili»tributioii 

 of forest pro.lii.l!>, on.l it bnit hel.l thnt plnce .luring luuny yearn. 

 There has been Home decline iu total receipts during certain 

 year* of tho last decade, but the falling off has not been sufficient 

 to jcopardiie Chicago "» place at the head of all cities. The total 

 receipts ..t lumber .luriim thr viist .'iu'lit y.-,.rs are shown below. 



in<>;. . . 



UMi' ■ ■ 



1911 - ' ' ' 



lots -■"•'•• •"""' 



1013 •J.«U4.4:U.000 



In 1913 tho lake rccoipU were 244,236,000 feet, and tho balance 

 came bv rail. The receipts by lokc show a decline in recent years, 

 but not every year. The total in 1906 was 428,835,000 foct. 



There has never been much scarcity of statistics showing the 

 quantity of lumber received during the course of a year at 

 Chicago, and there has always been pretty full information as 

 to the regions from which it comes, and consequently of the kinds 

 of wood and its value; but knowledge has been lacking as to what 

 becomes of the lumber after it has reached Chicago. Of course, 

 it is known in a general way that some of it is reshipped to other 

 markets tributary to Chicago; part of it is used in the rough in 

 various classes of structures, and some of it is further manu- 

 factured into comdiodities of numerous kinds. Some of these 

 are sold for use in the city, others arc distributed to all parts 

 of this country and even to all civilized countries of the world. 

 Some time ago Roger E. Simmons, acting under instructions 

 from the United States Forest Service, spent several months in 

 Chicago, carrying out a careful investigation of the uses of wood 

 in this city. His report was subsequently published as a part of 

 a larger report, and for that reason the portion relating to 

 Chicago failed to attract the attention which its merit deserved. 

 It was the first comprehensive attempt ever made in this country 

 to study the wood manufactures or" a large city. A consi.lernWe 

 amount of valuable information was brought together. While 

 - no attempt was made to trace the manufactured articles to their 

 final destinations in the markets of the world, a careful compila- 

 tion was made of the kinds and quantities of woods used in the 

 course of a year, their various costs delivered at the factories, 

 and much information was secured concerning the regions from 

 which Chicago draws the lumber which has made it famous as a 

 manufacturing center of wood commodities. 

 Tribdtaky to Chicago 

 As might be expected, every region of the United States is 

 tributary to Chicago in the matter of lumber supply. The follow- 

 ing table, though compiled for the whole state of Illinois, shows 

 this. It gives percentages of the woods which various regions 

 supplv to this central market. 



Per Cent 



of .Inn no I 



Region^ 'ioPPll'- 



Wisconsin ^2.0 



Louisiana 1^.7 



MIcUlgan ^^-^ 



Mississippi 8-^ 



.Arkansas ^-^ 



Kentucky *■* 



Tennessee *-4 



Missouri 4.1 



Texas ^-^ 



Indiana 2.3 



Alnbama 2.3 



■West Virginia 1-0 



l-ncinc Cc.n^l :: - 



ImporU-d . o.'.i 



.Not •IK'clfli'M Hi II 



Tho hardwoods and the .-.uft woods have Ixcii NcgrcKated in 

 the statistics. This makes possible a study of each class separately, 

 if it is desired. It is shown that Chicago uses U2.0 per cent of 

 all the woods manufactured in the state. That is, of the total of 

 l,"sl,ri.'lii,l20 feel used in tho course of a year liy all the factories 

 in Illinois, the factories of Chicago <lemand 1,116,8.15,120 feet, 

 which falls only a little below two-thirds. 



The table which follows shows the various softwoods ami the 

 quantity of each, which go to the Chicago wood-using factories 

 ill the '.onrse of a year: 



Vied i'earlu 

 (II fhicuu 



Soflirou<lH — lit I II U 



Longleaf |)lne ... IT 'i.;:jihm> 



White pIno 1 !■.• :;-o. 



Shortlcnf pine* .. Io7,7'j(..ooii 



Cypress l<l.s71.oiM> 



IlouKlas llr ::,"..;i;l'.o(io 



Hemlock •Js.lJl.i 



Norway pine •.•i.:iin.iHpn 



Western white pine I '•.."i >>.■■■, 



Sitka spruce l.o'.il.ooii 



Black spruce 1 ,«i.')it..'>iMt 



Sugar pine i.oiio. » 



Western yellow pine l.oOO.OOO 



Balsam fir 4«0,000 



Western red cedar T.tr,,000 



Tamarack ' ".'iO.OOO 



Kngelman spruce <IB4.000 



I.K)blolly pine .•14U.O0O 



Redwood WlifiOO 



Cuban Pine loii.diM* 



Northern Wliitc Cedar li'o.ooo 



Red Cedar '.i::.C70 



Total 559.15,'...-i70 



The hardwoods are almost exactly equal to the softwoods iu 

 the quantities used in the Chicago factories, according to Mr. 

 Simmons' report. Following is a list of the hardwoods and the 

 yearly demand for each by Chicago wood-using industries: 



L'acd Yearty 



Ilardwoodi — /xf II. M. 



White oak n:;.<i:!iMlo 



Red gum ;>; '.iwi ..".so 



J^ugar maple -;iTL*.ooii 



Red oak i i j.".m,imi(i 



Cottonwood .; 1 J^ 1 .liiio 



Sweet birch Is.TTI.IoO 



Basswood 41 .i!!Mi,.-iilO 



Yellow poplar 32.50ii,S.'tO 



White ash 20.447,000 



White elm 1 1 i,.-, i.diiii 



Chestnut \-.{>:r.,,i„,t 



Soft maple i I ;i".i"i(> 



Paper birch i7,.1l'. > 



Hickory T.IL'i.lTii 



Slippery elm '.i. l41.oii() 



Beech s.t;s7.(ii)0 



Black ash .".,;!,!0,000 



Mahogany .".,5:t5,8.'>0 



P.alm of Gllead 2,47.'i.00O 



Tupelo I,435..'i00 



Sycamore 1 ,060.500 



Black walnut I.IOL.'i.lO 



Chestnut oak 1 .s.lfi.OOO 



\ ermlllion r.U4,000 



Spanish cedar ."iS.S.COO 



Cherry 243,000 



Post oak l.'JO.OOO 



Water oak 100,000 



Butternut 70,000 



Willow 30.000 



Rosewood 4ri,2»0 



Circassian walnut 11 .ono 



