HARDWOOD RECORD 



59 



Lumber interests here are much pleased with 

 the announcement of the success of the yellow 

 piners in Mississippi in their light against the 

 railroads on the advance in freight rates or- 

 dered several years ago and later countermanded 

 by the Interstate Commerce Commission on the 

 ground that the advanced rate was unreason- 

 able and unjustifiable. They express the belief 

 that the upholding of the ruling of the commis- 

 sion by the Supreme Court of the United States 

 will have a most salutary influence upon the 

 work of the former body in its effort to protect 

 shippers from unjust and unreasonable rates on 

 the part of the railroads. 



The Robertson-Fooshe Lumber Company has 

 completed its office building in North Memphis. 

 It is located near the intersection of the Illinois 

 Central and Randolph roads. 



New Orleans. 



Lumber exporters of New Orleans as well as 

 exporters in other lines are still fighting with 

 the railroads for additional free time on cars 

 used by them in handling export shipments, and 

 the battle being waged between the two big forces 

 is now at its height. The New Orleans Lumber 

 Exporters' Association is taking a prominent 

 part in the matter and hopes to secure an adjust- 

 ment that will enable those firms exporting lum- 

 ber through this port to handle their business in 

 better shape. Several big meetings of individuals 

 and bodies interested in this matter have been 

 held and several days ago the Board of Trade 

 representatives decided to ask for thirty days' 

 free time. This ultimatum of the exporters will, 

 it is believed, cause a deadlock, as there is said 

 to be no prospect that the car service association 

 will accede to this demand, and whether or not 

 a compromise will be offered remains to be seen. 

 The fight has grown to large proportions and a 

 dead-lock at this time will be somewhat unfor- 

 tunate for all concerned. For that reason there 

 are indications that strong efforts will be made 

 to adjust the matter in a manner that will suit 

 everybody. 



Announcement is made that the big woodwork- 

 ing plant which has just been completed by the 

 John C. Stone Company. Ltd., of New Orleans 

 will be ready for operation in the next week or 

 ten days. The plant is situated at Ilagan avenue 

 and Melpomene street, this city, and is one of 

 the largest of its kind in this territory. It will 

 manufacture all kinds of wood products, devot- 

 ing itself largely to interior finish work in hard- 

 wood lines. The company which will operate the 

 plant is a new concern and was organized here 

 some time ago with an authorized capital of 

 $30,000. It is headed hy John C. Stone of New 

 Orleans. 



The New Orleans Lumber Exporters and the 

 Board of Fort Commissioners are now working 

 on plans to finance the building of the 2,000- 

 foot lumber dock that the lumbermen have asked 

 lor on the river front. Recently J. H. Hinton, 

 president of the Exporters' Association, appeared 

 hefore the dock board and submitted the lum- 

 bermen's request for a specially constructed lum- 

 ber dock. The matter was given consideration 

 and the two interests are now working together 

 on the financial plans. The docks is to cost 

 between $300,000 and $400,000. It will be lo- 

 cated somewhere above Napoleon avenue and will 

 be specially constructed for lumber shipments. 

 Mr. Hinton declares that the construction of this 

 dock will increase the lumber exports at New 

 Orleans more than 500 cargoes per year. At 

 present a miserably small amount of lumber is 

 exported from here because of inadequate facili- 

 ties. 



Advices from Monroe. La., state that the mill 

 and holdings of the Cheniere Land & Lumber 

 Company, a bankrupt concern, have been sold by 

 J. C. Theus, trustee, for $98,000. The Bankers' 

 Trust Company of St. Louis was the purchaser. 

 A large tract of hardwood timber land in 



Winn parish, this state, has just been sold by the 

 <iulf Land Company of Calcasieu to the Cornie 

 Stave Company of Junction City, Ark. The con- 

 sideration was $50,000. 



James H. Heald, head of the firm of James 11. 

 Heald of Lynchburg, Va., extensive manufac- 

 turers of woodwork, was at Pascagoula, Miss., 

 several days ago looking for a location for a 

 branch factory. 



J. D. Taylor, secretary of the Honey Island 

 Land & Timber Company of Honey Island, La., 

 died in New Orleans May IS. Mr. Taylor was a 

 well-known lumberman of this section, and de- 

 voted considerable attention to the export trade. 

 In 1884 he began shipping red gum logs to Eng- 

 land, and christened the wood American "satin- 

 wood." Mr. Taylor was a veteran of the Civil 

 War, having been a member of Dreaux's Louisi- 

 ana Cavalry ; he was wounded at the battle of 

 Shiloh. but served to the end of the war and sur- 

 rendered with his command at Meridian, Jliss. 

 He was a Mason, and past master of his lodge. 



Ashland. 



The W. H. Dawkins Lumber Company has 

 closed a deal for the output of a large band mill 

 at Saginaw, N. C, near Asheville. The mill 

 began sawing May 15 and the company hopes 

 to begin shipping by July 1. There are 40,000,- 

 000 feet of lumber involved, of which 1,000,000 

 feet will be cut each month. The lumber is 

 mostly hemlock, but there is also some fine pop- 

 lar, chestnut and oak. 



Owing to a large increase in business the 

 Dawkins Company has been obliged to put its 

 fronton mill on double turn, and put an extra 

 force of men at their mills. They hope thereby 

 to be able to supply their trade. 



Kenova is soon to have another large sawmill 

 Messrs. Scott and Vanhorn of Catlettsburg have 

 secured a site and will soon begin to build a 

 large band mill tor the manufacture of all kinds 

 of lumber. 



An unknown person went to the sawmill of 

 Paxton Trimble on Salt Lick creek, in the ab- 

 sence of the watchman and cut into small pieces 

 all the belting of the mill and also damaged the 

 machinery. 



A big timber deal has recently been consum- 

 mated in Mingo county. West Virginia. The 

 lieitz & Martin Lumber Company purchased 

 2,000 acres of fine timber land on Burning 

 creek from Stuart Wood of Philadelphia, and 

 others, the price paid being $20,000 cash. G. L. 

 Dudley is the president of the company ; Ralph 

 B. Martin, vice president ; T. G. Martin, secre- 

 tary and treasurer. This company has been in- 

 corporated under the laws of West Virginia with 

 a capital stock of $24,000. Thomas G. Martin, 

 W. D. Camden and Ralph D. Martin are going 

 to the tract immediately and will remain there 

 until all the timber is cleared away. According 

 to the agreement the company must clear the 

 land within six years, and then the land re- 

 verts to the original owners. The land lies along 

 the line of the Norfolk & Western railroad, and 

 the shipping facilities are of the best. Nearly 

 all the timber is oak, and the investment is 

 thought to be a good one. 



.\nother large deal was the sale of 30,000 

 trees situated on Pigeon creek, in the vicinity of 

 Elk and Rock House, to C. Crane & Co., the 

 big Cincinnati firm. About 6.000 acres of land 

 are involved, the timber only being sold. The 

 timber averaged about $2 per tree. 



R. G. Page has returned from Johnson county, 

 where he looked over the valuable tract of tim- 

 ber land recently purchased by his company 

 and arranged to rush the tramroad and mill be- 

 ing erected. 



Mr. and Mrs. C. K. Chadwick have gone to 

 Hagerstown. Md., to attend the commencement 

 exercises of Kee ilar College, their daughter. 

 Miss Helen, being one of the graduates. 



Mr. and Mrs. O. F. L. Beckette have returned 

 from a month's tour of California. 



Hardwood Market. 



(By HABD'WOOD BECOBD Exclusive Market Beportexs.) 



Chicago. 



To say the least, hardwood trade conditions 

 locally are "spotted." While the call for oak, 

 basswood and poplar remains strong, most all 

 the other woods are dragging. This is notably 

 true of firsts and seconds and sap gum ; manu- 

 facturers are having difficulty in disposing of 

 any quantity in Chicago at this time. The gen- 

 eral opinion seems to prevail that the present 

 draggy condition of trade is attributable to the 

 fact that speculative building has largely 

 ceased, which is making business dull with the 

 interior finish makers ; the furniture sales are 

 not up to expectations, with the consequent cur- 

 tailment of demand for lumber in this branch of 

 trade, and even wagon makers are holding off 

 on lumber shipments owing to a considerable 

 decline in demand. Back of it all is the feeling 

 on the part of buyers that the top of values in 

 hardwoods has been reached for the present and 

 that stock may possibly be bought cheaper at a 

 later period. In spite of the conditions outlined, 

 trade on the whole might still be called fair, and 

 there is every prospect of increasing demand as 

 the season advances. Outside of gum all hard- 

 wood prices remain firm. 



Boston. 



Hardwood values are held on a much higher 

 level than ever hefore. The high prices have 

 checked the demand to some extent, but leading 

 dealers say a good business is being done in the 

 most desirable grades at full asking prices. Con- 

 sumers, as a whole, are carrying moderate stocks 

 only. Many have confined their purchases to just 

 what they have needed to carry them along, ow- 

 ing to the high prices ruling. Furniture manu- 

 facturers are busy. 



The backward spring has checked building 

 with the result that there is less interior finish 

 wanted at present than usual. 



The demand for plain oak, one inch, ones and 

 twos, is moderately active. Some dealers report 

 a good demand, while others find that orders 

 come hard. Prices range from $57 to $59. Quar- 

 tered oak is firm. There are no indications that 

 prices will be any lower right away. One of the 

 leading dealers predicts a $90 market before 

 prices are lower. Desirable grades are in com- 

 paratively small olfering. Shipments of oak are 

 being made to South America. Quite a little 

 more interest in black walnut is reported. Deal- 

 ers state that this wood is beginning to receive 

 more attention from furniture manufacturers. 

 Brown ash is firmly held under small offerings 

 of desirable lumber. A large business is being 

 done in mahogany veneers. Maple flooring is 

 well held. The market for whitewood is still 

 strong, although some are beginning to fell that 

 larger offerings are coming forward and that 

 lirices will soften a little in consequence. One 

 inch, ones and twos, is held at $59 to $60 and 

 sales have been made at the outside figure. Many 

 are using cypress as a substitute for whitewood. 

 The former is in good call. 



Philadelphia. 



There seems to be no radical change in the 

 hardwood situation in this city since a fort- 

 night ago, except perhaps a slight falling off of 

 the volume of business, the natural result of 

 the unsettled labor question throughout most of 

 the eastern states ; even in this city it is rumored 

 that the recent strike between the bricklayers, 

 stonemasons and stonecutters is likely to break 



