36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



His price boolts show very little cutting and his 

 uider sheets give good proof of the general ac- 

 tivity aninng hardwtiod buyers. Moreover, for 

 I wo weeks past practically every dealer in the 

 city has noted a great increase in the inquiries, 

 especially from manufacturers, and has also 

 learned that thoy are getting impatii^nl tii liave 

 iheir wants satistiod. 



Trices are reported firm on every hand. A 

 few note an inclination to boost quotations on 

 one or two woods, bu( this is geni'rally dis 

 couragcd. If present ligures can be maintained 

 until spring the wholesaler will be well satistied. 

 Oalt is once more itself so far as price is con- 

 cerned, and demand seems to be greatly stimu 

 lated. There is apparently no letup in the call 

 for poplar lumber. Ash, elm. hickory, cherry and 

 beech arc among the most frequent subjects of 

 in(iuiry. The fact that good salesmen ari' hard 

 lo lind is nol deterring many wholesalers from 

 adding to tbeir force at larger salaries than 

 were ever paid in I'ittsbiirg before and thi-y say 

 the results are iusiifying them in the move. The 

 trade throughout the middle west is said to be 

 improving steadily, hut the immediate I'ittsburg 

 district is showing little change. 



BuiTalo. 



llardwooil lumber is still the Inst thing in 

 the trade, as complaints, though they are beard 

 more or less, are not so general and far-reaching 

 as in the pine trade. White pine dealers are 

 charging the sawmills with grabbing all the 

 profits, while the complaint on yellow pine is 

 from the sawmill owners, who are not able to 

 keep prices well balanced and so must sell their 

 cut for what they can get. 



There is some weakness in hardwood, inch 

 plain oak being pretty plentiful, though if the 

 holders of it would depart from the ustial plan 

 of reducing price in such ca.ses and would wait 

 a little the market would adjust itself all right, 

 for the sawmills will go to cutting oak (luartered 

 now and plain oak will soon be less plentiful. 

 The difflculty was brought about last winter 

 and s|>ring. when so many dealers .gave out that 

 there was going to lie a scarcity of plain oak. 



Illrcli is also in good supply, hut if the trade 

 will turn its attention towards the scarcer 

 woods, ash and chestnut, and will manage to 

 get elm and basswood at prlcees that tbe eastern 

 consumer will pay. there will be sale enough for 

 birch soon. There is demand for maple, but 

 tbe mill prices are blab, some of the mill own 

 ers sayii^g that they an' aware they are asking 

 more than the jobber can pay and so are eater 

 ing to the consumer direct. 



There is no weakening in the price of poplar, 

 for it is as scarce as ever and will remain so 

 as long as the demand is fair, for the mills are 

 not reporting any logs coming in. iitlier woods 

 must be put in to take its place. 



There is a good stock of hardwood lumber 

 here and it is well assorted. Some yards are 

 reporting supplies of such scarce woods as ash 

 and chestnut and all are carrying fine assort 

 ments. 1 rices are stronger than is the case 

 with iiine and if any reduction is accepted it 

 will be on the plan of lower prices for every 

 article used, as seems to be tbe idea of some 

 who are studying thi' future. 



Saginaw and Bay City. 

 Trade in hardwood is fairly good and tlie 

 market continues firm and healthy. The easing 

 off of some industries does not appear to have 

 affected the hardwood trade to any extent worth 

 noticing. .I'rices are also firm for most woods. 

 'IMie small quantity of oak handled in this mar 

 ket of borne manufacture has been apparent all 

 the year, and dealers have brought in from other 

 localities large lots of oak for their customers. 

 and some ship from the manufacturing point 

 direct to the seller. Ash has ruled firm during 

 the season and the output is limited. Maple 

 has been doing better. The output of a number 

 of mills for tbe entire season was ecmtractecl 

 for early in the y-ar. r.asswoiKl lias been doing 



very well, and elm and birch have ruled stead,\\ 

 Dealers are picking up stock right along, and 

 the mills are all doing well. 



Indianapolis, 



I'lttsiness has been a disaijijointment during 

 I be past two weeks, and one of the largest local 

 hardwood dealers says the outlook is not bright 

 for tlie iiresent, jtlthough good business is bxiked 

 for later on. 



The unexitected slump, however, has had no 

 I'ffeet on prices, and it is believed that it will 

 he over within a few weeks. All the yttrds are 

 well stocked except on tiuartered oak and but 

 little stock is being bought. The car service 

 eontinues good, the supply being am|ile to meet 

 the demand. 



Bristol, Va,-Tenn. 



Trade ctmditions in this seetion show sliglit 

 improvement, though prices have not altogether 

 recovered from the weakness attending the dull- 

 ness of the past few weeks. 'I'he demand is 

 growing better and there is an imitression among 

 tbe best informed lumbermen that fall and win- 

 ter husiness will be ijtlite satisfactory. 



There is considerable stock on the yards, mtu-h 

 of which is attributable to the shortage of trans- 

 portation equipment. Complaint of slow move- 

 ment of shipments to destiniition is heard and 

 one local concern gives as an instance the fact 

 that two months ago be shipped a car of lumber 

 to Haltimore and it lias never turned up. An- 

 other has a shipment for t'ineinnati thtit has 

 ln-en out thirty days. 



Kxiiorters say the outlook witli them is mucii 

 brigiiter tlian it has been and that the prospects 

 for complete recover.v of trade at a very early 

 date are hrigbt. 



Cincinnati. 



i.i.tle change has Iieeii manifested in the local 

 hardwood situation during the last fortnight. 

 The best on the list of hardwoods is poplar as 

 usual, that item finding outlet with little difti- 

 ctilty. t,>uartered oak is showing little trouble 

 in being disposed of. The fall trade has been 

 rather light so far. but change for the better is 

 patiently being awaited by local lumber dealers. 

 The money market still figures prominently in 

 the hardwood situation, and if relief comes soon 

 a decided difference will be noticed in the mar- 

 ket, other lines .of hardwoods an' steady in 

 l)rice and the demand is on a ptir \\'iili tliat of 

 tbe last two weeks in September. 



Tbe general outlook for future husiness is 

 hrigbter and things are expeiird in liven ii]i 

 \\ ithiii a short time. 



Cliattanooga. 



With tile approach of winter lumbermen in 

 Ibis territorj- are confident of good business. 

 'I'rade in both foreign and home circles is n-port- 

 ed on all hands to be prospenuis and lias been so 

 all fall. For log supplies tbe month of Septem- 

 ber was a record breaker, and there are now 

 more logs in the river here than have been seen 

 at this season of the year for a long period. In 

 spite of this fact the maximum amount of logs 

 received will be far short of any previous year. 

 Huilding operations continue active and there 

 are a number of high-class residtmces. a large 

 hotel and other expensive structures reciulring 

 hardwood finish under way. The car shortage Is 

 beginning to be troublesome again and is ex- 

 liected to grow worse. All woods are in good 

 call and there is a general feeling among tbe 

 local trade that there will he an unusual demand 

 for baiilwooil lumber during the next two mruiths. 



Charlotte. 



.Market eouditloils here have midergoue no ap 

 precialile change during the past two weeks. 

 Some trouble is experienced in getting certain 

 grades of hardwood, and on a tew grades a 

 fane.i- iirice is required, but on the whole there 

 is no trouble in keeping well supplied with stock. 

 I.iiiiihermen state that orders continue to pour in 



and ili.it they find a ready market for all manu- 

 factured goods. Charlotte lumber manufactur- 

 ers have a broad scope of territory to buy in 

 and if conditions are unfavorable further south 

 they are generally satisfactory -in the moun- 

 tains of this state. So far there has been little 

 dlfficult.v in getting a sufficient number of cars 

 to carry on a normal business, and manufactur- 

 ers are hoping the,v will not be forced lo go 

 through another car famine like ihnt experienced 

 last winter and spring. 



Nashville, 



i'Mrm iirices are noted loeall,\- in all the lead 

 ing iiardwoods, especially in tlie highest grade 

 stuffs, in sjiite of the fact that many of the 

 dealers are ilisappointed in the delayed fall 

 I fade. September did not prove anything like 

 a record-breaker f(U' business and tbe expected 

 revival of fall trade did not materialize. In 

 spite of this local dealers are now expecting 

 tilings to open up quite a Iiit and are looking 

 forward to an active trade. 



The car shortage situation is causing iiiucli 

 alarm in this mai'ket. Advices also from noi'tli- 

 ern and eastern markets show that the same 

 alarm is felt in those sections and that not only 

 is the situation serious, but that it will proh- 

 ahl.i' get worse as the season advances. The 

 cry for more etpiipment h:is already started 

 among the shippers. The operators are claiming 

 that there is more eijuipment in service tlian 

 for ,vears. Adniittedl,v tlie volume of business 

 has increased in like propiu-tinn. so tliat the 

 end is not near. It seems the shippers figured 

 for a while that the remedy was discovered in 

 the advancement of the car rental per diem. It 

 develops, however, this imaginary panacea was 

 not of much benefit, for the same oid cry is 

 being heard of "more cars." Kreight traffic offi- 

 cials are telling the local dealers that they are 

 doing all in their pow-er to prevent a car sliort- 

 age by furnishing all the equipment at their 

 command. In spite of their efforts, however, it 

 is said this season brings them ftice to face with 

 the biggest propositiim in the way of a car 

 sliortage they have met witli in years. 



Memphis. 



Ileniand for hardMood Itimher is giadtuill.v 

 increasing ;ind tliere ;ire more nrdei-s coming 

 forward. Itut. e\en at this, there is not as 

 much activity as the trade has enjo.ved for 

 several yettrs at this season and there is some 

 disconragenu-nt over this fact. However, there 

 is no aiqiaient disposition to cut prices for the 

 sake of making sales. On the contrary, with 

 the exception of red gum. narrow widths of 

 Cottonwood in the higher grades and low-grade 

 plain oak. thi' market shows a very healthy 

 undertone, prices being maintained close aronnil 

 the level which has prevailed for some time. 

 Export demand is very disappointing and there 

 is no improvement indicated in tbe near future. 

 There is no surplus of dry lumber either in the 

 larger yards here or at interior milling points, 

 which is one of the chief factors in the strength 

 shown by the general market. The trade con 

 linui's to believe there will soon be an awaken 

 lug of buyers to the scarcity of dry stock and 

 this lielief is largely responsible for the fact 

 that there is no more pronounced disposition 

 to throw stock on the market. 



'I'liere is a very 'satisfactory demanil for 

 i|iiarter-sawed oak in all gradi's. There has 

 been more quarter-sawed white oak sold during 

 tlie past fortnight than for some time previous. 

 I'lain oak in the higher grades moves very satis- 

 factorily, with the white in rather better de- 

 mand than the red. Ash is uffered in only 

 moderate (luantities and holders are not meet- 

 ing with niudi difliculty in getting their price 

 for what they have for sale. Stocks of ash 

 here are much broken and efforts to accumulate 

 holdings in Ihe local yards have not proven at 

 all successful. Poplar is in good demand in all 

 grades and there is very little of tiny deseri|iiion 



