HARDWOOD RECORD 



49 



many inconveniences and loss of prestige and 

 I rade caused by the poor sprvi.ce granted tlicni 

 liy the Southern railway and arc preparing to 

 act now in a conccrtcii maiim-r. 



Bristol, Va.-Tenn. 



'I'hc lumbermen in this section are generally 

 pleased with trade conditions and entertain a 

 roseate view of the prospects for winter busi- 

 ness. Demand is holding up and prices are 

 lirm. The bad weather has not set in as yet and 

 the country mills are busy getting their stock to 

 ihe railroads before tin- hpa\y fall rains make 

 the roads impassable. 



Tlie car supply is by no means what it shouhl 

 be and, while it has not yet assumed a serious 

 aspect, it is feared that business generally will 

 lie handicapped by the usual car famine this 

 fall .ind winter. Tlie Southern Railway is do 

 ing everylhing possible to relieve the situation 

 and an order for 4.000 cars was placed some 

 months ago in contemplation of a sluu'tage this 

 fall. The shortage on the Norfolk & Western 

 and X'lrginia A: SoiitbweKtern is causing mtlcli 

 ilelay. 



Cincinnati. 



Lumbermen who have lieen indiilgiug in vaca- 

 tions liave returned and fall business is on in 

 earnest. In(iuiries are being received from big 

 consumers and many heavy orders will be placed 

 before the end of the m<uith. according to indi- 

 cations. Weather conditions continue favorable 

 .•md building operations are going <m uninter- 

 ruptedly. Nearly all firms are carrying fair- 

 sized stocks at this time and it is probable that 

 many logs will be received before the end of 

 September. 



I'rices have been firm in all ilirectious during 

 Ihe past fortnight and plain oak has continued 

 I lie best seller, and quartered oak has not 

 ilragged by any means. Ash and chestnut are 

 moving well. Ited gutu has met witli brisk in- 

 >iuiry. In fact, all the . hardwoods have main- 

 tained excellent positions. 



Nashville. 



After a rainy spell of almost iiuprecedcnted 

 duration renewed activity prevails in all dirce- 

 lious. There has never been any dearth nf 

 ■ irders and all the dealers have their books full, 

 but tile delay in shipments will cause consider- 

 .ilile trouble. Little change, is noted in the mar- 

 ket. Plain white oak is bringing good prices 

 and is in most excellent demand, with quartered 

 white oak commanding higher prices than has 

 lieen the case recently. ijiiartercd red oak is 

 moving well and there is a noticeable demand 

 for all low grades of oak. the furniture dealers 

 taking readily all they can get. I'oplar is both 

 scarce and high, and there is plenty of demand 

 for it. It is hard to get it in all thicknesses 

 and what there is of it in the Nashville inarkei 

 is in the hands of comparatively few people. 

 Some ash has lieen coming down the river on the 

 rt'cenl tide and tiie local suppl.v is said to be 

 larger (ban usual, which, however, does not 

 make it large at that, as ash is always high 

 .■ind scarce in this mai-ket and in .great deinaiul 



Memphis. 



Tiii're is a very satisfactory ibiiiaiid fur 

 .sontliern hardwoods, and the markei is linn 

 with a higher tendency to prices following tlie 

 iulerruptlon of logging due to the recent heavy 

 rainfall throughout the .Mississippi valley. The 

 scarcity of available slock, both actual and pros- 

 pective, gives the real strength to the market, 

 and promisi's to remain a feature for at least 

 the noxt si.\ months. Thi' e.\port demand is re 

 porleii to be somewhat slow, but there is a good 

 call from domestic sources. Yard stocks here 

 are much broken and receipts within the next 

 few weeks will be very light. The interruption 

 to milling and logging . operations here is bad 

 enough in its effect on the market, but the sit- 

 uaticni is further complic.-itivl by the knowledge 

 that there has been remarkably heavy precipi 

 lation throughout \hr llbiip i-ivcr valley and well 



down into the Virginias. A shortage of lumber 

 has been apparent for some time but it is now 

 conceded on almost every hand that it will be 

 more pronounced than at tirst anticipated. 



Tiiere is no diliiculty in selling plain oak in 

 any grade or thickness al excellent prices. The 

 demand is active, while offerings are compara- 

 tively light. There is no large demand for 

 (piarter-sawed oali, but there is some improve- 

 ment noted in the call for (|uartered white in 

 both the higher and lower grades. (}uarter- 

 sawed red is dull and raliicr neglected, luii there 

 is no great (luautity of this available. 



Ash is a very ready seller In all grades and 

 thicknesses atid is commanding fancy prices. 

 This lumber is particularly scarce. Cypress sells 

 with case at well maintained figures. There is 

 no great amount of it ici be bad. .Ml grades are 

 in request. 



Cottonwood shows an upward tendency. Stocks 

 are light, while there is an excellent demand. 

 I'rices are being advanced by most manufactur- 

 ers, and they are hardly able to supply the de- 

 iiiaiKi. 'I'lie Cottonwood mills are now nearly 

 all closed down on account of the rainfall. The 

 demand is good for till grades, but, if anything, 

 the lower are relatively stronger than the higher 

 because of the phenomenally large demand for 

 liox material. There are very few box boards 

 to be had and prices on these have reached a 

 liretty high level. 



The gum situation is very healthy. The de- 

 mand for the upper grades as well as for the 

 lower is splendid, though there is apparently 

 little interest manifested in clear saps. Low- 

 grade stock is gradually gaining ground, owing 

 to tlie increasing consumption of this class of 

 material in box fa<-'tories and the whole gum 

 list is being sustained by tlic fact that new 

 uses are being found almost every day for this 

 Iniuher which was once regarded as almost 

 worthless from a commercial sttindpoint. There 

 is very little poplar for sale liere and the demand 

 for the limited offerings is quit'' satisfactor.v. 

 I'rices are wi'll maintained. 



New Orleans. 



There is little change lo note in tin' eouiiition 

 iif the hardwood market during the last fort- 

 night. Tile interior demand is still active, ex- 

 ports have improved a ^■eI■y little and prices 

 are good. ,\lan.\' of the mills are busy cutting 

 timber, and stocks art' being incre.-iseii. 



Louisville. 



The call for hardwood in this toi-ritory con- 

 tinues unabated. The main source of worry for 

 the manufacturers comes from unsatisfactory 

 weather conditions. Hains continue to interfere 

 with opi'ratlons in the woods and make hauling 

 very ditticnit among the country mills. Some 

 of Ihi' river mills here have a supply of logs 

 "II liand. bill others are .sawed out and are 

 waiting for a tide up in tlie mountain streams 

 to get another supply started. Gen<'ral market 

 e(uiditions are unchanged, with nnue buyers 

 in sight than sellers for practically evi'rythiug 

 on the hardwood list. The most plentiful items 

 .■ire in quarter-sawed lumber and quarter-sawed 

 veneer. Manufacturers do not manifest any 

 special anxiety to dispose of these items unless 

 they can do so at good prices. This is espe- 

 cially true of veneer, where the cost of quartered 

 liilches is so extremely high that it makes the 

 veneer man's margin rather close, unless he 

 can get a pretty stilf price for his stock. 'The 

 nature of the poplar market is too well known 

 generally to ivqiiire furtlier comment at the 

 present time. The plain oak market is in good 

 sliape, and the demand for railway stock is 

 very activi^ botii in tlie domestic and in the 

 f<u-eign trade. 



Minneapolis. 

 The only weak spot to be detected in the 

 market is in birch. There is a good demanii. 

 larger probably than last year, but Ihe supply 

 has been hetivier tind has come from a wider 

 leiritory. It is bi-lievei| by well pnsti'd hard- 



wood men that dry hircb will all lie needed be- 

 fore the next spring cut is availatile, and if 

 birch stocks were all in strong hands prices 

 would be maintained. .\ canvass of the mills 

 sliows that Ihei'e is not much stock unsold. 

 but tlie trouble is that a good deal has been 

 lioughl or contracted for by small jobbers who 

 are In a hurry lo make sales, and are eager 

 to close out at small margin. .Ml other stocks 

 are strong, and are being picked up rapidl.v b.v 

 the factory trade. Basswood is firmer than in 

 years, and advances in price are noted, t.'ulls 

 are a dollar higlier than in the summer, and 

 sell readily. The upper grades arc also some- 

 what higher in price. The closest search of 

 Wisconsin falls to reveal any unsold stocks of 

 I'itbcr red or white oak in large quantities, 

 lilack ash is otf the market and customers liave 

 orders placed with ever.v .tobber, asking for 

 a chance at the first stock that may turn up. 

 Rock elm is also cleaned up by the implement 

 factories. Maple is in fair supply and is mov- 

 ing briskly. The factory trade is better now 

 than that from the country yards, but the 

 eountr.v trade when it buys is anxious for quick 

 delivery. Shortage of ears is holding back ship- 

 ment, and is making it hard to get stock out 

 of tlie mills in small towns. 



Liverpool. 



.Mahogany sales weri' liehl on the 2Tlli and 

 JSth ult.. and despite all the "bullish" talk of 

 merchants and auctioneers here tliat the prices 

 were going higher I bey barely held their own. 



Good advice to American buyers would be to 

 cover themselves for immediate wants, and buy- 

 ing at present prices until the end of the year 

 is undoubtedly advisable. With the turn of the 

 year priivs will doubt less take a downward 



riMirsr 



.VII hardwoods ar-' tiiiii. Oak is in as strong 

 demand as ever and commands very high prices, 

 but large quantities remain to be delivered on 

 contract, and until these deliveries are made few- 

 orders can be expected. 



Hock elm is in active call and large orders 

 eould he obtained for dimension stock : also for 

 logs. 



Birib is tinner and will lie baek at its i^ld 

 price before the mouth is out. 



Mapli' logs, after being slow for some time, 

 are now in active demand again. This is a 

 trade in itself, and shippers should be careful 

 not to ship logs until they are certaiji as to what 

 tills market requires both as regards qualit.v and 

 size. Maple manufactured boards are firm in 

 price and some large lines have recently been 

 lilacc'd. _ 



London. 



The (iemaiid shows slight iiiiiirovement and 

 accumulated stocks are becoming light at the 

 docks, as most of the goods arriving are going 

 direct to the consumers, and buyers are becoming 

 more inclined to pa.v the advancing prices asked 

 by shippers. 



There is a gooii deuiand tor plain oak boards 

 and planks in No. I <onimoii. but low-priced 

 goods are neglected. Slii[)iiients are light in 

 walnut, but prices are tiriii. and there is more 

 call for this wood. 



There is fair business in wiiittrwood passing 

 for prime dressed stocks and the market is now- 

 bare of planks, but no shijinients should be made 

 unless previously sohl. Culls jire in good de- 

 mand at high prices, but there is not niucii of 

 this stock arriving. Satin walnut in all grades 

 is in g 1 demand al fair prices. 



Mahogany prici's are well iiiaiiUained and 

 stocks are ligiit. 



Robert M. Turner has c iinenced business as 



a timber importer and agent on his own account 

 under the name of I!. M. Turner & Co.. and 

 Intends to make a specialty of teak and Ameri- 

 can Imrdwoods. Mr. Turner is_ well known in 

 the timber trade of Great Britain and fitted 

 tlirongh long experience to conduct his new 

 business successfully. 



