56 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Miss Marie Mitcliell, daughter ot Mr. and 

 Mrs. W. W. Mitcliell, has returned to her school 

 at Washington, D. C. Her brother, C. T. Mit- 

 chell, accompanied her a part of the way, and is 

 now visiting relatives at Hillsdale, Mich., for a 

 few days. 



DETROIT 



Local hardwood dealers complain ot a shortage 

 and congestion of railroad cars which has caused 

 them great inconvenience and in many instances 

 has meant a loss of business. H. W. Harding 

 of the Harding Lumber Company informed the 

 Record correspondent that for the past three 

 weeks his company has been waiting for several 

 cars of hardwood lumber held up somewhere in 

 the state by the car congestion. .J. M. Clifford of 

 the J. M. Clifford Lumber Company, large dealers 

 In hardwoods, says that the car situation is 

 very serious and that no dependence can be 

 placed in cars arriving on time. Furniture fac- 

 tories and local automobile plants have also 

 suffered because of the lack of freight cars. 

 The Cadillac Automobile Company has nearly 

 200 automobiles waiting to be shipped. 



The Owen Motor Car Company has purchased 

 the plant of the J. P. Waddell Shoe Case & 

 Cabinet Company, Xortb Grand boulevard and 

 the Belt Line, together with the six acres of 

 adjoining land. The factory is a three-story 

 brick building, 150 by 60 feet, and will be re- 

 modeled to meet the requirements of the auto- 

 mobile company. 



The residence of William E. Brownlee, in this 

 city, was completely gutted a few days ago 

 by a fire resulting from a defective chimney. 

 Mr. Brownlee and his family were in bed when 

 the fire started, it being early in the morning, 

 and escaped from tlie burning building in scanty 

 clothing. The loss is covered by insurance. 

 Mr. Brownlee, who is a member of the hardwood 

 lumber firm of Brownlee-Kelly Company, s.iys 

 that he will rebuild at once. 



William Roche, aged seventy-six, a retired deal- 

 er in hardwoods, who lived at 334 Vinewoou 

 avenue in this city, died of heart failure a lew- 

 days ago in a barber's chair. He was wen 

 known to hardwood dealers of Detroit ami 

 vicinity. He was formerly a partner in the firm 

 ot Leech, Roche & Co., who dealt extensively 

 in hardwoods, but retired from active business 

 a tev; j-ears ago and up to the time of his 

 death bad been in good health. 



Mr. Worcester of the Worcester Lumber Com- 

 pany of Chasswell, Mich., was in town for a 

 few days last week. He said that conditions 

 in the hardwood market were excellent and 

 he looks for a big year's business. 



Many of the local hardwood dealers and the 

 factories have been busy the past few days 

 taking inventory and are now in readiness for 

 the business of the year. All are very opti- 

 mistic. "Everything looks fine," is the report 

 from E. W. Leech. "It looks like a banner 

 year. If we can't do the business in 1910, we 

 never can." Thomas Forman of the Thomas 

 Forman Company is another optimist. "The 

 outlook for the coming year is decidedly en- 

 couraging," he told the Record correspondent. 

 "We are enjoying a good, brisk business, with 

 every indication that it will continue." Many 

 other dealers talked in similar strain, all agree- 

 ing that it should be a very busy year in tne 

 hardwood trade. 



C. E. Myers of the Crescent Lumber Company 

 of Meridian, Miss., was in Detroit on business 

 last week. 



"Basswood is still a little weak, but in all 

 other lines of hardwoods there is a healtny 

 demand and prices are fairly satisfactory," 

 says J. M. Clifford- 



.T. H. P. .Smith of the Hardwood Lumbei 

 Company of Cincinnati was a recent Detroit 

 visitor. 



Arthur Dunniss ot Cincinnati dropped into 



town for a few days last week visiting friends 

 in the local trade. 



Jlichael J. Theisen, a well-known local hard- 

 wood operator, is again in financial difliculties. 

 He has just filed a bankruptcy petition in the 

 local United States court, scheduling liabilities 

 close to a quarter of a million dollars. In 

 May, 1907, Mr. Theisen took over the business 

 and the indebtedness of the Central Lumber 

 Company and in December of that year made an as- 

 signment to creditors who were paid about fifteen 

 per cent pro rata. The new petition in bank- 

 ruptcy filed by Mr. Theisen shows over 100 

 creditors who have claims totaling $:;j;!, 044.87. 

 His assets consist of an automobile, which he 

 built himself, 1,000 shares of stock in the 

 Snake River Mining Company, practically worth- 

 less, $10 in cash, one ?10 share of stock in 

 the Holmes Lumber Company and the household 

 goods which, under the laws, are exempt. Of 

 the iiabilities, $121,880.57 is due on unsecured 

 claims ; $33,941.02 on notes and $65,217.24 on 

 accommodation paper. 



The annual report of the department of build- 



ings shows that during the year just closed 

 permits for 3,640 new buildings to cost $12,631,- 

 245 were issued. This is an increase of over 

 $3,000,000 over 1908. 



C. U. Haberkorn has retired from active par- 

 ticipation in the business of the C. H. Haber- 

 korn & Co., table manufacturers, and Warren 

 Williams, superintendent of the concern, be- 

 comes general manager. Mr. Haberkorn, how- 

 ever, will still retain the office of president. 



The plant of the Charles Stearns Company, 

 manufacturers ot wagon wheels, at Pontiac, was 

 damaged to the extent of $9,000 by fire a few 

 nights ago. The blaze is believed to have been 

 of incendiary origin. 



<i. H. Jenkins of Chicago, who was in Detroit 

 for a few days last week, says that, despite 

 the rapid strides made by the automobile indus- 

 try, the wagon-building industry is still pros- 

 perous. He says that in this industry as well 

 as in the manufacture of automobiles the short- 

 age of the wood supply is becoming a serious 

 matter, as it is difficult to secure the right 

 quality of hardwood in sufficient quantities. 



Hardwood Market, 



(By EABD-WOOD SECOBD Ezclnslve Market Seporteri.) 



CHIC AGO 



BUFFALO 



Owing to the holiday season and the execrable 

 weather conditions that have prevailed in Chi- 

 cago during the last fortnight, hardwood busi- 

 ness has been featureless. A little lumber has 

 been moved, but there has been no life in the 

 trade. There is every prospect that there will 

 be a renaissance of active trading with a good 

 volume of business very soon. The furniture 

 sales exposition has just opened in Chicago and 

 there is promise of immense sale of all varieties 

 ot furniture at advanced prices over last year's 

 quotations, which will surely induce a heavy 

 demand from this source for many varieties of 

 liardwoods. 



There se.Tms to be a lessening activity in local 

 bouse and flat building owing to better trade 

 conditions in general lines of commercial pur- 

 suits. However, the volume of building is still 

 large. The local house trim and flooring people 

 report that their plants are all busy and in some 

 cases the output is sold ahead for several 

 months. 



^ew YORK 



Buffalo dealers have few men on the road 

 and no one seems to be afraid to run slow now. 

 Some of the better posted members of the trade 

 say they would come out better it they had 

 the courage to let the trade take care of itself 

 till spring and then get the benefit of an 

 advance. 



There is no new light as to stock, unless it 

 be from West Virginia. That territory has been 

 worked quietly by a few dealers who always man- 

 aged to get back there where they had been once, 

 and new others are following. A hardwood 

 dealer just from there reports finding bass- 

 wood and poplar there as well as the better 

 known oak and chestnut. Prices are stiff and 

 they will be likely to remain so, but if the 

 consumer of lumber wants hardwood hereafter 

 he must pay for it. 



Efforts to get in a stock of hardwood from 

 south of the Ohio are met by a bad shortage 

 of cars, which have cut out business a long 

 time, and the supply does not improve as it 

 has done in this territory of late. The big 

 fall of snow has also hindered business some- 

 what. 



There is no question as to the position whio. 

 will bo occupied by the good grade lumbei 

 market for the coming year. It can be stateo 

 upon the very best authority that, irrespective 

 of demand, the price situation is going to be 

 both high and bullish, by reason of the limitea 

 supplies ot good lumber which will be avail- 

 able. This applies pretty much throughout 

 the entire list. The outlook for good grade lum- 

 ber was never more prnmising. 



The phase of the situation which must engage 

 the attention of the manufacturer is the low- 

 grade market. Timber is producing more low- 

 grade lumber every year and it is to that do 

 partment that the most conservative principles 

 must be applied. In regard to the outlook, there 

 is every reason to expect that 1910 will absorb 

 a great deal of common and low-grade hardwood 

 lumber, but the market will have to be intelli- 

 gently handled. If the ratio of common lumber 

 for fhe next year is as much greater under 

 the improved outlook as it was during the past 

 year, with its somewhat more limited demands, 

 there is little reason to expect any material 

 change in prices. On the other hand, if the low- 

 grade production is properly conserved, there 

 is no reason why prices should not reach as high 

 a level as they ever have. 



PITTSBURG 



Local firms are well satisfied with 1900 totals 

 — considering. They believe that 1010 will break 

 all records in lumber selling in this district, and 

 their officials are getting busy. Many changes 

 are announced in the personnel of local concerns 

 and more salesmen are being added every day. 

 Good salesmen are mighty scarce. The man who 

 knows the lumber business and can show a rec- 

 ord of having "produced" can ask and get about 

 his own price in this city at present. Wholesale 

 lumbermen regard industrial conditions as espe- 

 cially favorable and believe that out of the 

 enormous amount of construction work of every 

 kind that is now on the boards there will come 

 the largest sales of lumber that have ever been 

 made in any one year. Also, they are taking 

 most kindly to daily reports received from every 

 section of the country which indicate that 

 manufacturing operations in every line are going 

 lo reach high water mark and probably go above 

 it. In short, Pittsburg is getting ready to do 

 her best year's business in lumber selling. It 

 only remains for her big lumber interests to get 

 together on a fair and profitable basis and revise 

 I he price lists which have been prevailing here 



