HARDWOOD RECORD 



57 



in this city last week. Tlie Are is believed 

 to liave originated Trom a spark from a pass- 

 ing locomotive and owing to the excellent work 

 of the fire department the blaze was confined 

 to one big shed. This shed, unfortunately, con- 

 tained the most expensive materials in the 

 yards. C. E. Huyette, secretary of the com- 

 pany, says that the electric wiring in the shed 

 was perfect, so that it is believed that a 

 spark caused the blaze. The loss is well cov- 

 ered by insurance. 



Congestion of freight cars is still seriously 

 handicapping Detroit hardwood dealers. Dur- 

 ing the past few days, however, there have 

 been evidences of improvement in the situation 

 and some shipments long overdue came to hand. 

 Some of the dealers have been waiting four and 

 five weeks for shipments, which the railroads 

 now expect to deliver during the next few days. 



John Dudley of the Dudley Lumber Company, 

 Grand Rapids, visited with Detroit lumbermen 

 last week. 



The Lumbermen's League gave a banquet at 

 the Log Cabin Inn last week, with twenty- 

 two members in attendance. John Stewart of 

 the Ivotcher Lumber Company acted as toast- 

 master and was on the job every minute. Most 

 of those present are members of the lumber 

 bowling league and the bowling abilities of the 

 guests were the subject of many of the toasts. 

 Every one voted the little spread a big success 

 and many similar gatherings are planned for the 

 future. 



The Lake Lumber Carriers' Association, at 

 its annual meeting in Detroit last week, dis- 

 cussed the advisability of a raise in freight 

 rates for next season. The general sentiment 

 of the members seemed to be that rates should 

 be boosted, but no definite action along this line 

 was taken. It is believed, however, that before 

 the opening of navigation a new schedule of 

 rates will be announced. The association elected 

 the following ofBcer.s : President, E. L. Fischer 

 of Cleveland ; O. W. Blodgett, Bay City, first 

 vice-president ; E. M. Carelton, Cleveland, sec- 

 ond vice-president ; W. E. Holmes, Chicago, third 

 vice-president, and W. D. Hamilton, secretary 

 and treasurer. 



C. W. Kotcber and daughter have sailed for a 

 month's cruise through the West Indies. Be- 

 fore returning to Detroit they will visit the 

 Panama canal. 



GRAND RAPIDS 



J 



Three companies held annual meetings Janu- 

 ary 19 in the ofSces of Winchester & Daniels, 

 Michigan Trust building, the election of of- 

 icers resulting as follows ; Turtle Lake Lum- 

 lier Company — President, Walter C. Winchester ; 

 vice-president, W. S. Winegar ; secretary, George 

 B. Daniels ; treasurer, Henry Idema. In addi- 

 tion to the offlcers the board of directors in- 

 cludes J. J. Foster and F. C. Miller. Vilas 

 County Lumber Companj- — President, John J. 

 Foster ; vice-president, L. H. Withey ; secretary, 

 Walter C. Winchester ; treasurer, Henry Idema. 

 In addition to the officers C. W. Johnson, of 

 Greenville, is a member of the board of directors. 

 McKenzie River Timber Company — President, 

 Walter C. Winchester ; vice-president, J. H. Bon- 

 nell ; secretary, Claude Hamilton ; treasurer, 

 Henry Idema. Besides the officers the directo- 

 rate includes L. H. Withey, C. C. FoUmer, J. J. 

 Foster, B. S. Hanchett and B. P. Merrick of this 

 city, E. G. Filer and R. R. Blacker of Manistee, 

 Frank S. Gib.son of Greenville and Charles H. 

 Chick of Portland, Ore. The McKenzie Com- 

 pany is a largo holding corporation owning 

 stumpage in Washington. 



The Hacklej'-Phelps-Bonnell Company held its 

 annual meeting January 17 and reelected the fol- 

 lowing : President, W. A. Phelps ; vice-presidents, 

 John H. Bonnell and Henry Idema ; secretary. 

 Otis A. Felger ; treasurer, Charles A. Phelps. In 

 addition to the officers the board of directors in- 



cludes Dudley E. Waters and Roy S. Barnhart. 

 Reports read showed a successful year's busi- 

 ness and a dividend of 6 per cent was declared. 



New corporations of the state include the 

 Sands-IIeydon Lumber Company of this city, 

 capital $100,000, of which $50,000 has been sub- 

 scribed. The incorporators include Charles A. 

 Sands, $32.400 ; William Heydon, $17,500 ; Mc- 

 George Bundy, $100. The company has timber 

 holdings in the upper peninsula and elsewhere. 



The January furniture sales are nearly over 

 in this market. It has not been a big season so 

 far as business goes, but still ahead of a year 

 ago, and the manufacturers are feeling well 

 over results. Case goods, especially in the 

 cheaper ends, have had a slow sale, the advance 

 m prices probably having something to do with 

 it. Manufacturers of upholstered furniture, 

 chairs, office desks and summer goods have made 

 excellent sales. Nearly forty lines of furniture 

 were destroyed by the burning of the Furniture 

 Exchange building January 12, and these ex- 

 hibitors were hit hard, inasmuch as the Are oc- 

 curred at the' opening of the season. Only four 

 of the lines were insured. 



Oak and mahogany are still the principal 

 woods used. Never before has the market wit- 

 nessed any such display of English period stuff, 

 which of course requires oak. Less Circassian 

 walnut is being used. The use of gum is slowly 

 creeping in and high grade concerns, as the Grand 



Rapids Chair Company, are using considerable 

 of this wood. The CarroUton Furniture Com- 

 pany of Covington, Ky., is using large quan- 

 tities of quarter-sawed gum in its bedroom furni- 

 ture, calling it Kyonyx. The Davis-Birely Table 

 Company of Shelbyville, Ind., is also a large 

 user of southern gum. 



George F. Williams, president of the Williams 

 Brothers Company, manufacturers of last blocks 

 at Manton, and Mrs. Flora A. Compton, also of 

 Manton, w'ere married in the parlors of the Liv- 

 ingston Hotel in this city January IS. News of 

 the marriage will be a pleasant surprise to their 

 friends in Manton. Mr. and Mrs. Williams left 

 next day for San Antonio, Tex., where they will 

 sijend the winter. 



Ewing & Son are putting in a sawmill at 

 Dowagiac and will cut Michigan hardwoods?. 



The Walloon Lake Lumber Company, of which 

 John Grund of Boyne City is manager, has 

 bought the timber holdings of the Henry Starkey 

 Lumber Company in the vicinity of Arcadia, in 

 Manistee county, and will put in a band mill in 

 the spring. . 



G. A. Swanson has bought of Henry W. Carey 

 ■140 acres of timber, eight miles west of Tustin. 

 A sawmill will be put in ; it is estimated there is 

 a three years' cut. 



Marcus Schaff of Munising has been offered 

 the position of state forester at a salary of 

 $1,200. 



Hardwood Market. 



(By HA3DWOOD SECOBD Exclusive market Beporters.) 



CHICAGO 



The consensus of opinion among Chicago lum- 

 bermen seems to be that there is a good mar- 

 ket for most woods, the trouble now being in 

 delivery of orders, as it is next to impossible to 

 do any considerable hauling under the prevailing 

 weather conditions. Sixteen hundred feet is 

 considered a pretty fair load, and there is no 

 telling when even that much will reach its 

 destination. As a consequence local men are 

 not soliciting trade, as they can't produce the 

 goods when they do get orders. 



As a rule there is not much tie-up in stock 

 coming in, although some concerns report short- 

 age in certain lines. There seems to be a scar- 

 city all along the line in red and white plain 

 oak, in one's and two's, especially in 5/4 stock, 

 the lower grades being plentiful. Prices seem 

 to be holding their own fairly well, plain red 

 oak upiiers being quoted as high as $52. 



Birch has a good market and is on a steady 

 rise, especially the better grades. Some people 

 report difficulty in filling orders in those grades. 



Poplar, of course, shows the usual scarcity in 

 wide stock. It won't be long before owners 

 of virgin poplar will be able to command their 

 own prices on this kind of stock. The other 

 grades are not producing prices commensurate 

 with the cost. A rise in poplar values will tend 

 to boost gum, which can be substituted for it 

 in boxes, etc. 



Ash and hickory are holding a pretty steady 

 price, as the wagon works are not influenced 

 by the inclement weather. 



Cherry, especially in the higher grades, is 

 moving briskly and commands good prices. One 

 firm quotes $00, $60 and $26 on cherry. 



Basswood and the lower grades of walnut arc 

 very slow in moving. 



The flooring people report slack trade, owing 

 to the general tie-up In building operations of 

 all kinds. However, the market exists and all 

 that is necessary to start things going is a 

 breaking up of the weather. Quartered oak 

 flooring is bringing as much as $85. Clear plain 

 oak brings $54 and maple is worth from $40 to 



$42 for clear, $.'34 to $36 for No. 1 select and 

 $22 to $24 for No. 1 common. 



On the whole, while things are not brisk at 

 present, owing to the difficulty of delivery 

 more than anything else, there is a general feel- 

 ing that March and April will see conditions 

 back at normal or perhaps better. There is 

 no reason why the trade should not be back 

 where it was before the panic. 



NEW YORK 



The hardwood market at New York is firm, 

 with prices strong and good lumber scarce. 

 Any special orders, particularly in good-grade 

 lumber, are hard to place and mill connections 

 hard to arrange. The outlook for 1910 points 

 to a strong hardwood market, especially in good- 

 grade lumber, with every indication that the 

 low-grade market will move up sympathetically. 

 It is certainly no time to sacrifice stock in 

 good-grade lumber. 



The local market seems to be taking its pro- 

 portion of good grades of hardwoods for this 

 season of the year, with oak, poplar, ash and 

 chestnut perhaps most in demand. Prices are 

 ruling exceedingly firm and the year opens full 

 of promise. 



BUFFALO 



All lumbermen predict that the coming year 

 will be a very active one in lumber, as well as 

 in other general branches of business. Nothing 

 is lacking but the full stocks of lumber that used 

 to be available. There is enough to get along 

 with, but even that will not be said very long, 

 at least of hardwood lumber. So it behooves 

 everyone in that trade to make the most of 

 his stock, by getting hold of as much as he can 

 and selling it almost as if he did not expect to 

 get any more. 



All prices are firm and there is every expecta- 

 tion of better prices as soon as the season is 

 fairly open. Buyers anticipate it, for they are 

 ti-ying to make purchases for delivery all through 

 the summer. 



