HARDWOOD RECORD 



CADILLAC 



DETROIT 



Edward Fitzgerald, formerly manager of the 

 Mitchell Brothers Company of this city, re- 

 cently met with an accident in Grand Rapids. 

 While driving home with a friend he attempted 

 to cross the street when the runners of the 

 cutter skidded into the street-car track, turning 

 over the vehicle and throwing both men into 

 the street. Mr. Fitzgerald struck the pavement 

 on his side and had to be taken home in a 

 conveyance. It was found that there was a 

 fracture of the left hip. Internal Injury is also 

 feared, but recovery is expected. The friend 

 alighted on his feet and was not injured. 



The ladder factory in connection with the 

 Cummer Manufacturing Company's plant has 

 resumed operation after a shut-down of about 

 two months; a full crew is employed and ev- 

 erything is running smoothly. 



II. H. Yohe, formerly general secretary of 

 the Y. M. C. A. here, has succeeded Walter E. 

 Curry as assistant to M. E. Thomas in the sales 

 department of Cobbs & Jlitchell, Inc. Mr. Curry 

 was appointed assistant to Henry Ballou in the 

 operating of the Cobbs & Mitchell interests. 



Charles T. Mitchell, vice-president and gen- 

 eral manager of the Mitchell Brothers Company, 

 (iaili'd from New York February 6 on a month's 

 trip to the Bahama Islands and the West 

 Indies. He was accompanied by Gains Perkins 

 of Grand Kapids. 



Luther, Mich., is experiencing an old-fashioned 

 winter such as it has not seen for many years, 

 and in consequence lumbering is being pushed 

 to a greater extent than usual. At this point 

 as well as at many others in the state, the farm- 

 ers are picking up their remaining timber and 

 hauling it into the local mills. It is expected 

 that next year this lumber will result in a con- 

 siderably increased acreage of farm crops. Be- 

 sides the saw and planing mill, it has a good 

 flour and feed mill operated by water power, 

 and a well patronized creamery, a large pickling 

 station and two potato warehouses. 



The Manistee & Grand Rapids Railroad has 

 built one of the finest depots in that section of 

 the state, and a new schoolbouse has replaced 

 the one which was burned a short time ago. 

 Although the old pine days are gone and the 

 money does not come in as fast as in former 

 years, yet Luther is entering into a period of 

 true prosperity and its citizens are progressive 

 and ready to push things along. 



The East Jordan Lumber Company's flooring 

 plant has shut down until April 1, during which 

 time extensive repairs will be made. Among 

 them the long bridge connecting the east and 

 west sides will undergo extensive repairs while 

 the lake is frozen. 



The iron furnace at East Jordan which has 

 been in the course of construction for two 

 years has started. This furnace )ias a capacity 

 of eighty tons per day. and started without a 

 bitch. The chemical plant running in connec- 

 tion with the furnace has also started, and it 

 is said to be the most modern and best equipped 

 plant in the United States. Its capacity is 125 

 cords of wood per day. 



It present plans carry, the Board of Trade 

 of Traverse City will have a home of its own 

 and it is stated that R. Floyd Clinch of Chi- 

 cago will put up $6,000 providing the Traverse 

 City business men raise $1,500. 



Dollarville in Luce county is almost a place 

 of the past. The Danaher Hardwood Lum- 

 ber Company having completed its cut in this 

 section has sold its mill of that place to 

 Wickes Brothers of Saginaw and the plant is 

 now being demolished preparatory to its new 

 location. With the wrecking of the mill, Dollar- 

 ville, once a thriving and prosperous town, will 

 cease to exist. Most of the former employes 

 already have scattered to other fields and only 

 a few families now remain in the little village. 



Pleasing to hardwood men have been the fre- 

 quent announcements recently of new automo- 

 bile plants to be located in Detroit. During the 

 past week the Van Dyke Motor Company, Hud- 

 .^on ^lotor Car Company and tlie Lozior Com- 

 pany announced that they would build big plants 

 in this city. The Van Dyke company is a mil- 

 lion-dollar corporation, the Hudson $500,000 and 

 the Lozier Company two millions. These plants 

 taken along with the $6,000,000 plant to be 

 erected this spring by the General Motors Com- 

 pany and fhe great number of smaller automo- 

 bile concerns which will locate in this city 

 mean a big wave of prosperity in which hard- 

 wood dealers will share to a large extent. 



In addition to the automobile plants, the Y'eo- 

 man Body & Box Company announces that it 

 will engage in the manufacture of automobile 

 bodies. Extensive improvements will be made 

 to the plant, which will be greatly enlarged. 

 The company figures on an output of one hun- 

 dred automobile bodies a day at the start. At 

 present the whole energy of the plant will be 

 devoted to the production of wood bodies, for 

 which the concern has the most modern equip- 

 ment. Later metal bodies will be included in the 

 output. John T. Lombard and John G. Ritten- 

 house of the hardwood lumber firm of Lombard 

 & Rittenhouse are members of the Yeomans com- 

 pany. 



.\t the annual niceling of the Dwight Lum- 



ber Company last week the following ofiicers 

 were elected : President, Edwin Lodge : vice- 

 president, W. M. Dwight ; treasurer, G. H. Sat- 

 terlee ; secretary. ,Tohn C. Lodge ; assistant sec- 

 retary, Horace E. Carter ; directors, Edwin 

 Lodge, W. M. Dwight, G. H. Satterlee. John 

 C. Lodge and Frank W. Blair. Horace E. Car- 

 ter, who is made assistant secretary, is the son 

 of the late Sir. Carter, who was secretary of 

 the company. 



.V number of Detroit hardwood men attended 

 the eighth annual meeting and banquet of the 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association at Cin- 

 cinnati the first of the month. Among tliem 

 were Thomas Forman. E. W. Leech and J. M. 

 Clifford. 



William E. Brownlee of the Brownlee-Kelly 

 Company has .just returned to the city from a 

 trip through the lumber regions of the Lake 

 Superior district. Mr. Brownlee reports a great 

 demand for hardwoods in the North. 



"The price of poplar and ash is steadily 

 mounting upward," says a local automobile man- 

 ufacturer, "and it is becoming a hard matter to 

 obtain the woods without paying a stiff price. 

 For instance, poplar that should be al)out $75 a 

 thousand has mounted in price to $12.:i and $150 

 a thousand. The stuff has been pretty well 

 cornered at that and a manufacturer who fails 

 to look sharp will have to pay the difference. 

 All kinds of lumber that enters into the auto- 

 mobile has advanced in price to a remarkable 

 extent." 



Hardwood Market. 



(By HABD'WOOD BECOSD Ezclnslve Market BeportePB.) 



CHIC AGO 





^EW YORK 



The local trade seems to depend entirely on 

 personal conditions. In some cases the outlook 

 is rosy, orders brisk and prices good. Others 

 take a gloomy and pessimistic view of business ; 

 they can't get their prices, or have to pay the 

 mill men too high a figure, or are hampered by 

 poor transportation. 



On the whole, however, the dominant idea 

 scem-s to be that the lumber business is on a 

 i:retty fair footing, although uot where it was 

 expected to be by this time. 



Mill men explain the high prices of which the 

 .jobbers complain by saying that they can get 

 more tor their lumber in other centers and con- 

 si-quently sell their stock elsewhere. 



The general tendency of prices is upwards, 

 though in a conservative way. Upper grades of 

 birch are still scarce, and it is predicted that 

 this condition may result in an overproduction 

 of logs to fill the demand, and consequently a 

 break in price later on. 



The trade in maple is brisk and the stock in the 

 better grades is low and prices good. Basswood 

 maintains the same rather slow movement that 

 it has shown for several mouths. Prices are 

 i;bout as usual. 



No radical change is reported in the condi- 

 tion of either red or white oak — they are both ad- 

 \ancing steadily in price, and are sure to hold 

 their own. 



Cherry is not as brisk in some quarters as 

 usual, but prices arc good. 



A local jobber says that wide panel cotton- 

 wood, 22 in. and up, is worth in this city $75- 

 $83. It is being substituted for poplar in auto- 

 mobile and carriage bodies, for which it is ac- 

 ceptable to some manufacturers. With the pres- 

 ent enormous production of automobiles the won- 

 der is just how long it will be before the public 

 appetite is satisfied. 



The flooring people report a solid market and 

 reasonable prices on oak and maple flooring. 



The hardwood market at New York continues 

 to show good strength throughout the list, more 

 particularly in good-grade lumber, with low- 

 grade stock moving quite freely. Prices, how- 

 ever, are not quite as strong. The current con- 

 ditions in all lines in the local buying trade art- 

 fair and the general feeling seems to be unani- 

 mous that the spring and summer trade will 

 witness a good consumption of lumber in all 

 channels. There seems to be a little speculation 

 as to just what the early spring market will 

 hold forth in the matter of low-grade stock, the 

 belief being that that will depend largely upon 

 the amount of production. Every holder of good 

 grade hardwood lumber should realize a good 

 profit and a high range of prices for his wood. 

 Stocks are by no means plentiful and this is 

 especially true of the local manufacturing and 

 consuming trade. Hence with any kind of a 

 development in consumption the spring market 

 will be of a very satisfactory character. There 

 is no reason why there should not be good vol- 

 ume of low-grade consumption if business de- 

 velops anything like the proportions which seem 

 likely, so that the best information that can be 

 given at this time is for the manufacturer or 

 wholesaler to meet conditions of the market from 

 now on exactly as they appear and to be content 

 to dispose of such stock as the market will ab- 

 sorb at proper values, holding the balance of his 

 stock in reserve for the earlv spring trade which 

 now seem promising. 



BUFFALO 



Hardwood lumber is a good asset and the 

 fact is well known to the consumer as well as 

 the jobber, for there is demand for it in all 

 directions, both for immediate delivery and on 

 time. The plan of the yard dealer has been 

 not to push trade much of late, as it costs so 



