44 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Monthli; Meeting Chicago HardWood Lumber 



Exchange 



The Chicago Hardwood Lumber Exchange 

 followed the monthly limeheou at the La 

 Salle Hotel on Saturday, February 26, with 

 a meeting of unusual interest to those pres- 

 ent. Judging by the general and earnest 

 discussion of matters pertinent and important 

 to the lumber industry, the session will be 

 fruitful of action along various lines having 

 an important bearing on the trade. 



The attendance was indeed gratifying, par- 

 ticularly so considering the inclemency of the 

 weather. President Brown is to be congratu- 

 lated on the spirit of enthusiasm and energy 

 with which he has imbued the members. 



Of special interest were the report of Chair- 

 man Trainer of the Market Conditions Com- 

 mittee, and a list of suggestions by President 

 P>rown in which he put on record certain 

 policies long fostered by him. Following this 

 was a general discussion of all phases of the 

 recommendations submitted. Secretary Hooper 

 of the Lumbermen 's Association of Chicago 

 talked intelligently and to the point on the 

 demurrage question; his view"s should be of 

 benefit to all who heard them. 



Officers of the other local lumber organ- 

 izations were present as special guests, with 

 a view to initiating the movement toward a 

 single Chicago association advanced in Pres- 

 ident Brown's special address. 



Following the reading of the minutes, by 

 Secretary Dion, in which an attendance of 

 fifty-eight at the last meeting was reported, 

 the president called for the reports of the 

 Market Conditions and Labor Committees, 

 Chairmen Trainer and Schreiber responding 

 in comprehensive style. 



In response to the call of the chair. Presi- 

 dent Agler of the National Hardwood Lum- 

 ber Association addressed the atendance. He 

 reiterated previous invitations to the coming 

 convention of that body at Louisville in June. 



President Brown 's recommendations, before 

 referred to, were the cause of general dis- 

 cussion, at his earnest request. They were 

 read by the chair and well merited the close 

 attention accorded them. The address: 



It is our pleasure today to have as special 

 quests of honor the otHcers of our local con- 

 temporaries, the Lumbermen's Association and 

 the Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association. 

 CominK together at this time to break bread at 

 the same hoard is most significant, inasmuch as 

 it typifies the virtue which is our greatest for- 

 ti-ees of sfreni;th. namely, harmony. 



These three bodies are strictly commercial 

 organizations primarily instituted for the sole 

 purpose of enhancing" our material well being 

 by establishing justice and fair dealing which 

 will attract the outside manufacturer and con- 

 sumer of lumber by promoting the general wel- 

 fare of the trade, which can not but redound 

 to oiir profit and by insuring among the various 

 branches of wood industries, which we severally 

 represent, the stability of our organization and 

 tile sincerity of purpose back of our policies. 

 These thoushts. together with a study of sim- 

 ilar orpanizalions in other cities during the last 

 year impel me at this time to give utterance to 

 an idea which I have long fostered and in which 

 I am confideut some of you gentlemen share. 

 We must make a success of our individual busi- 

 ness enterprises and, therefore, we must have 

 at our backs the most efficient organization 

 possible. I firmly believe that the imaginary 

 lines whicli form the boundary between these 

 organizations should be wiped out. They have 

 served their purpose and are now obsolete. 



Chicago stands preeminent as the world's 

 greatest lumber market and should have an or- 

 ganization of lumbermen commensurate thereto. 



The membership of our organizations is so 

 interwoven as to make the roil of members al- 

 most lose its identity. The salient reasons for 

 the existence of all of these bodies are identical. 

 We Jiffcr, if at all. only in the application of 

 minor ideas. It is a matter of conservation of 

 effort as well as utility and economy which 

 should warrant our union. 



We look with great satisfaction to the won- 

 derful strength and accomplishment of the Chi- 

 cago Association of Commerce. How much more 

 it is accomplishing than could be possible If Its 



forces were divided into three bodies. Should 

 the feasibility of such a union into one asso- 

 ciation of lumbermen meet with your approval 

 after giving its full consideration and study any 

 differences of policy aftectiDg any phase of the 

 lumber business as we individually view it could 

 be advanced through the work of departments 

 or committees. With such a imion t.'liicago 

 would have the most powerful local organization 

 of lumbermen in the world, whose undertakings 

 would command respect everywhere and result 

 in bringing about more speedily an improvement 

 among various lines which most especially con- 

 cern our business. We have come, gentlemen, to 

 the point where such an organization seems to 

 me to I'C imperative as weil as the most logical 

 thing for us to do. Strong objections may be 

 urged against such a plan, some of them pos- 

 sibly growing out of old differences that may 

 have existed in times past. In this age. how- 

 ever, we can not live in the past but must ever 

 keep our face toward the future and our back 

 toward the past. It therefore seems apparent 

 that the advantages gained would in the aggre- 

 gate greatly overwhelm the objections. 



Following the reading of the address, tlic 

 ch.airman called on the special guests for 

 their views on the subject. President Gilles- 

 pie of the Lumbermen 's Association of Chi- 

 cago, Vice-President Slayton and Secretary 

 Hooper of the same body, Chairman Westcott 

 of the Exchange Membership Committee and 

 secretary of the Chicago Wholesalers ' Asso- 

 ciation responded in order, the trend of their 

 remarks being heartily in support of Presi- 

 dent Brown's proposition. 



During his talk Mr. Hooper, in touching 

 on the demurrage question, referred to the 

 benefits accruing to yard dealers through the 

 so-called average plan embodied in Eule XII. 

 By this arrangement, if a consignee is enter- 

 prising enough to unload a car within twelve 

 hours of the time limit, he is credited on his 

 next car with that length of time. The speak- 

 er maintained that such a rule would not 

 only materially help both dealers and the 

 railroad service, but would eventually do away 

 altogether with the payment of demurrage. 



Supplementing these remarks, President 

 Brown raised the question as to whether or 

 not a common carrier has the legal right to 

 hold up cars, pending the settlement of dis- 

 puted demurrage claims, and actual payment 

 of such demurrage. A most aggravating in- 

 stance in his own business was used by the 

 president to emphasize his point, as well as 

 a case involving four hundred ears consigned 

 to the Illinois Steel Company, the cars being 

 held on the same pretext. Drastic and imme- 

 diate action was recommended, in order to 

 call the bluff of the railroads and to guard 

 against similar outrages in the future. 



Following the discussion on the consolida- 

 tion question, Chairman Schreiber moved that 

 the matter be referred to the Trade Commit- 

 tee w-ho, after conference with similar com- 

 mittees from the other bodies, will report to 

 the exchange. The motion was adopted with 

 the amendment proposed by Mr. Agler, to 

 the effect that the Board of Managers be 

 .substituted for the Trade Committee. 



The last business transacted was the ap- 

 pointment of two nominating committees by 

 the chair, to report within two weeks on se- 

 lections of officers for the ensuing year, the 

 next meeting being the regular annual. The 

 personnel of the committees was: First, 

 Theodore Fathauer, C. L. Cross and F. M. 

 Baker; second, J. S. Trainer, O. O. Agler and 

 A. H. Schoen. Contrary to usual custom 

 there will be two ballots, which in due time 

 will Ije mailed to all members. 



Following is a roster of the attendance: 



Charles Westcott, Hayden & Westcott Lumber 

 o. 



Harvey Ha.vden, Hayden & Westcott Lumber Co. 

 Tom A. Moore, T. A. Moore & Co. 



Theo. Fathauer, Theo. Fathauer Co. 



Robert Maisey, Maisey & Dion. 



Louis .\. Smith, FulIerton-l*u\\ eli Hardwood 

 Lumber Co. 



Murdock MacLeod, Oconto Co. 



.1. W. Slayton. Mears-SIayton Lumber Co. 



Edwin E. Hooper, Lumbermen's .\ssociation. 



J. L. Lane. J. L. Lane & Co. 



F. B. McMullen, Fullerton-Powell Hardwood 

 Lumber Co. 



F. C. Van Norstrand, Cotton Belt Lumber Co. 

 George T. Mickle. George T. Mickle Lumber Co. 

 Kobert H. Gillespie. John Gillespie Lumtier Co. 

 J. H. Dion, Maisey & Dion. 



G. A. Larson, Fink-Heidler Co. 



W. G. Commentz, G. W. .lones Lumber Co. 

 II. D. Welch. B. A. Thornton Lumber Co. 



E. .7. Leech, Paepcke-Leiclit Lumber Co. 

 C. II. Wolfe. Heath-Witbeck Co. 



C. I. Holle. Heath-Witbeck Co. 



O. O. Agler, TJpham & Agler. 



A. U. Ruth, G. W. Jones Liimber Co. 



J. D. Attlev, J. M. Attlev & Co. 



J. J. Fink, Fink-Heidler Co. 



T. .1. Scanlon, May Bros.. Memphis, Tenn. 



It. S. Corson, Upham & Agler. 



J. G. Brown, W. P. Brown & Sons Lumber Co., 

 Louisville, Kv. 



C. L. Cross, C. L. Cross. 



J. C. West, Midland Lumber Co., Parkersburg, 

 W. Va. 



F. H. Ostrander, D. K. Jeffris & Co. 



Frank F. Fish, National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association, 



William C. Schreiber, H. H. Plettler Lumber 

 Co. 



Frederick L. Brown, Crandall & Brown. 



J. S. Trainer, Trainer Bros. Lumber Co. 



R. A. Lounsberry, Maisey & Dion. 



Charles S. Smith. 



S. P. C. Hostler, American Forest Co. 



Winter F. Clark. Winter F. Clark. 



George K. Thamer, Empire Lumber Co. 



M. Bratz, Empire Lumber Co. 



S. C. Bennett. Hardwood Mills Lumber Co. 



H. C. Miller, Hardwood Mills Lumber Co. 



F. M. Baker. Hardwood Mills Lumber Co. 



William A. Ea.ger, William A. Eager. 



Alex. H. Schoen, Columbia Hardwood Lumber 

 Co. 



E. W. Meeker, Hardwood Recokd. 



H. H. Gibson, Hakdwood Record. 



Co. 



The Lumber Output of Missouri 



While other states are ahead of Missouri in 

 the quantity of yearly production, but few excel 

 that state in quality of lumber ,output. The 

 llgures for 1009 compiled by the Red Book of 

 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of that state 

 point out the following interesting facts : 



Missouri stands foremost in the production of 

 red gum cooperage stock, while her production 

 of walnut lumber is only surpassed by two other 

 states. She occupies second position in syca- 

 more trade, being outranked only by Indiana. 

 For red gum lumber Missouri holds third place, 

 lankiug next to Mississippi and Arkansas. 



While this state is not generally classed as a 

 lumber or cooperage producing state, when cer- 

 tain timbers like walnut, red gum. oak, ash, 

 hickory, tupelo, elm and cherry are separated 

 from the other, the high standing of tlie com- 

 munity is at once very evident. She produces 

 high-grade timber, which in reality yields far 

 greater dividends than the much larger produc- 

 tion of low-grade stocks, which abound in some 

 of the rival states. 



The figures referred to place the output of 

 Missouri for the last year at 453,938,000 feet, 

 with a value of $8,208,927 at the mills and 

 $8,719,822 St. Louis. The cooperage output con- 

 sisted of staves, headings, hoops, baskets, boxes 

 and wagon and furniture timber in the flat, 

 handles of all kinds, egg cases, pencil slabs, wal- 

 nut gun stock, spokes, bent wood, crates, etc., 

 with a value of $3,869,800. There were 10,110,- 

 500 railroad ties cut, which sold for $4,014,200. 



Red gum is the principal material used in the 

 manufacture of cooperage supplies, while for 

 hoops elm is the favorite wood, though several 

 of the cooperage factories turn out consideralilc 

 quantities of red gum hoops. 



