36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



."►. Mt^thods of cutting mapit' lumbi-r to l)e 

 ii'auiifactured into flooring-. 



6. IClcction of ollicers and directors. 



Wcatlicr permitting tlic "Tigers" play "Boston" 

 and the meerin.g wiil be dismissed in time for 

 memi)ers (o attend llie gsme sliould ilie.v so 

 desire. 



UememlK'r the time and place. Friday. August 

 "i. niilii. ](.) a. in.. I'onchartrain Hotel. Detioit. 

 llich. 



.T. C. Kno,\. Secretary, 

 ('lias. A. Bigelow, Present. 



Wagon and Carriage Wood Stock Cluti Or- 

 ganized 



The Wagon and Carriage Wood Slock Club 

 \yas organized at a meeting held at the Southern 

 Hotel. St. Louis. July 19. The members state 

 that it is not a combination and that selling 

 prices were not discussed further than the de 

 niand for an increase, and to induce conserva- 

 tion in the use of timber and to regulate the 

 grades of wood used. It was agi'eed. however, 

 that the present range of prices i.s infldequatc 

 for the quality of goods turned out and a 

 recommendation was made that there bo a slight 

 advance. 



Fifteen factories with a combined capital in 

 excess of .fTOd.OOO are represented in the organi- 

 zation. The club will meet aboiii four times 

 a year at St. Louis. 



The officers are : 



I'l'esident — B. F. von Beliren. Kvansville, Ind. 



Vice-I'resident — Jo.seph Brownr'. .North .Man 

 Chester. Ind.. and Ilamau. Ark. 



Secretary and Treasurer — Fredcricli .4. Curtis. 

 Chicago. 



.1. J. Berry. Fayettevilie. Ark., is chairman of 

 a committee of rtve to recommend a standard 

 of grades r.ud sizes. 



It is the opinion of the members of the club 

 that if hickory and oak suitable for wagon and 

 carriage manufacturing are cut indiscriminately, 

 as Is now being done, the supply will be ex- 

 hausted in the course of the next fifteen years. 



One of Ihe members stated that for the past 

 ten years tiic inspection and quality of hickory 

 used in the business has been steadily becom- 

 ing more strict and higher and the supply has 

 been steadily dwiudling. It has now come to be 

 necessary, it is stated, that the quality must be 

 lowered to admit of pieces with some slight 

 defects or the supply will soon be exhausted 

 and the capital invested in wagon and carriage 

 factories as well as the wood stock factories 

 will be rendered useless. 



Monthly Meeting New Orleans Club 



I In Ti!csd.-iy evening. .July 1-. Uie fourth 

 monthly meeting and dinner of the New Or- 

 leans Lumbermen's Club was held at the South- 

 ern Yacht Club. N'ew Orleans. An excellent 

 menu was served and altogether the occasion 

 was most enjoyable, in spite of the unfavorable 

 weather. 



After the dinner the first business was the 

 report of the Membership Committee, which was 

 presented by F. .L Foxley. The names of Phil 

 1. Adam and li. T. Schmede were presented, 

 and on motion these individuals were duly elected 

 to membership. 



The matters in the hands of Ihe Transporta- 

 tion and Law and Insurance Committees re- 

 lated to proposed legislation and as the legis- 

 lature is not in session they hai] no report to 

 make. The report of the treasurer showed the 

 important matter of finances to be in satisfac- 

 tory shape. 



The pre.sideni then brought lo Ihe attention 

 of Ihe members Ihe amendment to the consti- 

 tution proposed at the last meeting by .Mr. Jano- 

 Tich, making forwarding agents handling lumber 

 shipments eligible to membership in the club. 

 Mr. O'Leary expressed the view that it was de- 

 siralile to limit the membership lo persons actu- 

 ally engaged in the lumber business and moved 

 that 'the resolution, to amend the constitution 

 be laid on the table, which was seconded and 

 carried. 



The president then stated that, as many of 

 the members are away on vacations during the 

 summer months, it had been suggested that the 

 August meeting lie dispensed with, and also that 

 the dues for that month be passed up. In the 

 discussion that followed it was suggested that 

 the August meeting be omitted, but that the 

 September meeting be made a special occasion, 

 and it was finally decided that the August 

 meeting be dispensed with, but that the dues 

 be pa.vable. 



The meeting then adjourned until the second 

 Tuesday in September. 

 There were present : 

 f!eo. E. Watsop, president. 

 W. P. Young, second vice-president. 

 L. Palmer, secretary, and the following mem- 

 bers : 



Frank H. o'L.ary. W. C. Wright. W. C. Camp- 

 bell, Tudor B. Carre, F. .]. Foxley. \V. A. 

 Scott. E. A. Mercadal, C. H. Uicc, .las. I'. Freret. 

 (i. F. Eldred, ('. E. LeCrone, J. G. Kainvva- 

 ter. W. M. Lynch, I'eter F. Dunn, E. U. Swartz, 

 \V. E. Stewart. ,T. \V. McWilliams. A. C. ,Iohns, 

 Ii. P.. Alexander, C. SchaelTer, Ludwig Ilay- 

 mann. A. E. Boadle, Herbert (Jartner, and as 

 guests. E. T. Miller. F. M. Woody. U. A, Mc- 

 Lauchlan. F. (J. Uobinsou and A. ,1. McCaus- 

 land. 



Why Lumber Has Gone Up 



'Ihe following report of the senate commit- 

 tee on the cost of living seems like another coat 

 of whitewash for the Aldrich tariff, at k'ast as 

 fat as the lumber business is concerned: 



The wholesale prices of lumber and building 

 materials advanced lO.C per cent during the 

 period from 1000 to 1300. This was the third 

 greatest advance in prices among the several 

 groujis of commodities considered by the com- 

 mittee. The bureau of labor has compiled fig- 

 ures of prices, etc.. covering 2."i7 commodities. 

 01 which the group of forest products include 

 thirteen commodities. The greatest increase In 

 pi ices between 1900 and 1000 was in products 

 of the forests, which increased 40.3 per cent. 



So tar as the products of the forest are con- 

 cerned, the supply in the United States is 

 diminishing and the cost of production and 

 marketing have both increased. 



The average wholesale prices of forest prod- 

 ucts in March. 1010. compared with average 

 Iiriccs in March. 1009. were as follows : 



Hemlock. 1G.7 per cent higher this year than 

 ten years ago ; hard maple. 12.7 per cent higher ; 

 plain white oak, 33.3 per cent higher; quar- 

 tered white oak. 30.4 per cent higher ; yellow 

 pine sidings, 40.9 per cent higher : poplar, 5G,3 

 per cent higher : common to good strained rosin, 

 160 per cent hi^ier ; cypress shingles, 35.1 per 

 cent higher ; spruce, 28.2 per cent higher ; tar, 

 53.8 per cent higher ; turpentine, 14.5 per cent 

 higher. 



Of the twenty-one commodities under lumber 

 and building materials, eighteen advanced and 

 three declined in price. Rosin advanced 160 

 per cent and poplar made the second highest 

 advance. Cement and putty declined. 



The average prices of lumber, etc.. in "1908. 

 as compared to 1000. were as follows : 



I'ine doors. Buffalo market. 12.8 per cent 

 higher than in 1900: hemlock, 24.7 per cent 

 lii.gher : hard maple. 12.7 per cent higher; plain 

 white oak, 18.0 per cent higher; quartered 

 while oak, 30.8 per cent higher; white pine 

 boards, No. 2 barn, Buffalo market, 54.3 per 

 cent higher, white pine boards, uppers (same 

 marketi. 55.3 per cent higher: yellow pine sid- 

 ing. 59.0 per cent higher ; poplar. 52.9 per cent 

 higher: strained rosin, 118.5 per cent higher: 

 cypress shingles. 14.6 per cent higher; Is-inch 

 white pine shingles, 33.3 per cent higher; 

 spruce, 45.3 per cent higher ; tar, 20.2 per cent 

 higher ; turpentine spirits, 2,9 per cent higher. 

 The wages per hour of labor employed in the 

 lumber business in 1907 were 22.2 per cent 

 higher than in 1900, lu planing mills the 



labor wages per hour were 18.8 per cent higher 

 in 1907 than in 1900. The hours of labor per 

 v/cek in the lumber Industry were 2.G per cent 

 li wer in 1907 than in 1900. and the hours ot 

 labor per week in planing mills were 2.9 per 

 c( nt lower in 1007 than in 1000. 



In the building trades the advance ot wages 

 per hour was ;!1.6 per cent from 1900 to 1907. 

 The average yearly earnings of an employe 

 in the lumber industry of Wisconsin were 

 .$537.75 in 1907. .f 400.90 in 1905. and .$407.76 

 in 1900. The average yearly earnings of such 

 an employe in 1907 were 9.5 per cent higher 

 than in 1905. or 15 per cent higher than in 

 1900. 



The tariff seems to have been no material 

 factor in causing the advance in prices dur- 

 ing the past decade. The greatest advances 

 have been made in commodities upon which 

 the "tariff has little or no effect and the abso- 

 lute removal of the tariff on many of these 

 commodities could not have afforded relief at 

 the present time, for the reason that prices of 

 these commodities, with a few exceptions, were 

 as high or higher in other countries than in 

 the l!nitcd States. 



Prices of forest products advanced 40.3 per 

 cent from 1900 to 1909. Lumber has steadily 

 advanced since 1900. and the price in 1909 was 

 41.8 per cent above the price in 1900. yet with 

 the advance other countries have been demand- 

 ing our lumber in Increasing quantities. A 

 table shows that exports of sawed timber were 

 525.134.000 feet in 1900, valued at $6,672,564. 

 By 1909 exports of timber had increased to 

 $9,330,728 in value, though the quantity was 

 only 434,985,000 feet. Exports of boards, deals 

 and planks in 1900 aggregated 1.093,568,000 

 feet, worth $19,40,8,594, compared with 1,509,- 

 936,000 feet in 1909 worth $32,398,278, 



Material decreases were made by the tariff 

 of 1900 on articles grouped under the lumber 

 schedule. The decreases of the Payne-Aldrich 

 rates from the Dingley rates were as follows : 



Timber round, hewn, squared or sided, 50 per 

 cent ; lumber, whitewood, sycamore and bass- 

 wood not planed or finished, 50 per cent : 

 planed or finished on two sides, 37.50 per cent ; 

 sawed lumber not specially provided for, rough. 

 37.50 per cent ; finished on one side, 30 per 

 cent : on two sides. 33.33 per cent ; on three 

 sides. 32.43 per cent ; on four sides. 31.25 per 

 cent, planed on one side and tongued and 

 grooved, 33.33 per cent ; planed on two sides 

 and tongued and grooved, 32.14 per cent. 



All of the above decreases in the tariff seem 

 tv have had no appreciable effect upon lumber 

 pi ices, as they have continued upward, even 

 though lumber is imported in large quantities, 

 the value of the imports — boards, planks, deals 

 and other sawed lumber — in 1008 being $18,- 

 000,000, practically all of the imports being 

 f;om British Columbia. 



Labor unions have not been apparently a 

 serious factor in contributing toward advancing 

 prices. Since the financial panic of the fall 

 of 1907 wages have not advanced as rapidly 

 as prices. The greatest advances in prices 

 during the period from 1900 to 1909 have 

 been made in the groups of commodities in 

 v/hich the labor cost is not a controlling factor. 

 The products of the forests show the greatest 

 advance (40.3 per cent) and the employes in 

 industries dealing with those products are un- 

 organized. 



Sale of the Asher Lumber Company 

 A dissolution of the Asher Lumber Company 

 of Cincinnati is announced and a new concern 

 has taken over tlie stock and yards ot the cor- 

 poration at Bank street and McLean avenue, and 

 has erected on the propert.v a cosy oflice, to 

 which it has recently moved. The new com- 

 pany is known as the Roy Lumber Company 

 and is owned by G. A. Roy. as president and 

 treasurer, the well-known Kentuckian lumberman ; 

 William B. Hay. who has been active manager 



