182 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES 



the depletion of cargo vessels, since so large a pro- 

 portion are interned, and consequently unavailable for 

 transport purposes 



That timber supplies as a result of a European war 

 would naturally prove one of the first commodities 

 to suffer in this country was a foregone conclusion 

 amongst those who had studied the subject at all 

 closely, the point of greatest and immediate danger 

 being the pit prop and pitwood supply of the mines, 

 of which some 4,400,000 worth were imported in 

 1913. Further, it was realised that a war in which 

 Russia was involved with her near Western neighbour 

 would, with the closure of ports, be seriously felt in 

 this country, since we are indebted to Russia for 

 some 12,800,000 sterling of timber imports annually, 

 more than a fourth of our total imports of forest 

 materials from the whole world. 



An examination of the Board of Trade Returns for 

 the first six months of the war (to end of January 1915) 

 shows that the imports and consumption under all 

 heads of timber, etc., including wood pulp and pulp 

 board, dropped slightly less than a third, the total 

 values for the six months August 1913 to January 1914 

 being 22,346,000, as against 15,714,000 for the first 

 six months of the war. 



Considering first pit props and pitwood, we find 

 that the supply of this material fell considerably. The 

 returns for the six months show that 1,051,054 loads 

 were utilised, as against 1,932,823 for the similar period 

 in 1913-14, the values being 1,653,366 and 2,585,801 

 respectively, a decrease of nearly a million pounds 

 sterling. Wood pulp and pulp board is another com- 



