The San Francisco call., 1897-11-13
A Bic LIFT
GIVEN TO
lumber
Dealers Raise the Price Two
Dollars a Thousand
Feet.
hLlAIM ULhLLnN lV EUfTEn.
An End to the Ruinous War
Among Mill Operators and
Wholesalers.
MAY ADVANCE STILL FURTHER.
All the Mills of the Coast Combine to
Raise the Price of Their
Products.
NAY ADVANCE STILL FURTHER.

The lumber manufacturers of the Pacific
Coast have agreed on schedule OF prices
10 govern the trade of the city and oi
ports south. The agreement was the re-
suit OF an attempt at another lumber
comb similar 10 the Central Lumbe
Association, that a year or two ago con-
trolled the wholesale traffic in lum ber OF
the northern coast mills.
While the association was in operation
the lum bermen claimed that they could
make profit on the product of their
mills. The association went out of exist
ence IL little over year ago. and the lum-
ber-deulers began war of rates. The
prices the big dealers quoted were ruinous
to the small operators. and the lumber
market was in bad way.
The retail dealers suffered even worse
than the wholesalers, and a retail lum ber-
dealers as sociation was formed to devise
some means OF protecting the trade.
Several of the small wholesale deale rs
and manufacturers closed their mills and
prepared TO wait until the big dealers quit
cutting the bottom out Of the market.
Matters became so bad that the big dealers
saw the ruinous policy OF the war, and
they were not slow in following the pan
set :orth by one of their mum Der to save
the market from complete collapse.
f. J. Holt, who was formerly president
of the Central Lum ber Association, took
the initiative in the organization Of the
new combine. He communicated with
the owners and operators OF every mill on
the coast of any i'm portanCe and out of
thirty mills asked to come into the COM
zine and restore prices on profitable ba-
sis only five signlted assent. This was
about five months ago, and at the time 1t
was thought that the pro oDosed organiza-
ton would never be formed.
Holt was not discouraged, and a few
weeks ago most OF the owners of the
prominent mllIs between san Francisco
and Puget Sound signed an agreement to
put Ium Der on the market at prices that
would at least give promise OF profit. The
organization was strong one, and the
small dealers who at first held aloof al
coming into the com bine readily assented
and now there is hardly mill-owner on
the coast WHO does not belong to The new
organization.
AT the organization of the company a
guarantee fund OF $500 was promised the
promoter for services IN forming the new
association, as well as the expenses OF the
organizer, II the company should be in
opera ion by the 1st OF Dece III ber; then
when it was in operation he was 10 get
$4,000 as a premium. Then $40, 600 4 year
was to be paid the promoter while he
acted as the manager of the organizations
The price of lumber advanced materially
as soon as the agreement among the
dealers was signed. a basi OF $40 per
1000 for rough lumber was agreed upon
for the schedule of prices. Lumber
previous to that had been sold as low as
Sc per 1000, and the manufacturers saw
no future III the trade at such prices. As
,ria I,
retailers associat on realized that an op-
portunity had developed for advancing
prices, and for the past month they have
been raising The price a the rate OF so
cents week on the 1000 feet.
Now lum ber is 81 per 1000 dearer than it
was month ago, with prospect Of ad-
vancing still further.