Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1897-01-14
IT HAS GONE TO PIITl
Pacific Coast Lumber 7,n,.
a Thing Of the Past ''''
DIFFICULTIES FROM THE s,. -
increased Supply of Lumhs,
o''ity to Keep Up Price. NJ ,''
the Rocks on Will, "n


bill S,'i'' to Keep Up Price. r,s ,,'
the Rocks on Which II s' "''
Seattle, Jan. 6.-The Pos. =,
gencer says: The Central I iIe,A'
Company, of California, the mast ntnS,' l9
pendous trust ever organized on 11 fl. 30 %
olfic coast, is a thing of the NJ nas. ai' "a. "a
such combine was ever bofo.pl past No
Tor the control of a market in this 1a0e, asa
OF the world, and inability to maia,'i S saa
Its organization is what nonsvnnl naii,an
ers predicted at the time Of its Ipa'ill' a""l
tlon. The conditions of its agreamsp. sr
were the stiffest ever promulrsta1 s,e,nlsa, ,
We're a practical mortgage, bin S' 0f .aIl saa
and all-around cinch on the onoras y, a''e
OF the mills and the members % Ot ~
trust. vi ue
1t had hard row to hoe fron,
start, but its plan was the hoe, v' .u,.
gotten up on the Pacific cooSt ' ;n s'u
much as it controlled every cargo r mill
on the coast except three, and at an.
time the outlook was rosy indeed pn Su'
like any business proposition, surDI, uJ,
and demand, keeness of competitipS ip9
mans cupidity, and necessities s.i
natural opposition had to be consider, aI'
and the rocks upon which the Ceut,,l
Lumber Company broke were Sham
In the first place, the projectors cop
fidently believed that the demand i,
1896 would exceed that of 1895,
That being the belief, they were cOD.
hdent that price-cutting would be i'm.
possible. But the demand did mt
come up to expectations, the propOrtOn
OF supply and demand being 4 to /, n.
stead OF 8 to 1, as compared with eight.
cen months ago. The anticipation of
enhanced values prior to the formation
OF the company, Furthermore caused
the piling up Of great stocks of lumber
In San Francisco, and other CalifOuh
distributing points, at lower prices 50
that when the new list became open.
tive the inevitable resulted.
No one purchased lumber from the
mills, but everyone scrambled for the
small trade in sight in the endeavOr to
get rid of the stock in the yards. Then
came clash between the retailers and
the members of the Central. Lumber
Company came out second-best. To.
day lumber is selling at barely cost in
San Francisco.
However, during this period the
millmen in Washington, Oregon and
British Columbia were simply Speca.
tors. They could not understand why
orders were not coming in, and why
their dividends were so small. At the
same time, one mill in British COlum.
bia, four in Washington and four in
Oregon, not members Of the company,
had started into the cargo trade, and
were cutting the price from fifty cents
to 80 per 900, and were running over.
time, while the Central Lumber Com
pany's mills were idle or running only
part of the time. This caused hard
feelings toward the company, especially
among the smaller millmen, who were
compelled to operate their plants in OF
der to meet obligations. On top o.
this came accusations that the largel
firms were securing all the trade fol
themselves. Finally one mill broke ii
agreement with the company, and
others followed suit in short order