The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-01-13
LUMBER STOCKS NOT
UNUSUALLY LARGE
Prospect for Enormous Bust
ness During Present Year
MUCH RAILROAD BUILDING
Extensions In Lumber Sections of Mis-
sssippi Promise to Be Greater
Than Ever Before-Some of
the Lines Projected.

Harrisburg, Miss. January 12.-(Special)
the closing months of 1906 were made I'M
comfortable and Improbable to the lum-
bermen of this section by reason of the
scarcity of ears and the difficulty, not to
say impossibility, of getting their product
to market, the opening of the new year
discloses a fairer prospect for business
than perhaps ever before in the history
of the trade. The indications are that
the demand for lumber will be tremen-
dous as soon as the season for building
operations opens in the north. At the
same time it will not be found that the
supply at the mills is particularly heavy,
for while there has been difficulty in get
ting cars with which to ship the cut to
interior points, there has been a fairly
good supply of cars for transportation to
the points of the gulf, and the export
business from all the ports from Pensa-
cola to New Orleans has been greater
than ever before, so that while the manu-
facturers have not gotten as good prices
as they might have obtained if they could
have filled all interior orders promptly
they have not piled up such immense
stacks of lumber as might be expected
by those who have considered only the
car shortage situation.
Yards Are Depleted.
Commission dealers and wholesalers
agents on this market report that even
since the first of the new year there has
been a substantial increase of orders from
nd building nlatarial l.
and the orders are invariably for quick
delivery. The inference is that the yards
in the north are depleted of stock. They
must have the goods at once Just now
1t is not easy to get the cars with which
to fill these orders. but relief from the
famine is in sight, and it is evident that
when the lumber begins to move it will
go in unprecedented quantities While the
stocks are low in the north the prospects
for building and manufacturing operations
calling for lumber as a constituent ma
terial are splendid From all the larger
cities come reports of contracts and plans
for extensive operations, and every trade
publication tells of immense contracts let
for cars and other construction that en-
ploys yellow pine. The present squeeze
in rolling stock has admonshed the rail-
road system, great and small. throughout
the country to amplify their stock, anti
the result is that the car foundries are
getting orders of a magnitude never be-
fore known. The productive capacity o.
the mills of this section is not unlimited.
1t Is probable that the maximum of
output has about been reached. There IS
of course an inestimatible tract of virgin
timber that has scarcely been viewed even
by the surveyors and estimators, but
much of 1t is inaccessible for CONNER
cial purposes. 1t Is out of reach of the
railroads, and it cannot be manufactured
al this time proftably. Every facility of
the lumbermen is now engaged, and eV-
cry hand that can be employed is at
work at wages unparalleled in this sec
ton, getting out the fallen timber, and
yet the accumulations of lumber are not
extraordinary
That the time has come for the opening
of new sources of supply is shown by the
activity which the big lumber men are
showing in the matter of extending their
logging roads The Mississippi Central
is contracting for further extensions south
of Hattiesburg The Edward Hines COM
pany will at once commence on its road
from Poplarville to Gulfport. Mr.. Hines
being now In this territory arranging
for the operations. The Denny company
at Moss Point has let contract for nine
teen mile extension to make connection
with the Mobile Jackson and Kansas
City. The ]. L. Dantzler Lumber COM
rany has let contract for extension of its
road The Liberty White road Is build
ing out from McComb City all the time.
The Tatum Lumber company will run
fifteen miles out from Hattiesburg as
soon as It can get the rails. These big
operators are evidently anticipating a de-
mand for mill products that will justify
these additional costly accessories to their
present business.
Extending Logging Roads.
There has been a great deal of misin-
formation disseminated with regard to the
closing down of mills on account of in
ability to get cars to ship the output.
There may have been cases of that sort,
but IL so they were among the smaller
mills 1t has seldom been impossible to
get cars with which to deliver lumber Mt
the export points, and though prices for
export have not been up to those on
interior market they have been such as
to afford a margin of print, and manufac-
turers have been glad to dispose of their
product in that way rather than to close
down their mills and discharge their
hands. knowing how difficult it would be
to reorganize their forces
Plans for Railroad Building.
During the year 1907 South Mississippi
PROMISES to be the scene of railroad
construction activity not equaled in any
other part of the country, either this year
or in any or the years OF tne past. Inc
old systems of this section Will be making
extensions which have already been pro-
vided for and there are two or three new
lines SO far advanced in their promotiye
process that 1t is to be expected that they
will commence their grading before the
end of the year.
Obtaining entrance to the harbors of
Gulfport and Pascagoula is the object of
most of this activity. The Mississippi
Central will commence work on its Hat
tiesburg- Pascagoula line before the end
of the year. in fact, it has already CONF
menced on a ten mile contract and as
ten miles of the road have already been
built out from Hattlesburg, this will re-
duce the distance between the two points
by twenty miles. The efforts of the Mis-
sissippi Central are now centered on the