The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-11-01
EXPORT DEMAND IN LUMBER IS STRONG Is Feature of the Market At
 This Time PRICE IS SATISFACTORY While There Is No Rush In Interior Demand the Orders Are Steady
 and Business Looks Good
 Along the Line.
PRICE IS SATISFACTORY
By A. c. AYLEsWoRTH.


 Hattiesburg, Miss, October 3L-(Spec- ial.)-The extraordinary strength of the export demand for lumber of all kinds Is the feature of the lumber trade just now. Orders have been coming in for millions of feet, and the prices have been such that the mills have been glad to handle the business. The Inda Pine company, south of here, Is reliably reported to have taken on contracts for 100000 feet of this stuff, and Hattiesburg wholesalers have been offered many other million feet, most of which has been placed.
 In former times the mills hereabouts have not taken to the export business much, as they found the cut for the in- terior market to be more profitable as general rule The mills nearer to the coast were given free swing for foreign trade. But now all the mills are taking their share of the export cut, and are pleased with the prices offering. At the same time the exporters are glad to get what they want at current figures, and it is even said that they would be willing to contract for two years ahead at pre- vailing quotations But the manutac- turers are not willing to take much busi- ness so far ahead.
 Although the mill men are these days glad to take the business that is offered by the export trade, it should not be as- sumed that interior demand is falling off or that quotations are weak. There has been no great rush of interior demand of late, but the orders have come in stead fly, and the manufacturers have been moving their output freely. The prices are not as high as they have been known here in the palmy days, but one reliable wholesaler who does a large share of the business on this market Is authority for the assertion that prices are now within few dollars per 1000 of the best that have ever been obtained In this market except at times when boom has prevailed.
 Two elements of disquiet have appeared to mar the serenity of affairs for the min men. These are a scarcity of labor and a shortage of cars. Neither of these conditions has reached an acute phase, but they are being felt. There is really no dearth of labor for the crops have all been made, and the workingmen are in the field for something to do. But they are not satisfied to work at the wages that are offered. The mill men are not in position to pay the high prices that prevailed a year ago, when men were few, and the mills were bidding against each other for the hands that could be prevailed upon to switch their locations. Those were great times for the laborers. There was such competition for them, and the rivalry between neighboring mills was so keen that the labor agents stop ped only a little short of Kidnapping in their efforts to secure what the other fel- low had. Prices went way up, and ne- groes who were Accustomed to a 75 cents per day wage were reveling in the lux ury of $225 and more. The result was that the negro worked only two or three days per week, and the mill men de- claimed against the negros worthless ness and clamored for Italian labor. Now that the old basis of labor compensation has been restored it is difficult to induce the negroes to submit to it. They prefer to loaf in many cases. and they presume to dictate the conditions of their em- ployment as they did in the halcyon days of the past. It will require time to re- establish the smooth operation of the labor system.
 The car shortage is felt to some extent by all the mills, though only occasionally does it amount to a serious drawback. There is really great deal of lumber moving, either to the coast or to the do- nestle markets, and it is not surprising that at times it is difficult for the rail- roads to furnish the cars promptly when they are demanded.
 The marketing of cut over land has during the past year come to the front as an important item in the operations of the big lumber companies of this terri tory. While the mills have been idle the companies have been taking a close inventory of their assets and have come to realize that these lands, with the tim Der removed, may be sold to immigrants for almost as much as they cost orig inally. The paralysis of the mill industry has also had the effect of stimulating in- | terest in the capabilities of this soil for agricultural purposes, and while truck growers associations have been formed in some places and cannery and syrup making enterprises have been promoted in other places, everywhere have immi- | grafton movements been started, with | view to bringing here farmers from the north who will clear up and occupy the