The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1913-02-13

From the spruce lumbermens point
of view the year 1912 was satisfactory
declares the Boston Commercial
Bulletin. The manufacturers were
free from the unpleasant excitements
caused by floods or drought. They ne
yer had reason to fear either that
their logs would be carried out to sea
! by irresistible freshets or stalled in
some stream because of the lack of wa
ter. They received their raw mater
ial in due time and for their finished
product there was always a sale at
remunerative prices. There were
periods of course, when there were
complaints of quiet but at no time af-
ter the year was well under way was
! business so dull as to render necess-
airy drastic reduction in values. Dur
ing the heat, of July and August, the
more or less dreaded vacation months
there were well authenticated &C
counts of concessions of so cents from
| the recognized rates, but there were
never any stories of the sort so often
circulated in midsummer about the ad-
visibility of an all round curtailment
| in production in order to sustain the
price. The most noteworthy change in
the tone of the market occurred in Nov
ember when dimension was advanced
to $26 base.
While there We're no vehement fiuc-
tuations in the demand or price there
was much in other ways to keep all
the trade greatly interested There
was evidence, at times almost startling
that in this as in other lines of bust
ness old methods were giving place
new There was no attempt to form
trust or any combinations of the
sort the law frowns upon. but the
tendency towards concentration was
marked, nevertheless. Certain manu-
facturers selling the retail trade di-
rect enlarged greatly the scope of
their operations. Not content as in
days gone by with disposing of the
lumber produced at their own plants
they bought the output of other mills
at times greatly to their own profit
but necessarily of course to the deteri-
ment of wholesalers who formerly had
sold for the other concerns.
Some of the holder commission men
followed suit but many of the con-
servatives who had made money I'M
der the old plan decided to try ex-
periments. There are still long es-
tablished firms with honorable records
conducting profitable business along
lines with which time has rendered
them familiar but whether they will
have successors is a question more
easily asked than answered. 1t seems
fairly safe however to predict that
more capital will be required to do
business in the future than in the
past as a wholesale spruce merchant
The old-fashioned commission man
who began with his Office in his hat
and gradually worked Up to a position
of influence will probably be unknown
to the trade in the second half of the
Goth century.
An important innovation in the way
of selling spruce lumeber worthy OF
especial note was made last March
Until then "a feet and under had been
the lengths and nine inches and under
At the meeting of the manufacturers
held that month 1t was decided that
thereafter 20 feet would be the max
imum base length and inches the ma
xium base width. For every 2 feet OF
fraction of 2 feet over 20 1t was de-
termined to add 81 to the price and the
extras for widths were 81 for 8 inch
81 for 10 and SO for II and IL inch. II
was decided too, that the extra char.
ges would be insisted upon for random
over 20 feet. There was no hard fas
iron clad agreement, but 1t was hoped
that everyone would recognize the
reasonableness of the new rules and
consent to act under them. There we
re cogent reasons for the change. Oh
late years 1t has been necessary mo.
re often than in the days of yore to use
narrow brooks for driving and the ad.
ded difficulty connected with the
handling of logs in these confined sire
ans adds appreciably to the expense
of getting raw material to tie mills