Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-07-11
BUILDERS and
DEALERS FEEL
SLACK Times
Not a Respectable Job
In Sight in Maine,
They Declare
Lumber Lower but Nothing
Doing-Half Usual Amount
Of Southern Pine Coming
Effect of Tariff and the Out
look

Portland Me. July 10 Especially
There isn't respectable job in sight
in the whole State of Maine"
That is the way three different lum-
Der dealers of Portland, each one of
them a big fellow characterized the
situation when asked in regard to the
prospect of building in Maine the pres
ent year and about the operations that
might be going on at present.
When lumber dealer speaks of a
job he does not mean the erection
of a dwelling house, whether it be for
one family or for six families. He re-
fers TO construction that involves the
use of thousands of feet of lumber; the
erection of manufacturing plants, the
building of bridges and wharves and
the putting up OF great storage sheds,
tencments for mill workers and like
commercial affairs. OF work Of this
kind, there is nothing going on, accord
ing to the big dealers of Portland, nor
Is there any prospect of any being
started in the near future.
Ordinarily at this time of year, huge
quantities of lumber, both for the
frames, the rough finish and the finer
finish are being shipped from Port
land to all parts of the State or to
other states. Nothing of this kind Is
now being done. How much the pres
sent siackness in business has affect
ed the trade in Portland, which, in
this particular means the trade of
the whole State is shown in the guam
tity of southern pine lumber being
used
An average year will see about 90
0ee.Gao feet of southern pine lumber
brought to Portland. OF this lumber,
fully 80 per cent. is sent to points in
Maine for heavy construction work,
such as has been mentioned, or into
New Hampshire. Almost the whole of
the % per cent. is for Maine work.
Twenty million feet of lumber of one
kind, is an immense amount and it
provides the very best of freight for
schconers for the rate is good.
According 10 the very best estimates
ebtainable. not 30 per cent. of the
normal supply will be received in Port
land during the present summer The
shipments from the South began as
soon s the winter gales are over and
the first huge sticks of southern pine
/ begin to be received here as early as
March. From then, until winter comes
again the arrivals Of understanding
+ scnCeners are fairly regular until the
! whole of the 20,000.e00 feet has been
i received. This year there has been
i little OF this brought to Portland. The
arrival of a schooner laden with
| southern pine is the exception rather
| than the rule. With a falling off of
50 per cent. from the normal supply,
it can be seen that there will be 10000.
0Ge feet less of this much needed COM
received for carrying this in schoon-
ers IS from five to seven dollars a
| thousand feet. Even at the smaller
figura. this decrease in the business
alone means that the schooners, those
of Maine and other New England
ports that carry the lumber, have lost
at the very least $4,000 that otherwise
would have been placed in circulation.
From Portland, the southern pine lum-
her is shipped up the State by rail-
road. A car will take from 1000 to II,
900 feet. The average load may be
5000 feet of the big sticks, but for the
! sake of convenience, it may be said
that 10000 feet are carried on a single
car. If that is the case, then a
thousand fat cars that would be re-
quired for the transportation of south
ern pine lumber will not be needed
This will cause huge loss to the rail
roads as we'll as to the vessels that
would have brought the lumber from
The South.
! In addition to the southern pine
| there are millions of feet of spruce
and other lumber used in the big work
done on mills, sheds and bridges A
corresponding decrease in the sup
ply of this has also been noted. MilleC
and finished lumber together with
shingles has fallen off in proportion.
One big lumber dealer declared thai
before the Underwood tariff went into
effect, the best grade of shingles were
delivered in Boston from Portland fol
1925 thousand. These are now being
delivered in the Hub for $3.50 thous-
and. The next grade Of shingles has
brought 81 thousand in Boston, but
the price now being received is but s.
| thousand. Fifty cents was the
amount of duty taken off by the I'm
derwood tariff and yet the price OF
shingles has been reduced in one case
| double that amount and 65 cents in an
other. Spruce lumber is now being
delivered from Portland in Boston for
$3.50 thousand feet when the us
Gal price has been s25 thousand,
On the face of it, the dealers say
this looks as though benefit might
have resulted. But it hasn't, they de-
| clare Tho tariff has caused the reduc-
ton in the price and. consequently
there has been that much loss to the
firms and in turn, to the men en-
! ployed by the firms.
On top of this situation. the predic-
ton is made that next winter, the men
in the Maine woods will be paid less
for their work than they received last
! Nnar. This condition will reSnlt moi