Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-09-16
LUMBER GOES UP
in Price AND IN
BUILDINGS, TOO
Increased Costs Do Not Prevent
Increased Sales and Homes
Rise Everywhere
Lumber is going up in Honolulu, in
two ways--in cost and I'm houses.


two ways--in cost and I'm houses.
Despite the fact that the cost OF
good old Douglas fir jumped $3.50
per thousand feet September /, island
folk keep right on building bungalows.
garages and lighthouses with undi-
minished ardor and apparently there
Is to be no decrease in the steady
growth of residences here. RI.
Bespeaking considerable for the
prosperity of the United States in
general and that of Hawaii in par
tieular the growing demand for lum-
Der at higher cost for homes here is
remarkable. .-.-
F. J. Lowrey, president OF Levers G.
Cooke, one Of the largest lumber deal
ers in the islands, explains why Homo
lulu's building operations continues
apace with other years. IL not ahead.
Times are SO prosperous with
those who had planned to build here"
he says, "tkat they paid little atten-
tion to the additional cost OF lumber"
And what is the cause of all this
rise in cost of ordinary lumber, piled
high and long In many Puget Sound
yard, rotting for lack OF buyers?"
some Of the more inquisitive might in.
quire "E
Old 6ugbear, Freight III.
II is the same old bugbear, the
freight rates. Bottoms have become
SO scarce on the Pacific that many
lumber mills which depended entirely
on waterway transportation have been
closed for months, many almost back
TO the day the European war began,
and every month saw an increase in
freight rates, and corresponding
jump in the cost OF lumber transport
ed only by ships.
II would sound like the strangest
kind of fiction to say that the freight
rate on thousand feet of lumber
from the Pacific coast to Honolulu is
at present greater than the cost OF
thousand feet of the same lumber,
laid down here with everything paid.
/. was in 1894, but such is the case. And
still bungalows are popping up In
every part of Honolulu.
In 1894 lumber sold here for s1s.50
Der thousand feet and the freight rate
for the same from the coast was
about 81, according to figures obtain
ed from Allen & Robinson, one OF
Honolulu's largest lumber concerns
Since then the price has raised gradu-
ally but steadily, going to $22.50 in
1899 and touching the apex this year
at $40.
Buildings Going Up
Take a Rapid Transit car; go in
any direction, look out for the vacant
lots and the triangular piles of neat
ly stacked lumber. Where can one 60
without seeing a. residence going up
or being completed. From Royal
Grove in Waikiki to the McInerny
Tract, Kalihi way; from the mount
aims to the sea, are dotted here and
there new buildings appearing faster,
so il is estimated, than ever before.
Allen e. Robinson officials admit that
peace in Europe might bring q sud-
den drop in lumber but opine that the
increased demand for construction
purposes all over the world the mo-
ment the war ended might keep the
price at the present figure for some
time to come. Levers & Cooke is
practically positive that such win be
the case.
The prevailing freight rate on lum-
Der is now $3.50 per thousand feet
from the coast but large portion OF
both Levers & Cookies and Allen &
Robinson's supply comes to them In
their own sailing boats. OF these the
former has three and the latter, two,
and both charter many more in the
course OF the year for single cargoes.
Cost is 500 More
Although the cost OF lumber has
been raised about So per thousand feet
in the last year." says ]. E. Jaeger of
Allen & Robinson Lumber Company,
few who planned home have de-
cided not to build now. Figuring 10000
feet for the average bungalow there
would only be an increased cost of
about $50 in the necessary lumber"
Lowrey of Levers & Cooke says
that lumber is plentiful in the north |
west and trifle cheaper for those
who may ship by rail, for the simple
reason that surplus stock has &C.
cumulated at the mills, due to the
lack Of ocean tonnage
And so Honolulu goes right on put
ting uP lumber as the lumber mer.
chants keep on putting up the price
for II is pretty generally understood
by the residence builders that never
before has there been such an amaz.
ing scarcity OF shipping facilities be-
tween here and the mainland
Same Conditions Elsewhere
The same conditions in the lumber
industry prevail any place where the /,
boards and timber and shingles come
only by boat and the lumber dealers |
say that the boost in cost to the re-
tail purchaser though considerable is
not proportionately so high as the in
creased freight rates.
Ocean Rats Not Feasible
The question was asked of one of
the Honolulu lumber men il it would
be possible to build and bring here an
immense raft Of humber securely