The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-12
IHEN TED Williams. who was
" the Williams Lumber Com

customed seat at the Lumbermen's
Club with the announcement that he
was going after the Sanders Wagon
Company dimension stock contract he
created a mild sensation.
Williams was young enough and in
experienced enough 10 oeiieve that he
could make money out Of the tough
customers Of the business. and the
veterans who had iOns ago crossed
the wagon company on their list re-
done IL he had planned going over the
falls In a canoe.
"Oid Man Sanders" said Harry
Brown. lis the hardest grader In three
States. and has the art Of buying lum-
Ser down to a fine point. He gets the
lowest price and the best stock In the
world, and takes delight in skinning
an unsophisticated chap like you. In
anybody were to make q little money
out Of his business q highly embel-
lished medal would be in order"
Williams laughed and guessed"
he'd take a chance. As a matter OF
fact, he had just concluded an ALI
ance, offensive and defensive. with
Fred Textor, who ran . little circular
mill up In tho mountains. much FUR
thor away from civilization and the
hardwood markets than he actual
mileage would Indicate. Textor knew
how to saw logs into lumber and de-
lighted to handle a dimension propo-
sition: while, on the other hand. he
needed financial assistance from time
TO time and knew as much about SELL
Ing his product as the proverbial Berk-
shire concerning holidays.
Hence Williams believed that by us
irg his meagre capital Judiciously 10
nance the operations Of Textor's mill.
the latter would he able to supply MIN
with lust the stock at just the prices
he needed to compete with the big
manufacturers. who sold direct. SO
when he went in to see iu"-
Der buyer for the Sanders company.
ne was not "A bit %perturbed. n ASKED
for the list Of dimension stock the con.
tract was to cover as though he had
been handling the business for years
johnson grinned when he MADE MS
request.
you're the only local hardwood man
who has been IN so far ne saiu
"Looks as if you people around mere
don't want to sell to ANYBODY tha'
knows lumber. doesn't it,!
williams smiled am!ahly ana saiu
he didn't mind having the minimum
q competition.
when he had an opportunity to go
oyer the list at his office and figured
he number of pieces and the quantity
If material In each he estimated
roughly that the business inVoiVeu
about 8 5000. That would he a rather
big order for Textor 10 handle. but as
The contract was TO cover the wagon
companv's requirements for some time
inasmuch as the material was
tn he air dried before use. immediate
delivery was not expected. ne put
a COPY of the specifications into the
nail tina, night and asked Textor 10
get a quotation back as as he
GOULD.
Textor's bid vas 1880. which was
not far from what Williams had cx-
pected. The mill man closed his let
ter by saying. AS I am running pretty
close 10 the wind. l shall have TO
rely on YOU to advance the money as
the material comes from the saw" ,
Williams ran his hand through his
hair and did a little figuring to see
whether the Williams Lumber Com
could pay cash for stock n
carry the account as long as II would
probably .un. 1t looked as though in
the event he got the contract. ne
would soon have most OF his money
tied up in wagon stock.