Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1919-03-11
A. G. White RETURNS FROM
TRIP THROUGH EASTERN STATES
Finds Outlook for Lumber Industry Promising and Elk
poets to See Building Operations Improve in Near
Future-War Has Advertised Superiority OF West
ern White and Yellow Pine.

A. c. White, a prominent lumber
man. of Idaho, with mills and camps
here and at Laclede, Idaho, recently
returned from an extended visit, on
business and pleasure, to eastern cit
les. In telling OF his trip Mr.. White
had the following to say;
my first stop after leaving Laclede
was at the Twin Cities, and / arrived
there in the midst of blizzard and |
found business very quiet. The re-
tail trade was not expecting any large
demand for lumber until things be-
came more settled.
"At Milwaukee there seemed to be
more buying and the retail yards were
looking around with view of placing
their orders where they could get the
best prices. There was a good deal
of western products coming into this
market, especially fir
Chicago was very quiet and no bus
mess, but they are looking forward to
better times in the near future.
Detroit showed more activity and
they expect business to open up early
in the spring. 1T was stated there
were about $4,000 idle men around
Detroit. The Detroit people are GER
tainly boosters They claim to be the
fourth largest city in the Union, hav-
ing a population of over one million.
They say they have already passed
Boston and st. Louis and will soon be
crowding Philadelphia.
cleveland is a good rival to Detroit.
When | mentioned to some of the bus
mess men about Detroit having pop
ulation of over one million people,
they would reply that they didn't be-
lieve that Detroit had population of
over a million, and whether they did
or not, they held that Cleveland was
greater than Detroit They were
quick to say that if Detroit's one in
dustry would stop, Detroit would col
lapse, while Cleveland had so many in
dustries that they could lose one and
not notice it, Cleveland reported
about $4,000 idle men.
"Pittsburg's steel industry seemed to
be busy. Building, however, was at a
standstill but the trade said they were
expecting a good future business
when building opened up and things
became more normal
philadelphia, Newark, N. j., and
New York were by far the deadest cit
les when it came to business. AS one
lumberman expressed it, Business in
the building line, for the past year or
two, has been smothered just like a
wet blanket had been thrown over it. y
These cities, however, have nothing to
complain of as they have had large
volume of government work during
the past few years. The general SEN
IA. ..~tI t,l~ rA1
months before there would be any
large volume of business in these
cities.
1.-The retail lumber dealers all re-
ported that there had never been such
shortage of houses, and rents so high
as at the present time, and that the
people were getting ready to build
homes. In all of these cities there
is a movement to get building under
way so as to get the idle men en-
ployed Banks are ready to make
loans on pre-war values. A house
that cost $4,000 before the war would
now cost $4,000 to build it. On such
house they would only make a loan
of $4,000. The banks take the stand
that there is liable to be large re-
duction in the cost of materials, sas al
so in labor, and they want to be on the
safe side This makes a heavy load
to carry for the builder or contractor
who is putting up large number OF
houses.
81 was in New York City four days
stopping at the, Waldorf-Astoria, and
while there I took advantage of the
opportunity to see some good operas
I hearl "LOdOletta" at the METROPOLITAN
opera house; Florence Easton and En-
rico Caruso played the leading parts
and were we'll received.
81 also had the pleasure of hearing