Evening star., 1922-12-23
PREDICTS BUILDING
. ACTIVE SOME TIME
Keith Says Apartment Con-
struction Has About Reach
ed Its Limit.

Continued activity in the construction
aud lumber industries was predicted by
Charles s. Keith of Kansas City. large
lumber manufacturer and well known
ms authority on economies. in
statement given out today by the Ma
tional Lumber Manufacturers Associa-
tion.
Mr.. Keith is confident that Construc-
tinn on a large scale will continue Tor
n number OF years and that the lumber
industry viii continue at tn" present
1ovel Of activity for the next five years.
with the implication that the whole
country ard all comm Hrce and industry
will bc very active. with an abundance
of employ mcnt.
apartments Reach Limit.
81 ihirl, that perhaps apartment
hui'dinG construction has reached its
limit for th" time being. says Mr..
Keith. but there j. { demand for build
incS which may r"t represent as many
dollars as TIA" APARTMENTS. but VIII in
volvc Il lavgr demand for lumber and
.can for steadily employed construction
l'hor | refer To the nationwide ten
dclcy back tn the small house on the
part "f fiat -<iwellrrs. For time there
will not h" much factory building. as
he country WAS ovcrbullt in this re-
Sprrt during the war. If there should
'''' st t''ilI' w buiIullS III inc titlt'S
am satisfied that far as lumber is
concerned the Industrial consumption
"Hd the demlnd from agricultural dis
trlcis will more than absorb any redtc-
ti"n in housing construction. lnciden-
tally. ' notice that 49,. 600 railway
freight cars have been contracted for
his year. which is. | think. the largest
number since 1907. Speaking broadly,
nay opinion is that the building situa
ti"u has not been scratched. Even if
1fslT in
1lr changing conditions Of the lumber
industry ar" such that l. will he taxed
- In" utmost on the whole to meet the
demands that will h" placed upon it. |
refer. to the declining lumber mill ca
p;,city AMI production of the south. ow-
irr to- III. PROF., sSiva depletion Of the
timber supply of ti'at section. The de-
cline of production there from now on
Will doubtless proceed faster for some
time ;hau tn" expansion OF capacity and
production in the west.
Pine Canvass Is Made.
~ canvass of the southern pine
producing territory was made by the
Southern Pine Association in 1919
covering 5.in1 mills with an annual
capacity of IL billion feet. The ap-
parent rate of depletion of timber
revealed by this canvass if realized
IN actual rraGtic" during the last four
Years. means that the annual lumber
production Capa ity has been reduced
approximately s.25o.0"n 00o feet in
the south. Furthermore, the outlook
as shown by that survey is that the
lumber production of the south will
decline 4 $3.50 00h.hnN feet more in the
reXt five years. Already. the effect OF
the construction of the southern lum-
ber supply is reflected in the full OPP
Grating tim| OF the west coast mills
this year. together with Il reduction
of their stocks to the lowest point in
seventeen years.
''on the other hand. ;her" i.,~ been
but little increase in the productive
capacity of the Pacific coast since be-
fore the war. Its future increase
will necessarily be slow, compared
with the iuevitabIr decline of produc-
tinu IL m. south. I,Ll nnI him. Iikt. AS