450





RECORD  AND  GUIDE





March 7, 1914





1

BUILDING MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES I





QUICK RECOVERY FROM TIE-UP FOLLOWING  SLUSH-STORM
RAILROADS CROWDING LUMBER DEPARTMENT FOR POLES.





Coal Should Be Carefully Used-
Record   Wire   Orders  Expected.





■MIMIIIIlliyiMMIEIIIIIIIIIMIIMIMllBlillMlll^^^





THE slush-storm of Sunday and Mon¬
day occasioned an enforced expend!-'
ture of a great deal of money for wire,
poles and crossarms at a time when
railway interests were holding back on
supply orders. The lumber market be¬
gan to feel high pressure inquiry from
railroad supply houses for quick deliv-
,e!ies as the week closed. Big wire
and cable companies -were taxed to sup¬
ply wire to take the place of that torn
and tangled along the railroads between
this city and points as far as 100 miles
v/est and north. One railroad, the Cen¬
tral of New Jersey, will require about
2,800 poles with 8,000 crossarms. The
Pennsylvania will need about 1,000 more
poles; the Erie will take approximately
4,000, and the Lackawanna approxi¬
mately 2,000. No estimate was obtain¬
able regarding the volume of copper
wire and steel cable that the telephone,
telegraph and railroad companies will
require; but it was estimated at not less
than 5,000 miles of telegraph wire and
SOO tons of steel cabling.

At the offices of the big steel com¬
panies no information could be obtained
as to the probable effect of this heavy
buying movement upon mill capacity;
but, owing to the fact that capacity h<is
been gauged close to current require¬
ments, it is possible that it will result
:n  opening other furnaces.

New y'ork came nearer having a fuel
famine this week than in generations.
The coal distributing companies were
just getting down to a working schedule
again, following the heavy snowfall of
last week, when the storm of Sunday
threatened to tie up carting worse than
ever. Even now, according to one com¬
pany, the chaos prevailing on the coal-
carrying railroads may cause a scarcity
of coal at the Port Reading, Amboy and
Elizabethport trestles, and managers of
buildings are urged to conserve their
present coal supplies as much as pos¬
sible until something, like normal tele¬
graphic communication can be restored
so that freight trains can be moved
regularly, or about the middle of next
week.

With reference to the present state of
the basic building market, it is neither
worse nor better than it was a week ago.
There is little constriiction work going
ahead, because materials could not be
moved during the week. Prices have
not changed, but the inquiry continued
fairly steady.

Title companies say that the enforced
retarding of building construction in the
metropolitan district during the last two
months will have a beneficial effect up¬
on construction when the weather is
more settled. Applications for accoin-
modation are more numerous, but, in
accordance with the general policy of
financiers, there is a tendency to post¬
pone operations of a speculative nature
until later in the season. Specialty
building projects are having no difficulty
in gettingr accommodation, although in¬
terest rates are still stiflE. In the mean¬
time, inquiry for building materials,
while fair, has not developed as dis¬
tributors here had anticipated. Few
look for active contracting until the
latter end of the month.

The 1914 building season opens with
bright prospects as far as the volume fL.r
new building construction is conceiiied,
although it is problematical whether tne
actual cash outlay will compare with
that for a corresponding period last year.
Supplies, such as naval stores, lubricants,
linseed oil, pairts, glass and hardv>'are
are easy to firm on prices and demand
is improving. No great price-list
changes are expected for a fortnight.





more: brick ridden.

Supply   Adequate   to   Meet   Any   Deinand
District May Develop.

D RICK riding showed to better advantage this
^ week, although trucking companies were not
disposed to risk over-working their horses in
the still heavy conditions of the streets. The
result was that builders could not get as much
brick as they wanted, which leads to expecta¬
tions ot a continued sharp riding movement
early next week if weather conditions prove
favorable to  construction work.

In fact, a sharp demand tor brick is ex¬
pected next week, which is the official opening
of the 1914 building season, but the supply is
so great that there is not the least prospect of
anybody experiencing any difficulty in getting
all the brick they require at prices now pre¬
vailing. A few days of continued warm weather
will reopen the river and a fleet ot brick barges
that have been lying in Newburgh hay all
winter will move on toward this market, de¬
spite the tact that there were at the wholesale
docks Friday morning 79 barge loads, or ap¬
proximately 27,650,000 common brick, ail ot
which is protected trom the weather and can be
ridden  at once.

Official transactions for Hudson common brick
covering the week ending Thursday, March 5,
in the wholesale market, with comparisons lor
the corresponding period last year and a com¬
parative statement ol Hudson brick unloaded
from barges tor consumption here, follow:
1914.
Lett   over,   Peb.   27—64.

Arrived.    Sold.

Friday,    Peb.    27..................0           0

Saturday,   Feb.   25................0           0

Monday,   March   2.................' 0           0

Tuesday,   March   3................0           0

Wednesday,   March  4.............. 0           0

Thursday,   March   5...............0           1





Total   ..........................,,0           1

Reported enroute Friday A. M., March 6—0.

Condition   ot   market,   weak.     Prices:    Hud¬
sons,   ------  to  $6,50  nominal;   covered,  ------  to

$7.50; Raritans. $6 to $6.25 (wholesale dock, N.
Y.; lor dealers' prices add proflt and cartage) ;
Newark, $7 to $7.50 (yard). Dull. Lett over, Fri¬
day A. M., March 6—63. Covered barges sold,
1. Total number covered barges, 16. Total
number  in  market,  79.

HUDSON   BRICK   UNLOADED.
(Current  and  last week compared.)

Feb.  20......     67,000        Peb. 27......   108,000

Feb.  21......     45.000       Peb. 28......   143,000

Feb.  23......Holiday        Mar.    2......    —------

Feb. 24......     15,000        Mar.    3......       6,000

Feb. 25......     14,000       Mar.    4......   103,000

Feb. 26......     57,000       Mar.    5......   184,000





Total......   198,600           Total......   544,000

1913.
Left over, Friday A. M., Peb. 28—60.

Arrived. ' Sold.

Friday,   Feb,   28...................0           2

Saturday,    March   1...............7           2

Monday,   March   3.................5           6

Tuesday,   March   4................0           7

Wednesday,    March   5............. 0           3

Thursday,   March   6...............0           0

Total    ....................'......12          20

Condition of market, dull. Prices: Hudsons,
$7 to $7.25; covered, $7.50; Raritans, $7; New¬
ark, $8.25. Lett over Friday A. M.. March 7—
52. Total covered, 0. Total covered barges sold,
5. Total covered left in market, 22. Total in
market  March  6,  1913—74.

OFFICIAL SUMMARY.

Lett over,  Jan. 1,* 1914....................    87

Total No. bargeloads arrived, including left

over bargeloads, Jan. 1 to MaOr. 5, 1914.. 119
Total No. bargeloads sold Jan. 1 to Mar. 5,

1914    ...................................    56

Total No. bargeloads left over Mar. 6, 1914. 63
Total No. bargeloads left over Jan. 1. 1913. 113
Total No. bargeloads arrived, including left

over, Jan. 1 to Mar. 6, 1913..............  193

Total  No.  bargeloads  sold  Jan.  1  to  Mar.

6,  1913  ................................. 141

Total No. bargeloads left over Mar. 7, 1913.   52

MILLIKEN  BROS.'   REPORT.

Steel    Fabricating    Concern    Free    Prom

Mortgage Indebtedness.

p UILDING material and architectural inter-
*-* ests are advised in the flrst annual report
ot Milliken Brothers, Inc., tor the year ended
December 31, 1913, that it is tree trom mort¬
gage indebtedness and that while the restrictions
imposed by the receivers of the old company
had left it with little or no work on hand,
trade conditions are gradually improving and a
prosperous year is looked forward to. The out¬
put ol the shops during 1913 was 34,389 tons.
The buildings and equipment ol the open-
hearth steel plant and rolling mills, with the
exception ol such buildings and equipment as
are considered ot special value to the labrlcat-
ing plant, have been sold tor dismantling and
removal. With the buildings and equipment re¬
tained, and a nominal expenditure, the labri-
cating plant will have an annual capacity ot
more than 100,000 tons. There is no necessity
to dispose ot any part ol the company's surplus
real  estate  holdings   at  present.     Such  surplus





consists ot about 140 acres situated on Staten
Island and in New Jersey. It is the plan ot the
company to retain this land until such time as
real inducements are offered to sell. The com¬
mon stock of the company has been deposited
' under a voting trust agreement under which
William Salomon,. Jules S. Bache and Andrew
Morrison are the voting trustees and the Guar¬
anty Trust Company of New York is depositary.

NEW YORK'S COAL SUPPLY.

Burns Bros. Shown to Control Practically .

AU Anthracite ITsed Here.

BUILDING managers, who yearly contract for
large quantities of antiiracite coal for
steaming and heating purposes, will be Inter¬
ested in the revelations brought out at the hear¬
ings in a Government suit against the Reading,
Jersey Central and Lehigh Coal & Navigation
companies recently.

T. B. Koons, vice-president of the Jeraey
Central, described the routes over whicii the
road hauls coal. It was stated by Mr. Koons
that this road handles all the tonnage ot the
Lehigh & Wilkesbarre Coal Company, and that
it has the richest anthracite fuel consumption
traffic territory in the world.

It was shown by this witness that Burns
Brothers have a ten-year lease with the Jer¬
sey Central as lessor and the coal firm as les¬
see, bearing date of June 15, 1910. Among
the covenants of this arrangement is the use
by B'urns Brothers ot certain parcels of land
and a pier in Jersey City, for which Burns
Brothers   pay   $30,000   annually.

Burns Brothers agreed to purchase all anthra¬
cite handled over the leased property from
points north or west ol Mauch Chunck and all
bituminous coal and coke Irom such points as
would give the Jersey Central the longest pos¬
sible haul and to handle no less than 500,000
gross tons ol coal and coke a fiscal year, giv¬
ing prelerence on equal terms to Lehigh &
Wilkesbarre Coal Company and paying the av¬
erage market prices ruling from time to time at
shipping points  in  New  York harbor.

The Jersey Central, for its part, agrees to
maintain the property and to deliver all coal and
coke by placing loaded oars upon trestles or
piers, and removing the empty cars without
charge, with the stipulation that Burns Broth¬
ers should furnish at their sole cost all the
labor and other services required to unload and
ship the coal. The Jersey Central, however, by
the same agreement grants an allowance to
Burns Brothers lor such services, 12 cents a
ton on all soft coal, and steam sizes of hard
coal at 15 cents a ton.





1     M





STEEL   LINES   SHOW ACTIVITY.

Structural    and    Equipment    Departments

Reflect Improved Inquiry.

ETAL tor building construction or equip¬
ment has proved to be the barometer of
the spring building movement during the laat
two weeks when building hag been more or less
stagnated in this city. Fabricating ■ plants are
figuring a better grade ot custom, mill capacity
has been increased and pig iron orders have
been developing into larger tonnages than pre¬
vailed during the corresponding period last
month. Hardware orders tor merchandise re¬
flect a wider scope of specifying in architects'
offices. Nails, while still moderate, are never¬
theless showing an improvement in demand and
reinforcement is being sharply spoken for.





THE LUMBER MARKET.

Material   Scarce   and   Deliveries   May   Be

Slower As Demand Increases.

LUMBER wholesalers are discovering that
they have misjudged the requirements ot
the metropolitan district tor the spring, mainly
because dealers have kept their supplies low
during the winter months. This has led pro¬
ducers to believe that the market was well eup-
plied, and in consequence the manufacturers
have ridden fewer logs than they otherwise
would have done had they known that the retail
stocks were low. This accounts in some degree
at least for the stifCening tone in prices ot
spruce, which, during the last month, topped
the highest price f. o. b. mills Canada; white
pine, which is reported to be bringing $15
Canadian mill as against only $10 last year.
Yellow pine prices have slightly advanced and
wili go higher as the spring movement de¬
velops. Eastern spruce shows signs ot opening
strong, hemlock is being sold at base rate.

ENORMOUS  COAL PRODUCTION.
IJ.   S.   Geologieal   Survey   Reports   An   In¬
crease   Over  Record-Breaking  1912.

A PRODUCTION ol between 565,000,000 and
575,000,000 short tons ot coal In the United
States during 1913 is the official estimate ot the
United States Geological Survey, an increase
over the record-breaking production ol 1912 ol
30,000,000 to 40,000,000 tons, ot which about
4,500,000 tons was in anthracite and the rest
in the output ot the bituminous coal mines.

There were a lew labor disturbances, local in
extent and effect, the most pronounced was In
Colorado, where a general strike waa called
about the middle ot September, and coal pro¬
duction in that State during the last quarter
ot the year was hut about 50 per cent, of nor¬
mal. There was general complaint, particularly
in the eastern States, ol shortage ol labor and
inability on the part ol the operators to keep
their mines working at lull capacity. This was
probably the reason lor the less than usual
complaint ol the inadequate or insufficient
transportation service. Coal mining, like all
other Industries in the Ohio Valley States, was
seriously interfered with hy the floods in that
region during the spring, and probably from
5,000,000 to 10,000,000 tons ot coal would have
been added to the year's output but for this. As
there were no violent, fluctuations in manu¬
facturing Industries, the demand for coal lor In¬
dustrial purposes showed only a normal In¬
crease. The continued decrease in the produc¬
tion ot tuel oil in the mid-Continent oil fleld
and the strike In the Colorado coal mines re¬
sulted in an Increased output of coal in the
southwestern States. The total quantity of coal
consumed in this market is approximately 19,-
000.000 tons a year, ol which 7,000,000 short
tons are bituminous, or solt coal, and 12,000,000
short tone are hard coal.