Title: Canadian forest industries 1901-1902
Identifier: canadianforest190102donm (find matches)
Year: 1902 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Lumbering; Forests and forestry; Forest products; Wood-pulp industry; Wood-using industries
Publisher: Don Mills, Ont. : Southam Business Publications
Contributing Library: Fisher - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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I read with some relish what are claimed to be the remarks to a reporter of a Montreal daily of Mr. F. W. Allsop, said to be an extensive builder and importer of building materials of London, England. Mr. Allsop deals rather harshly with the Quebec timber broker. While I agree in a measure with the sentiments expressed, I think his criticism is rather severe, as, after all, the business of the Quebec broker is and has been perfectly legitimate. I am in accord with his remarks that the Canadian lumber manufacturers have neglected to place themselves on a direct footing with the British importer, and have allowed commission men at Quebec to make sales practically to suit their
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Teak Logging in India—MacGregor & Co.'s Elephants Pushing andJDragging Teak^Squares. whose calling is of an intellectual nature and the other the manual laborer. Elephants employed in a mill are fed chiefly on paddy (rice) and jungle grass, and occasionally sugar cane when it is in season. Those of the jungle, on the other hand, feed themselves on their natural food. As soon as their work is over they are hobbled to- gether and let loose to wander at their own sweet will, till their driver goes out for them to resume their labors. One would hardly imagine that such huge animals could be stolen, but it is not an unfre- quent occurrence for a forest elephant to disap- pear, no one knows where, and never be heard of again. Have you sent in your advertisement for the export number of this journal? If nol, you should do so im- mediately. Rates from the publishers. Mr. Singleton Brown, of Bracebridge, Ont., was recent- ly found dead in a mill yard at Severn Bridge, svipposed to have been stricken down with heart failure. Mr. Brown was interested in lumbering. Mr. W. H. Stubbs, lumber buyer for the Bell Organ and Piano Company, of Guelph, Ont., returned a short time ago from the Muskoka district, whither he went to in- spect some timber limits with a view to purchase. individual purposes. The Quebec middlemen thereby secure almost the entire Canadian export business, and as they deduct a liberal commission on sales from the exporter's liquidated bills of lading, the manufacturer consequently suffers and finds a discouraging influence at work against the development of Canada's export lumber business. Mr. Allsop says that for years the English buyer and Canadian exporter have known no mutual confidence, and until the middleman presented bills of lading, settlement advances in the ordinary course of business were discountenanced. With a healthier commercial confidence, he believes direct buying will ensue, and that the Canadian lumber manufacturers will reap a great benefit therefrom. * * * Perhaps never before in the history of Canada has a fire left in its trail more sadness, to say nothing of the destruction of property, than the disastrous occurrence which a couple of days ago practically wiped out the city of Hull and a portion of the Capital of the Dominion. Hundreds, yes thousands, of persons saw not only their entire possessions reduced to ashes, but, as the large saw-milling establishments became enveloped in flames, their means of livelihood cut off also. It is estimated that 5.000 persons are thereby thrown out of employment, and it will be impos- sible to provide immediate work. The appeal for assistance for the needy is certain to strike a responsive chord in the heart of every true Cana- dian, and I feel certain of liberal subscriptions. The Chaudiere has been the scene of many afire, but in comparison with this one they were but a spark. Think of the burning of the great saw- mills and huge piles or lumber. Various esti- mates of the quantity of lumber burned have been given, late reports placing the amount at 160,000,000 feet, valued at $3,000,000. Of this J. R. Booth lost about 100,000,000 feet, and the Export Lumber Company 45,000,000 feet. Other losers include the Hull Lumber Co., mills and yards ; Gilmour & Hughson, lumber yards ; Bronson & Weston Co.,lumber yards; and Parr's planing mill. Mr. Booth suffered the greatest loss, although his large mill was saved, due, I am told, to the excellent system of fire protection installed in the mill and the fact that it was largely of fireproof construction. The E. B. Eddy Co. lost their entire works excepting the sulphite mill, and their loss will probably reach a million dollars. The management of the lumber business of Vigars & Co., of Port Arthur, is vested in Mr. Richard Vigars, w ith whom a recent chat brought out many interesting points concerning the lum- ber trade of the west. Mr. Vigars was in exceptionally good spirits, and in his countenance one could see a reflection of the prosperous con- dition of the lumber trade. Mr. Vigars told me that this sp ring he had refused three times as many orders for lumber as he filled in the spring of 1899, and that prices were very much higher. He had been obliged to turn down orders for as much as 3,000,000 feet. He related a peculiar coincidence which shows the great scarcity of lumber in the west. A customer in Manitoba sent to the Vigars firm last winter an order for certain stock, and a reply was sent that it would be impossible to fill the order for some time to come. In due course the customer responded requesting them to place the order on their books and ship the stock as soon as it was possible to do so in the spring. Speaking along the same line, Mr. Vigars said that whereas a few years ago dealers and con- sumers would be implored by salesmen to buy lumber, the situation was now entirely reversed, and it was not at all difficult to make sales. This was attributable, not altogether to the improved demand, but in part to the Western Retail Lum- bermen's Association, of which the manufacturers are honorary members. Every buyer is furnished with a copy of the price list, which does away with any dickering over prices, as Mr. Vigars states that the list is pretty closely adhered to. In his opinion the great question for the farmers of Manitoba and the Territories to solve is where they will secure their supply of lumber in a few years to come. Reference to the prosperity of the western farmer proved that Mr. Vigars was a firm believer in the future of the North-West. The farmets, he thinks, have not yet learned to use lumber, and in the near future he looks tor the erection of many large barns. It is not an unusual thing, he states, to see about a dozen binders and many other agricultural implements standing in the fields all winter unsheltered. Eventually the farmer will become educated to the necessity of taking proper care of his implements and will erect barns for this purpose. I learned from him that the outlook for building operations at Port Arthur was very promising, a boom being anticipated as a result of the construction of the Ontario and Rainy River Railway, of which Port Arthur is a terminus.

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