THE
DECEMBER 1, 1923
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
33
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PIG IRON MARKET IS ACTIVE
IMPORTS OF LUMBER AND WOOD
PIANO FELT PRICES STEADY
Movement Largely Confined to Foundry Iron
at the Present Time
September Imports of Mahogany in the Log
Amounted to 5,651,000 Feet
Primary Markets of Raw Material Show Tend
encies to Advance, if Anything
PlnSBURGH , FA., November 2S.-The piR iron
buying movement throughout the country has
been the outstanding feature of the iron and
steel market in the last week. The total turn
over is variously estimated at 600,000 to 700,000
, tons. This is the first movement since last
:IIarch, when there was buying in some districts
for seco nd quarter and in others for both second
and third quarters. Betwee n the two move
men ts, o r for more than seven months, pig iron
was very dull in all districts, with prompt bu y
ing only, and not much of that.
The buyin g movemen t has been confined to
foundry pig iron, there being scarcely any ac
tivity in steel making' grades. The continued
and marked decline in prices led foundries to
conclude that bottom prices had probably 'been
J'eached, while the buyin g now gives such sup
port to the market that there is no doubt what
ever. In some districts, particularly th e Chi
cago district, furnaces have mark ed their aski ng
prices up 50 cents or $1, after effecting fairly
large sales.
The adva ncin g market in pig iron came to
an end toward the close of :-farch and in May
sharp declines began, extending through June
and July. In August and th e early part of Sep
tember prices were al mos t statio nar y, so that
the declines in October presented the appea r
ance of a fresh drop. When inquiries began
to develop a fortni ght or more ago some fur
naces made further price conces.; io ns, helping
the buying to get under way.
The total im ports of lumber and wood prod
ucts of the country during September of thi s
year were valued at $10,422,210, as compared
with $8,158,975 for th e correspond ing month in
the preceding year. The figures are co ntaine d
in the official statement released by the l:nited
States Departm en t of Commerce.
"Mahogany in the log," the report states,
"am'ounted to 5,651,000 feet, compared with
3,099,000 feet in September, 1922, and ceda r
1,495,000 feet, compared with 368,000 feet.
Hardwood lumber amounted to 9,692,000 feet.
For the nine months ended September, 1923,
the total value of these imports amounte d to
$91,572,745, as compa red with $66,564, 373 for the
corresp onding period in the precedin g year, or
a n increase of approximately 37 per cent."
\A·Aq.ITNGTON, D. C, November 17.· -Further de
clines in genera l ac ti vity in the lu mbe r trade
are shown by the report of the Natio na l l.umber
Manufacturers' As sociation for the week ended
:.lovember 10, as compared with nevised reports
from 388 mills lor the prece,din g week.
\A"hile there was a decr ease of 26, 118,672 fe et
in shipments and 2,991,569 feet in orde rs, pro
duction increased 1,304,173 feet. The 133 report
ing mills of th e \Vest Coast Lumberm en's Asso
cia tion s how an increase in unfilled order s on
hand from 630,107,439 feet of the precedin g wet.:k
to 633,598,086 feet this week.
RATES BEFORE COMMERCE COMMISSION
V. L. JOHNSON BACK FROM TRIP
The condition of raw wovl on the domestic
market has become a matter of conside rable
conce rn to piano felt merchants in the Ne'.'.
Yo rk district. Severa l facto rs are outstanding
in a survey of the indu stry at th e present tim<:',
which are less disturbin g than p uzz ling. Littl e,
if any, drop in price has been felt from offers
of the Fall clip, an d the expectation of a con
tinuance of present va lues for the finer woo ls
durin .c: the next two or three months is based
not on any heavy buying by domestic mills, but
on the continuance of the present strength of
the foreign markets, coupled with the compara
tiv e shortage of the produ ct.
A more specu lative period o,f buyin g was
manifested in Hoston las t week in the New
Zealand sale, following the Lond on sale of
the we ek previ ous. Only a little Australian
wool has been bought by American merchants
as yet. The inte rest of the buyers on this
side, however, naturally commences to warm up
a bit now, beca use the best wools suite d to th e
needs of American manufacturers are just be gin
ning to get into the markets in a reasonably
goo d s upply. In ,the domestic primary market
th ere is little change. Dates for the sale o f
the accum ulations in Texas have yet to be an
nounced, and the stocks of Spring wool in th e
country are held very firmly.
The recent report frOI11 the Departm ent of
\gricultur e li sting' the raw wool holdings in
the l:nited States shows a drop of 55,000,000
pounds grease c4uivalent from June 30 to Sep
tember 30 of this year. Just how far this may
effect v\'inter valu es remains to be seen, but
anything more than sporadic decreases is hardly
to be hoped for. In spite of drought rumors in
.';'ustralian regions it appears that the Fall sup
ply there w ill approac h normalc y. This being
the case, piano felts will be producible at nearly
the present prevailing price for the bal ance of
the Winter.
The reasonableness of proposed in creases in
rates on lumber and othn forest products,
ca rl oads , to points in Central Freight Associa
tion territory from s tat ions in :--lississippi on the
Mobile & Ohio Railroad and the St. Louis-San
Francisco Railway, a nd from various short lin·es
in A labama, is being investi f?;ated by the Inter
state Comm e rce Comm iss ion at Vvashington.
The proposed increase s wc re to become effective
Nov('mbn 18, but pendil1 f!' an inv estigation the
schedu les proposin g the increases amounted to
one cent per 100 pound~ from ;\berdeen, :Miss.,
to Chicago, III., and 1 ~/; cen\'; from the same
point to Columbus, O.
0.
~M
LUMBER MOVEMENTS DECREASE
WORCES TER, MASS., N o\'ember 26.-·-Victor L.
Johnson, pres id ent of the \Vorc ester Wind
:Motor Co., recent ly returned from a trip
throu"h New York State as far as Buffalo. H e
comb ined business with pleasure and called
upon many of the members of the trade en
route. The business at the plant of this com
pany has been exception ally good this year and
a number of orders running over into next year
pres ages good business ahead.
A NEW THREE=CORNERED CAPSTAN
BOSTON, NIASS., November 26.-George W
Moore, manufacturer of capstan screws, has
introduced a new three-cornered capstan which
i~ meeting wit h much favor throughout the
trade. Production this year has been particu
larly large and, from orders on hand, it would
~eem that 1924 will ~ee a continuance of this
good business.
NEW ZEALAND WOOL CUT
W rite for a sample can of Behlen's
Varnish Crack Eradicator and try it.
Once you learn how much it means to
you in the saving of time on your refin
ishing jobs by eliminating the necessity
of scraping off old varnish and sh ellac,
and how much more satisfactory are
the results, because of the better sur
face it gives to work on, you, like
others, will continue to use it.
According to figures supplied by the New
Zealand wool committee there were 590,880
bales of wool offered during the year endrd
June 30, 1923, of which 475,574 bales were sold.
Monarch Tool & Mlg.Co.
'Va.1l Box"., IIls&"szin" Slot Boxea,
CoIn Slid"., R"roU Machin"., Mone,.
Boxel, Pumps, Pomp Hardware. Spe
cial Part. Mad" to Order.
120 Opera Place
Write to-day.
CIN
MUTTY COMPLETES A BIG YEAR
BOSTON, lVIAss., November 24.- The L. J. Mutty
Co. , of this cit y, prod ucer of the well-known
Mutty line of pneumatic and bellows cloth an d
rubber tubing, has complete d the bigge st year
since 1919. Victor J. Mutty, ge neral manager
of the compa ny, report s th at the company has
been busy cont inuall y. _\1r. Mutty made several
trips recently, calli n g upon the trade, and found
the great majority of it optimi stic over the
future and making extens ive plans fo'r the com
in g year. These plans have already taken tan
gible form in several instances in orders cov
ering the first six months of 1924.
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.
Leather Specially~
Tanned for Player~
Pianos and Organs.
;.Also Chamois
Sheepskins, Indias
and Skivers
A Specialty of
THE
H. BEHLEN & BRO.
Anilines
Shellacs
~
Stains
Fillers
10-12 Christopher St., New York
Noar 6th Ave" and 8th St.
2
GOSHE N
AR-T NOVELTVCO.
exclusive rnanufacturersi'
Pian.o Bel\.ch.es
and M~sie eabin.ets
11Iriteforccdalog (Uld details
INDIANA
•
Pneumatic and
Pouch Skin Leathers