Various

“ Krafts are to-day practically unobtainable. The producers are consuming whatever they have not already contracted to sell, finding it more profitable to convert the pulp into paper. Reports have been heard of instances where manufacturers have not found it possible to live up to their obligations and have had to stop deliveries on contracts. The nominal price for kraft pulp is about 53⁄4c.
The rag market, as a whole, is very quiet. As the local dealers say, the situation is dependent on the action of roofing rags and, since these are inactive, the other grades are forced into a similar state. ”

“ Hundreds of the best chemical men on the continent, technical experts from pulp and paper mills, college men from all the great universities, and others interested in the spread of technical and chemical knowledge, gathered in New York and gave their best. Men who had experimented for years in the quiet of their own laboratories, made public the results of their patient research work. ”

“ Everything entering into the manufacture of news print has advanced in price; labor is scarce and commands higher wages; dye stuffs have advanced to almost unheard of prices; in copper wire paper men are competing against munition makers while a similar story can be told in regard to every ingredient entering in their finished product. In addition to that a sudden and unprecedented demand resulting from improvement in business and a presidential election in the United States has made the consumption of paper exceed production. ”

“ He went on to say that the people in the United States were enormously busy and that they were using more paper than ever before; that there was a more acute paper famine abroad than in America, that the mills in the United States were all working day and night six days a week, and that because of discouraging legislation passed by Congress in the past the paper manufacturers had not been keen on building new plants and installing new machinery when there was such a chance for keen competition from abroad. ”

“ Professor J. Newell Stephenson, who is to assume the editorship of The Pulp and Paper Magazine on the first of January, 1917, when it changes from a bi-monthly to a weekly publication, is at present head of the paper making department in the University of Maine, Orono, and assistant professor of chemistry in the same university. Like so many paper-makers from south of the Line, Mr. Stephenson realizes that the future of the industry lies north of the 49th parallel, and in casting in his lot with the Pulp and Paper Magazine, he is but following a natural development. ”

“ Hundreds of men have joined the colors leaving most of the plants short of help and owing to abnormal demand and the embargoes which prevail, abroad—all due to the war,—there is not enough of that very necessity commodity—white paper—to go around. This in brief is, the exact state of affairs. In the past Canadian mills were looking for a market for their surplus product and were glad to make contracts covering a long period of time. News print was looked upon as staple and the variation in price from year to year was small indeed. Now the manufacturers do not know which way to turn. ”

“ Lovejoy continued, the pulp mill owner is able to use a poorer grade of material than the sawmill, and every time a new way of using still poorer material is found he increases his supply of raw material and extends his period of operation at one place. Another way in which to increase his available raw material is to see that the forests which are tributary to his plant are not burned out. Forest fires cannot be insured against and always result in the end in considerable loss to the industry. ”

“ Not only is there the usual call for ground wood, caused by the Fall business, but there is an added demand, stimulated by the shortage of sulphites and the rush of many mills to substitute, as far as possible, the ground wood pulp. Present quotations have already reached $30 per ton, f.o.b. mill.
Conditions in the sulphite markets seem to be growing worse, rather than showing any tendency to improve. Importations are very limited and it is apparent that the foreign producers are not at all very anxious to have much of their stock sent to his country. ”

“ The meeting of the American Chemical Society, which was held in New York City during the week of September 25 to 30, and the Exposition of Chemical Industries meeting there at the same time, makes us wonder if the chemist will soon be able to make the sole of a shoe wear as long as the upper. Something along this line may be forthcoming, as it is pretty well known in the trade that a sole leather can be produced by means of a so-called chrome combination tannage which will outwear bark-tanned leather three to one. ”

“ The market for cotton and roofing rags is rather quiet. The outlook for fall trade at firm prices is most promising.
There has been an increase of a cent a pound on all natural, bleached and half bleached grease proof. Genuine vegetable parchment is now quoted from twenty to twenty-five cents. It is likely that the latter will be made in Ontario before very long. Since the war broke out and certain mills turned their attention to making specialties and former brands of paper that have been imported, the manufacturers of these are not sorry that they took the step. ”

“ Authorities disagree as to whether abietic acid is mono-basic or dibasic and it cannot be stated definitely whether rosin which is in complete solution in a rosin soap is there in the form of an acid resinate, or whether it is merely dissolved rosin. It seems to the writer that a fairly intelligible conception is obtained by assuming that a sodium resinate containing rosin in solution, is in fact an acid resinate of the alkali metal and that from this solution insoluble acid resinates of the heavy metals can be produced. ”

“ While the value of pulpwood is dependent basically upon the tons of dry pulp that can be produced from a given number of dry tons of wood, the great quantity of the wood is bought and sold either on the basis of an estimated and variable volume of wood in an assumed space, or on the theoretical quantity or volume of lumber which can be cut. ”

“ Lovejoy pointed out that in many cases the woods end of pulp production was very wasteful. As an example, he cited a given forest area, having a stand of one-third beech, birch and maple, one-third spruce and one-third hemlock and balsam. Only a small part of the stand offers good log timber, not sufficient to attract a sawmill. A contractor is obtained to get out the pulp stock, the mill specifying that the stock shall not exceed 5 per cent. species other than spruce. ”

“ Some buyers in foreign countries have consented to an increase of price for deliveries on older contracts. The sellers in Sweden, by the bye have arranged to sell f.o.b. Swedish ports, and have avoided thereby the risk of increase in freight and insurance. In the first half of last year, the prices could be raised on a few qualities. But only in the latter half of the year came a systematic co-operation among the Swedish producers for a regulation of prices, and this price regulating was done in concurrence with the Norwegian paper producers. ”

“ Technical experts and college men vied with practical mill men in revealing the things which they had found to be of benefit in the working out of the manufacturing problems of the day. There were no secrets, the cards were laid on the table, and men who found a certain line of work, or policy, or experiments beneficial, frankly and freely made public the result of their findings. ”

“ I have accepted this work of the Paper Committee, with the idea that something can be done to alleviate the present serious condition for the consumers of newsprint paper.
“Everyone knows there is a serious shortage in production over the demand; at the same time, much can be done by both manufacturers and consumers to adjust their business to the present conditions. ”

“ It is quite evident that these newspaper publishers are more scared than hurt up to this time, for owing to the peculiar nature of this business and the fact that the great bulk of the business is contracted for the calendar year in the fall months of the preceding year, it is the belief of those who are best posted in the industry that on the average the price of roll news-print paper which is sold on contract has not advanced up to this time more than 5% or $2.00 per ton. ”

“ Conditions are favorable to tree-destroying insects. If the forest finally survives it will not longer be a pulp-producing forest.
As a remedy for this condition, Mr. Lovejoy urged a dependable inventory of the forest resources by combined Federal, State and private agencies and the development of greater co-operation between wood-using plants, so that everything the forest produced could be utilized. He suggested that private owners might be induced to go into the business of raising timber, rather than have all the forests owned directly by the mills. ”

“ Wrapping papers are still very hard to get. It will be interesting to know that many of the large consumers of wrapping paper have reached the stage where they find they cannot stand the cost and are making price as follows: so much for an article unwrapped, and so much for an article wrapped. ”

“ The scarcity of paper in Spain has caused some anxiety, and representatives of Spanish publishers, printers, and manufacturers of paper and cardboard have informed the Government of their willingness to postpone filling export orders until after the domestic demand for their products has been fully met. ”

“ Elsewhere in the United States the same tendency exists. In ten large and middling-sized cities forest domains aggregating over 150,000 acres are maintained, and it is probable that municipal forests comprise 250,000 acres. Newark, N.J., has a forest of 22,000 acres, and in time the whole of it may be scientifically forested. Hartford, Conn., has a forest property of 4,000 acres, which is being developed for timber production. Here are examples for Canadian cities. Winnipeg’s water development may be made to serve a double purpose. ”

“ It was only when the newspaper men tried to renew contracts that he realized for the first time he was face to face with a situation such as he has never been up against. There is no use blaming it on the mills. They have done the best they could under most trying circumstances. They are running their plants to full capacity and they have not unduly taken advantage of the situation to boost prices in Canada. The increase asked is infinitesimal to what the makers can obtain for their product on the other side. ”

“ On the right shoe of each was a sole made from a chrome combination, and on the left was the best oak sole obtainable. On the average, two oak soles wore through and the men were on the third before the chrome combination saw its finish.
With the price of leather constantly going up and the supply of hides not sufficient to meet the demand, the time is soon coming when we shall be forced to produce sole leather possessing a greater degree of wearing quality. ”

“ The collapse will not delay construction materially as the wreckage has been cleared away and new trusses are rapidly being built.
WHERE QUEBEC LEADS.
Not only does Quebec take effective measures against fire in her forest lands, but she takes effective measures to keep the forests in perpetuation, where they do not cover cultivable land. Quebec some years ago established a provincial nursery, and this year, in addition to the young trees planted on Crown lands, the provincial nursery shipped 400,000 seedlings to pulp and paper companies which are reafforesting the lands they have cut over. ”

“ The United States government annually places the largest individual contract made in this country for paper. When paper required for present fiscal year is ready for delivery, general purchasing agents have been warned that mills will not be able to meet a demand equally as great next year, even at enormous increase in price. ”

“ It will doubtless occur, however, to every one of our members that due to the terrific pressure which has been placed on the operation of the mills during the past eight months, that it is a great wonder that production keeps up to the present high point. Machines are running at a much greater speed then they were ever expected to run, and ordinary shut downs for repairs and replacements have not been made this summer. It is usually the custom for most news-print mills to shut down at the end of the summer before freezing weather occurs, to run their screening and tailings into wrappers. ”

“ The Phoenix Insurance Co., of London, is, however, this year writing some insurance upon green standing timber in Oregon and Washington, with certain restrictions, and at rates varying from 1 and 11⁄2 per cent. The timber must be accessible to markets, not unduly exposed to fire hazard, and only one risk is taken in each fire zone or area indicated by the Company. No risk is written greater than $17,500 in any one such area. ”

“ There is every indication at the present time that the price of these two commodities after January 1st, 1917 will be practically double the price which ruled a year ago, and perhaps in the case of chemical pulp three or four times the price which ruled a year ago. The mills which are forced to make news-print paper from these high priced raw materials will necessarily have to charge what would seem like an inordinate price to operate at a profit. ”

“ In place of the old style leather, which was a hard and as hard and as slippery as steel, we now have a leather which cuts well, looks well, and, above all else, feels well on the foot. Therefore, looking to our comfort as we do, we would never be satisfied with the shoes that grandpa used to wear. ”

“ In the book and writing line prices are stiff and are now fully fifty per cent. higher than they were a year ago. The producers think there will be no further raise for some months and in view of abnormal conditions generally the users of these kinds of papers appear to be satisfied that the mills are not asking too much. Tissue plants are running away behind in orders and have business enough on hand to keep them going for the next four months even if no more orders were placed with them. The jobbers report that business is good and the demand for all lines of paper keeps up well. ”