Prices increase on Hemingray and Brookfield Insulators by 10%; Cross-Arms, Pins, Knob, Tube & Cleat market conditions

TRADE & MARKET CONDITIONS

News of the Trade for the Manufacturer; Wholesaler and Jobber

of Electrical Equipment and Supplies —

Notes on Industrial Activities and Business Methods

ORDERING OF CROSS-ARMS

AND PINS FOR FALL IS GOOD

Prices of Pine Arms Have Gone up 15 per Cent and

Those of Fir Arms 10 per Cent This Month —

Wood Pins Are Firm

In anticipation of fall construction and winter maintenance needs there has been a good volume of wooden crossarm and pin ordering to date. There is, however, considerable room for improvement if stocks of certain grades of fir arms are to be accumulated and regular stocks of woodenware maintained.

Prices on pine cross-arms advanced 15 per cent on Sept. 15. At New York warehouse 6-ft., four-pin and six-pin yellow-pine arms cost $78.10 in less than 1000-linear-foot lots, and 75 per cent long-leaf arms $89.64. In lots of more than 3000 linear feet these respective prices will be $65.08 and $74.70. Deliveries are good. Fir arms went up 10 per cent on Sept. 1, with one grade ranging from $92.04 to $110.45 for the same size and quantities as above with mill deliveries, and another grade $51.19 in carload lots and two to three months' deliveries. On pins prices have remained rather steady, and no change is looked for in the near future. Locust pins, 11 in. by 9 in., are quoted at $45, $40 and $24 per 1000 in lots from less than 250 pins to 5000 and over.

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THE WEEK

IN TRADE

THE increasing scarcity of electrical goods is becoming very serious. Shortages exist in local stocks of conduit of all kinds, weatherproof and rubber-covered wire, especially in the smaller sizes, silk lamp cord, flexible armored conductor, sockets, fuse plugs, house meters and standard porcelain.

Range sales are slow in New England and on the Pacific Coast as a result of the recent advance. The Middle West, however, reports good sales. An excellent demand for distribution-type transformers has developed in the South. The oil boom in the Southwest has helped insulator sales.

Building seems to- be going ahead rapidly, but a warning comes from the Northwest, where building is once more being restricted. As a result, schedule material sales in that region are off perceptibly. This is made up to some extent by the big sales of electric heating and cooking devices as a result of the Seattle gas strike.

Prices generally are steady. Glass insulators are up and fan prices have been withdrawn. Locally prices vary somewhat, depending on the condition of supply and demand.

NEW YORK

Demands of the building trade and rehabilitation work have kept electrical material running at a high pitch. Supply jobbers report conditions satisfactory. Manufacturers' prices are undergoing few changes.

Slow freight and inability of producers to supply the demand of some classes of material are proving quite a factor in the market. Factory shipments of flexible armored conductor have been much better in the last couple of weeks, but entire orders are not being filled yet. Express shipments are being resorted to.

Conduit junction boxes and fittings are going in fine shape, principally in the smaller sizes, however. Heavy orders on the mills are running them to capacity, and in some quarters rigid-conduit production for 1919 has been booked up and prices on fittings withdrawn.

GLASS INSULATORS. — Hemingray insulators advanced 10 per cent on Sept. 1, but the old prices are still being quoted from New York warehouse — No. 19 and No. 20 from $8.04 per 100 by the hundred to $5.92 for c.l.l. Brookfield insulators advanced 10 per cent on Sept. 6, and prices from the mill on No. 36 and No. 38 are $5.77 per 100 by the hundred to $5.27 in c.l.l.

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CHICAGO

In anticipation of the agreement expected on Sept. 25 between the carpenters' union and the contractors business conditions in Chicago have taken on a brighter outlook. Jobbers and contractors are receiving inquiries, although no large increase of orders has yet been made. Construction is coming back to life again, as is shown by building permits for over $1,800,000 taken out in the last week. Moreover, more than $2,000,000 of construction was proposed, including a one-million-dollar tool-factory addition to Whitman & Barnes' plant. Quite a good deal of electrical construction is being done by the Byllesby company in the West to take care of the congestion caused by the flocking of people to the new oil fields. An Indiana concern is constructing a high-tension line. The Mutual Paint Company will put up a plant in St. Paul to cost $150,000. New buildings in Enid, Okla., during the past year are estimated at $3,000,000. The Illinois Malleable Iron Company will build a half-million-dollar plant at Louisville, Ky. The upper peninsula section of Michigan is undergoing the severest drought of many years. Waterpower plants are suffering acutely from it, and those with no steam reserve are contemplating the purchase of a number of small units.

INSULATORS. — Business in high-voltage insulators has been very good, although the orders have been spasmodic. Construction on systems in the Western oil fields and on work in Indiana has taken the greater part of recent deliveries. Current prices are about $2.45 for the 10-in. suspension type, $1.80 on the 33,000-volt pin type, $2.10 on the 45,000-volt pin type, and $3.25 on the Hewlett suspension type.

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BOSTON

Trade holds up extremely well in jobbing circles, and retailers in the electrical field note little falling off in the city of Boston on account of the police strike. Stocks of wiring materials are turning lower, and collections are not quite so satisfactory. Prices hold firm, and new building outlay to Sept. 11 for this year totals {dollar:$142,634,000], compared with $119,195,000 in the corresponding 1918 period. This exceeds all but two years since 1900. New projects include a twenty-four, a twenty and two ten-apartment houses at Portland, Me.; a six-story, 50-ft. by 160-ft. addition to the factory of Landers, Frary & Clark, New Britain, Conn.; an addition, to cost $150,000, to the New England Silk Company's factory and power plant at Westerly, R. I.; a 50-ft. by 125-ft. addition to the Duckworth Chain & Manufacturing Company, Springfield, Mass., and extensive additions to the plant of the General Wire Company, Palmer, Mass.

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POLES. — Fair stocks of chestnut poles- are on hand. The Western Union Telegraph Company was active in last week's market. Thirty-five-foot poles are quoted around $10 f.o.b. Boston.

CROSS-ARMS. — Standard ten-pin Washington fir arms are priced at $2. The demand is fair for four-pin and sixpin arms, with good stocks.

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KNOBS, TUBES AND CLEATS. — These are getting very scarce, with increasing demand. Nail-it knobs are hard to get; price quoted is $16.50 per 1000, net. The 3-in. by 5/16-in. size of tubes sells for $5.25 per 1000 in barrel lots.

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Current Prices of Electrical Supplies

New York and Chicago Quotations

THE prices quoted are those prevailing in standard packages of specified lots on apparatus and appliances in Eastern and Middle West markets at the beginning of business on Monday of this week. They are in all cases the net prices or prices subject to discounts from standard lists of contractors, central stations, dealers and others engaged in the resale of such goods.

Prices in Southern and other nearby markets will rule about the same as those in the Middle West, although slight modifications to cover increased freight and local demands should be expected. In the Far West and on the Pacific Coast the prevailing prices are naturally higher, covering as they must increased freight and the necessity of larger stocks with increased interest and warehouse charges on account of the distances from sources of supply, infrequent turnover of stock and uncertainty as to delivery of goods in transit.

Moreover, the Far West presents a wide variation in demand due to a small population spread over a wide area in agricultural and mining communities, as contrasted with the denser population of the East and Middle West, their nearness to the sources of supply, the more frequent turnover in stocks and the constant demands which arise in industrial centers. Price variations may be due to difference in grade of products of different manufacturers, to local conditions, or to both.