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Show A NEWSPAPER FAMINE SCARCITY OF PRINT PAPER MAY BR1NQ IT ON. Oroun Sl,rtne of tl.e Mtorai from Wl.loh U I M,d.-Cdln Supply ot YYoort Ttilp Shut Off Entirely for tlie Prenent. (from the Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean ) A serious famine threatens the paper Industry of the United States. Various causes have conspired to lessen the product of (he mills, while the demand for print paper and the other ordinary grades Is unprecedented. The conditions led to a secret meeting meet-ing of the leading paper manufacturers of the United States yesterday at the Great Northern hotel, to consider what could be done to avert the famine threatened by the shortage In wood pulp, which, If it is not relieved, will cause the vast paper mills of the country coun-try to shut down and cripple seriously every Industry whiah depends upon the product ot the mills. Nearly all of the leading paper manufacturers of the country were present, and the principal topic of interest was a new fiber for the manufacture of paper, to take the place of the wood fibre now 1h such universal use. What the new fiber is, the paper manufacturers would not say. They averred that at present the process by which it is manufactur-ered manufactur-ered is in a crude stage, but they discussed dis-cussed it as the only visible solution of present difficulties. Greab Ittck of materia!, "Not for twenty years has such a serious condition confromted the manufacturers manu-facturers of paper, and there is great uanger mat we may be forced to close our mills for lack of material," said A. D. Schaeffer of the Hartford City Paper Pa-per company, who presided over the meeting. "Various causes are responsible respon-sible for this condition. The principal one is that wood pulp, from which the lower grades of paper Is manufactured, is so hard to get that there Is a constant con-stant scramble for material. Recent inquiry of the pulp mills at Sault Ste, Mario, the largest pulp mlUs In the world, develops the fact that there is not a pound for sale there, and other mills are as hard pressed. The ranld cutting of the forests of the Eastern and middle Western states, and the stopping of the supply from Canada Is largely responsible for the threatened threaten-ed famine. Added to the scarcity of timber is the recent mild weather, which has made it impossible to bring the pulp wood which has been cut to market. A Urge part of the season's cut of the forests of Wisconsin and Michigan, upon which the middle Western states depend for pulp wood, is now lying on the bare ground and cannot be moved until snow comes. Another great danger comes in the possibility of a heavy fall of snow following fol-lowing this long dry season. A fall of eighteen inches of snow would cover up the pulp wood already cut so that it would be next to impossible to dig it out and float it down the river to the mills. Labor Also Scarce. "A great scarcity of labor in the pineries pin-eries has also made the movement of pulp wood to the mills slow. Companies Com-panies cutting pulp wood have spent thousands of dollars importing men into the pineries to cut pulp wood only to lose them when they got there. Boys of eighteen and nineteen are being be-ing largely employed in the work. "Canada has been the source of supply sup-ply for many of the Eastern mills, but that source of supply has been cut off as the cutting of timber on crown lands has been prohibited and the, province of Quebec makes the Importer pay $1.90 per cord duty, which makes the material too expansive. The only solution we can see is to adopt a new fiber as a substitute for wood fiber-. That is the subject of discussion. Wa have one in view, but I do not care to talk of that now. "Another difficulty which confronts Eastern manufacturers is a lack of water upon which they depend for power. That, too, is the result of the cutting away of the forests. The mills of the middle West are not embarrassed embarrass-ed in this respect to the same extent as the Eastern mills. "We have not come together to form any combination or to raise prices. The demand naturally governs prices. The sole object is to avert a famine if possible, for a famine would hurt the producer as much as the consumer." J. C. Brockelbank, vice president and Western manager of the Manufacturers' Manufactur-ers' Paper company of New York, with offices in the Rookery building, confirmed con-firmed the statements made by William Schaeffer' concerning the trade. Condltlou la Serious. "If present conditions in the pineries continue, there will be a serious shortage short-age of pulp wood in the West until next fall," he said. "It has been sim-,ply sim-,ply impossible to get the spruce, from which wood pulp is made, to market. It grows in the swamps of tlie pineries, and the winter has been so open that it has been impossible to haul it to the rivers, down which it is floated to the mills as wagons would sink to the hubs in mud and water. Only continued contin-ued cold weather can relieve the condition." condi-tion." The stock of paper now on hand Is extremely short. The export trade, -which was large, has been abandoned entirely, and the jobbers have very little free paper on hand. The mills have no free paper and will see that they are in condition to meet contracts already made before they sell to any one else There is serious danger that the mills may have to shut down entirely en-tirely for lack of pulp wood. The greatest great-est danger to the trade is likely to be during March and April, and May bu the famine will continue until next fall. |