Show A NEWSPAPER TN FAMINE SCARCITY OF PRINT PAPER MAY BRING IT ON great shortage 1 of I tle the marll Mtr ll from which tt it is in mado ca canadian naillan supply of wood r pulp ip ab shot at off entirely for the present efrom from the chicago dally daily inter ocean A serious famine threatens the paper industry of the united states various causes have conspired to lessen the product of 0 the mills while the demand for print paper and the other ordinary grades Is unprecedented I 1 tile the conditions led to a secret meeting 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 it if it is not relf relieved eved will cause the vast paper mills of the country to shut down and cripple seriously every industry which depends upon the product of tile the mills nearly all of the leading paper manufacturers of the country were presen tand the tha principal topic of interest Inte iest was a new fiber tor for the manufacture of paper to take the place of the wood fibre fabre now in such universal use what the new fiber Is the paper manufacturers would not say they averred that flit present the process by which it is manufacture ered Is in a crude stage but they discussed it as the tha only visible solution ot of present difficulties I 1 great lack of material not for twenty years has such a serious condition confronted the manufacturers rs of paper and there Is great danger that we may be forced to close our mills for lack of material said A D schaeffer Sch aelTer of the city paper company who presided over the meeting various causes aye responsible for this condition the principal one is that wood pulp from which the lower grades of paper is Is so hard to get that there la Is a constant scramble tor for material recent inquiry of the pulp mills at sault ste marle marie the largest pulp mills in the world develops the fact that there la Is not a pound tor for sale there and other mills are as hard pressed the rapid cutting of 0 the tha forests of the eastern and middle western states and the stopping of the supay from canada Is largely responsible for the threaten led famine added to the scarcity ot of timber is the recent mild weather which has hag made it impossible to bring the pulp wood which has been cut to market A urge large part of the seasons cut 0 of the forests of wisconsin and michigan upon which the middle western states depend tor for pulp wood Is now lying on the bare ground and cannot bo be moved until sno snow w comes another great danger comes in the possibility ot of a heavy fall of snow following lowing this long dry season A fall ot of eighteen inches of 0 snow would cover up the pulp wood already almady cut so eo that it would be next to impossible to dig it out and float it down the rivier to the mills labor also aln scarce Sr roi A great scarcity of laborin labor in the pali eries has also made the movement moye move meat of pulp wood to tho mills slow companies cutting pulp wood have spent thousands ot of dollars importing Import lne men into the pin eries to cut pulp wood only to lose them when they got there boys of eighteen and nineteen ilen are being largely employed in the work canada has been the source of supply for many ot of the Ea eastern Eltern mills but that source of supply has har been cut off as the cutting of timber on crown lands has been prohibited and tho the province of quebec makee the importer pay per cord duty which makes the ithe material too expensive expend ive the only solution we can see Is islo ato adopt a new fiber as a substitute tor for wood fiber that is the subject ot of discussion we have bave one in view but I 1 do not care to talk of that now another dim colty which confronts eastern manufacturers Is a lack of water upon which they depend tor for power that too Is the result ot of the cutting away ot of the tha fl forests orests the mills of the middle west are not embarrassed ed in this respect to the same extent ras the eastern mills we have not come together to form jany combination or ci r to raise prices the demand naturally governs prices the sole object Is to avert a famine it possible for a famine would hurt the producer as much as the consumer J C brockelbank vice president and western manager of 0 the manufacturers paper company ot of new york with offices in the tha rookery building confirmed the statements made by william schaeffer concerning the trade condition I 1 Is serious 1 it if present conditions in the pin eries continue there will be a serious shortage ag e of pulp wood in the west until next tall he bo said it has been simply impossible to get tho the spruce from which wood pulp Is made to market it grows in the swamps of the pin eries and tho 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 mad and water only continued cold weather can relieve tho the condl tion the stock of paper now on hand band Is extremely short tho the export trade was large has been abandoned entirely and the jobbers have very little free paper on hand the mills I 1 I 1 i have no free paper and will see eee that thay are in condition to meet contracts already made beffie they sell to any one else there la is serious danger that tho the mills may have to shut down entirely tor for lack of pulp wood the greatest es t danger clangor to the hade Is likely to be during du ing march and april find and may but the famine will continue coutin ue until next fall |