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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1921-02-25, Page 1eeee ,ger; 3j"•tyAA �sii FIFTY-FIFTH YEAR WHOLE NUMBER 2776 SEAFORTFI, FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 25, 1921. Don't Wait Until the Last Few Lays of this Great Sale SECOND WEEK OF MARCH, THE CLOSING DAYS, OUR. STORE WILL BE ST4MPEDED BY THE GREAT RUSH OF BUYERS. YOU'LL GET BETTER CHOICE AND MORE SATIS- FACTORY SERVICE BY COMING BEFORE THE LAST CRUSH. YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GET THE SPRING OUTFIT FOR MEN BOYS, WOMEN AND GIRLS AT YOUR OWN PRICES - $60 R CE& $(30 00 Coats for 50 00 Coals fur 40 00 ('outs for 30 00 Coats for 60 00 nits for.........,, 50 0') 10 00 ill:, lila' PAWS for :3 00 Cap 20 011 Jackets for 1 50 Sot-ks for...... $30 `25 2(1 15 :30 00 00 00 031 00 .,I 1 6 00 1 50 10 00 75 1 00 Socks for 50 15 310 ii 210 3 00 Gloves for.......... ». 2 00 1 25 25 00 12 00 Matin ('oats for.. S v 'ate ", lot• 2 50 Mufflers lo'... -..... 3 (10 : l)•Irt.s her ............................ 1 50 4 (-to Overalls for.., '-' int 3., t"o `tuffs for 15 o 30 co Fur Stoles for.................... 15 oo A l l Other Goods Equally `how i Clothing Co, The Greig t boost may temporarily defy the laws of gravity and economics but these laws work all the time against the 1 spasmodic efforts of individuals to overcome them, and in the end the laws prevail, 11 we don't believe in the economic we might aa well give up faith in all science and say there is no guiding principle in the universe. The ex- ports who figured on Europeen con- sumption were correct as to the great need over there, and their deductions from this fact were only falsified by European poverty and the failure of projects for international finance. As to the large home demand for ma - i terial, the experts were right there, too, as most of us found who went into the market to buy this and that. Goods were undeniably scarce. In many lines they are none too plenti- ful at this writing. I am willing to give all credit to the noble crew of bareback riders astride the filly Economic Law, in- cluding speculators, profiteers and grafters of every ilk. They all gave a splendid imitation of 'guiding their mount on an uphill road and spur - BUILDING THIS SPRING Will this spring be a good time for me to build? Many persons have asked experts this question, and not in the manner ++f mere seekers of information for personal use but with the air and tone of a shrewd cross-examiner who means to trap a prevaricating wit- ness. It is almost pitiful to watch the expert squirm under the cold interrogation. He knows full well that he is suspect; that anything he says may be used aginst him; that he has said altogether too much in the past about prices and commodities peaks of this and that, shortage and'tile, bricks and the like in the class with bijouterie. So we stopped off on our way and bought a good cigar wherewith to solicit the attention of Mister Dealer. We found others ahead of us with better cigars and monopolizing both ears of our local magnate, him who had the power of life and death over our building aspirations. While wait- ing we fraternized with the clerk and chatted affably with the driver. Eventually the big boss condescended to see us, and after 'hearing our urgent plea for material to put an attic nn the horse barn and a parquet flooring in the cow stable, he said low next door and the European with his ravening demand for commodities beat us to it. The European he want- ed everything we had and was ready to pay epot cash even if he had to print money day and night. Quite a few of us hastened to call on Mister Buiiding Dealer. On the way our apprehension was increased by recalling a line in some news- paper to the effect that the lumber supply would be exhausted in three years, or maybe it was three genera• .ions. Also, we recollected something alarming about the shortage of sand, ,clay and coal which tended to put surplus, demand and supply, and the rest of the phrases which either il- luminate or veil our understanding of economic affairs. It has been indeed a very bad year for all experts, whether of the col- lege brand or of the self-taught, correspondence school. The im- mutable factors on which some of them banked and prophesied have skidded across the road and ducked into the abyss like the top story of Mont Blanc not long ago. Some were conservative and ultra -scientific, ao they built up a fool -proof mathemati- cal argument or demonstration of what must be, based upon "funds- thatas a special favor he could let mental conditions." How could any- us have 50 per cent. of the material required to build an icehouse, sub- stituting cypress for hemlock and shingle lath for two by fours, and the price would be remarkably cheap —only three times what it was be- fore the war. Yes, some of us fell for it and bought what we didn't want at a tall price and made repairs and put up new buildings embodying as much inlay and mosaic as a Mexican bil- liard table. We interred bales of greenbacks in whsre is ity. at?� now, I ask you, are t lot of money sunk in costly improve- ments, and all the fault of those dod- blasted experts who helped. to boost the market with their pipe dreams of immutable factors and fuedamental conditions. Of course it is hopeless for any expert to offer an alibi. A jury of his peers will convict him merely on the ground that he once opened his mouth. Fact is, since we hit the rocks of price drop last fall, we have all become extreme skeptics. All men are liars. That's the way we feel. The economic laws are liars too. Now I have no interest in defend- ing, clearing or upholding any ex- pert dealer, manufacturer or pro- fiteer. I will Say this. which 15 es- sential to understanding what has happened in building materials and what may likely occur in that field. The dominating factor esterdny, to - ring her to ever' greater bursts of speed. But in the end the filly kick- ed her riders off into the ditch and quietly trotted downhill. Without whip and spur she would not have gone so far uphill, but not ell the cudgels of crooks could keep the ani- mal climbing indefinitely. It is hard indeed to avoid the per- sonal viewpoint and to keep clear the distinction between the jockeys and the mount. Most of us spend our lives cussing out the jockeys and never learn anything about the in- herent qualities of horseflesh. A point for those who built or made improvements at the peak of high prices and are now moaning as if they whole building industry. Su it is the first suffered a total los<, In the + tenor of an editorial in the American et ht place, c, improv cannot ements in the way �.t home comforts cannot }x estimat- t Contractor, which stated nut I•,ng ago of entirely on a dollar basis. Prob- ;hat the gentle art of passing the ably that bathroom you put in was hue k i? +ari of dater anti it iv up to ,+vrrdue fisc years. and on seroft 1 all dealers, nmnufacturers, laborers. thought you would not deprive your e"ntractu re, architects and involver,. f;,tily of these benefits another to rentrihute their full shun toward u• fur the sake of the dollars sav- ed I°w1''r buildings costa. ed According to Report Nu. 116, U. wi by Ibusiness i sines imp It is different S.Forest Service, dated 1918, the with a n, whits should pay di like a lumber purchaser's dollar is or was new barn, which should But dividends !lumber roughly, 50 per cent. to the n the investment. the nppar- manufticturcr, 3 per cent. to the ant luso n such cases may be ran- wholesaler, ,,, per cent. to the rail- celed by the gain in time and in a ads and cent to the retail- of efficiency that counts even more in periods of depression than of prosperity. The man who built at a high price now• has something to show for it. The fellow who waited for the slump is caught with a fiat- tenei pocketbook, feels discouraged and is apt to confine his ambitious scheme of improvement to a coat of whitewash and a roll of tar paper. "You haven't answered that ques- tin " says an impatient reader. "Will this spring be a good time to build?" \'e,s, is the answer in general, with some qualifications. This is based partly 01 information obtained at Chicago, headquarters of national material supplies, and partly on the writer's own deductions. This year will 'be a good time to build for a whole lot of reasons apart front price. We have reached the limit of crowd- ing, makeshift and patching. Sons, wives and hired omen can't stand it much longer. The business of farm- ing won't stand it. Demand for ma- terials will be greater in the future as business depression eases off. The national shortage of houses and other buildings will not be made up for years to come. To be ready for the next boom period it is wisdom to build now. A cynic says, get ready for the next war by building now. On prices, those intereetcd con- ceded a drop this spring to about 100 per cent. above the prewar level. This means a drop of 100 per cent. or better from the peak of 1920. My guess is that the materials market sued by a large Eastern construction will descend toward a point 50 or 60 company in the early summer of last per cent. above the prewar level and year. The steepness of ascent is les - will be stabilized there. When farm sanest partly by using as the starting products are touching the prewar point 1913, when brick. lumber and bottom it seems unjust that building steel were higher than the following materials should command a premium even of 50 per cent. The question of justice apart, the facts seem as stat- ed. For one thing, hunger does not accumulate Inc a period of years like housing shortage, and there is no great increase in national appetite to enhance the value of. food. Europe is indeed hungry, but, as said before, she is poor and even with financing cannot buy in very greet quantities. A large and sure demand for build- ing materials is for city construction of apartments and nfflce buildings, state and government works, rail- roads and a great aocuntulation of highway projects throughout the country. thing be more sure in this world than the fundamental? It is the same thing as the underlying—and many thought it was a case of more lying when the elaborate and imposing edifice built by the fact engineers col- lapsed at the first gust of events like a chicken house in the path of a twister. We are all more or leas sore and would like to take it out of somebody. Looks as if the experts were about our meat, not ao very nutritious, yet they give us something to chew on. Didn't they tell us over two years ago. right after the war, that it was the proper time to buy material and build things? After so many years of war neglect, they said, it was the time for extensive repairs and for much new building of louses, barns, silos and dog kennels. They told us not to worry about building material prices, because these were actually lower titan ever on a basis of ex- chasge value with bushels of wheat or cern and with pounds of cotton or tobacco. There was a chart showing exchange value, and the gratifying picture which some folks obtained from it was a wheelbarrowfal of farm produce traded even for a wa- gonload ,of dressed and matched lumber. Perhaps there were a few realised momenta of this golden age some- where. A later picture, and one more universally visualized, baa been day and to -morrow a economic. the tending of a wagonload of produce Many have taken that word in vain mean - scout's dufirepl ce�or�enoughd lumber ing. haveand grossly youaiand I. But misread that does to start a home industry in toothppks- not prove that the economic theory '�bee experts sicked ns on to build is wrong any more than the ascent before prices left theft alleged bat- of an airplane disproves the fact of gain levels and before the other fel- I gravitation. A big p'� and a big Regarding . erns for brocerieb We have been asked by some of our Customers if it would do i to pay us once in a week, two weeks or thirty days, and in answer we say, Yes! W are quite willing to allow responsible es that length of Limb which we coneider as caah and we do notthink Glut longer terms for a ca'sh commodity such as groceries, works cut to the advantage of either the seller or the buyer. If the buyer In in easy circumstances 'he doesn't need longer terms. If the buyer lin not in easy circumstances and has difficulty in making ends meet, he will find the account of one month's standing much easier to solve than one of several months. F. D. Hutchison Successor to Dorsey & Mackinnon •Ij REGARDING THE BUTCHER'S TERMS IL should be borne in mind that for most of his meat the butcher has to pay CASA 1N ADVANCE, and it is imperative, therefore, that he sell for Cash. 1...11, KLEIN Dorsey & Mackinnon's old stand many geode at little pro t rather than few goods at much pro t. 'These are the times when a sin4ll dealer who stays small in his business habits will have to take a micro3cepe to find himself on the commercial land- scape. Yes, of course, the big in- terests like to pass the buck on the little fellow. Yet who but the little fellow takes the consumer': money and reports back to tbe`manuiacturer that the people almost lose to he soaked? Instead of criticizing on, class. perhaps it would be fairer to draw blanket indictment against the than it did after the Civil War -17 years. A fourth expert says that when any reduction comes it will be very gradual. Events have jolted these proph- ets sufficiently and it is not neces- sary for anybody to swat them. How- ever, it may be well t, point out again the gross fallacy of slaughter- ing the goose that lays golden eggs and of believing that "demand" is an open sesame to the cave of un- limited profits. H•tuses may b.• scarce yet if building materials are too high people will not build; they will double up or live in tent'. Heretofore the nation has {.:on,• on strike against meat, sugar end clothes. There was a partial strike of the nation against building last year. An official .,f the National Lumber Manufarttth ri s' Association gave me a talk which. is summarized in the following: "It is difficult to make any kind of It price forecast. Statistics on lumber are not so exact and complete els people imagine, and I+ersonally 1 have less t:aith in figs res than in other factors. The main price fac- _ tors fir.: cost of production and the roads 25 per' - accumulated demand for building. er. The freight increase of last year "Prices this spring will not reach raised the share of the railroads the prewar level, in my opinion. You about one-third above what 0 was iu soy the farmer expects lumber to the calculation given. The extra follow food prices, but I do not think charge on lumber to the Middle West the latter will stay down; they must averages perhaps four dollars a go up again. Probably the best that thousand feet. Call it five .,dollars can he expected of lumber within the anywhere. Paste in your-'ira't; but near ftrture is 100 per cent. above keep cool when you argue about it. the prewar Icvel. Of course anybody On last year's wholesale price of can die:terve with this. Ed. 11inee, a seventy dollars a thousand feet on national authority on lumber, re- cnmmun•grade yellow pine at Chica- c•ently prophesied a drop of 25 to 30 go, the total freight rate, including per cent. Senator ('alder, whose Fed - increase, was. about 17 per cent. of oral committee has been making a the value. On a house costing $5000 nation-wide study of construction, to build, using 20,000 feet of lumber, says building costs will not soon de - the increased freight is given at $60 scend to the prewar figures." or 1.2 per cent. Mr. Hines' prophecy was fulfilled, The Forest Service study on lune according to newspaper reports, after ber—report nn Senate Resolution 311, the date of this conversation. dated ,lime 1. 1920—has same price ".1 let of people don't know that figures of interest. The average lumber prices were consider bly- re - wholesale Price of first-uality soft duced between March and latter No - woods, including yellow pine, was ember of I`. 90. The average re - $42.76 a thousand feet in 1914, some- duction: throughout the country a - thing less for the next three years, hue it ted t, per cent. Some per - $51.45 in 1918, $61.58 0 1919, and sun= io'roneousi> compare this per - not a cent less Ulan $13155 in the tentage decline on a high price with early part of 1920. Hardwood start- the percentage increase on the or - ed in 1914 about twelve dollars above iginal Inw price and draw the con - soft wood and ended about forty. clusiee that the actual reduction is seven dollars higher. Lumber in .email. They com.pare this 35 per general was just about three times cont. drop, for example, with the total as costly at the peak last year as rise of 20o per cent. above prewar it was in 1914. price and say that the present price A softer view of lumb, is ambiti- is lal, per cent. above prewar. But ous climb, along with that of other in fin t. this reduction brings the nusterials, its presented in a table is- price nt a trifle less than 100 per cent. above the prewar level. "In eonnection with the March - November decline, it is unfortunate that lumbermen and especially many retail dealers, considered it unfit news for publication, with the result that stagnation in business was accentuat- ed and the industry lost to an extent the sympathy and confidence of the public. It was poor policy for the dealers to stick their heads in the sant. "Some of them justified it on the ground that people would stop buying if told prices were tumbling. Well, they stopped anyhow. In some sec- tions, as in Texas, some dealers did not get the nerve to announce that prices were down until Henry Ford set the example. "The retail dealers have been slam- med from niany sides and quite of- ten with mason. .Many of them have played a petty game. They found a chance to make good money or big money on a small volume of business and decided to keep things that way. The tendency was to forget service and the rights of consumers and to grab all the profit immediately pos- sible. Like Monte Cristo, they said 'The World is Mine' and for a while the pipe dream lasted. "The Retail Service Bureau of the National umber MAnufue urars As- sociation tans been preaching to deal- ers an enlightened ureas policy, of selling not at what consumers may be forced to pay hut at replacement values or at current market quota- tions. The beat policy for any deal- er is to follow the market, whether it M failing or rising. If he is stock- ed up with high-priced stuff and pric- es are down, he should sell and take his loss rather than try to save him- self at the expense of the consumer. This is legitimate and correct busi- ness, the only way to gain and keep public confidence. "A lumber dealer said recently; I would have failed from lack of huffi- ness if it hadn't been for the build- ing and loan association in my town." This man co-operates with an insti- tution that creates homes with every- thing which that word means. There is opportunity for other dealers to take this suggestion. There should also be co-operation with the local bankers. The retail dealer, in fact, has a key position not only in keep- ing his business and the lumber in- dustry flourishing but in developing his community. He can create busi- r,ess in home building. He can show people how to finance and even di- rectly aid them in financing, and then sex Ithem the material required. He has close relations with contractors, arehiteets, real-estate men and bank - errs. Hum.- ownership and general building are to be large factors in tee new prosperity " ifunt dealers spew) the cost of charge ace aunts and of delivery over shed mpathetic tear, or perhaps the price: to all customers. • We ( a he utas sympathetic not.—The Country Gentle - point out that this is unfair to cash I man. buyers alai to farmers who haul their material. These should have a sub- stantial discount. Some dealers d„ give discounts of _ or fi per cent., but it is too small, They should give 5 per cent_ which makes a real induce- ment even on a moderate bill. Dis- count is also an argument for busi- ness. A non ,•un afford t, borrow money at the bank to pay a dealer and take has discount.'. "While the snow is y,d vii the ground is the time for the dealer to sing a spring song in a proper key to his customere, because if he waits until the flowers are out he will find a competitive warbler in the automo- bile salesman arguing that it is bet• ter to have a car than build a house of barn " An oflicla1 of a large cement com- pany said: "The national production of cement ;lens about 90.000,000 barrels a year and only •a small fraction is export- ed. The greater part of our com- pany's product is not sold on big contracts but directly to the retail dealers who also handle lumber am the like. The prewar price at the mill was muni $1.00 a barrel of four tags. The government war price was 11.75 to $1.90. The peak in 1920 was $2.;o a barrel in the East, $2.40 in the Middle West and $2.75 in the South. These prices were determin- ed by labor and coal cost largely. in each sectinn where we have separ- ate mills The average freight rate from mill to dealer. including the re- cent increase, is til to 65 cents 0 barrel. However, it is going to be largely a buyer's market.. It is the duty and privilege of purchasers this season to act bearish on price. We should shop round and get all the bids be- fore buying. No nae talking, some bad actors rode that economic filly and it is time they her' their just reward. They are stocked up with costly goods and they want ire to help share their loss. They did not t;hare their prosperity with their cus- tomers. They can now find co-opera- tion in the dictionary. I don't be- lieve in helping relatives or home talent who try to akin you. The man who gave service and equity during the abnormal period just ended hes to -day priceless assets of goodwill. There are smell -town dealers who do net yet realize that motors and electric lines enable their customers to visit large tnwne end cities where market price, prevail. There are still the many nut of the 40,000 re- tell lumber dealers in the United States end Canada who have to learn nci the whichlesof includeMfollowingt � the mdis- g, market even at a lose and selling year. According to this table the increase in brick was from about $7 a thousand to $26; in ordinary lum- ber from $25 a thousand to $58; in cement from about $1.50 a barrel to $2.80; in hollow tile front about $80 for one thousand pieoea 6 by 12 by 12 up to $222.30. These were whole- sale or quantity prices and the aver- age buyer ,at retail had to pay a whole lot more. In terms of percent' age, brick had the place of honor. or othervvse, with an increase of 257 per cent., and Lastly cement with '77 per cent. The same table shows that the wages of skilled labor did not advance over 100 per cent. at the most and ih several classes the -in- crease was considerably less. The wages of common labor did increase notably, about 300 per sent. City prices of materials, of course, affect prices throughout the country dis- tricts. And city wages of labor in the last few years have tended to become established within a wide radius of any urban center. War and travel have obliterated in a measure local differences- with the effect of standardizing both prices end wagee over large areas. We may have another good laugh at the expense of experts who are quoted in the price survey of that Eastern construction company. Ex- pert Number One Rays the peak of prices will not be reached until this spring, and then there will be Web - limbed a plateau of Andean altitude on which the consumer tees gambol and frisk, developing lung pn^;er in the rarefied atmosphere, for the next ten years. Expert Number Teo pre- dicts we will all go crazy by 1922; at leant "reason will he thrown to the winds" and everybody aid buy, buy, buy, regardless of price. Ex- pert Number Three says that the period of high prices will last longer fBe at margin" that were top A brit* esabet` b 'r. ,year without Mummer Or.` tug itself, so we will excuse nese from testifying. A heedlitM 1R+1 a- New York newspaper fatils4 .t3s- legjelative ingnfry� into,,biH Goin. dfittione says BrickTrv*t'" UM; Per Cent. It has been argued HMV wit *Sr`. e ber prices mounting towards if not approximating the prices of tile asld brick, the American public woe2 pr: in for more permanent and to4!C construction, But aeeording to.tbe. table previously referred to, the in- combustlble mate'cials have risen dis- proportionately above lumber, and the argument for the time being is crip- pled. There must be strong induele menta to persuade the average per- son to spend even a little more money and he will not spend a lot .more if . he can avoid it. On the other hand - the tile and brick peo!lIe profesa'thatr---'" they do not need to coax trade. In- , cidentally, tile and brick are manu- factured largely in a plant that turns out either or both With cement declining, there is a way out for the stall individual .builder with concrete blocks. A re- vival is due in this material, which can be manufactured almost anywhere with inexpensive equipment. The building industry has a unani- n' us complaint and grievance a- gainst the financiers who choked off' credit last year just when things were going beautifully. The consumer may 25 per cent. Discount Daring the. Month of Feb - roar) on 1'ieturi' Mould ing, ready-made frames in all sizes, Square or Oval. D. F. Buck PHOTOGRAPHER. SRAFORTB "We expect falling prices of coal and labor to result in a decline at the mill, but cannot say how much. It was later announced that cement had dropped 25 per cent. If coal and labor are cheaper we shall rr- duc•e prices regardless of demand. We have declined hundreds of offers of premiums of 50 cents to $1.00 a barrel. FROM AN OLD McKiLLOP CORRESPONDENT Toronto, Feb., 21, 1921. Dear Exp+esitor: There is nice bracing weather here and no snow. i recollect there was a winter simi- lar t, this that was the winter of 1877-1878. The weatherwise told us then that our climate had changed, but the winter following that refer- red to, was a very severe one— frosty with deep snow. When the Canadian climate changes the change is always of short duration. A very sad event and one of the many sad events here, took place a short time ago. Two brothers nasi ed Hallam, chums "'of the man, Spracklin, who was preacher and whiskey detective by turns up te Essex County, came with their fam- ilies to Toronto and took rooms. One day the two engaged in a d fight—I say this with apology to all well-behaved canines. In the melee they tumbled down stairs when one of them pulled a revolver of power- ful calibre and commenced shooting. One of the bullets went through a partition and mortally wounded Mrs. Ruby Cross, a fine young married woman. She died in St. Michael's Hospital a few days later in the presence of her husband and three- year-old child. I would like to say a few things about Spracklin and some of his pets going around as they are with blood on their shirts, but as they will have to face a judge and jury in the near future, I will refrain. "A recent canvass of the Middle West shows fair to good prospects for building in the near future. There is a lot of road construction in view, Enough money is authorized and a- vailable in the South for roads, streets end pavements to use half the total Southern cement production. How- ever, the local bankers hate to see the road money withdrawn from the banks at this time in view of the cotton situation. Retail dehlers were not accustomed to make much profit on cement in the old days. When their chance for a killing arrived, they went to it with endue enthusiasm. In the South and elsewhere some of them sold cement that cost them 80 cents for $2.00 a hag. Rut now they are sobering up. As a general proposition cemtnt prices have been much less inflated than lumber, at least by the manu- f ac to rer:." It is deplorable to think of the large number of young criminals con- tained in this city. Young whelps of from fourteen to eighteen years are here by the hundred. They ride in stolen autos, hold men up with stolen revolvers. break into stores and steal everything they can lay their hands on. I believe the chief reasons are idleness and being permitted to ran on the streets at all hours of the night, and I fear that in many in- stances the parents are pleased to have stolen stuff brought home. A meeting was called recently at Massey Hall to protest against dis- loyal and seditious sentiment, but file speakers got a disorderly hearing, and there were a number of iglus in [ho hall. and in less than an hour the chairman dismissed the whole hutch. Hollow tile is an unobtrusive mem- ber of the building group. Nobody, not even the Government., seems to knew much about it.. Sonic meager data 0 given in Prices of Clay- Pro- ducts. 'issued in 1919 by the War Industries Board. The national ,pro- duction for 1920 was estimated, or guessed. at 3,500,000 tons, which was much greater than any previous re- cord. Demand was way ahead of supply until the latter part of tke year, when an extensive cancellation of orders, took place. The manufac- turers looked forward to a revival of a strong demand this season. Out of 150 tile manufacturers in the United States about 92 who produce 1 80 per cent. of the tonnage are mem- bers of a trade association. This association claims to be purely educe - tinned and does net concern itself with price-. Among other thinee it sells house plans at Inc fitrures. The factory prices for hollow tiln were lately 10 to 12 dollars a ton romperesi with a price to the, Govern- ment during the war of $R.75 to $11 a ton. To the factory price must be added freight and retail dealers' profits, which together amount to $3 or $4 a ton. T. translate tonnage into building terms, we may note that a tile making one square foot of 8-ineh wall weighs 86 pounds. IL is admitted that dealers sold Parliament has been in session three weeks or more with a great deal of wrangling but very little busi- ness transacted. Ferguson, leader of the Conservative creep, bite out at. Dewart and his I,iberal following; Dewart, in return, knocks Ferguson and the late Hearst Government, but before they get through they never forget to hit the Drury Government a number of hard cracks, Attorney - General Raney being the one who get* the worst treatment McBride, of Brant. and McNamara, of Riverdale, ,have left the Government side of the House and sit on the cross beaches between the Liberal and Conservative groups. McBride appears to legal a little to the Tories. and McNamara 3a R free lance, .7. W. Gerry, K.C., a prominent Liberal, Is now heard saying nice things about the Govern- ment. He feels sore about something and it is said that he looks upon Dewart as a poor affair for leader nt his party. It is thought that Mc- Bride o-Bride feels hurt because Ise did tet get a place in the Government and troth he and McNamara are great p••, tectionists, the former coming fret th manufacturing city of l'r+nl''rd The Hon. Peter Smith tslkR as glibby about millions a8 ___ of us would about dollars, and as she millions of debt ea growing, he WM have something to talk about as provincial treasurer foe some time. The city council have already vot- ed $160,000 to feed the enelegeloyed, who are in straits. Mfany of t��y are• single men, who lever lesr*s4 thrift and who did not try la save anything out of their Mg ply ire+ eeived last year.—i', S: i•4.