village on the Donoch Firth, near the northeastern coast of the British Isles, as well as a very considerable force of the company's "lumberjacks." Since the arrival of the units in Europe many interesting letters have been received from the men. In one dated July 9, 1917, from a member of the organization, we read: "We stayed in Halifax Harbor nearly a week and when we finally did start we had an old boat with us besides a destroyer, and we had to go slowly to keep with them, so did not get across for nine days, landing at Liverpool on the afternoon of the Fourth. About two days out from port we were met by a destroyer, which accompanied us in, and it was lucky for us that it did, for the night before we docked a torpedo missed us by about 30 feet; but the "sub" was chased off. We wore our life belts all the time coming over and we felt as though we had lost something when we were on land again. Most of the municipal buildings were flying our flag in honor of our holiday and the crowds all cheered and whistled when they saw our American flag." * Another correspondent said: "We arrived at Liverpool late in the afternoon and took a train right away. We travelled all night long and arrived at this point in Scotland (Ardgay) at about noon the next day. The days here are very long at this time of the year and they have what is known as the "English twilight," the twilight lasting until about 11 o'clock at night. There is only about three hours of total darkness, as the sun begins to rise again at 2 o'clock in the morning. This is a very pretty town with mountains on all sides and is very near the sea. It is quite a distance north of Edinburgh. * * The spot where we are located is very unique because we get the benefit of the mountains, woods, rivers and also the sea not far away, so you see you cannot beat the location. *The mountains are certainly wonderful; when the sun shines on them they make one of the prettiest sights I have ever gazed upon; in fact I think they have got our White Mountains beat a mile. The weather has been real dry but the temperature never rises very high. When it reaches 80 degrees or over the people think it is a very warm day." * The Scotch people are most hospitable, and received the Americans in the kindliest spirit, admiring much the manner in which the Americans conduct themselves and perform their work. In a letter dated July 29th is the following: "This has been rather a busy week for me. Our final mill locations have been selected and the units have been split up and are now stretched out all over the country. It is up to me to carry around notices and instructions to the different foremen and I figure that I must travel 20 to 25 miles a day on a bicycle, which has been furnished by the British Government. We have just been presented with an automobile, so I hope I won't have much more bicycling to do. Last Friday night we had an entertainment in town given by a band of Scotch Highlanders, for the benefit of the widows and orphans of the men killed in their regiment. We also had an entertainment a short time ago for the benefit of the Red Cross Society, so you see we get a little enjoyment although we are so far from the big centers. The men have been working hard setting up the mills this week and by the time I write again we shall be at it in dead earnest. The first board has been turned out already, by one of the mills that had a headstart on the others. * * The Y. M. C. A. man, Mr. Buell, has put up his tent and will be ready for business in a few days. He has quite a large tent, with a piano, reading tables, lunch counter, etc. We have a ball field located down right near the Y. M. C. A. tent." The following from the Board of Trade Journal (an official publication of the British Government) of March 21, 1918, is a gratifying evidence of the work the New England Saw Mill Units are doing: "In the Spring of 1917 it was suggested that lumbermen from the United States might also be willing to help in timber production in Britain. The idea was taken up so heartily by the Massachusetts Committee of Public Safety that ten complete Sawmill Units were raised and equipped with mills, horses, and all necessary impedimenta free of cost. These Sawmill Units are not a military organization, the men being under individual contracts with the Government. Considerable enthusiasm was manifested in connection with the send-off of these Units. Their provision is one of the striking incidents of the story of how the timber problem has been dealt with. These lumbermen have more than realized the high expectations formed of their work, and have put up some remarkable records, their total output being well ahead of what was estimated." BUSINESS CONDITIONS IN STONE & WEBSTER LOCALITIES The managers of the companies operated by Stone & Webster write to the Management Division of Stone & Webster about the first of each month with reference to business conditions in their respective localities during the preceding month. A digest of these letters is published each month in the Stone & Webster Journal. Baton Rouge, La., March 14th: Building permits for February, 1918, were valued at $11,690, against $31,709 last year. Post office receipts for February, 1918, were $8,322, against $6,543 last year. The average number of employees at the Standard Oil Co. in February was 2,177, against 2,287 last year. General business conditions have undergone very little change during the last few months, and a generally favorable outlook still continues. Merchants are very optimistic. Building operations are confined almost entirely to dwellings for rent, the majority of which are rented before completion if not prior to starting construction. Our railway, light, power and gas receipts for February, 1918, all show increases over last year. Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, March 14th: Bank clearings at Beaumont for February, 1918, were $4,793,049, against $4,117,588 last year. During February, 1918, 61 building permits were issued at Beaumont, valued at $71,642, against 61 last year, valued at $41,630; and 29 at Port Arthur, valued at $18,222, against 36 last year, valued at $37,677. Post office receipts at Beaumont for February, 1918, were $11,948, against $9,129 last year, and at Port Arthur $4,900, against $3,348 last year. The immediate outlook for the general business situation is regarded as very bright by jobbers and retail merchants. The refineries are exceptionally busy, their outputs having been materially increased. The rice mills are beginning to grind rice flour, thus opening up another avenue for the sale of rice. The mills are receiving a very good price for this flour, and the business is proving exceptionally profitable to them. Heavy rainfall during the month meant much to the rice growers, as it removed the bulk of the salt water from the Neches River. The Lone Star Shipbuilding Corporation has been awarded a contract by the Government amounting to approximately $5,000,000 for the equipping of 22 wooden vessels, having a displacement of about 22,500 tons. This, with the contract received last month by the Beaumont Shipping & Dry Dock Company for equipping 30 wooden vessels, makes a total of 52 vessels to be equipped at this port. |