This ended Cuban Cedar and necessitated locating anew source of supply.

Also ships and shipping were taken over by the Government for wartime needs, and it was not possible to charter a vessel without a Government license. They were issued only if the imported product could be shown to be an essential need. Cigars were rated essential, and after many trips to Washington to prove that Cedar was essential for proper boxing of high-grade cigars, the license was issued.

In the meantime, a new source of supply had been found in Brazil, and thereafter shipload lots were loaded at Manoas, 1500 miles up the Amazon River. Some of those logs came from the Eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains in Peru, 1500 miles further up the river.

The agent for this business was the General Rubber Co., an American concern, but whose office at Manaos was staffed by Englishmen. The reason for this was that Americans stayed in their homeland, while Englishmen were to be found in all under-developed countries. The work of these Englishmen, i.e. procuring sufficient logs, sorting and grading them, handling export matters, etc. was very satisfactory. Relations with them were very pleasant. I later stepped into this work, met these men on their visits to New York and liked them very much.

The War marked the turning point in the cigar box lumber business. The supply of many commodities, including Cedar Cigar Box Lumber was not equal to the demand. Consequently, the use of domestic lumber increased. The cigar manufacturers then found that cigars would sell even if not packed in a cedar box, and turned more and more to the use of domestic wood. When my father saw that this was a permanent trend he sold the Greenpoint Mill to one of his customers, whose principal customer clung to Cedar.

This is where I came in for my second start of a business career. This was January 2, 1922, and that was also they day on which the new owner took over, and my father relinquished the Greenpoint Mill.

With the exception of the interruptions due to the fire and the Receivership, this was the first day since June 1, 1875 when he took over the 10th St. Mill in New York from his employers, that he had not produced Cedar Cigar Box Lumber. Of course, the swing to domestic wood increased the business of the American