The Shingle Men's Secret Combine

There is some prospect that a genuine cedar shingle trust may be formed as the result of the present anomalous condition of the industry in this state and of the prevailing market prices for the product. A conference of the leading manufacturers of Seattle and Ballard was held yesterday and it was decided to call a meeting of shingle manufacturers exclusively for next Tuesday. The suspension of the price lists at the last meeting of the Shingle Dealers and Manufacturers' Association has had the result of making the interests of the dealers and the manufacturers quite opposite. Several of the manufacturers favor the formation of an association whose members shall be bound together by a heavy forfeit, and if the small mills cannot put up this forfeit in cash they can do so in shingles. If this can be done, there is some chance of a regular trust being formed, with selling agents of its own in all the principal markets, who will keep an eye on all the outsiders and undersell them until they quit the business or join the association.