LewisKiiigman,Am. Soc.C.E., chief assistant engineer Atchison, Topeka and Santa F6 Railroad: 



I consider this a very important work, and believe that the time and money expended will be appreciated, 

 and that it will result in the economical U8e of an immense amount of timber which is now recklessly used and de- 

 stroyed. 



Alfied P. Boiler, C. B., New York City: 



I sincerely trust that the work will continue on the broad scale laid out, that the intelligent and economical 

 use of timber may be spread broadcast among the people. 



E. Montfort, chief engineer Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, Louisville, Ky. : 

 Our information as to strength and other properties of timber is by no means complete. A full knowledge of the 



properties of the difl'erent timbers will insure their more intelligent aud economic use, and will be benelicial not only 



to railroads, but to all industries engaged in the use of timber. 



(5) The proposed investigation will he of special interest to engineers, railroad companies, and all 

 engaged in building operations. 



G. B. Nicholson, chief engineer Cin., New Orleans and Tex. Pac. Railway Co., Cincinnati, Ohio: 



The present knowledge of the properties of timber amounts to a state of ignorance, and the cost of investigation 

 has precluded individuals from undertaking it. I speak in behalf of the civil engineers, but 1 might add that a 

 perfect knowledge of our timbers will be of benefit to the country at large, as civil engineers take an important part 

 in the planning and building of works on which vast sums are annually expended by the peoiJle. I respectfully ask 

 that your estimates to Congress will call for an appropriation large enough to prosecute vigorously this eminently 

 useful work. 



J. J. McVean, chief engineer Saginaw Valley and St. Louis Railroad, Grand Rapids, Mich. : 

 These tests and examinations will be of inestimable value to engineers, architects, and builders, as well as to 

 the public generally, and if properly carried out and continued for a sufficient length of time to insure accurate 

 results, they will be a great saving to consumers of timber as well as a source of profit to owners of timber land. 

 Robert Fletcher, Am. Soc. C. E., prof, civil engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H.: 

 I have the honor to urge upon your attention the value and importance of the investigation now being made 

 through the Forestry Division on the physical properties of American timbers. As a member of the engineering pro- 

 fession, I beg to emphasize the necessity of a far better knowledge than we now possess concerning the strength, 

 durability, and adaptation to structural and other purposes of available sorts of timber, and also of the various 

 conditions affecting their useful properties. The knowledge desired by the engineering profession is only to be had 

 satisfactorily from tests of full-sized specimens under conditions of actual practice. Such tests are generally 

 beyond the means and facilities possessed by individuals or firms, especially, in view of the time and expert atten- 

 tion which they demand. 



William P. Shinn, C. E., late president Am. Soc. C. E., Pittsburg, Pa. : 



I think it of very great and growing importance to the people at large that this investigation of the proper- 

 ties of our native woods should be made general, systematic, and thorough. To the engineering profession espe- 

 pially its results will be of incalculable advantage. 



George W. Gooley, C. E. : Am. Soc. C. E., Minneapolis, Minn.: 



The importance of a comprehensive system of tests on all timber entering into the various details of construc- 

 tion cau not be overestimated, and the engiueering profession should cooperate with the Department in every way 

 necessary to obtain full and accurate data on this most important subject. When it is considered that the safety 

 of millions of lives aud vast amounts of property depend upon the stability of timber structures, it api)ears that it 

 is of the utmost importance that the absolute strength of all material entering into such construction should be accu- 

 rately determined. 



Engineering News, D. McN. Staufi'er aud A. M.Wellington, editors, NewYorkCity: 

 As the editors of a journal prominently identified with the advancement of engiueering interests in the United 

 States, we can not too much commend the good work inaugurated by your Department in commeuciug an elaborate 

 and complete scientific investigation into the properties of American timber. But as these experiments, to be really 

 useful, must be on a scale and occupy time that puts them out of the reach of individuals, we sincerely trust that the 

 wisdom of our legislators will ably second your own efforts to continue them to a proper end. » » • The informa- 

 tion gained by a complete and scientific investigation of all American timber will be of inestimable value to engineers 

 and all concerned in the production or use of timber. This information will not only be essential to the safe and 

 economical use of timber in construction, but it will undoubtedly vastly broaden the available supply of useful ma- 

 terial for general or specific purposes. 



W. Kiersted, Am. Soc. C. E., consulting engineer, Kansas City, Mo.: 



I beg leave to say that I am in full sympathy with the work, and trust the necessary measures may be taken to 

 carry it through to completion. The scale on which it is proposed to make the tests can not but be fiuitful in valu- 

 172.i4— No. G 2 



