H A RD W OOD RECORD 



appointed as such committee Messrs. Gates, Sherman and Scott. 



At 12:30 the meeting adjourned until 2 p. m. 



On reassembling the matter of grades was carefully discussed. 

 As is well known, for several years the members of this association 

 and its predecessor — the Hickory Handle Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation — have presumed to grade handles according to the standard 

 grades as adopted on September 10, 1904. It was shown by 

 samples exhibited at the Cincinnati meeting that a great many 

 handles are going upon the market which are far below grade both 

 in quality of timber and color, and manufacture, but which are 

 being branded with a higher grade. It was further shown that 

 the grading rules in force are not well known and recognized by 

 the trade at large. Mr. Scott moved in this relation: 



"That a committee of three be appointed to draft a system of 

 grading and establish a set of standard rules which shall be the 

 rules of grading employed by every member of the association." 



In support of this motion Mr. Gates contended that these rules 

 should be given wide publicity, and that the trade should be 

 thoroughly informed of what constitutes just and honest grades, 

 as compared with the off grades that are being put upon the 

 markets in quantities. He averred that the effect of such a pro- 

 ceeding would be to give character and dignity to the association 

 and its methods, and would tend to discredit the fraudulent grades 

 being shipped at present. 



The motion was seconded and promptly carried, and the chair 

 appointed as a committee to formulate the proposed grades, which 

 will be presented at the Louisville meeting, May 20, Messrs. C. H. 

 Jones, F. W. Peters and C. H. Amos. 



On motion the secretary was instructed to canvass the entire 

 hickory trade and ascertain so far as possible the conditions sur- 

 rounding the manufacture of hickory handles and present the 

 facts at the forthcoming Louisville meeting. The information to 

 be requested from each concern it was decided should be held 

 confidential in the secretary's files, and only presented by him to 

 the association in aggregate form. The data he will solicit will be; 



(1) How much time are you running? 



(2) What is your average daily production? 



(3) .In what 'section of the country are you marketing your 

 product ? 



(4) What prices are you getting? 



(.5) How much finished stock have you on hand? 



(6) How many unfilled orders (amount of stock involved) have 

 you on hand? 



(7) How much raw material and stock in process of manu- 

 facture? 



A general discussion then prevailed on the future of the asso- 

 ciation and several large producers stated specifically that_ it is 

 impossible to produce handles and make a living profit if sold at 

 less than the present uniform list — 75 per cent off. They stated 

 frankly that unless a renaissance of good sense prevailed among 

 the handle manufacturing trade at large they would be compelled 

 not only to protect their trade with prices as low as the lowest — 

 or lower still if necessary — on standard grade handles, but also 

 would be forced to put upon the market off grade stock to meet 

 the competition of irregular and unfair producers. 



It was shown that producers of other hickory products, notably 

 wagon and carriage material, were receiving a very fair profit on 

 their lines of business; that they were showing nearly twice the 

 value of hickory that was attained in handle production; on 

 motion it was therefore resolved: 



"That the present price list with its discount of 75 per cent 

 is as low as handles can be produced at a living profit, and it is 

 the sense of the association that prices should not be made below 

 this quotation." 



A proposition was then presented as to the wisdom of employing 

 a competent ageut of the association who shall be an experienced 

 handle man, to conduct the affairs of the organization and advise 

 on methods of production, grading, sales and every other feature 

 that would tend to the betterment of the organization, and it 

 was moved: 



"That there be presented at the next meeting of the asso- 

 ciation the question of securing the services of a practical, com- 

 petent and honorable man to attend to the interests of the asso- 

 ciation, and that every member be assessed pro rata on his monthly 

 sales to cover the cost of such expense." 



This motion prevailed and was followed by a second motion: 



"That the chair be instructed to appoint a committee on the 

 employment of such a man, pending the approval of the asso- 

 ciation at the forthcoming Louisville meeting." 



The motion was carried and the following committee named: 

 Messrs. .Sherman, Gregory, Gates and Hartwell. 



It was urged that every member should use diligent efforts to 

 secure the attendance of every hickory handle manufacturer of 

 his acquaintance at the next meeting to be held at LouisvUle, 

 Wednesdav, May 20, probably at the Gait House, at which time 

 the handle manufacturers wiil be the guests of the Turner, Day 

 & Woohvorth Handle Company and the I. F. Force Handle Company. 



On motion a special committee of three on attendance was 

 appointed bv the chair, as follows: Messrs. Gibson, Gates and 

 Hartwell. 



J^ational Hickory jinnuah 



The annual meeting of the National Hick- 

 ory Association was held at the Sinton Hotel, 

 Cincinnati, Ohio, April 14. This meeting was 

 by far the largest and most interesting con- 

 ference ever held under the auspices of this 

 or any other like association, indicating that 

 the importance of the subject and the work 

 of the association since it was launched has 

 aroused public sentiment to the point that not 

 only has the association been able to interest 

 the government and secure its assistance in 

 carrying out the objects of the organization, 

 but that those engaged in any business which 

 involves the manufacture or consumption of 

 hickory are alive to the situation and under- 

 stand that in order that their present inter- 

 ests may be protected great activity must be 

 exercised and that there must be an eco- 

 nomical use of the remaining supply of 

 hickory to prevent its entire destruction. 



Secretary F. A. Curtis of Chicago made a 

 report covering in a general way the work 

 of the association so far, the objects for 

 which it exists and what it has accomplished. 

 This report indicated that practical measures 

 had been taken to economize in the supply 

 and that other organized bodies, such as the 

 National Wagon Manufacturers' Association 

 and the National Hardwood Lumber Asso- 

 ciation, jointly with representatives of the 



Forest Service, have appointed committees who 

 conferred on the matter of grading hickory 

 vehicle products, such as hickory axles, hick- 

 ory eveners, singletrees, neckyokes, bolsters, 

 reaches, etc., with the idea in mind of using 

 all the material that could possibly be used 

 rather than of excluding all that could pos- 

 sibly be excluded; that a standard of grades 

 had been evolved which it is calculated will 

 govern the production and consumption of 

 these hickory products for all time to come, 

 and, while these grades have not been finally 

 approved by the associations, there is' no 

 doubt but they will be within the very near 

 future. This illustration of the kind of work 

 which is being done indicates one practical 

 way in which the material can be economized 

 and in which the waste of hickory can be 

 stopped. The secretary's report also indi- 

 cated that the Forest Service at Washington 

 had taken up the commercial study of hickory 

 and that at much expense and effort on their 

 _part hickory has been secured from various 

 parts of the country, cut under the direction 

 of Forest Service men after studying the 

 conditions under which the hickory was 

 grown, and samples from the various parts 

 of the country-have been gotten together and 

 tested, to the end that information is at hand 

 indicating the relative strengths of the vari- 



ous kinds of hickory and the adaptability of 

 the various species for different purposes, 

 such as bending strength, etc., which informa- 

 tion is now available to any and all, including 

 those who are engaged in the bending of 

 hickory and who, if they desire, may make 

 practical application of the information at 

 hand. The secretary's report indicated that 

 such work as that outlined above was only 

 part of a very great amount of effort that 

 has been exerted by the association through 

 its officers and members. 



Treasurer W. A. Snyder of Piqua, O., then 

 submitted his report covering the finances of 

 the association, after which the president 

 appointed a committee consisting of Joseph 

 Ashcroft of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and O. B. 

 Bannister of Muncie, Ind., as auditors. This 

 committee later submitted a report approving 

 the treasurer 's report, which action was con- 

 firmed by the meeting. 



O. B. Bannister of Muncie, Ind., chairman 

 of the Executive Committee, then made a re- 

 port reviewing the importance of the plea of 

 the association and the advantages to be 

 gained by future work if financially sup- 

 ported by those interested, to the small extent 

 of the annual membership fee, it being under- 

 stood that this is a day of associations and 

 conventions and that it is the policy of the 



