HARDWOOD RECORD 



Death of M. B. Farrin. 



nil September 7 Mr. Matthew Bfowii Faiiiii. 

 III.' wcll-kQown Cinoluuiiti hardwood Umibermaii. 

 ■ liicl very suddenly. 



Mr. Karrin was horn in Cincinnati, July 14. 

 I >-".]. and until twelve years old he attended the 

 imlili.' M-hc>ol.-; .if thai .?ity, later going to 

 iliirk. riii:,- Iii.-titiii.- aii.l a military academy. 



II.' .'III. i-."l Int., Ill .irpl.iy of John K. Green 

 ,\: c.i. at tli.> a,;;.' ..i iiiu.-l.'en, and three years 

 .iltcrward went into Michigan with the expecta- 

 tion of learning the manufacturing end of the 

 liiisiness. The firm to whom he applied, how- 

 fvev, insisted that he should work with them 

 without pay for three years, and as he was re- 

 • inircd to board himself, he set about learniuf; 

 I lie inspection of white pine — and in a very few 

 woeks had mastered it sufficiently to obtain and 

 iHild a position As au expert inspector. He re- 

 iiiaine.l in MichlRan three years and purchased 

 ami .ip.Tatel mills, but on returning to Cincin- 

 nati lit' engaged in the lumber brokerage busi- 

 lu'ss anil tinaily K'came an extensive producer of 



Ml- I'\irrin was the flrst president of the Oak 

 I'lo.iring Manufacturers" Association, and it was 

 and tenacity, as well 



I- limi' and thought, that this association was 

 -larted and put on a successful running basis. 



In Cincinnati he was Ijnown as one of this 



nys solid business men. and the words "Matt 



l''arrin is dead" will .-..ni.' .is a .IMin.i sli.xk to 



his many associates and iriru.ls, i,, »ii.,ni his 



:i-ugged character and linsiin'-s al.ilii> ai.ii.-aleil. 



At the time of his d.atli Mr, Kaiiin was pri'si- 

 ilcnt of the M. B. Farrin I.uiuli.'r Company and 

 II'..' l''arrin-Korn Lumber Company, a concern of 

 which bis son-in-law. Chester A. I'Corn, is active 

 iiuiuager : a director of the Merchants' National 

 Bank of Cincinnati, and a director of the Ohio 

 Cement Company. 



Although he was a man of affairs, still he 

 found time to mix with his friends as well as 

 spend a great many days in the open. He was 

 I lie first president of the Lumbermen's Club of 

 I'incinnati, president of the Manufacturers' Club 

 and a member of the Queen City Club, the Buck- 

 c.ve Club of New York and the Detroit Boat 

 <'lub. There was no more ardent lover of out- 

 door life than Matt Farrin. Just to he in the 

 open behind a pair of hprses that could "step 

 along some" or walking through the stubble with 

 !i gun that could "shoot some" was a joy to 



News Miscellany. 



sunshine playing through their leaves, a whisp 

 ..t gray clouds across the blue were a delight to 

 liim — but most of all he enjoyed the water, and 

 every moment he could spare from his business 

 ill Slimmer found him in his launch speeding 

 ibout the Great Lakes from his summer home at 

 tJrando Point, Mich. A devoted husband and 

 father. Mr. Farrin lef£ a sorrowing wife and six 

 daughters — Mrs. Chester F. Korn, Mrs. H. J. 

 i'Hestrr. Jlrs. Dr. Ralph Ueno, Mrs. Paul Uich- 

 ar.ls,,ri ;nHl 111,' Misses Harriet and Medora Far- 

 rin i ' I II iIm i,,ss of the man who not only 



gav. lii.iii ■\.-r\ p..ssiblc indulgence and luxury, 

 bill -["111 hiin h lit his time with them and per- 

 s..iiali' iiMil. iIm'iii understand his thoughts were 

 ah\a,\- Willi 111. '11' and for them. 



Ii I- - li.! Ilia' nothing is lost in this world, 

 and ./\.n wiit'ii the form of Matthew Brown Far- 

 rin has been interred his kindly presence and 

 staunch friendship for those he loved will still 

 live in the hearts of his friends. 



E. C. Atkins & Co. SutTer Fire Loss. 



on Augn.'t 2-1 the large stock of all kiuds of 

 saws and niiU supplies which E. C. Atkins & 

 Co . Inc.. of Indianapolis carry at their Memphis 

 branch, was practically destroyed by fire. How- 

 cv.'r. an additional stocl: of supplies stored in a 



II ail. \, ,11. Ill 1-., as well as the saw shop, was 

 -,n ' II, ,.. ihai the company was not forced 

 1' 'I II iii-iniiss for more than a few 



it.iiii- l:,i-i s for goods were sent to the 



branches at New Orleans and Atlanta, and with 

 the prompt action of the factorj' at Indianapolis, 

 arrangements were quickly made so that the store 

 is now as well stocked as ever, and everything 

 iu connection with the branch is running 

 smoothly. 



Till' coiujiany has leased the entire building at 

 I r. lui'.n avriiii'', :M. iiipliis, which will hereafter 



Ill ii M^ I -! ill. instead of the for- 



.1 II 1 ..iviliiiiu .onnected with the 



III w -111- i- 1 I- la \ iiial.l.' than heretofore, so 



ihat III.- i.'a.ljiistm.'nt promises to be eminently 

 satisfactory. 



New Texas Manufacturing Institution, 



Among the Chicago visitors during the week 

 was T. I"'. Cooley, vice-president and general 

 .aanagev of the Beaumont Spoke & Handle Com- 

 pany of Beaumont, Texas. Mr. Cooley has re- 

 lontly organized this institution and succeeds 

 iho Nacogdoches Spoke & Handle Company of 

 Nacogdoches, Texas, with which he has long 

 been associated. 



Mr. Cooley is just completing the building 

 and cijuipment of his new factoi-y- at Beaumont, 

 which will have a daily output of 15,000 spokes 

 and handles, and he expects to have it in opera- 

 tion about October 15. He has purchased a com- 

 plete equipment of machinery from the J. A. 

 Fay & Egan Company of Cincinnati and from 

 the Ober Manufacturing Company, Chagrin 

 Falls, Ohio. 



The company has large timber Interests in the 

 vicinity of Beaumont and will very soon build 

 a saw mill to be operated in connection with its 

 handle and spoke business, and will engage 

 largely in the production of oak, gum and hick- 

 ory dimension stock. 



Mr. Cooley is very enthusiastic over the supe- 

 rior qualities of hickory, oak and gum of the 

 Natchez river section and says that Beaumont 

 offers exceptional opportunities for woodworking 

 institutions utilizing the hardwoods of that re- 

 Beautiful Booklet Just Out, 



C. r. Mengcl & Bro. Company have just issued 

 a little book which is not only interesting to all 

 those connected with the hardwood industry, but 

 as a literary productlop. It is "The Story of a 

 Mahogany Tree As Told by Itself," and is the 



work of Veoder B. raino. It was written by 

 Mr. I'aine while ho was a member of an explor- 

 ing party sent out by the Mengel company to 

 the wcsi coast of Africa, where they opened up 

 several large mahogany tracts for the Louisville 

 company. 



The story tt-lls of the beginning of the ma- 

 liogany as a nut which dropped from the mother 

 tree, and recounts the many difficulties which 

 had to be overcome by the young shoot and the 

 li'nil.M -apliii^ in order to survive in the tangled 

 jnn-!i rMi,iii\ 111.' tree grew to immense height 

 anil I' a una I , ..uciavc of all the trees was 

 I'll'.:..! Kinu ..I ihi' mahoganies and emperor of 

 the forist. Ili'r.' the author, speaking through 

 anoilii'r trc. pays his tribute to the mahogany; 



■■.M.'ihogany is of royal blood, horn to the pur- 

 ple, an aristocrat by birth and breeding, a prince 

 by association: and a king by divine right." 



The rest of the story tells of the coming of 

 I he white man, the felling of the tree, sawing 

 it into l.:)gs and shipping it across tlie oceans to 

 America. In the epilogue, the author says : 



"In days of old. Kings David and Solomon 

 sent their ships and their people to the cast 

 coast of Africa for gold, precious stones and line 

 wood. Modern wisdom prompted a mahogany 

 manufacturing company of Louisville to fit out 

 an expedition, made up of timber and logging 

 experts, to explore the forests along the coasts 

 of tropical West Africa, with instructions to 

 locate and secure from the native kings choice 

 tracts of mahogany timber trees. 



"When this work had been successfully accom- 

 plished, extensive logging operations were begun, 

 and full steamer cargoes of the finest wood are 

 now coming regularly to ports of the United 

 States, being thence transported by rail to the 

 mills of the company at Louisville, Ky. 



"In the African Jungles, where now the Men- 

 gel logging camps are located, are found the 

 ruins of many a native village, whose entire 

 population was seized upon, killed or captured, 

 the survivors being driven in chains lo the sea 

 beach, stowed away in the holds of the slave 

 trading ships and brolight, many of them, to 

 the United States and sold on the market. 



"It is a noteworthy fact that no full cargo 

 of any native product of West Africa, other than 

 human chattels, had been shipped direct to a 

 United States port, until In 190G Messrs. C. C. 

 Mengel & Bro. Company sent its first full cargo 

 of 1000 mahogany logs to Louisville via New 

 Orleans on its chartered steamer "Corinth." 



The book is handsomely printed. Is illustrated 

 by several halftones from photographs made in 

 Africa, and contains forty pages. 



Acacia as Mining Timber. 



Vicc-Con.sul Bollmer of Tslngtau, China, lur- 

 uishes the following information concerning the 

 growing of acacia trees on barren land and the 

 use of the timber for mining purposes. Acacia 

 seems to be regarded as valuable as pine and 

 I adar for these purposes in China : 



"During the tep years of German occupation 

 of the Klaochow colony one of the most active 

 branches of the government has been the for- 

 estry department. After experiments with a 

 large variety of trees, to determine what would 

 grow best and quickest here, the acacia was 

 chosen as the tree to be used most in the affor- 

 '.'statlon of the bare hills surrounding Tslngtau. 

 The reasons for this selection were twofold ; A 

 tree was wanted to make shade and cover the 

 hills as soon as possible, regardless of its value, 

 and the poor soil precluded the use of a variety 

 which would not grow in almost any sort of 

 earth. While these acacias {.robinia pseudo- 

 acacia) have been growing, more valuable woods 



