HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



Mr. Kade states that in the furnitvire business, such as chairs, 

 sideboards, china closets, bookcases (excepting sectional book- 

 cases), desks, parlor furniture, refrigerators and almost everything 

 else, there seems to be no standard at all as far as design, material, 

 measurements and finish are concerned, save that a chair seat is a 

 certain height from the floor, and a bed is made of a certain length 

 and width. 



The only woodworking lines he knows of that have standards are 

 the manufacturers of packing cases, wash-tubs, pails, barrels, coffins, 

 caskets and sectional bookcases. To this specific list might be 

 added wagon material, and generally table manufacturers have es- 

 tablished approximate uniformity in sizes for their work. 



It is generally regarded that about twenty-five per cent of the 

 cost of the average piece of furniture is involved in the lumber that 

 goes into it, and it is fully believable that if the furniture trade 

 would standardize its sizes so as to enable lumber manufacturers 

 to produce specific sizes, knowing they would have a certain demand 

 and hence a substantial market value, they could materially reduce 

 their price. Today it is not safe for a millraan to over-produce a 

 single item of dimension material for the furniture t?de, for the 

 reason that it ma}" not fit the demands of any other nuuiufacturer. 

 Hence, in getting out a specific bill for one manufacturer a larger 

 price must be demanded for it than if the material were standard 

 and would sell to any of a hundred manufacturers. 



There is no good reason why ninety per cent of the furniture pro- 

 duced in the United States should not be made to standard sizes, 

 and why a lumber manufacturer should not be able to produce 

 these various sizes in quantities at a distinct economy to both him- 

 self and to the consumer. 



The writer above noted says that from a manufacturing view- 

 point it would simplify production materially if every bed were 

 built to standard heights, widths and lengths, and every desk to a 

 certain standard length, like four feet, four feet-six, five feet, five 

 feet-six and six feet, all of the same uniform height and width, 

 say three different widths — low-top, medium and high top, but all 

 the same, no matter what factory made them. He says every show- 

 case, floor case, wall case, shelving section, partition, etc., could be 

 produced by standard dimensions; that every table of a certain 

 size should have the same standard, and furthermore he argues 

 that factory colors and finish should be evolved to some standard; 

 and the hardware and trimmings be made us nearly uniform as it 

 is possible to standardize. He argues that the way to bring this 

 desideratum about is through associations in the particular line in 

 which the manufacturer is interested, and that every member should 

 advocate "standardization" at each meeting. 



This argument for standardizing furniture and establishing stand- 

 ard sizes of materials entering into its production has been a pet 

 argument of Hardwood Record for years, and it is therefore only 

 too glad to note that the furniture men and periodicals are taking 

 up this important and eminently desirable subject, which spells not 

 only economy, but much higher efficiency in furniture production. 



In Glass Houses? 



A traffic expert was recentl.v going over the records of mis- 

 weights on lumber shipments when, coming to a statement of 

 underweights, he laughed and said that the railroads would receive 

 no notification of such error. A few minutes later, however, he 

 launched upon a heated tirade concerning the atrocities of the 

 roads in connection with overcharges on freight. While records 

 show that undercharges are much less frequent than overcharges, 

 the aggregate undercharge by the various important freight carry- 

 ing lines of the country amounts to considerable money. Many 

 traffic managers see no wrong in taking from the railroads what 

 they as carriers are legally entitled to, but when the shoe is on 

 the other foot these same men are righteously indignant and will 

 believe nothing less than that the roads are malicously and inten- 

 tionally doing everything in their power to beat shippers out of 

 as much extra change as possible by means of false weighing, false 

 tare, etc. 



Equally unscrupulous shippers employ other methods of "putting 



one over" on the railroads. Misstatement of classification, as in 

 the case of a certain furniture manufacturer who deliberately con- 

 cealed pianos in the middle of a carload shipment of furniture, is 

 one way of "doing" the railroads and getting around the law at 

 the same time, but it is doubtful if the traffic manager responsible 

 for such practices fully realizes the serious consequences if they are 

 discovered. Nor is it likely that he is aware of the fact that he 

 puts himself liable to federal prosecution if he accepts a statement 

 of freight charges showing underweight. 



It is pretty generally known that most of the large railroaif"' 

 systems in the country are in the busiiiess to make as much as 

 possible out of it, and therefore they have undoubtedly done a 

 great deal which has not been in exact keeping with the most 

 honest methods of competition. On the other hand, however, thest 

 systems are made up of human beings who appreciate as well as 

 others the value of fair treatment. The country-wide protesi 

 against wrongful methods of car weighing is based on positive 

 facts, but it is doubtful if these practices by the roads are suffi- 

 cient justification for the employment of similar retaliatory meth- 

 ods by the shippers. In fact such action has the tendency to 

 morally weaken the shippers' cause and for this reason, if for no 

 other, shippers should make every effort to maintain a position of 

 absolute fair dealing toward the carriers. 



The Safety of the Passenger 



The Wall Street Journal, in its issue of October 15, sa.ys that 

 in criticizing the use of mixed trains of wooden and steel cars on 

 fast express trains and th? calamitous fire arising from that reason 

 in the recent accident on the New Haven road, it willingly recog- 

 nizes that operating difliculties are of a kind which cannot be 

 settled off-hand. Eailroad rather than lay experience is necessary 

 in revising the present methods of handling express passenger 

 service. One of the ablest and most experienced railroad officials 

 in the United States writes this publication as follows: 



I understand no official investigation of the causes of 

 this accident has yet taken place. I beg to suggest there- 

 fore that until such investigation has been held it is 

 unwise to assume knowledge as to the causes. I beg to 

 suggest also that if the cars had been lighted by electricity 

 instead of bv gas, there would have been no loss of life 

 by Hre, and that in all probability the loss of life and 

 injury from other causes would have been fully as great 

 in a steel car as in a well -constructed wooden car. As a 

 person of some experience. I am prepared to state that in 

 a train heated by steam and lighted by electricity, I would 

 prefer to take my chances in a collision or other wreck in 

 a thoroughly well built wooden car with steel underframe 

 than in a car composed entirely of steel, and I think rail- 

 road men in general share this opinion. The cars in the 

 fore part of the train should, perhaps, be made of steel 

 because of the possibility of fire being communicated from 

 the engine in case of wreck; but the other cars of the 

 train are very much more comfortable and quite as safe 

 it properly constructed of wood with steel underframes. 

 When to this is added the very much larger first cost and 

 the enormous enhanced weight of the steel car. their gen- 

 eral use seems to be of very doubtful benefit. 



The Pennsylvania Eailroad is about the only line left that still 

 continues the building and use of entire steel ears, and this is 

 apparently done purely as an advertisement for the alleged fire- 

 proof qualities embraced in total steel car construction and for 

 its steel and concrete tubes under the Hudson river. New York 

 City, and the East river. Sad to relate, a few days ago a car of 

 express matter caught fire in one of the Pennsylvania tunnels in 

 New York and produced a first-class conflagration, suspending 

 traffic in the tunnel for hours. 



It will readily be seen that it is absolutely futile to build fire- 

 proof tunnels and transport through them fireproof cars that are 

 loaded with combustible materials, and insure freedom from fire. 

 A fireproof car is no more fireproof than the contents are fireproof. 



The Pullman Car Company and nearly all the other leading 

 passenger and sleeping ear builders have gone back to the steel 

 underframe and solid wood construction in passenger and sleeping 

 cars. As a matter of fact, the Pullman Car Company has bought 

 more solid wood and veneer during the past year than during any 

 previous year in its history. The craze for the steel passenger and 

 sleeping car is apparently over, which is a desideratum for which 

 both the railroads and the traveling public should be devoutlv 

 thankful. 



