44 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Lumber From Blighted Chestnut 



"I scarcely cut any blighted timber, and dead chestnut is nut worth 

 much to me." 



The above quotation is from a, reply to an inquiry regarding the use 

 of blighted chestnut timber. It expresses very largely the sentiment of 

 many wood users, as to the value of lumber and other products from 

 chestnut affected with the chestnut tree blight. It seems to be a gen- 

 eral opinion that the blighted chestnut is either dead or rotten chestnut. 

 The lumberman or wood user who is not familiar with this disease 

 naturally infers that because it is a "blight" it means dead timber in 

 some stage of deterioration. It is true that where the blight first began 

 its ravages in the northeastern United States, some of the trees 

 which are still standing, after being Isilled by the blight, are in poor 

 condition for lumber or most other chestnut products. It must be real- 

 ized that blighted chestnut, in order to have lost any of its merchantable 

 value, must have stood dead on the stump for one or more .years after 

 being liilled. It is safe to state that blight in itself does no injury to 

 the wood, and does not impair its merchantable value. The blight is a 

 barl( disease and may be compared to a skin disease. When it attaclss and 

 girdles a tree near the base, it produces much the same effect on the 

 wood as though the girdling were done with an axe. It is only after it 

 has Ivilled a portion or all of a tree, that wood rotting fungi and many 

 insects enter the wood, chiefly where the blight lesions ocinir and the 

 resulting deterioration is much the same as though death had been 

 caused by any other agency. 



The wood of blighted chestnut, if cut and utilized as .soon as the dis- 

 ease has attacked the trees, and while still green, or before the trees 

 have been dead as long as a year, is in ever.v respect as good as though 

 cut from a perfectly healthful tree. In the production of lumber, all 

 the effect on the wood which the blight itself is able to produce is 

 entirely removed with the slabs during the sawing operation. 



It is impossible to separate lumber cut from blighted cliestnut from 

 lumber cut from unblighted chestnut. Blighted chestnut does not mean 

 dead chestnut. The defects in lumber from dead trees must not to 

 charged to blight, since the same detects occur in lumber cut from trees 

 dead from any other cause. In the utilizing of lumber from blighted 

 chestnut, there shottld be no discrimination and there is no reason why 

 lumber from such trees cannot l>e used the same as lumber from un- 

 blighted trees. 



Wood's Strength Increases With Age 



The natural impression is that new wood is stronger than old. It has 

 been fotmd. hovtever, in a series of tests that some white pine a quarter 

 of a century old is materialy stronger than new wood. Pine is the wood 

 on which the experiments were made, but there is no reason to suppose 

 that oak. hard pine or any other wood commonly used in building would 

 behave differently. All wood maintains its strength, except as decay 

 weakens it or fire and mechanical abrasion destroy it. 



It is largely a matter of dryness. It is well known that a wood is 

 much stronger when thoroughly seasoned than when green. 



Engineers are already using wood for permanent service where it is 

 kept under water. Its permanent reliability under such conditions is 

 literally a foundation fact in engineering. Wood above water is subject 

 to destruction by fire and decay, but if these two enemies are kept away 

 it is diflicult to set a limit to the useful lite of timber. There are 

 plenty of wooden truss bridges all through the East, whose structures 

 have been ]irotected from the weatlier and which have been carrying 

 traffic from fifty to a hundred years. Many people who have traveled 

 abroad will recall noted wooden bridges and other wooden structures of 

 much greater age. In fact, were it not for the increasing cost and 

 scarcity of good timber, there is reason to believe that many country 

 highway bridges of moderate span and light loads would be more per 

 manent if built of wood than of steel. Although wood is the oldest his- 

 torically of our constructive materials, yet tlie question of change of 

 strength with age has never before Ix^en studied. 



Greenheart 



The construction of the Tanama canal lock gates of greenheart has 

 called attention in this country to that wood, which is cut only on the 

 northern coast of South America. The Forest Service has just issued 

 a circular (No. 211) in which the wood is described, and figures are 

 given to show the quantity used. The amount has been decreasing 

 (luite steadily for twenty years, due largely to the increased use of 

 concrete in construction. The wood weighs about seventy-five pounds per 

 cubic foot, and is sixty-flve per cent stronger than English oak. The 

 color varies from lirown to black. Iml usually is dark gi n. The circu- 

 lar was wrillen by ('. n. Mell and W. Ii, Brush of the I.'oresl Servic-e. 



Personal Appearance Counts 



One of the most important things for the yoimg salesman to learn 

 is that courtesy is an essential factor in selling merchandise. It should 

 constantly he borne in mind that every person who enters the store is in 

 a sense an invited guest, and should be treated as such. 



The personal appearance of a salesman has a great influence on th'^ 

 customer. Cleanliness, neatness, and the avoidance of extravagance and 

 display in dress should be the rule. 



The successful salesman is careful not to make promises which can- 

 not be absolutely fulfilled. It is better to lose a sale than to make 



the positive statement that goods will be delivered at a certain time, 

 when there is no certainty that they will be. The best patronage comes 

 from satisfied customers ; broken promises do not make satisfied cus- 

 tomers. 



While successful salesmanship is based largely on big sales, it is im- 

 portant that every visitor to the store be treated with equal courtesy, 

 whether a sale results or not. Bolite attention, interest in one's duties, 

 and care In waiting upon customers, are big factors in creating a favor- 

 able sentiment. It pays to please the person who is simply looking at 

 goods, because Ihe good impression created by courteous treatment in 

 showing goods will often lead the visitors to become a future pur- 

 chaser. 



A New Thing in Boxes 



The large percentage of lumber which goes into the manufacture of 

 wooden boxes insures the success of any idea tending to preserve the 

 life of wooden containers. A man at Wichita, Kan., is responsible for 

 the inauguration of a new idea in knock-down boxes. This box is made up 

 of sections accurately cut so as to fit together, and the idea Involves a 

 steel attachment which will hold the pieces together by slipping it over 

 the corners. This should mean that boxes would have a much longer 

 term of life inasmuch as instead of prying off nailed covers and splitting 

 the boards to pieces, it will be necessar.v only to remove the 

 attachment and the box will fall apart. Furthermore, the railways will 

 undoubtedly grant a concession in the matter of returning the empty 

 boxes packed together in sections, as they make such concessions on empty 

 beer boxes and barrels. 



Eefurns to National Casket Company 

 ■1. S. Hlckok writes from the office of the Fred S. Morse Lumber Com- 

 imny of Springfield, Mass.. that he is severing his connection with that 

 concern and w'ill again take up his former position with the National 

 Casket Company as manager of the lumber department. The National 

 company recently transferred the executive ofllces from New York to the 

 Oliver building. Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Hickok will have his headquarters at 

 that place and wishes it to be known to the trade that his office is always 

 open to his friends. 



Fighting Fire by Wireless 



At the recent forest fire conference at Seattle, which was attended by 

 western state delegates, members of the Forest Service, and delegates 

 from British Columbia, one of the most interesting topics discussed re- 

 lated to the possibilities of replacing the telephone and telegraph systems 

 by wireless, A representative of a wireless company explained the work- 

 ings of a proposed plant, and it was believed that apparatus that would 

 cover an area of from 25.000 to .3."). 000 square miles could be supplied for 

 about .$1.C>00. and could be carried by mules. 



Are Monkeys in Existence in Mississippi Forests? 



While it is generally supposed that the monkey family is confined to 

 tropical forests, proof of the falsity of this popular idea is found in the 

 photograph recently sent to Hakdwood Record by D. H. Williams of 

 Belzoni, Miss. A cut made from this photograph is shown on this page. 

 It may be that this is a fossilized physiognomy of a pre-historic baboon 

 who perhaps was caught out late one night and sought refuge in the 

 heart of the tree. .ludging from the terrorized expression of his face, he 

 spied a knot-hole in the morning and, in trying to force his way through, 

 got stuck half-way and has gradually turned into a petrified monk. .\t 

 any rate, judging from the ferociotis expression of his face, it would not 



BABOON FACE ON 



DOCWllUll BLOCK CUT 

 BELZOXI, MISS. 



BY D. 11. WILLIAMS. 



