36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



The posts and ribs of the framework vary in size ami the slats are 

 usually five-sixteenths of an inch by one and one-half or two inches. 



For the panels of the wood tops and bodies of these light machines 

 poplar comes into play. As with all other materials used in such 

 work only the best gi-ades have any call, the usual material beinj; 

 good yellow poplar for this purpose. The panels are solid, as a rule, 

 tliough veneered work is sometimes used. "Blue poplar" was at one 

 time attempted, but it was found that it wonld not stand painting :is 

 well as the better gi-ade, and this quality of taking paint well is a 

 prerequisite for the side panels of delivery trucks, which must have 

 a regular carriage finish. The side panels are protected from direct 

 contact and pressure from within by an inner frame,, usually or'asii. 



The machinery necessary in the manufacture of truck bodies is 

 similar to that used in a wagon factory. Among them might he 

 mentioned the mortising machine, tenoning machine, Universal wood- 

 worker, variety saw, thirty-inch planer, boring machines of various 

 sizes and cross-cut and rip saws. 



The raw material usually comes to the factory in the shape of tlie 

 rough lumber from the mill, which is stacked in the yards for sea- 

 soning. Some manufacturers, however, have something to learn about 

 the care of high-grade lumber of the sort required in this industry. 

 An instance is related of a prominent maker of bodies who stacked a 

 large shipment of quarter-sawed white oak in his yard without propi-r 

 protection and was compelled to charge the price of the greater part 



of it to experience when he found tliat it was ruined by checking 

 and splitting. 



This sort of thing is not commuu, however, as most of the men who 

 aj-e branching out into the business of making trucks have had enough 

 experience with lumber to know how it should be handled, especially 

 when their judgment is whetted by the pajinent of the good round 

 prices demanded for the sort of stuff that must be used. 



As the advertisement of one of the largest makers cf |>ower trucks 

 declared recently, there will be a hundred of these within a year o- 

 two where there are five now. If this is true — and the increasing use 

 of such vehicles by progressive concerns in every business would 

 seem to indicate that it is — the hardwood mills will be called upon to 

 supply a vast quantity of the better grades of white oak, ash ami 

 poplar, and forests of second-growth hickory wUl be needed for the 

 stout wheels on whicli the immense burdens of every branch of com- 

 merce will be carried. 



Where now there arc small shops, turning out a truck or two i 

 month, as a sort of experimental side-line, there will be great facto- 

 ries, with an output running into scores and hundreds a day, and 

 the mills must be prepared to meet increasing calls from such quar- 

 ters in the very near future. 



H.^RDWOOD Becord is indebted t() the Longest Brothers Company 

 and tlie Kentucky Wagon Manufacturing Company for the informa- 

 tion contained in this article. 



\w)iiaM«^M«aOTtm^iiM:>itymtm;^^ 



Superiority of Wooden Filing Cabinets 



Early in the morning of Oc- 

 tober 10 last, a disastrous fire oc- 

 curred at the Hotel Utica, Utica, 

 N. Y. In the automobile club- 

 room connected with the hotel 

 were several wooden filing cabi- 

 nets and one or two of steel. 

 As a result of the fire the steel 

 cabinets were absolutely demol- 

 ished and their contents totally 

 destroyed. On the contrary, the 

 wooden filing cabinets were 

 burned only on the outside, the 

 veneering peeled in places, but 

 the cores were left intact. The 

 contents of the wooden cabinets, 

 which contained valuable letters 

 and papers, were practically un- 

 injured save being a trifle wet 

 from the fierce onslaught of the 

 fire hose. 



Accompanying this article is 

 a picture of a section of these 

 wooden cabinets, from the frames 

 of which quite a number of the 

 drawers had been removed be- 

 fore the photograph was taken 

 It shows better than any text can 

 tell the splendid way in whicli 

 these wooden cabinets protected 

 their contents in this fire. 



The makers of this wooden equipment advise H.\kdwood Kecoi.ti 

 that they are pleased with the way their mahogany units with- 

 stood the fire, that hardly a just comparison could be made be- 

 tween them and the steel cabinets, because the steel cases in the 

 fire were of a thin sheet metal, and not of a very high-type. 

 These went absolutely to pieces, including the contents, while in 

 many cases the wooden cabinets charred almost through, preserved 

 their contents perfectly. 



WOODEN FILING CABINETS 

 TENTS DURING DISASTROUS 



In another letter from the 

 same source, the writers allege 

 that they have made exhaustive 

 investigation into the relative 

 merits of wood and steel filing 

 cabinets, and are producers of 

 l)oth. They believe that "for 

 certain purposes steel is a bel- 

 ter equivalent than wood, al- 

 though we do. believe that many 

 people err greatly in assuming 

 that steel in itself is fireproof. 

 We have every expectation that 

 the sensible and legitimate de- 

 mand for steel furniture will in- 

 crease, although we hope the pub- 

 lie will come to realize that it is 

 not ideal for all purposes." 



This perhaps is a very fair 

 statement of the situation from a 

 manufacturer of steel furniture, 

 and as a matter of fact is un- 

 usually fair. The public gener- 

 ally does not differentiate be- 

 tween fireproof, fire-resisting and 

 non-combustible qualities. People 

 should comprehend this most 

 simple proposition: wood is not 

 non-inflammable, it is a remark- 

 ably slow conductor of heat and 

 steel is non-inflammable, but by 

 reason of its conductivity of heat will not of itself give fire pro- 

 tection to the contents of filing cabinets, desks and similar furni- 

 ture unless it has hcdlow walls, like a fireproof safe, in which is 

 packed fireproof material. 



For a generality of purposes, for filing cabinets, desks, and 

 kindred furniture, wooden furniture is infinitely superior to any 

 steel equipment that has yet been devised, and the cost is very 

 much less. 



WHlLil llifc.sKUVED THEIR CON- 

 FIRE HOTEL UTICA, UTICA, N. T. 



is fire-resisting. On tlie contrarv 



