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HARDWOOD RECORD 



rigid." This is an important step in cane manufacture. 



The application of heat is an important element in the operation 

 of the cane maker. The same power which makes a crooked stick 

 straight is applied to make a straight one crooked, and the hard, 

 brittle stems of the bamboo, the partridge, and the Eajah canes, as 

 well as the various kinds of material obtained from Europe, where 

 nature has not provided any kind of knob or crook, are by the 

 application of heat curled into the necessary shape to form a handle. 



Large quantities of canes are made in England, Germany, France, 

 and other parts of Europe, where they can be made for less than 

 they can be manufactured in this country. For that reason the 

 United States imports many canes in the finished state from the 

 large manufacturers in England and Germany. France ships in here 

 very tastefully-mounted canes, and Gennany sends the best kinds 

 of ebony and painted canes of all sorts. For substantial and selected 

 class of canes the German manufacturer is noted, not only at home 



but in the foreign markets. Large quantities are exported annually 

 to North and South America, as well as to other parts of the world. 

 The following is a partial list of the woods now used for making 

 canes, classified according to their origin : 



Algeria — Olive, myrtle, pomegranate, ciirob, medlar, nrange and lemon, 

 eucalyptus, chestnut, cork, juniper, baytree. date palm leaf stalks, wild 

 bamboo. 



Tropical America — Pimento, coffee, llowered ebony, soapwood. briar, 

 supple jack, orange and lemon, yellow Sanders, myrtle, snakewood, black 

 lorek, gru-gru, wild bamboo, niob, greenheart. and sucupira. 



England — Blackthoi-n. oak, crab, warted crab, whitehorn. hazel, maple, 

 furze, ground ash, holly, hornbeam, birch, mountain ash. cherry and dog- 

 wood. 



China — Ordinary yellow-root bamboo, tonquin reed, Carolina reed, dog- 

 head cane, betel cane, whangee, whampoa bamboo. 



Australia — Midgen, Cardwell, Loya, bramble. 



Other kinds from the East — Partridge cane, Penang lawyer, Malacca, 

 Siak, Rajah, root rattan. Bakow (a palm), jungle (a- palmK ebony, 

 zephyr, chi-chi, teati-ee (not theat, ."ind .Assyrian thistle. 



\vi TOK>a4m:::)iW6i!;iTO!JMtiatJ5sti;it! ^^ 



Editor's Note 



The following communication is from a prominent eastern wholesaler, and contains an exposition of his views 

 on the question of co-operation as advocated in an address delivered before the recent meeting of the Hardwood 

 Manufacturers' Association of the United States, which address was printed in full in the February 10 issue of 

 IlARDWOOn Recokd. 



A few weeks ago at a lumber association convention a well- 

 known hardwood operator spoke on | ' The Co-operative Spirit. ' ' It 

 was a good talk in general, and some of the facts as presented by this 

 gentlemen were very true and the people at whom they were aimed 

 should take hint and mend their ways. 



In the second paragraph of this address, as printed in the February 

 10 issue of this publication, the writer enumerated a list of ills that 

 are felt by manufacturers in general. The present writer has been at 

 the manufacturing end of the game in past years and can fully ap- 

 preciate what the "co-operative" spirit would mean if rightly applied 

 to each and every branch of the business. But the trouble is that 

 unless it is adopted at each successive step of the trade-channel and 

 carried out by all, it will be useless to think of it. That is why all 

 co-operative schemes, or nearly all, have failed. 



After all, when we have a lot of criticism fired at us, the best thing 

 to do instead of "getting our fur up" is to investigate the matters 

 deeply and see if there is just cause for the kick. At the manufactur- 

 ing end in past years, before he became a wholesaler, the writer had 

 just as many troubles and was in hot water most of the time, and yet 

 nine-tenths of the claims were just and proper. The wholesalers he 

 found in general were a fair and high-minded lot of business men, 

 with much better and clearer ideas of merchandising and sales than 

 he had, and as a consequence the only just and proper thing to do 

 was to investigate and learn. The writer is not throwing this at the 

 gentleman named above, but is simply citing instances. Some years 

 ago — just to show how some mills handled their accounts — a certain 

 mill took an order and shipped a car to an eastern wholesaler — a man 

 of undisputable reputation. There was trouble on the stock on account 

 of inspection — :in fact, it was refused. The wholesaler, however, like 

 most of his class and with a disposition to help out on a car that was 

 badly handled at the shipping end, quickly passed it on to another 

 consumer and with but small deduction to the shipper. The latter, 

 however, went completely up in the air, so to speak — branded the 

 wholesaler as a robber and closed its books against him. Incidentally, 

 the wholesaler, with a view of bettering conditions for this mill, 

 made several suggestions as to the grade and the way it should be 

 put up for that market. If this were done, he said, a large and 

 profitable business for both could be built up. The changes necessary 

 were simply to ship in accordance with the rules. This showed a dis- 

 position to work along co-operative lines. Did the mUl profit by the 

 other's better ideas of merchandising? It did not. Now let's see 

 what happened further. 



The mill sold a similar grade to another wholesaler in that town 

 and the same thing happened, and for a third time the affair was 



repeated with still another wholesaler. Then the mill refused to ship 

 anything more to that market and branded the whole crowd with his 

 private unregistered opinion. In each case the fault was with the 

 mill. The grade was poor. The mill refused to acknowledge it and 

 would not even question its inspector. The wholesalers received 

 scathing letters in answer to their criticism. A manufacturer in any 

 other line of business would have immediately investigated at his end 

 and if wrong would have thanked the wholesalers for their criticism 

 and said that the trouble would be at once remedied and that he 

 would hope for still further business. Well, after some years of 

 trouble this manufacturer iro.s compelled to remedy his grades. This 

 example is an illustration of only one phase of the business. 



The writer of the article referred to states that there are charges 

 that even the organizations are dominated and run solely in the inter- 

 ests of certain big mills. It would not seem to the writer that such 

 a condition exists, although he is not in a position to take one side 

 or the other; but the remark above suggests a thought. It seems that 

 there should be a real school of training maintained by the associa- 

 tions. To go iuto the thought further it would seem that in such a 

 case there should be a chief deputy inspector for say quartered oak, 

 plain oak and gum ; another for birch, beech, maple and ash, and so 

 on, they all to be under the direction of the chief inspector, a man 

 who is unquestionably first in his profession. At least twice a year 

 all the inspectors of the association should be called in to the main 

 ofiice and thoroughly examined and drilled in any changes from the 

 rules in use before. If this were done there would be no cause to 

 complain against the association inspections, and it would be up to 

 every manufacturer to send his inspectors to be trained by the depu- 

 ties. Excepting from the most critical consumer, you would then 

 have no kicks or refusals based on the grade of your stock. Such a 

 step might also have the effect of effecting a unity of purpose between 

 the two associations, which result we have all been trying to ac- 

 complish for some years. 



To get back to a further discussion of the co-operative spirit — the 

 gentleman is perfectly right in saying that manufacturers should make 

 their own inspection rules. The wholesalers and consumers should be 

 left out of it. The wholesaler, unless he finances the mill, is in reality 

 but a factor of distribution. His suggestions, however, if practicable, 

 should be taken in account. The consumer should be entirely left out 

 of the making of rules for the manufacturers. Some grade that is 

 standard will fit his requirements, just as the gentleman suggests. 

 When there is a real standard of inspection rules there will be less of 

 a deviation of prices for all grades — provided the widths, lengths and 

 dryness as well as texture is the same or nearly so. This would redound 



