HARDWOOD RECORD 



The report of the treasurer showed balance oii-4iand June 11, 1912, 

 $49.-Jl; receipts during the rear amounted to $593.75; disbursements, 

 $366.32; cash balance on hand is $276.9-1; to this can be added 

 accounts receivable amounting to $532. The report was referred to 

 the auditing co mmi ttee which later reported favorably upon it. 



C. E. Gorham of the Goshen Veneer Company, Goshen. Ind., deliv- 

 ered a strikingly vital paper on factory safeguards against accidents. 

 Summarized, the paper was as follows: 



In every factory there are some machines on which thn element of 

 danger of operating is greater than on others and the nature of the work 

 will not pprmit of guarding so as to absolutely prevent accidents where 

 the work is carelessly handled. The best safeguard in such cases is to 

 see that careful and competent men are employed to operate these ma- 

 chines and to prohibit .iny but the regular men to work on them. 



The manner of handling logs in the yard and in and out of the vats 

 varies to quite an extent in ditferput institutions. I think that better re- 

 sults are obtained by my company .ind the chances of accidents less by 

 placing the entire log in the vat with derrick, and after boiling or 

 steaming, removing in the same maner to the drag saw to be cut into 

 prope: lengths, rather than to drag saw first and then place the blocks 

 in vats as we used to do. 



I also wish to call your attention to the manner of placing blocks in 

 the lathe. Chere are several ways of doing this work and the most 

 dangerous one, seems to me, is the hand derrick or windlass, such as is 

 most commonly used for this work. My experience with the air hoists 

 have been very satisfactory and we have never had an accident in this 

 particular work since air hoists were installed in our factory. Several 

 accidents occurred, however, during the time we were using Ihe hand 

 derricks or windlass which might have resulted more seriously than they 

 did. We were simply lucky. I am not In a position to comment upon 

 chain hoists which are utilized for this work, having never used (hem. 



All belts which run from line shafts or counters to the floor or to 

 machines where it is necessary to pass them, should be protected with 

 wood or wire netting in a substantial manner. All clippers should have 

 a guard in front and I should strongly recommend that you issue a strict 

 order that two operators work at all times when these machines are in 

 use. one to place the material under the knife and one to remove the 

 clipped edges and stocli. The habit of one man trying to do both jobs 

 even for a short time may result in a loss of fingers. 



The practice of clipper operators cutting scrap veneer into small pieces 

 instead of Immediately getting rid of it as soon as it Incomes waste or 

 scrap is one that should be asolutely prohibited. With us more acci- 

 dents can be charged to this useless and unnecessary operation than from 

 any other one cause, and it interferes with getting legitimate work 

 through the machines. 



Hand planers should be fitted with safety cylinders and guards. Shapers 

 should also have proper guards, emery wheels fitted with safety collars 

 and goggles or eye protectors provided, for use when hard grinding is 

 being done. 



When electric wiring for power and light is installed in accordance 

 with the rules and requirements of the National Board of Fire Under- 

 writers, there is but little danger from contact except at switches and 

 fuse blocks. Knife switches and fuse blocks should always be placed in 

 c.nbinets with doors. A copy of the rules for resuscitation from electric 

 shocks should be posted so that prompt action can be taken in case of 

 emergency. ' 



Another matter I think worthy of mention and one that has been of 

 .great assistance to me in safeguarding our plant : I have made it a 

 rule to personally accompany inspectors for the state and liability in- 

 surance companies through our factory rather than to turn them over 

 to our superintendent or our foremen, and have alwaj'S profited by so 

 doing. 



Mr. Gorham was called upon to answer many questions propounded 

 by interested members. One man stated that ninety per cent of the 

 accidents of his plant came from clippers and saws and asked for 

 suggestions for some practical guards for these machines. Jlr. 

 Gorham suggested the difliculty of providing an efficient guard but 

 said that in some instances a bar of iron is employed in front of the 

 knife, allowing just room enough for the stock to pass through. 

 Many guards, according to the speaker, curtail the production and 

 are actually of very low efficiency. It was brought out in the 

 discussion that the chief difficulty in efforts to safeguard workmen 

 is in the attitude of the workmen themselves toward safeguarding 

 devices. They usually disregard them entirely where any inconven- 

 ience is encountered in working with them. Proper safeguarding of 

 the boiling vats seemed to interest most of the members present 

 particularly. All agreed that one of the essentials to accident pre- 

 vention at the boiling vats is to absolutely prohibit anybody working 

 around them who is not directly connected with that work. One 

 member employs an iron railing completely surrounding the vat. 

 which is high enough above the ground to roll logs under. Men are 



absolutely prohibited from going inside of this rail. At the log 

 outtake there is a similar railed passage and the men are further 

 provided with poles so that there is no danger of falling into the 

 tank if the regulations are adhered to. One member who is from 

 Kentucky reported that he got just as good results from steam as 

 from boiling water. He reported that cost is about the same. 

 Others, however, said that while steam is efficient in summer, it is 

 absolutely worthless in winter and that exceptionally poor results 

 were gotten from exhaust steam. 



J. W. Beiger, glue expert of Mishawaka, Ind., read an exceptionally 

 valuable paper on glue and its proper use and application in the 

 panel and woodworking industries. The paper is reproduced in full 

 elsewhere in this issue. Discussion following the paper, however, 

 proved pretty conclusively that the average panel man's idea of the 

 proper handling of his glue room to get out the most satisfactory 

 results at the lowest possible cost is rather crude. 



Henry Walscheid of the Veneer Manufacturers' Company of Chi- 

 cago, a prominent veneer jobbing house, read a paper showing the 

 jobber's view of the relation between the jobber and manufacturer. 

 Mr. Walscheid 's paper, which is published in full on another page 

 of this issue, proved pretty conclusively the value of the legitimate 

 jobber as distinguished from the commission man to the manufac- 

 turer. The sentiment which was brought out in the discussions 

 following iir. AValscheid 's paper was notably favorable to the jobbing 

 trade, considered as jobbers and not as commission men. One 

 member differed with Mr. Walscheid in bis assertion that the jobber 

 could often find a market for cut-downs, the speaker contending 

 that such stock is not marketable as it is in such a variety of sizes 

 that handling of it would not be profitable. Mr. Walscheid con- 

 tended, however, that if the manufacturer would state sizes which 

 he can furnish in this class of material, it could be successfully 

 handled through a jobber as this line of stock is usually bought on 

 long-time orders and there is plenty of time in which to accumulate 

 a sufficient quantity of it. 



One of the most profitable features of the meeting was a series of 

 talks on the log situation as it prevails in various parts of the 

 country. Members from different sections were detailed to give their 

 ideas on the condition in their territories. N. M. Willson of the Pearl 

 City Veneer Company, Jamestown, N. Y., in teUing of the situation 

 in his territory outlined specifications for logs which he buys, saying 

 that they take up nothing under fourteen inches and that they run 

 usually from fourteen to sixteen inches. JIaple is the principal wood 

 bought by Mr. Willson. He gave an interesting comparison of log 

 values prevailing fifteen years ago and now, stating that maple logs 

 which were delivered at that time for twelve to fourteen dollars, now 

 cost from eighteen to twenty-six dollars in extreme cases. Basswood 

 logs then delivered for twelve dollars now cost from thirty to 

 thirty-six dollars and can be had in small lots only. Eight years 

 ago, according to the speaker, all the logs that were required could 

 be drawn in in the winter on sleds from the surrounding country. 

 Now three-fourths of the stock has to be shipped in by rail, some 

 of it on as high as a five-cent freight rate, and the condition is get- 

 ting more difficult from year to year. 



The situation in the North, principally Michigan, as outlined by 

 A. E. Gorham of the Gorham Brothers Company, Mt. Pleasant. 

 Mich., is about the same as in New York state. Maple conditions 

 are approximately the same, although basswood is not as expensive. 

 Oak veneer logs now cost from thirty to thirty-eight dollars de- 

 livered. The situation, particularly in maple, is serious with north- 

 ern manufacturers of veneer. This condition is traceable mostly 

 to the fact that manufacturers of hardwood lumber throughout the 

 state are fully alive to the condition regarding hardwood stumpage 

 and are buying up every importaut hardwood tract which they can 

 get hold of. This necessarily means that the veneer man who can- 

 not afford to tie up his money in stumpage is up against it for log 

 supply. Mr. Gorham predicted that oak logs will be from four to 

 ten dollars higher during the coming year than they are now and 

 particularly urged that veneer and panel manufacturers fully con- 

 sider the unusual conditions prevailing in connection with stumpage 

 in marketing their finished product. 



