January 25, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



ter for your secretary's office to conviiiiic them of this fact. The interest 

 in the wood, created by space advertising:, must he followed by a cam- 

 paign of education of the intermediate handlers of the wood. With that 

 in mind w^e recommend that the secretary's office he allowed an appro- 

 priation of an amount not less than that appropriated for space adver- 

 tising, this to cover the expense of a follow up campaign as suggested 

 in his report — exhibits at building shows, pamphlets, booklets, traveling 

 expenses, etc. 



We strongly urge that a trip to the furniture exhibits held in Chicago, 

 Grand Rapids, and Jamestown every January and July be made by the sec- 

 retary. These exhibits, or shows, as they arc more commonly called, 

 forecast to a very large extent the styles and kind of furniture that will 

 be in vogue throughout the succeeding mouths. A careful study and anal- 

 ysis of the situation as found by him could be bulletined to the membership. 

 A service of this kind is worth a great deal to the up-to-date manufacturer 

 of gum lumber. 



In conclusion we wish to thank the board of directors and the secretary's 

 office for the hearty support they have given the committee throughout the 

 year. 



Proposed Changes in By-Laws 



The association then voted on the proposed changes in the by- 

 laws, these being read as follows by the secretary: 



In accordance with provision of Article 10 in our constitution, notice 

 is hereby given of the proposed changes in the constitution to be voted 

 on at the meeting January 20, 1917. The tirst change is in Article 5, Sec- 

 tion 1, which begins on page 6. It is proposed to change this section to 

 read as foUow'S : 



The officers of this association shall consist of a president, a first and 

 second vice-presidents, treasurer, secretary and twelve trustees. 



This change, if approved, increases the number of trustees from eight 

 to twelve. 



The second change is in Article 5, Section 3. It is proposed to atW the 

 following to Section 3 : 



At the annual meeting January 20. 1917, there shall be elected tour 

 trustees, to serve for a term of three years (this to comply with change 

 in Article .5, Section 1, which increases the number of trustees, from 

 eight to twelve). 



The above changes were recommended by resolution at our last annual 

 meeting. 



The third proposed change is in Article 4, paragraph 1, substituting the 

 following : 



There shall be an annual meeting for the election of officers and the 

 transaction of other business each year. The exact date and place of such 

 meeting shall be tixed by the hoard of directors and notice of such meeting 

 shall be mailed to each member of the association at least two weeks prior 

 to the holding thereof. 



They were adopted. 



The president appointed as nominating committee: E. A. Lang, 

 C, L. Harrison, F. R. Gadd. 



F. K. Conn is chairman of the figured red gum grading committee, 

 and reported that at the proper time his committee had formulated 

 and submitted to the National Hardwood Lumber Association proper 

 grading rules for figured red gum, and that these rules had been 

 adopted at the meeting of the National association last June. Mr. 

 Conn said that the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the 

 United States will take action on similar rules at its meeting in Cin- 

 cinnati this month. 



The serving of a buffet luncheon in the assembly room at this 

 time gave pleasant interruption to the proceedings for an hour or so. 



H. D. Tiemann, in charge of the kiln drying and other technical 

 work at the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wis., gave a very 

 interesting talk on the proper handling of gum in the kilns. Mr. 

 Tiemann made some rather radical suggestions. He reviewed some 

 experiments that were made on gum, first on air-dried stock shipped 

 from the mill in air-dry condition; second, on logs cut at the labora- 

 tory mill and dried there green from the saw. Some of this lumber 

 weighed as much as 6,000 pounds when it came from the laboratory 

 mill. The results were eminently satisfactory and hence, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Tiemann, there is no reason for not drying gum direct 

 from the saw, particularly as it has such distinct advantages. It 

 shows, when properly handled, less loss than when the stock is 

 previously air-dried. He instanced, however, as the requisite of the 

 kiln in which the lumber is to be dried that it have proper control 

 of circulation; proper control of temperature and proper control of 

 humidity. 



Mr. Tiemann said that his experimental results accomplished a 

 shipping dry condition in eleven days, and a kiln-dried condition 

 ready for use in twenty-nine days. The work eliminated entirely 

 ease-hardening and checking and resulted in no degrading whatso- 

 ever from checking. There was a degrading from warping of about 



2.5 per cent and the shrinkage amounted to about the same as in 

 air-dried stock. 



He presented a number of panels which had been shipped down 

 out of the lot kiln-dried direct from the saw about three weeks prior 

 to the meeting. These specimens and several boards which were on 

 exhibition made a favorable impression upon the lumbermen. 



Mr. Tiemann then explained the method of controlling humidity 

 and circulation by means of a spray of water. The kiln is started 

 in a high state of humidity, which is allowed to drop slowly at first 

 and then rapidly. The temperature, on the other hand, is low when 

 the lumber is first put in and is raised to 140° or 150°. 



Cupping of the lumber is gotten rid of entirely by means of live 

 steaming at about 180° for an hour or two just before the lumber 

 is taken out of the kiln. This also eliminates case-hardening entirely. 

 He suggested that if the lumber is case-hardened before drying, it 

 should be subjected to steaming process at about 200° temperature 

 for a day before it is put into the kilns, and that it is impossible 

 to dry the lumber without first steaming it after it is case-hardened. 

 Mr. Tiemann said that there is very little chemical change in kiln 

 drying on temperatures under 250° Fahrenheit. 



There followed various questions and answers and a discussion of 

 the various t3'pes of kilns, the final conclusion being that various 

 designs of kilns are adequate if properly constructed and if they 

 give the same possibilities of controlling humidity, circulation and 

 temperature. 



Mr. Tiemann said that sap and red gum required the same treat- 

 ment, but that sap has about 50 per cent more water. 



A prominent furniture man described his method of creating 

 circulation initially for the purpose of thoroughly heating the 

 lumber in the kiln, saying that his company has a process of its 

 own design; that a jet of steam passing up through the piles 

 answers the same purpose as the spray of water in Mr. Tiemann 's 

 process. This company has two t^^es of kilns and in its box kilns 

 which hold one ear of lumber, it has five steam coils. Gum is 

 started by turning on the first steam spra}', the temperature being 

 below 100°. When the lumber is thoroughly saturated with heat, 

 cold water is turned into condensing coils and the second heat coils 

 then started. The lumber is taken out at a temperature of about 

 160°, although it may be" as high as 200° at the end. He said 

 that in drying maple the best results have been obtained from 

 green lumber. 



John W. McClure reporting for the assessment committee, said 

 that all reports on stocks are not in and urged greater promptness 

 as delays in compiling stock reports hold up all the work of the 

 association, because it is impossible to arrive at financial standing 

 until it is definitely known what the assessment for the year 

 will be. He said that 1916 was the best in the history of the gum 

 industry but that the present year already promises to surpass it. 

 The association had in its membership last year forty-eight mills 

 with a production, of 179,000,000 feet. He said that the production 

 as indicated for the present year will be 50 per cent increase from 

 the forty-eight old members and that the probabilities are for 

 assessment on a total of 300,000,000 feet of gum.He said it was 

 the conclusion of the committee that the assessment of 12iA cents a 

 thousand be maintained, as the increase in membership would 

 greatly increase the revenues. 



On motion, the association formally thanked the membership 

 committee for its very active work. 



A very complete and comprehensive report with definite recom- 

 mendations by the cost accounting committee was read by F. R. 

 Gadd in the absence of Chairman Hoskins. This appears in full 

 elsewhere if this issue. 



C. L. Harrison gave a talk on the possibilities of foreign trade 

 basing his remarks on publications by the National City Bank of 

 New York. It developed that competent authorities reckon that 

 only four per cent of the total shipping facilities of the world 

 have been destroyed, and further that the population of Europe 

 has been growing in spite of the tremendous destruction of life. 

 It was moved that the circular from which Mr. Harrison took 

 some of his suggestions be reprinted and mailed to the members, 



