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^ Traffic Conditions Around l^emphis -^ 



The transportation situation from the standpoint of hardwood 

 lumber iuterests is sliowing slight improvement with respect to the 

 number of cars available and distinct Ix'tterment so far as embargoes 

 are concerned. Announcement to this effect is made by J. H. Town- 

 shend, secretary-manager of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Asso- 

 ciation, who left Memphis March 19 to attend the annual of the 

 Nationfil Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association at Pittsburgh, 

 ■where traffic matters were discussed in a vigorous manner. 



While admitting slight improvement in the nimiber of cars avail- 

 able, Mr. Townshend made it quite clear that there is still a most 

 pronounced shortage of cars and that it will take some time liefore 

 the shortage can be removed. He said that the association had been 

 able, in the majority of instances where curtailment threatened 

 individual lumbermen, to secure the cars that were necessary to prevent 

 such a development. The assistant secretary has devoted, and is still 

 devoting, most of his time to this particular matter. But in Arkansas 

 some mills have had to close down and some others are threatened 

 with the same fate if cars are not secured very soon, according to 

 this authority. Mr. Townshend gained > this information through 

 attending the meeting of the Southwestern Hardwood Traffic Asso- 

 ciation at the Marion Hotel, Little Rock, Saturday, March 17. He 

 acts ill an advisory capacity to that organization, and on his return 

 to Memphis announced that the situation was such that a general 

 meeting of this body had been called at Little Sock, April 14, to 

 take such action as seemed worth while looking to relief. He l^elieves 

 tliat there will be a gradual return, following the definite settlement 

 of the threatened railroad strike, to normal conditions, but he laid 

 emjihasis on the word •" gradual ' ' because transportation conditions 

 are so unsettled and so disjointed that lie sees little prospect of any- 

 tliing but a slow recovery. 



As to embargoes, these are being raised rather more rapidly than 

 anticipated. Shipments of lumber are now permitted to practically 

 all points in Central Freight Association and Western Trunk Line 

 territory, while they are likewise being received for many points in 

 Eastern Trunk Line territory. Shipments may be made to Pittsburgh 

 for the first time in a long while, and deliveries are permitted to 

 points along the New York, New Haven & Hartford in the New 

 England states though they appear to be still barred to points on the 

 Boston & Maine. This means that the greater portion of the con- 

 suming and distributing territory is open to shipments of lumber 

 and that deliveries are possible if the cars can Ije obtained. Thus 

 lumber interests have swapped horses in midstream, exchanging the 

 lifting of embargoes for a shortage of cars, but they believe that tlie 

 situation as a whole is somewhat improved and are grateful for the 

 slight betterment thus shown. 



Secretary Townshend announces receipt of information from the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission at Washington indicating that the 

 proposed increases in reconsigniug and diversion charges, which were 

 to have become effective in this territory about April 1, liave been 

 suspended by the commission until .July 13. 



Mil-. Townshend also announces that the association will, through 

 its accredited representatives, appear before the Louisiana Railroad 

 Commission April 9 to protest formally against proposed advances 

 in interstate rates on hardwood shipments. Tliese have been announced 

 to become effective in practically every direction within that state, 

 and the association will do everything in its power to defeat the 

 proposed movement. 



The advance on shipments of hardwood lumber from Helena and 

 eastern Arkansas points, as well as from all producing points east 

 of the Mississippi, into Central Freight Association and Western 

 Trunk Line Tenitory, allowed by the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion some time ago, became effective March 16, despite the appeals of 

 the association to the carriers. The early effectiveness of these 

 advances caught lumdreds of cars of lumber, sold on the basis of the 

 lower rates, undelivered, and those who had to make -these shipments 

 on tlie basis of the higher rates will suffer heavy financial loss, although 



they are not in any measure responsible for failure to ship before the 

 advances went into effect. 



New Woods for Distillation 



The Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis., has published 

 Bulletin .508 which deals with the destructive distillation of certain 

 hardwoods. The purpose of the publication is to point out woods 

 for distillation which have not been generally used in that way. 

 Beech, birch, and maple have been the standard hardwoods in the 

 distillation industry; but, under the ■belief that there might bo 

 others of value, the experiments were carried out which are sum- 

 marized in the bulletin. The following table gives the yield of the 

 specified woods in alcohol and acetate per cord of wood: 



Species. 



Beech 



Birch 



Hir<J maple 



Whiteclm 



Slippery elm 



Silver maple 



Green, blue, and yel- 

 low osh. 



Black ash 



Green ash 



Chestnut oak* 



Tanbarkoak 



Black oak 



Swamp o&k 



Eucalyptus 



Yield of wood alcohol 

 (82 per cent) 



Locality. 



Indiana — 

 Wisconsin., 

 do.. 



Petmsylvania . 



Wisconsin 



do.. 



Tennessee and Mis- 

 souri. 



Wisconsin 



Missouri 



Tennessee 



Cahlomia 



do 



Louisiana.. 

 Calilomia . . 



Heart- 

 wood. 



Gallons. 

 U.S 

 8.3 

 11.8 

 10.2 

 10.7 

 8.5 

 12.1 



10. 1 



8.1 

 11.4 



Slab- 

 wood. 



OaUons. 

 10 9 



11.6 

 8.3 



11.5 

 112,8 



■I '°M 



8.3 

 13.2 



Mean 



heart 

 and 

 slab. 



Gallons. 

 11.4 



8.6 

 11.7 



9.3 

 10.1 



8.4 

 10.6 



112.4 

 8.9 



Yield of acetate of lime (80 per 

 cent. 



Heart- 

 wood. 



Slab- 

 wood. 



Pounds. 

 301 

 346 

 301 

 2S0 

 276 

 260 

 262 



284 

 (') 

 287 

 397 



Pounds. 

 335 

 355 

 2S4 

 290 

 263 

 219 

 235 



260 



Mean 

 heart 

 and 

 slab. 



Pounds. 

 318 

 351 

 293 

 2S5 

 270 

 240 

 249 



272 



"290 



'451 

 294 



Weight 



per cord, 



15 per 



cent 



moisture. 



Pounds. 

 3,785 

 3.600 

 3,875 

 3,060 

 3.330 

 2,880 

 3,960 



3,510 

 3,960 

 4,140 

 4,068 

 I 3,800 

 1 14,650 

 3,960 

 4,950 



1 liTa'S'ot chestnut oak the mean Is not the average, smce the slab represented mone runs than heart. 



In yields of alcohol per cord, the different species of ash, tanbark 

 oak, and eucalyptus are practically as good as beech and maple. 

 Chestnut oak, swamp oak, slippery elm, and white elm (heartwood) 

 did not compare so favorably with beech and hard maple, but all of 

 them except chestnut oak gave higher yields than birch. 



Tanbark oak, California black oak, and eucalyptus are the only 

 species in this group that gave as high yields of acetate of lime as the 

 standard species, although swamp oak and chestnut oak gave prac- 

 tically as good yields as hard maple. Tanbark oak gave a higher 

 yield of acetate than any other species so far tested. The remark- 

 able yield of acetate from California black-oak limb wood is due 

 in part to the very heavy wood. It must be remembered, however, 

 that commercially a cord of limbs would contain much less solid 

 wood than a cord of body wood and the yield would be reduced 

 proportionately. 



The setscrew is charged with having caused more accidents than 

 any otlier one thing in connection with machinery, yet there have 

 been quite a number, presumably, of safety setscrews invented, 

 patented and put on the market. Is it that safety setscrews are 

 not so serviceable and convenient as the other, or is it that the safety 

 ones are really not safe? 



Every bench saw should be fitted with yoke boxes, i. e., boxes 

 joined together and cast both on one piece. This insures their 

 being in line and stjuare and level with each other. The old way 

 of fitting up separate boxes for each end of the arbor is a bad 

 one, and should never be used, for they are hardly ever in line with 

 each other, and the result is that one or both boxes are hot aU the 

 time, and one always hot. These yoke fittings are now made by 

 every maker of woodworking machines, and their cost is so small 

 that they can be put on for about the cost of the labor for putting 

 in separate boxes. In case it is inconvenient to get the yoke boxes, 

 it is better to get a piece of' i/o-inch iron the width of the boxes, 

 fasten the boxes to this piece and bolt securely to the table. 



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