34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the Committee on Market Conditions, -who stated in his report that 

 there were less Xo. 3 common stocks, total and cut, than at any 

 corresponding period since 1907. Hemlock stocks are lighter than 

 a year ago, and the prospect for better prices and business in this 

 wood is bright. Beech is especially strong, stocks being low. 

 Birch, ash, basswood and rock and soft elm are in about the same 

 situation as they were two years ago. 



Discussions of the proposed workmen's compensation ami cor- 



poration tax laws resulted in referring the matter to the Commit- 

 tee on Legislation. The hemlock inspection service was discon- 

 tinued and the secretary was instructed to obtain from rail ship- 

 pers of this wood information on uniform grades. The forest fire 

 conference was postponed until the January meeting. 



To create a fund for association expenses for the remainder of 

 this year, and the coming year, an assessment of two cents a 

 thousand feet was levied on hardwoods shipped the last year. 



Ti j«og*:aa^-W^:;«>syi\:i?a>y,^>5tfMy6B^M^ 



Real vs. Pretended Wood Substitutes Q 



METAL AUTOMOBILE BODIES 

 Jn pul)lisliiug these theses on the varyiug merits of wood \ s. 

 wood substitute materials, it is the intention of Hardwood Record 

 to discuss the matter fairly and dispassionately, and not to attempt 

 to present arguments in favor of wood or wood utilization where 

 other materials are basically and economically better. The man 

 who would argue in favor of railroads returning to wood and steel 

 strap rails in lieu of steel rails would have no standing in the 

 court of public opinion, and should not have, because it is self- 

 evident that the modern steel rail is not only infinitely better, but 

 present railroad transportation would be utterly impossible to 

 handle by original pioneer methods. Anyone who would favor a 

 return to plank sidewalks in exchange for those of modern con- 

 crete would be laughed at. In short, there are many instances 

 where wood very properly has been supplanted by other and better 

 materials for specific purposes in many lines of utility. 



Right now there seems to be a positive craze in the public mind 

 for "change," and many of these innovations are proving not 

 only disastrous, but extravagant; many substitutes are proving 

 to have little value in comparison with the materials formerly 

 used. Alleged fireproof materials of many kinds have proven fail- 

 ures. The much touted safety -pretense of all-steel car construction 

 has proven a fallacy. Concrete dams have come to grief and en- 

 tailed much loss of life. Paper containers for shipping goods have 

 proven to be an extravagance. The value of thin metal doors, 

 interior finish and furniture is highly conjectural. 



The superior utility of wood for hundreds of uses as demon 

 strated bj' the experience of centuries is giving place to an extent 

 to the undcmonstrated qualities of substitutes based entirely on 

 their theoretical value. In many cases these theories h^ve proven 

 faulty, unwise, extravagant, and in some cases extremely haz- 

 ardous. 



A shining example of wood substitution, which apparentl}- has 

 little merit, and which presents specious claims of superiority, 

 is the manufacture of metal automobile bodies, — an attemjit on 

 the part of automobile manufacturers to supplant wood automobile 

 bodies, and notably the panels thereof — with steel and aluminum. 

 The story surrounding this change in the type of both open and 

 housed automobile bodj' construction is a long one, and will not 

 be fully covered in this article, save in a general way. 



The automobile industry has had a most remarkable develo|i 

 ment in the United States. The number of establishments en- 

 gaged in the manufacture of these vehicles increa.sed from fifty- 

 seven in 1899 to three hundred and sixteen in 1909, an increase of 

 4.54 per cent in the ten-year period. The increase since that date 

 .shows about the same ratio, and is jihenomenal as compared with 

 the growth of any other American industry. Of the three luindred 

 and sixteen establishments in existence in 1899, two hundred and 

 sixty-five produi:ed automobiles as their main product, wliilc fifty- 

 one produced them as ;i side line. 



The last census report shows an annual value of automobiles 

 produced in 1909 of nearly ili200,0r)0,000; Michigan was and still 

 remains the largest producer, with a credit of about twenty per cent 

 of the total; Ohio, second in importance; Indiana, third, and New 

 York, fourth. 



.\ striking fact noteil iii the dcvclo|imcnt of tin' autniiujlpilc 



industry js that it has shown murked prominence in states where 

 previously the carriage and wagon industry was of paramount 

 importance. The inference is that these states were equipped 

 with the necessary skilled labor, thus giving the automobile indus- 

 try an advantage and an impetus not enjoyed by other states. In 

 1909 the total output of automobiles was approximately 125,000, 

 while the current year will show an output in excess of 200,000. 



Perhaps in no other industry in the United States has there ever 

 lieen such a trend towards specializing as in the manufacture of 

 automobiles. Very few alleged automobile makers make auto- 

 mobiles. These institutions are strictly assembling plants, which 

 purchase finished parts, made by scores of other establishments 

 either as chief or minor production, and put them together in the 

 form of automobiles. Of this element there are foundries, machine 

 shops, wheel works, body builders, rubber goods manufacturers, 

 top makers, lamp makers, speed and distance recorder makers, 

 horn makers, electric battery makers, gas tank makers, and acces- 

 sory makers without end. For example, one allied institution is 

 authority for the statement that it has the capacity and orders 

 on its books for the production of 40,000 automobile bodies during 

 1911. 



The autonidhile body maker has grown up out of the carriage 

 manufacturing industry. These people were the experts who knew 

 how to handle wood and put it together in the best possible form 

 to produce a satisfactory, lasting and first-class body. For several 

 years, supported on a steel under-frame, wood bodies for both 

 open and closed type of automobiles were made exclusively on a 

 wooden framework and covered with wood. This wooden frame- 

 work was made up of white ash, poplar, rock elm (sometimes a 

 small proportion of maple, chestnut, black walnut and other 

 woods), but the paneling and outside work was invariably made 

 from yellow poplar. One particularly necessarj' item for the 

 making of wood bodies was wide panel stock, taking the very 

 irciim (jf the best poplar timber growing in the United States. 

 The demand required both width and high quality in the same 

 jiiece of lumber, and manufacturers of this wood catered to this 

 demand, and did their best to supply the totality of the autonio 

 bile makers' wants. A large quantity of poplar production is 

 dependent to a large extent on mountain stream log deliveries, 

 and in 1909 a paucity of rainfall held up large stocks of poplar 

 timber in the upjjer streams, and the deliveries of logs were com- 

 paratively small, thus holding down the lumber output. Following 

 this temporary decline in poplur inn.Uii'tion came a wonderfully 

 increased demand for wide poplar from automobile body makers. 

 Certain manufacturers apparently concluded to corner the market 

 on this class of lumber and offered prices for it that were in 

 excess of any sum th.it had previously been demanded by lumber 

 manufacturers. These buyers in some instances took the stock 

 green from the saw, which made the business a very desirable 

 one for lumbermen. Naturally the price of poplar rose to what 

 was considered an extravagant jirice; and it was also figured by 

 some that it was going to be impossible to supply the totality of 

 automobile panel wants from this kiml of wood. 



Experiments with other varieties of wood not proving satis- 

 factoi'v. a\il(imobile makers cast alinut for a substitute material 



