HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



The strougth of the car lies in its sill plattoi'm construction : and thus 

 fai' there has been no way discovered of preventing one car in an accident 

 from telescoping another, provided the conditions of the accident are such 

 as to make one car ride up over another. The case I have cited — of a 

 wooden car telescoping through a steel car — is in no way derogatory to 

 the steel construction ; but if the reverse had happened, people would 

 liave said that it was because of the wooden construction being weak. 



The explanation is that the under-framing of tile car is so strong, 

 eith<'r in :i wi'll Imilt wooden lar or a sled cai-. that the tn]! portion can- 



not possibly resist the telescoping under tlie conditions I have suggested. 

 The subway and elevated trains in New York have adopted an anti- 

 telescoping device which is very simple, and which I hope can be adapted 

 to steam railroad practice. If it can, it would go a long way towards pro- 

 tecting trains against the worst form of accident known. The writer (as 

 well as other railroad men) is working on this subject. 



Iloping the inf<irni;tIioii I have given you will serve your purpose, I ani, 

 Yours very truly, 



F. A. r)l-:l..\Nn. I'n.siilent. 



' < CT^;>^;A-tj:VA"jis;oa)^m!)ii^ii!:Jswttm)im;iitf^^ twtistyi^sty 



Tips to the Trade 



PILING MIXED LENGTHS 



Anyone in the hunber business will reudily admit the importance 

 of proper piling, and yet it is not an uncommon sight to see, in 

 the yards of some up-to-date millmen, lumber piles with rear ends 

 that are irregular and aWry. There is more of this ragged piling 

 of mixed lengths in hardwood than in pine, for the reason that 

 pine dealers usually trim all their stock to two-foot lengths, so 

 that there is not so much variety involved in sorting for length 

 to make even piling. Among hardwood mills, however, more care 

 is exercised in sorting, to have the longer length stock piled 

 evenly. 



In piling the shorter lengths, diffeTent sizes are often put in the 

 same pile, which causes some boards to project a foot or more. 

 This not only gives the pile a bad appearance, but exposes the 

 ends to the weather, and they become season-cracked, warped and 

 twisted and will droop in dry- 

 ing until the boards are badly 

 damaged beyond the inside pil- 

 ing strips. 



It does not seem to occur to 

 many manufacturers that it is 

 ]iractieal to pile short lengths 

 without making the back end 

 of the pile uneven. Sometimes 

 an effort at orderliness is at- 

 temjited by piling the longer 

 stock at the bottom and loading 

 the shorter pieces on it. This 

 may be some improvement over 

 indiscriminate mixing, i>rovided 



it is carefully carried out, and there are cross sticks and founda- 

 tion sills enough to support the piles, so that the short lengths 

 on the top will not cause the longer lengths underneath to sag 

 between the supports. 



It should be practical to pile short lengths, and even mix them in 

 the pile, and keep both ends of the pile straight. It is simply 

 a matter of care in building a pile foundation and using the 

 crossers in placing the lumber. The best plan is to make the back 

 a face end as well as the front and take the same care in making 

 it even. The foundation should be large enough to carry the 

 longest lengths in this mixed stock, and enough supports should 

 be provided for one under every tier of piling strips. The best 

 foundation would be concrete piers and substantial hardwood 

 timbers for supports. Concrete foundations are practical and 

 economical. 



It costs a little more to build foundations for this kind of work, 

 and takes a little more time to do the piling, but after looking 

 at a few ragged piles, it will not be hard to convince one that the 

 saving in lumber will more than offset the difference in cost. 



HARDWOOD YAED MACHINERY 



Neither the hardwood manufacturer nor the hardwood yard man 

 will be likely ever to use wood-working machinery as extensively 

 as the manufacturer or dealeT in pine. There is not the need for it. 

 Most hardwood lumber is better sold rough, for the reason that 

 it gives the consuming manufacturer the benefit of the freshness 



SIGGESTED METHOD OF PILING 



01 the face wood for tinishing, and often this amounts to more 

 than the additional cost of freight involved in shipping rough 

 lumber as compared to dressed stock. 



The hardwood yard man, however, often finds it advantageous 

 to use machines, but the usual equipment is not extensive. It may 

 include a trimmer, a rip-saw or side edger, or both, a double sur- 

 facer and a resaw with beveled siding attachment. Of course, if 

 one makes a feature of dimension stock, it necessitates additional 

 machinery. That, however, properly is an industry in itself, the 

 subject herein presented being machinery that may be used to 

 advantage in the hardwood assorting yard. 



Sometimes one machine, the trimmer, will suffice. It is much 

 better to cut off the bad ends of stock by passing it over the 

 trimmer before shipping, than to mark the size and leave the 

 trimming to the buyer. It malces the stock look better, and there 



is a saving in freight that will 

 often reimburse one for the ex- 

 pense of using the trimmer. 



It is practical also to employ 

 the trimmer to raise lumber to 

 a higher grade by trimming, es- 

 pecially if the lowering defects 

 are near one end. This method 

 of raising the grade should 

 make the trimmer pay a profit, 

 where there is enough work of 

 the kind to justify its use. In 

 rebandling untrimnied, small 

 mill product the trimmer is 

 especially commended. 

 There is some question as to the wisdom of trimming hardwood 

 lumber fresh from the saw — whether it would not be better to 

 season it before trimming. The best time to trim and grade, and 

 know that the work is finished, is when the lumber is shipping dry. 

 This will demonstrate the utility of the machine in a Imnber yard. 

 As a companion piece to the trimmer, the side edger or rip-saw 

 naturally suggests itself. It is not only a great convenience in 

 reducing stock to special dimension to fit some order, but it also 

 may be used as a means of raising its value by ripping off a defect 

 on the edge of a board. Besides, there always is some stock about 

 the yard that should be ripped and cross-cut to make it readily 

 marketable. Some of it becomes spoiled by season checks, or 

 from other causes until it has little market value; still, it may have 

 good material in it that can be worked out in small dimensions, 

 and made to bring a compensating price. 



An ideal equipment for hardwood lumber yards would be a 

 trimmer, swing cross-cut saw and a heavy type of rip-saw (a side 

 edger or a table saw with extension tables front and back to 

 support the stock). Such a rig would not be expensive and might 

 be located at a convenient jjlace in the yard, and preferably 

 driven by an electric motor. In the country yards, however, small 

 gasoline engines might be used advantageously. 



Where poplar, gum, or Cottonwood is being cut, and there is a 

 trade for bevel siding and other structural lumber, the yard 

 Tuachinery equipment may be enlarged to include a planer and 

 resaw. This would en.ible the y.ird man to make beveled siding 



