HARDWOOD RECORD 



27 



sliould be a general uprising against tlie eiii- 

 ])liiymeiit of the present type of steel sleeping 

 and passenger car equipment. 



As before noted in discussing the subject. 

 Hardwood Becord would not lend itself to an 

 attack on steel car equipment for the sole pur 

 pose of attempting to increase wood eonsump 

 tion, and it would not continue this fight if it 

 did not believe the showing that has been made 

 against the dangerous and extravagant eharac 

 ter of steel cars was justified bv the facts. It 

 believes that these theses, published during the 

 past three months, present the actual facts as 

 they exist, and if one-half of these allegations 

 be true, the case against the steel car game is 

 fully sustained. 



The public, and especially the lumber mauu 

 facturiug and railroad public, shouM not fail to 

 recall the fact fhat several very iniquitous bills 

 are pending in Congress at the present time, 

 making it obligatory on the part of railroails 

 to employ full steel car equipment on their pas 

 senger trains within a very short time. An 

 organized effort should be made to have the 

 true facts of the character of steel ears thor- 

 oughly threshed out, and presented to Congress 

 in such a forceful manner as to insure thi- 

 defeat of these prospective pernicious enact 

 ments. Congress is again in session, and the 

 steel trust will leave no stime unturned, and 

 will not hesitate to spend every dollar necessary 

 to secure, if possible, the enactment of these 

 bills. It is time for a public awakening. It 

 is time that a well directed effort be made to 

 defeat this pending legislation. 



The fight against the steel car is but one of 

 the many necessary campaigns that should be 

 umlertaken bv lumbermen. 



STEEL PASSE.NGER CABS. THEIK 

 SAFETY DB.\10.N:iTUATBD IN A UE- 

 MAKK.ABL£ MANNEK. 



The cacape of the passengers on tbe ei- 

 urubi train wcckeu ou rima/ at Jioijuioutu 

 juu^tJun IB another atriiUlt couurmaiiuu ul 

 tbi- wisdom of toe poucy ut .maixiNli 

 Sit'ETl THE Klu.ii' C(J.>.->iUEKAiiu.\ l.^ 

 TUB EyUll-MENT OF PAsaE.NUKK 

 TRJl.NS. 



AUbougli tbe era of the steel passenger 

 car Is tut lo Its begiDnini;, and aitoouKh taere 

 are sllU some uiuot puinls iu design and 

 conalructlon. Ihc l.uiir-.\>E SUPKiiioKlll 

 of tb* all-steel couMtrueilon over either a.l- 

 woodea 'ir comhlued wouden and steel cars 

 lia^ iRCQ repeatedly deiuutistrated, and tboae 

 railroads wb.cb. like the i-ennsyivauia. are as 

 rapidly as possible sulistituting all-steel ears 

 on iDiportaul trains, loeal as uell as tniouub. 

 arc establisliing a practice which must cie 

 l.mg UEftl.ME INIVEKsAE IN AMBKICA.N 

 KAILRUAU PR.^CT1CE. 



Friday's experience was peculiarly instruc- 

 tlme. There have been some steel car traiuji 

 which have failed under such a severe tesi 

 IS that applied to them b) thu derdlluieut. al 

 bigb speed, of the locomotive at a cross- 

 • iver. anil there bave been cases also in which 

 the crumpling up of steel cars under tbe 

 impaet of a collision has been as disastrous- 

 Bavins uply the possibility ot tire— as though 

 tbe cars h;i(l been of wood. 



liut tbe I'pnosvlvanla cars iu this instance 

 WITHSTOOll THi: .SUDDEN STRAIN MAG- 

 NIFICENTLY, the track work giviuf way. 

 ■nbile the cars were almost undisturbed. 



The fubstilutioo of steel for the old type 

 «f wooden car equipment involves other con- 

 3ide:atioo< than those of car cost merely. 



in tbe case ot steel freight cars, the In- 

 creased capacity more th-rn overbalances th£ 

 locieased weight of the cars themselves; but 

 \vitb passenger trotfie there Is no sucb com- 

 peiisaling gain to offset tbe largely increased 

 defld-wclght per pasenger which has to he 



Uioveil. 



There is no doubt that tbe steel passenger 

 rare iucrease the cost 01 operation, but the 

 added security to life and the saving which 

 is effected la accident cous are ,he govern- 

 ing factors in determining the railroads in 

 adopting tbe more costly equipment. 



THIS IS A WISE REfOGMTION ON THE 

 PART OF THE COMPANIIS OF THE PARA- 

 MOt'NT Dl'TY OF SAFEGUARDING THE 

 LIVES OF PASSENGERS. 



It is tbe only <^udition under which mod- 

 em fast train service 'jught to be supplied. 

 and that the public is receiving this guar- 

 antee, without any other eitemal CT>mpul3ion 

 than that of enlightened self-interest, is one 

 of the encouraging signs of the times, and 

 which has always been the first cooslderatiou 

 of such great roads as the Pennsylvania. 



MEETING CYPRESS ASSOCIATION 



The Southern Cypress Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation held its semi-annual meeting in Savannah, 

 lia., on Nov. 28, with about twenty-five members 

 and visitors present. 



President Wilbert in his address greeted the 

 members by stating that this was the fourth time 

 in the liistory of the organization that it was 

 assembled in the eastern cypress country. He 

 felicitated the organization on its accomplish- 

 ments by means of co-operation. He stated that 

 the association had encountered new experiences 

 and had been called upon to deal with previously 

 untried problems during the past few years. He 

 stated the country with reference to its industrial 

 affairs is more or less hampered by the presence 

 of political agitation, and the uncertainty of 

 politics; that the fiscal affairs of the govern- 

 ment and the manner of their administration 

 Mi-e interlinked with the business of the country, 

 and when there is doubt all share it and enter- 

 prise accordingly is halted. 



He noted that time after time nil had seen 

 liow these recurring periods can be securely and 

 safely survived, but at the same time the country 

 seems to have contracted and to have become 

 confirmed in the habit of "holding its breath 

 every four years. ' ' 



Harry Hewes presenteti a report on the ' ' Util- 

 ization of Waste Lands,"' in which there was 

 reference made to the onerous taxes imposed in 

 Louisiana both on virgin and cutover lands. 



.\. T. Gerrans made a detailed report on the 

 .idvertising jilans contemplated by the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association, and also re- 

 ported the success of the cypress advertising 

 campaign. 





Hardwood Dimension Stock felii 



!,vn 



It is very safe to make the broad statement that there is no 

 feature of the hardwootl lumber business that presents more oppor- 

 tunities for development on a highly profitalDle basis than does the 

 production of dimension stock. The average lumber manufacturer 

 who has made tentative, unsystematic, irregular and minor efforts 

 to produce and market hardwood dimension material may take this 

 observation with a considerable grain of salt, nevertheless it is true. 

 There are plenty of reasons for past failures in making money out 

 of dimension material, and the principal one is that it has been 

 simply a side issue, usually with small manufacturers, who knew 

 little or nothing about the requirements of the finished material ; 

 who made it badly; sea.soned it worse, and then were disappointetl 

 in the price that could be secured for it. It goes without saying 

 that the better the dimension material produced, the higher the 

 jiricc that can be securetl for it. 



The making of dimension material is a trade — not a tliilicult one 

 to be learned — but still the making of it requires a good deal of 

 knowledge that is not picked up around the ordinary sawmill. Di- 

 mension production can not be successfully carried on as an incon- 

 sequential and half-neglected atljunct to a sawmill business. Pri- 

 marily it requires study to acquire specific knowledge of standard 

 sizes — of which there are hundreds — of dimension material of various 

 woods that have a ready market. Any man will go broke making 

 one kind of dimension material of any considerable size, and on 

 the contrary there is a handsome profit if he secures a line of trade 

 that will enable him to work up his stock into a variety of sizes. 

 It is akin to the fact that a box manufacturer would go into bank- 



ruptcy by making large pork boxes exclusively; the only suc- 

 cessful box manufacturer is the one who is enabled to work his 

 stock into a multitude of varieties of sizes. 



Beyond question there is not only a fair, but an extraordinary 

 profit to be attained in dimension production in a comprehensive 

 way iu any hardwood manufacturing trade center in the United 

 States, It is first necessary to be able to secure at a reasonable price, 

 not only the offal but the low-grade product of enough sawmills 

 to insure a source of supply for a comprehensive plant. Then it is 

 equally necessary to establish a market for a variety of sizes to 

 enable the dimension manufacturer to work up his product to the 

 best possible advantage. There is not only a good profit in an 

 undertaking of this kind, but such an extraordinary one as to be 

 several times as great as is possible of attainment in any hardwood 

 sawmill operation in the country. There is enough saving in 

 freight alone to insure two ordinary lumber profits in an enterprise 

 iif this sort logically conducted. 



The stock argument presented by many lumber manufacturers that 

 buyers are not willing to pay a satisfactory price for dimension 

 stock is all moonshine. Wholesale hardwood consumers for first- 

 class dimension stock will pay a price in excess of the present cost 

 of firsts and seconds of any kind of lumber that can be named. 

 However, they will demand first-class, clear lumber, every piece of 

 which can be worked without waste. Moreover, it is perfectly 

 logical to supply this kind of material at a handsome profit. 



H.ARDWOOD Eecord 's mail for several years past has been filled 

 with requests for assistance in establishing a source of supply for 



