HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



Take, for examiile, the matter of thicknesses. If my information 

 is eorreet, it is not always possible to determine the dimension of 

 a panel or veneer cutting simply by looking at the specification under 

 which it was manufactured. In fact, I believe that you will agree 

 with me that in a good man.y eases stock is delivered which, if sub- 

 mitted to tlie acid test, in this case the caliper measurement, would 

 not come up to the mark. 



It is of Jourse true that in a great many cases thinner stock may 

 be delivered than ordered without making any difference whatever 

 in the service accorded the user. In fact, I have heard it stated by 

 those whose position in the trade gives them the authority of expe- 

 rience and conceded knowledge that it is entirely within the letter 

 of the law under certain conditions for stock not to be cut to the 

 precise measurement indicated, but that where another thickness will 

 answer tlie purpose, it may be shipped instead. 



Eight in the same line is the matter of sanding. Some manufac- 

 turers of panels, possibly most of them, deliver stock which, after 

 having been sanded, is exactly of the thickness which the consumer 

 specified in his order. Others assume that the dimension called for 

 meant before the panel goes through the sander, and accordingly 

 the stock actually delivered is a trifle under the mark. There cer- 

 tainly should be some definite understanding about this, not so much 

 that it makes any serious difference to the user, but in order that all 

 may compete for the business on the same basis. 



Suppose that it were possible to produce veneers somewhat more 

 cheaply by cutting just a bit thinner than would be the case if 

 one hewed absolutely to the line — what is the result? Does the con- 

 sumer lose anything? Hardly; for it is a truism that in the long 

 run the buyer gets just about what he pays for, whether it be a 

 suit of clothes or a glued-up panel. The result simply is that most 

 of those quoting on this business adjust their prices to the conditions 

 under which the goods are to be manufactured, and the only loser, 

 if there is any, is the man who doesn't understand the conditions of 

 the game, and who therefore bases his quotation on another assump- 

 tion. Why not let everybody understand the rules, and let everybody 

 adhere to them strictly? 



You have all read, in the days more or less distant and misty, the 

 fairy tale of the prince who was beheaded by his enemy while his 

 watchmen, the lion, the bear and the fox, were asleep. When they 

 awoke, the lion demanded of the bear why he had not done his duty. 

 The bear turned fiercely on the next, and asked why he had not 

 watched over his master. He in turn put the proposition up to the 

 next lower in authority, until finally there was no one left except 

 the poor little fox, who had to shoulder all the blame. 



A parallel to that story is given in the panel business rather fre- 

 quently. If the furniture manufacturer finds a piece of goods which 

 has developed a defect, he wants to know what caused it. His super- 

 intendent goes to the finishing department and calls on the men in 

 charge to explain what they have done to create the flaw in the furni- 

 ture. The finishers wax indignant, and declare that the panel man 

 was to blame. When the panel manufacturer is brought up on the 

 carpet he does the best he can to pass the accusation back to the 

 finisher, but in a pinch he can blame it on the veneer mill, provided 

 he himself did not cut the stock; while the veneer man's only chance 

 of escape is to pass it up to the Providence which provided the log 

 from which the veneer was manufactured. 



It is just possible that an improvement could be made in this 

 respect to the advantage of all concerned. The furniture manufac- 

 turer is not infallible, and his finishers are as likely as not to spoil 

 a panel which entered his factory in good condition. On the other 

 hand, it is within the range of possibility that something was amiss 

 in laying the work, and that it was the fault of the panel man. At 

 all events, when defects develop, it would help everybody, including 

 the panel manufacturer, to make an investigation as disinterested as 

 it is possible to secure under those always trying and irritating cir- 

 cumstances, to the end that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 

 but the truth, may be developed, so that the responsibility may rest 

 where it properly belongs. 



This may sound like a quixotic suggestion, but it is my humble 

 opinion that the whole trade would benefit .from a calm and thorough 



investigation of such problems when they turn up. In spite of the 

 great progress made in the veneer and panel business, nobody yet 

 knows it all, and such studies are bound to result in the development 

 of facts that will be valuable to everybody concerned. 



We have been considering the consumer as the manufacturer of 

 goods in which veneered work plays a part. Let us give attention 

 for a moment to the final arbiter, to whom has been applied the 

 rather apt title of "the ultimate consumer." After all, in spite 

 of the fact that the veneer and panel manufacturer does not come into 

 immediate contact with him, he is an important factor, and his atti- 

 tude on any question should be taken into account. 



Many panel men believe that the public at large understands and 

 appreciates the value of veneered products. I may be greatly mis- 

 taken, but it is my own opinion that the average citizen, including the 

 average purchaser of furniture, has a misconception of what veneer- 

 ing is and its relation to solid work. This misconception, if I may 

 be permitted to say so, is emphasized by the fact that many of the 

 manufacturers who use soUd lumber in making their goods label the 

 latter as such, thus creating by implication the belief that the 

 veneered article is an inferior product. 



In view of the fact that fully ninety per cent of the furniture sold 

 today is veneered, is this not an intolerable condition? Ought not 

 the furniture manufacturer be sufficiently convinced of the merit of 

 built-up panels to be willing to stand by them to the point of 

 explaining to the buyer why his goods are veneered and wherein lies 

 their superiority? Should not the panel manufacturer be sufficiently 

 broad-minded to assist in this campaign of education, to the end 

 that ho may increase and broaden the market for his product, and 

 enable it to be sold under more favorable conditions than at present? 

 These are big questions, and it would be improper for me to enter 

 into a discussion of them. As a suggestion which I think is worth 

 considering, however, the manufacturing consumer and the ultimate 

 consumer, with the aid and assistance of the panel trade, should 

 get closer together on this proposition, so that the veneered article 

 shall stand on its own merits, and sell, not in spite of, but because 

 it is veneered. 



The interests which the national association represents is a splen- 

 did, expanding and worth-while section of the wood-working industry 

 — one which taxes the mind, the patience and the bank account of 

 every member. As Paul exclaimed of Eome, "I am a citizen of ao 

 mean city," so can the veneer and panel manufacturer properly 

 assert, ' ' I am a member of no mean calling. ' ' 



The harmonious efforts of all the members of the trade, along with 

 frank and friendly co-operation with consuming manufacturers, will, 

 I am convinced, solve whatever problems yet remain unanswered. 



Wood Distillation 



According to the report of the Department of Commerce and Labor, 

 one hundred and forty-seven establishments engaged in wood distilla- 

 tion during both 1909 and 1910, against one hundred and thirty-one 

 institutions in the two previous years. The total reported quantity 

 of wood consumed during 1910 was 1,450,139 cords, an increase of 

 14.6 per cent over 1909 and 43.3 per cent over 1908. 



Of the plants engaged in operation during 1910, one hundred and 

 seventeen were engaged in the distillation of hardwoods, chiefly 

 maple, beech and birch. The quantity of hardwoods consumed during 

 the year was 1,257,997 cords or 86.7 per cent of the total of all the 

 woods consumed in distillation. While operations in hardwood dis- 

 tillation were carried on in fifteen states, Michigan, Wisconsin and 

 New York ranking in the order named, Michigan consumed 41.2 per 

 cent of the total wood utilized. About sixty per cent of the hardwoods 

 consumed as materials in the making of wood alcohol, acetate of lime 

 and charcoal was in the form of body wood, and approximately thirty 

 per cent came from limbs, the remaining ten per cent being iu the 

 form of sawdust, slabs and other mOl waste. 



There were thirty establishments during 1910 engaged in the dis- 

 tillation of softwoods, chiefly yellow pine, with smaller quantities of 

 Norway pine and Douglas fir. Softwoods form a comparatively un- 

 important part of the wood distillation industry. 



