^I2I> 



History of Quarter ■- Sawed Oak 



It is probable that the present generation of hardwood lumber- 

 men, and even exclusive oak producers, scarcely realize that the 

 quarter-sawing of oak, to form a specific lumber product, is of 

 comparatively recent origin. For some years it has been a dis- 

 puted question who was the pioneer in quarter-sawed oak manu- 

 facture. Hardwood Eecord has taken considerable pains to gain 

 definite information on this subject, and it is only recently that 

 it has secured evidence that practically constitutes proof of the 

 origin of quarter-sawed oak manufacture, which for some years 

 has constituted such an important element in oak production. 



In 1871 there resided in the city of Boston a Mr. Thayer, an 

 Englishman, who rumor says drank himself to death, but he was 

 one of the best and most brilliant architects of his time. About 

 this time he drew the plans and made the specifications for the 

 building of the city hall of Providence, E. I., which still stands 

 as a monument to his talents as a designer of public buildings. 

 The question of the proper finish for this building coming up, 

 Mr. Thayer suggested that recently in England some oak logs, 

 both of domestic and Austrian growth, had been sawed into lum- 

 ber on the quarter, and that the result was 

 very pleasing, and he believed that American 

 oak would lend itself to sawing in this 

 fashion, with good results. Specimens of the 

 English product were obtained, and it was 

 decided to have oak lumber manufactured in 

 this way, with which to finish the building. 

 The firm of Morgan & Chesley of Providence, 

 now out of existence, received the contract 

 to supply the interior finish, and they trans- 

 ferred their order to J. L. Slocum & Son, 

 wholesale lumber merchants of Providence, 

 who were to secure for them oak lumber 

 sawed in this fashion. 



E. E. Slocum of J. L. Slocum & Son, inter- 

 ested Jacob L. Eumbasger in producing this 

 lumber for him. At this time Mr. Eumbar- 

 ger operated a small circular sawmill on 

 Beanblossom Creek, near Gosport, in Monroe 

 county, Indiana. 



Lawson Hancock of Gosport, Ind., who is 

 still living, and who in those days was a 

 cattle driver in the winter time, assisted in 

 bringing the oak logs down Beanblossom 

 creekj and in the summer worked in the 

 Eumbarger mill, trucking out lumber and sort- 

 ing it. He recalls very distinctly the date of 

 the first production of oak lumber by quarter-sawing. 



James M. Jones was the head sawyer in the mill. John Davis, 

 who still lives near Gosport, Ind., remembers one particularly 

 large oak tree that he sold Jacob L. Eumbarger, which formed part 

 of the timber that was sawed for the original Providence quarter- 

 sawed shipment. One plank from this particular tree was exhib- 

 ited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. 



B. F. Davis, who is also still living, remembers the initial saw- 

 ing of quarter-sawed oak in this section of Indiana, and says that 

 he was the inspector at the Eumbarger mill at that time, and tallied 

 every board of the shipment. 



The original deal made by Jacob L. Eumbarger for the quarter- 

 sawed oak was based on the methods prevailing at this day, i. e., 

 he sold J. L. Slocum & Son one car-load of the lumber as a sample, 

 subject to an order for what they required. After the initial car 

 arrived, he sold them a large quantity of this stock, and shipped 

 it to them during the year 1873 running along into 1874. Great 

 care was taken to secure the best white oak trees among the mag- 

 nificent growth of that region, and great pains were exercised in 

 sawing the lumber accurately. E. E. Slocum, the buyer of the 

 stock, was an authority on finishing woods at that time, and dur- 



ing his business career in Providence often pointed out the finish 

 in the city hall as the first quarter-sawed oak finish ever employed 

 in any building in the United States. It was years afterwards that 

 quarter-sawed oak was used in furniture manufacture. 



Undeniably Jacob L. Eumbarger was the pioneer producer of 

 quarter-sawed oak in the United States, and sawing it at his little 

 Beanblossom plant in Monroe county has since 1872 grown to con- 

 stitute an important element in oak production, and for this 

 method of oak sawing is obtained the highest price ever secured 

 for oak lumber. 



Incidentally, a few years ago the writer of this article discussed 

 the history of the early manufacture of quarter-sawed oak with 

 the late Henry Maley, of Edinburg, Ind., who later made many 

 millions of feet of it. Mr. Maley was not at all certain as to the 

 history of the inception of its manufacture, but stated that he 

 commenced manufacturing quarter-sawed oak in 1880. 



Ineideutally, Jacob L. Eumbarger, the veteran Indiana oak manu- 

 facturer, who retired from business some years ago, is now a resi- 

 dent of Philadelphia, and on January 18 next will celebrate his 

 seventy-sixth birthday. He is still hale and 

 hearty, and loves to recount his reminiscences 

 of early daj-s of logging and lumbering in 

 Indiana. 



Mahogany and the Sawmill 



JACOB L, EUMBARGER, 



The First Man to Manufacture Qiiarter^Sawed 

 Oak in tlic United States. 



Inquiry among furniture manufacturers dur- 

 ing the past season has developed a pretty gen- 

 eral verdict that there is more call for solid 

 mahogany in furniture now than formerly. The 

 verdict on the tendency of the trade to use more 

 sawed mahogany has received quite a striking 

 support lately from an advance bulletin on the 

 manufacture of veneers during 1910. This re- 

 port shows 8,773,000 feet of mahogany cut into 

 veneers during 1910 as compared with 16,067,- 

 000 in 1909. This is about half the product cut 

 in 1909 and cannot be laid entirely to the fact 

 that production was excessive in 1909 which 

 resulted in a lesser call for veneer cutting in 

 1910, or that there was less mahogany used in 

 1910. 



The mahogany trade in this country is steady 

 and constantly growing in volume. It fluc- 

 tuates a little from year to year and 

 although the government statistical experts sometimes do not get 

 a record of the trade, still it may be taken for granted that the 

 veneer statistics in 1910 were as comple'te as those in 1909. In 

 fact, there were more concerns reporting and a larger total quan- 

 tity of veneer manufactured, but great falling off was in mahogany. 

 This naturally leads to the conclusion that for the time being at 

 least mahogany lumber, the use of mahogany in the solid, is in 

 high favor among the cabinet trade. How long it may continue 

 this way is another question. Eight here might also be asked 

 how much of the veneer trade might have been saved and may be 

 regained by more attention to sawing mahogany veneer instead 

 of slicing or cutting so much of it. 



"While cut veneer is an excellent product, th&re is no question 

 in the minds of those who really know about the superiority of 

 the sawed product. It costs more money and some follow the 

 theory that the difference in cost outweighs the gain in quality. 

 However this may be, there is a fair gambling chance that if more 

 of the fine mahogany veneer were sawed the product would have 

 a better standing in the cabinet world and would command a 

 bigger place in the trade in competition with solid lumber. 



J. C. T. 



