HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



In a leading article in tin; American Contractor, dated October 7, 1911, 

 entitled "Fire — A Crime," the following quotation is significant and is 

 typical of the constant and reiterated expression of statements of this 

 kind, both editorial and in advertising: "One more reform printer's ink 

 may accomplish and that is the correction of an ill that it has helped 

 and is helping along. Briefly : The one great measure of Are prevention 

 that all can understand Is that of not adding more fuel ; or in other 

 words, getting away from the wood habit. Today we can build, even 

 our homes, of brick, of fireproof tile, of concrete, we floor them with 

 cement or tile or composition, our doors and interior trim can be of steel. 

 Just as handsome as and far more satisfactory than wood. There is also 

 splendid steel furniture, and our decorations may be of color instead of 

 wood paneling and wainscoting— kindling for fire. To stick to the wood 

 habit is criminal. It will not l)e long before that is recognized and 

 prohibited." 



That the promoters of substitutes for hardwood products have been 

 quick to see the advantages to them in such editorial e.'spressions is 

 evidenced by the fact that one of the large manufacturers of metal doors 

 and interior trim has reprinted in full the article from which this 

 quotation is made, in connection with an advertising argument for metal 

 doors and trim as compared with wooden doors and trim. 



Great advantage has been taken in giving wide publicity to the state- 

 ments of former Fire Chief Croker of the New York fire department, in 

 which he says: "If I had my way about it I would not permit a piece 

 of wood, even the size of a lead pencil, to be used in the construction 

 or finish of any building in the United States exceeding a ground area of 

 25 by 50 feet or three stories in height. If there were still an absolute 

 necessity for its use, if it could not be replaced with steel, as it has 

 been in many modern constructions, it would then be well to attempt 

 to conceive of something better. I am opposed to the use of wood in 

 any form in fireproof buildings and the law ought not to permit its use. 

 Wooden floors, wooden window-frames, doors and casings burn and help 

 other things to burn ; wooden trim and bases burn — everything that is 

 made of wood burns and helps the flre to spread. Eliminate wood — 

 remove the cause and you have precluded the possibility of fires." (Mr. 

 Croker, since his retirement as Fire Chief has become president nf the 

 Croker National Fire Prevention Engineering Company.) 



In an advertisement by a manufacturer of metal substitutes for wood, 

 the burden of the argument is as follows : "Too often fireproof qualities 

 have been sacrificed » • • with wooden doors, casings, moldings, 

 sash, etc. : such a building is no more fireproof, so far as its tenants are 

 concerned, than if it were constructed entirely of wood." 



In another advertisement by the same kind of concern, is the follow- 

 ing significant paragraph: "The substitution of steel for wood in the 

 modern fireproof construction of buildings, steel cars, furniture, etc.. 

 has demanded an extreme of specialization in the rolling of shapes for 

 interior finishing." 



It has been conservatively estimated by competent authority that in 

 advertising substitutes for wood furniture, building trim and office equip- 

 ment, to architects alone, not less than .$50,000 per annum is being spent 

 and this is entirely in addition to vastly larger sums which are being 

 spent to induce the consumer to insist upon his architect specifying such 

 substitutes. 



In a publication called "Shop Notes Quarterly," we find the following 

 editorial comment : "In a concrete residence there Is little trim that 

 cannot be made better and cheaper of Portland cement than of wood. 

 The chairs, rails and picture molding can be made of concrete. The 

 trim around the windows and doors can be molded in metal molds as 

 cheaply as straight members. Even the wire molding can be done away 

 with and the conduits buried in the concrete partitions, walls, ceilings 

 and floors. Baseboards should be made of concrete, or el.se omitted en- 

 tirely, as they serve no useful purpose in a concrete building. Windows 

 may have cement sashes with wired glass and self-closing shutters or 

 self-dropping shutters of rolled up metal or asbestos. Metal furniture 

 may be used. * ♦ * The flooring need not be of wood. There are 

 many first-class non-combustible materials besides Portland cement that 

 will fill every good requirement of wood and still be fireproof." 



There have been hundreds of descriptions in news and advertising an- 

 nouncements in trade papers of all kinds, in the architectural papers 

 and In general periodicals reaching consumers, of large installations of 

 metal furniture for business houses, banks and Institutions, one of the 

 most notable of these haying been the installation of such furniture 

 made In the building of Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co., the great hard- 

 ware house at Chicago. 



I have here aside from my paper, gentlemen, a few more illustrations 

 to show you that our enemy is never asleep. I want to read you a 

 circular issued by the Illinois Commercial Men's Association of Chicago. 

 I only found this out last week. 



"No assessment with this mail. How about going Into the next conven- 

 tion with 100,000 members? It's the. easiest thing in the world If we all 

 pull together. We only need 10,000 more, as we now have over 90,000. 

 Just think, if each member would get one new member in the next two 

 months, we would close with nearly 200,000, and this is a splendid time 

 for a new member to join. 



"Two dollars (.$2) will pav 'nis memliership fee and carrv his insurance 

 to March 15th. 



"Now. all together for one grand rally and show the world what 93.000 

 hustling commercial travelers can do when they get started. Kindly make 

 an extra effort and send in as many new members as possible for 

 January 1. 



"By the way, we have just had an instance in the state of Louisiana 



in the last week of what the commercial travelers can do. The com- 

 mercial traveler has upset the ring in Louisiana within fhe last week. 



"There Is a bill before Congress prohibiting railroads from putting 

 wooden cars between steel cars in making up (rains. Get after the con- 

 gressman in your district — ask him to vote for the bill — tell him the 

 traveling men demand its passage. It's criminal the way they are mak- 

 ing up trains now-a-days." 



That is very nicely put up before these 93,000 members. He Is asking 

 every one of them to appeal to his congressman to knock out wood : 

 that is the sum and substance of It. 



George H. Holt of Chicago, chairman of the Insurance department of 

 the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association, made an address 

 which appears In the American Lumberman of December 23, 1911. He 

 says : "I want to call attention especially to the fact that it Is fire 

 insurance propaganda which is aggressively engaged in a campaign 

 limiting the use of lumber and lumber products, and to that extent 

 destroying the market for our products." 



I have here an advertisement of the Maxwell automobile which ap- 

 peared in the Chicago Tribune on Jan. 27 of, this year, which Is only a 

 day or so ago, gentlemen. It reads as follows : "Steel automobile bodies 

 were Introduced first by Maxwell In 1903. Today their use Is almost 

 universal. An excessive strain or accident which will break a wooden 

 body beyond repair will only dent a steel bod.v — and the latter can be 

 made good as new with little labor or expense." 



I call your attention to the fact that this is put in a black funereal 

 body, too — that means the death of wood, maybe. 



Here Is an advertisement of a gentleman that I think you all know. 

 It is the Parry Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis. He advertises 

 steel furniture. He says : "They cannot split or warp. They will never 

 open at the corners or show plugs. They will take a higher and more 

 lasting finish than any wood body ever built. The finish literally 'wears 

 like steel.' They do away with 95 per cent of the complaints you've ever 

 had or beard tell of when wood bodies were used." 



I tell you we are in the wrong business, gentlemen. Here is another 

 one which appeared In System for November, an advertisement of Merritt 

 & Co., of Camden, N. J. It is along the same lines exactly. It says ; 

 "All that was left of wooden fixtures after a fire in a fireproof office 

 building. A few dollars more in initial expense would have prevented 

 this loss by providing steel fixtures, yet every day others are making this 

 same mistake. Are you among this number, if so now is the time tc 

 reform. The next time you are in the market for fixtures of any char- 

 acter whether for office, shop, stockroom, storeroom, vault or factory use. 

 find out what they cost in steel before you order." 



I called your attention a few minutes ago to the fact that there was 

 one man in the furniture line who was doing his level best to advertise 

 and try to stop this metal furniture business — that is the Yawman & 

 Erbe Manufacturing Company of Rochester, N. Y. 



The last thing I picked up was something that probably a good many 

 of you gentlemen have seen. It appeared in the Evening Post of New 

 Y'ork of the issue of Monday. Jan. 15, 1912. Mr. Sumner referred to that. 

 The da.v after the Equitable fire, the metal people beat It to the newspaper 

 offices to get their ads in. 



Now the word "indestructible," gentlemen, is a word that they wiR 

 have to back out of one of these fine days. The Chicago. Milwaukee & 

 St. Paul Railroad advertised an indestructible all steel train and gave 

 illustrations of their interiors, etc. You have all seen the pictures. Why. 

 there was nothing indestructible about it. It is what they now call the 

 "patent telescope folding train." I have only one copy of the photograph 

 here showing how one of those trains looked after It folded up. but I will 

 be very pleased to show it to anybody who would like to examine it. It 

 is a pretty looking object lesson and shows what the train looked like 

 after the collision was over. 



Speaking about this Equitable fire. I was told only recently, within 

 fhe last couple of hours, that a New York Insurance man just last week 

 remarked, that had there been wooden and not metal girders In that 

 Equitable building, there would not have been any collapsing and conse- 

 quent loss of life. Now of course a man might say. "Well, is that true?" 

 The only thing that I can say in answer to that Is to refer him to your 

 Chamber of Commerce building right here in Cincinnati. That will 

 show you whether It Is true or not. 



Now the campaign of advertising that has been mapped out will be 

 handled by our bureau, and that bureau contemplates a regular follow- 

 up system to take advantage of the money that will be spent in the actual 

 space bought and filled with educational matter to reach the consumer. 



The point that I want to make is this : That part of the money that 

 we are asking you gentlemen and all other lumbermen to subscribe has 

 to be used in the establishing of a follow-up system to go around and 

 pick up the eggs that are laid, or the crop that follows from the seed that 

 is sown : and if we do not do that we had better stay outside of the 

 advertising game altogether. The cement people, I presume, have one of 

 the best follow-up systems, at any rate it is the best we have been able 

 to find. 



Here is a little squib that I have marked here to read to you : "Ad- 

 vertisers should use the papers their customers read rather than the 

 papers they wish them to use." That is a very Important thing. I do 

 not think that I could possibly show you the use or value of an adver- 

 tisement any more plainly than to read you just a few lines here witk 



