HARDWOOD RECORD 



37 



It is time for some set of men to lake tlic le.ul aiul fliow tbis 

 situation to the lumbermen, and aslv tluMii to remcly it. At any 

 rate sueh conditions have juit at least one firm in surh a position 

 that it must go to manipulating or else it i-annot, .under present 

 trade conditions, make a profit on the business it handles, that 

 justifies the energy and capital invested. We are not growing 

 either wings or horns, and we haven't yet decideil to go to 

 grafting. 



For a moment T want to go into the manufacturing end. I have 

 had experience under conditions of climate, weather, laclv of 

 etficient help, and every hardship that a man could struggle with, 

 probalily as strenuous as the most of you, and I know that there 

 are many operations running today-, that if the stumpage were 

 given to the operators they would have to make a hard struggle 

 to make a dollar out of the undertaking under existing conditions. 



We are all naturally optimistic, or we would never have gone 

 into the hardwood industry. We have cried our wares in put lie 

 and on the street. We were not much heard of in jiublic until 

 we began riding in a Pullman car, .Tnd in doing so came in con- 

 tact with politicians and newspaper men. Through their kindness 

 we have succeeded in educating the average citizen wrongfully 

 regarding many features of the lumber industry. 



As a matter of fact, since the beginning of the hardwood in 

 dustry. which I consider dates back about fifty years, when we 

 started out lumber was largely hewed out with an ax. Some 

 twenty-five years ago the business developed into a trade, and 

 now is fast becoming a science. 



There have been not more than one hundred individuals in the 

 manufacturing and wholesale merchandising ends, who, for their 

 life's struggle, can show net j)rofits of $300,0(10 and upwards made 

 out of the hardwood industry. You must take the whole field 

 from Boston to New Orleans, thirty-three per cent of these have 

 made every dollar they have from the enhanced value of stumpage, 

 that they had bought at least five years prior to the date they 

 sold the manufactured product, and fifty per cent of the thirty- 

 three per cent, if they had to buy their stumpage the year they 

 sold the lumber at the prices paid by their competitors, would not 

 have one dollar today. Another thirty-three per cent of the 

 hundred have made their money by being master merchants from 

 every point of view; the other thirty-three per cent have made 

 their money by exacting from the mills one grade, sending it 

 through a yard and paying $2.50 yardage and inspection and then 

 sending it out on another grade. In other words, they have made 

 every dollar they have through manipulation. It is not only the 

 public who overrates the industry, but the members of it. 



We seemingly are inclined to fool ourselves into the idea that 

 we are making money when we largely are only earning interest 

 on our capital and a little extra through strenuous etforts. We 

 generally find ourselves with so many details that we haven 't 

 time to study and banish all leaks of time, expense and profits. 

 For instance, if we were to take up the photographer's business, 

 we would be failures of the rankest kind because we hadn't sense 

 enough to destroy our poor negatives. If we would send one of 

 our clients a pihotograph of himself in harmony with what we will 

 actually load up on wheels, in our business, and expect to retain 

 his trade and friendship, we would be taken before the probate 

 court and examined for lunacy. We must destroy all poor nega- 

 tives in the lumber business. We must do a work of supervision 

 and education on the fundamental features of our industry, and 

 cut down our costs. We must do this by act and by advertising, 

 and teach the public that we are not a lot of Tripoli pirates. 



The writer as a boy learned the hardware business. There the 

 same number of woodscrew is identical in size and construction, 

 whether it be bought in Maine or California. I realize that that 

 measure of exactness cannot be maintained in lumber standards, 

 but I do insist that if we go at it in earnest, the inspectors can 

 be kept within five per cent of what the rules call for, and if 

 this be done the cost of merchandising lumber will be cut in half, 

 and the man who wants to do an honest lumber business will have 

 a reward for his efforts and his capital. 



1 am frank enough to say to you that I have been in the lumber 

 business twenty-one years, during all of which time the eternal 

 kick question has cost me happiness, as I am either strong eno.igli 

 or weak enough — which ever you may class it — to feel very lailiv 

 and melancholy. 



When I go to a friend's office and tell him 1 will shiji him 

 exactly what the rule calls for, and then ilesignate to some mill 

 that has an inspector who is incompetent or worse, and he leads 

 out sixty-six per cent other than what my order demands, I am 

 sensitive enough to think that that man will forever think that 

 I am an absolute fool or a knave in business. 



All that 1 have referred to here is what is making the cost of 

 merchandising Inmlier today fully one hundred per cent more 

 than it ought to be, and more than any other line of industry that 

 is unprotected by patents can stand. 



Another feature that I might call attention to is the infernal 

 practice of mills, dealers and irresponsible bureaus sending out 

 fictitious figures on paper, pretending to be a firm offer at the 

 market value for lumber named or representation of the market 

 values in the district mentioned. I won't take your time to listen 

 to the details on that subject, only I am here to say to you that 

 that feature of our business is rotten, and should lie discontinued 

 and suiipresscd. 



Wood Used in Artificial Limbs 



The manufacture of artificial limbs and crutches has become 

 a considerable source of consumption for several kinds of hard- 

 woods. While the industry is not of much relative importance, 

 as compared with other wood consuming lines, numerous concerns 

 are turning out their products in various jiarts of the countrv. 

 In Chicago there are nine establishments of this character, their 

 yearly production being 4,200 artificial limbs. 



Red willow of the best grade obtainable is the only lumber used 

 for this purpose. It is bought in round blocks just as thev are 

 cut from (he logs, in lengths varying from sixteen to twenty-two 

 inches, and in diameter from five tc ten inches. Air-dried stock 

 is essentially the only kind that can be used, as it has been proven 

 practically impossible to prevent cheeking alcng the grain of 

 kiln-dried blocks. Every effort has been made to prevent cheek- 

 ing, such as painting the ends of the blocks, but so far nothing 

 effective has been devised. 



The ])rocess of manufacturing artificial limbs involves first the 

 boring of a hole throughout the entire length of the block. With 

 this as a nucleus, the entire inside is hollowed out, leaving but 

 the shell of the original block. It is then shaped down on the 

 outside to somewhat the semblance of a human limb, and is care- 

 fully^ smoothed and sandpapered. Holes are bored through the 

 calf of the legs for ventilation purposes, and then rawhide is 

 glued over the exterior, which, drying, shrinks perfectly tight. 

 A thick coat of varnish gives the finishing touch. Willow blocks 

 of similar character are also used in what are known as ex- 

 tensions, namely, specially shaped blocks for ecjualizing the length 

 of deformed limbs. 



An artificial fuot is never made in one piece with the limb, but is 

 shaped out of a separate block and joined to the "socket" by a steel 

 ankle joint, so contrived as to work when walking as readily as one's 

 natural foot would do. Artificial feet are always provided with felt 

 foot casings over which a soft dressed leather is glued. 



There is also a considerable quantity of various hardwoods used 

 in the manufacture of crutches. Hard maple, rosewood, ebony, 

 hickory and some lacquerwood (used for its elastic qualities) 

 are the pirincipal species utilized. The best grades of stock are 

 bought for this purpose, and are taken in lengths varying from 

 thirty-two to sixty inches. The boards are ripped into inch 

 squares, after which they are shaped, rounded and varnished 

 before assembling. When finished they sell at an average price 

 of from $1.25 to $15. 



