28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



There is a lot more iu this article of the same character, which 

 is generally so ridiculous in its statements as to scarcely be worth 

 comment. 



However, it may be noted that among the exhibits at the Clay 

 Show was a brick bungalow in which wood joists, flooring ami 

 finish were employed, and which was widely advertised as costing 

 only three thousand dollars. It is a matter of general knowledge 

 to those responsible for the building of this bungalow that the 

 laying of the brick alone cost the promoters twenty-five hundred 

 dollars. It is further said on good authority that while the expense 

 of ornamental brick laying shown at the exposition was very 

 attractive, the average cost of putting up this brick work involved 

 an expense of fifty cents per brick, and that some brick work was 

 shown of which the laying cost was as high as $1..50 per brick. 



It is surely a very unwise i^roceeding for the brick and tile men 

 to resort to the untruthful tactics they have pursued in exploiting 

 this show and their exhibits. Even these kind of lies ' ' well stuck 

 to" will not result to the advantage of the industry. 



THE METAL AUTOMOBILE BODY CRAZE 



A representative of Hakdwood Record recently interviewed sev- 

 eral gentlemen prominently associated with the automobile indus- 

 try, on the subject of the relative value of wood, steel and 

 aluminum in body construction. The wooden bodies used exclu- 

 sively by the White Company, both for its passenger and truck 

 automobiles, are built by H. McFarlane & Co., of Chicago. A 

 prominent man identified with the White Company says that 

 enamel on a metal body is much more liable to check than on a 

 wooden body. He holds that this fact is due principally to the 

 tendency of metal to buckle under alternate heat and cold, like the 

 bottom of a tin pan, 'and this is one of the chief reasons why the 

 White Company employs nothing but wooden bodies. 



A sheet steel or aluminum body must be fitted tightly over a 

 form of hardwood ribs placed very closely together, or buckling 

 is inevitable. Even then, in case of a forcible concussion, a hole 

 will be punched clear through the metal body, which damage is 

 ]>ractically irremediable. 



The reason that many automobile concerns are using metal in 

 body construction is on account of its lower cost, and the fact that 

 metal bodies can be made and finished much faster than wooden 

 ones. However, I'eliable data demonstrates beyond peradventure 

 that neither the finish on metal bodies nor the metal bodies them- 

 selves last nearly as long as wooden ones. In fact, it is impossible 

 to get a manufacturer of metal body automobiles to guarantee that 

 either the finish or body will stand up for even a single season. 

 The automobile manufacturer hanrlling metal bodies will make no 

 excuse for the employment of metal bodies save that it is impos- 

 sible to secure a reasonably priced, suitable wood from which to 

 make the bodies. This excuse has been shown by Hardwood Record 

 as being entirely specious, as there is plenty of lumber of a suitable 

 character for automoVjile body making availaV)le at a price that 

 does not increase the cost of the wood body over the metal one to 

 exceed an average of five dollars per vehicle. This is not the real 

 point in the use of metal liodies. 



The metal body game is put over by the steel trust, which is so 

 largely intere.steil in automobile manufacture, and this is supple- 

 mented by the fact that metal bodies can be turned out much more 

 rapidly — the finish applied, and the job rushed from the shop with 

 in a week, where it requires fully six weeks to properly finish a 

 wooden body. 



It is found that the trend of the trade among manufacturers of 

 thoroughly dependable cars is towards resuming the total use of 

 wood for body making purposes, but it can be safely assumed 

 that the manufacturers of cheap and non-depemlable cars will con- 

 tinue to use stovepipe metal for bodies just so long as they can 

 ■work them ofif on the public. Buyers of automobiles should bear 

 in mind that in all the iletailed advertising of automobiles carried 

 in the magazines and pamphlet literature of these institutions, not 

 one manufacturer has yet had the temerity to come out with the 

 statement that the bodies are manufactured from metal, and give 



reasons of superiority they may have over wooden bodies. This 

 is one point of automobile construction where the cheap automobile 

 maker is thoroughly ali\e in the belief that it is wise to keep his 

 mouth shut. 



THE STEEL FILING CASE FRAUD 



One manufacturer of stool lilirig cahinots is tlie innocent perpe- 

 trator of a joke. He announces that "steel furniture is like a 

 fire insurance company — they both protect against fire. One keeps 

 the contents of a filing cabinet from burning, and the other pays 

 for it after it is burned." 



This same manufacturer also advertises a special feature of a 

 celluloid tip, which he commends to apply to the index guides to be 

 inserted in his cabinet. This surely is a nice combination from a 

 non-inflammable viewpoint, to saj' nothing about strengthening the 

 manufacturer's claim for the firejiroot ((ualities of his equipment. 



STEEL FREIGHT CARS 



In spite of the fact that steel freight cars have been produced 

 for nearly a decade, and are constantly being purchased in in- 

 creased quantities by railroads, they are still in an experimental 

 stage and are proxing remarkably costly to railroads for mainte- 

 nance. 



A prominent railroad journal, published iu Chicago, has carried a 

 series of articles for several months past on the growing cost of 

 the maintmance of freight equipment, which it illustrates with 

 photographs showing the disaster and failure of many types of 

 steel freight ears. Several of these pictures have already been 

 shown in Hardwood Record, but only a few of the more than a 

 hundred that have been depicted in the railway journal in question. 



Since the railroads began to tinker with steel freight and pas- 

 senger cars their troubles, to say nothing about their cost, have 

 niultipliod. 



Purchase of Poles in 1910 



The largest jiurcluise of poles ever recorded was nuide, according 

 t(i a bulletin on the subject recently issued by the Forest Service, 

 iu 1910, when the total consumption was 3,870,694, an increase of 

 132,000 over 1909. Cedar was by far the most important pole wood, 

 there being 2,431,000 cedar poles used. This represents about four 

 times as much as the next important species, chestnut, which is fol- 

 lowed by oak, pine and cypress. 



The demand for wooden poles is supplied princi|ially from three 

 sections of the United States, the northern white cedar region of 

 the Lake states; the chestnut region in the East and the western 

 red cedar section of the Northwest. 



The consumption of oak poles of various species in different parts 

 of the country has shown a heavy increase for several years, but the 

 production of the cypress poles seems to be falling off. 



The rapid decay in poles at the surface of the ground iins caused 

 a great waste, and for several years experiments, looking toward 

 the prevention of this decay, have been going on. Results have been 

 reniarkiibly successful, and the practice not only lengthens the life 

 of the i)Ole, but nuikes possible the utilization of many cheap local 

 woods which, without preservation, wovdd be valueless for i>ole i)nr- 

 poses. Thus a material reduction in the cost of poles and trans- 

 portation charges is effected. 



While great progress has been made in this line abroad, it is too 

 now in this country to have gained any proportionately large applica- 

 tion. However, its advantages are so apparent and its cost so trivial 

 compared to the saving, that it is only a question of installing the 

 apparatus (|nickly cnongli to enable preserving plants to till their 

 requireincnts. 



Although the number of treated poles is greater each year, most 

 of the poles receive but superficial treatment, which adds but a few 

 years to their lives. Figures for 1910 indicate that a larger propor- 

 tion of the poles were treated during that year by the brush and open 

 tank methods than in the jireceding years. Future progress must 

 be marked not only by increased number of poles treated, but by 

 the increased use of more effective methods of preservation. 



