HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



tlie sap, notably in oak; dries the lumber straight and flat; avoids 

 checks and minimizes end splits; and absolutely precludes the 

 possibility of borers working in the wood after it is sawed, the 

 use of the process means a revolution in efficiency and lowering of 

 cost in lumber production. 



Lumber manufacturers who are carefully analyzing this new de- 

 parture in lumber handling figure an economy of from three to 

 four dollars a thousand, and as remarkable as it may seem, their 

 analysis and deductions are thoroughly believable. 



This preparator or steaming cylinder is 10'6" in interior diameter 

 and 17' long, weighs 24,000 pounds, and will easih' handle 70,000 

 feet of lumber in ten hours; and of course, can be operated at 

 night if occasion demands increased capacity. The initial cost 

 of the equipment as at present placed upon it by the manufacturers 

 is five thousand dollars F. 0. B. cars Chicago. The expense of 

 installation, and that of transfer and storage tracks depends on 

 conditions and the length of transfer and storage room tracks 

 necessary to handle the lumber. 



The claims of The Kraetzer Company, 537 South D'earborn 

 street, Chicago, manufacturer of the equipment, are as follows: 



The patented apparatus known as the Kraetzer preparator makes 

 commercially practical the well-known principle that the steaming 

 of lumber under pressure accomplishes certain very desirable results, 

 while water soaking or surface steaming of lumber without pressure 

 is a superficial and inadequate process, as it does not effectively pene- 

 trate to the center of the board. 



Steaming green or air-dried lumber under pressure accomplishes the 

 foIlo\\ ing results: 



First: It renders tlie lumber treated susceptible of being thoroughly 

 air-dried in the open in less than one-half the time ordinarily required. 



Second: It absolutely prevents staining, case hardening, checking 

 and end-splitting. 



Tinito: It renders the color of the lumber more uniform; in quarter- 

 sawed stock, it enhances the beauty of the flake; and its working 

 qualities are greatly improved. 



Fourth: Lumber that is delivered to the preparator straight will 

 come out straight, and crooked lumber will straighten. 



Fifth: Lumber thus treated will dry out to less weight than un- 

 steamed lumber. 



Sixth: The tendency to shrink is minimized. E.xperiments have 

 demonstrated that by tlie use of this process the shrinkage of lumber 

 during drying is reduced more than one-half, and on some woods is 

 nominal. 



Seventh : In hunlier thus treated, and afterwards kiln-dried the 

 tendency to swell is minimized, and there is practically no raising of 

 the grain when exposed to dampness, or when water stains are used 

 in finishing. 



Eighth: Users of this apparatus are enabled to do the same volume 

 of business on half, or less, stock than is ordinarily carried, on account 

 of speedier drying. 



Ninth: The apparatus is no experiment as it has been in piiactical 

 and successful operation for the past six years. 



From all evidence presented to Hardwood Recced, the editor 

 of which has carefully watched and analyzed the steaming of 

 lumber, both with and without pressure for the last twenty years, 

 it would indicate that the use of this equipment and process 

 marks an evolution in lumber seasoning and spells more in effi- 

 ciency and lowering of cost in Inmber production than has been 

 accomplished since the advent of a modem band mill. 



xroia^iasiaKi^iWM^TOtJ^^ 



The Handle Trade 



TRADE CONDITIONS WITH THE BROOM HANDLE MANUFACTURERS 



The past winter has been one of the best seasons on record for 

 handle manufacturers. The rush season opened in the fall and kept 

 all the handle factories running full time up to a few weeks ago. 

 The grocers in the country districts had so much trouble with frozen 

 pumps and water pipes that they simply would not look at a broom 

 salesman, as long as they had any brooms left in stock. This of 

 course left the broom men without any stock going out, and as very 

 few of them carry any stock, they soon had to close up or run short 

 time, and this in turn affected their orders to the handle men. How- 

 ever this condition in trade is over now and the broom factories are 

 running full time and are taking all the handles that are being made. 

 Prices have been held to a good average all season and the prospects 

 are that there will be an increase in the fall of from one to two dol- 

 lars per thousand on all grades. It is expected that the increase will 

 be more general than it was during the past season, as more of the 

 manufacturers see now that they can get better prices if they are 

 insistent. Prices published in some cities are very misleading to the 

 trade, as they are simply prices that the jobbers in these cities are 

 offering to the handle manufacturers. The truth is that they are 

 able to buy but very few handles at these prices, as they are several 

 dollars below the market. 



There seems to be plenty of good maple in the country and it can 

 be bought at prices that will bring a careful and experienced handle 

 man a fair profit on his investment, provided that he will stand up 

 for the market prices. 



* w * 



How many -broom handle men get any benefits from their shav- 

 ings ? I venture to say that there are not very many that do, ex- 

 cept as fuel. Now, there is a market for shavings and a good one, 

 too; one that will enable the handle manufacturer to buy coal for 

 fuel and sell the shavings. We have for years burned up our waste 

 this way in order to get rid of it, but this winter we commenced 

 to bale up the clean shavings as they came from the machines and 

 find that they bring us a big profit. They are used for bedding 

 instead of straw, which this year was very scarce and high-priced. 



Baled shavings are worth about $8.00 per ton and a broom handle 

 lathe will make about one ton a day. These can be baled at a cost 

 of about $1.00 per ton. The price of fuel coal differs in different 

 localities, but in most places it will pay to use it and sell the shav- 

 ings. The argument will very likely be advanced that if straw is 

 plentiful this season the sales of shavings will fail. The 

 dairy barns, however, after using them once will not go back to 

 straw at any price. I would not publish this if we had any trouble 

 in selling our output. Then again the shavings cannot be shipped 

 much over a hundred miles from the factory owing to the high 

 freight cost. The buyer will not object to paying freight for this 

 distance, but when it becomes much greater, the charge will be 

 too great. 



^ ^ * 



A salesman for a supply house asked us recently if we could not 

 make them file handles and chisel handles of different styles. We 

 make only broom handles, yet we have a machine for making small 

 handles of different kinds and had the equipment for making the 

 kind he asked for. Also, we are in a section where there is no 

 factory making hickory handles, and our millmen have offered us 

 hickory at a very low figure. However, when we looked up the prices 

 that this supply house was selling those styles of handles for, we 

 decided that we did not want the business. We endeavor to make a 

 little profit on everything that we make, but the prices that the 

 handles retail at is less than we would care to manufacture them 

 for. It may be that some of the hickory handle men are able to 

 get their timber free and pay less for labor than we do, but I doubt 

 it. I think that the same trouble we have in getting prices on small 

 maple turnings, owing to manufacturers figuring that the stock 

 doesn't cost them anything, and that what they get out of it is clear 

 profit, applies to the hickory trade also. There is no reason why the 

 jobber should be the only one to make a profit out of these small 

 turnings. The price that the public pays for them is enough to make 

 a good profit for all concerned in making and selling them, and the 

 manufacturer should certainly get his share first. H. B. A. 



