HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



years. Some actiou seems to take place to produce the effect of 

 sealing the Avood fibers against the entrance of moisture and brings 

 about a seasoning that stands. 



The Manufacturers Defended 



THE !\IUSICAIj times of Chicago in a recent issue publishes in 

 full the address of George P. Bent before the Chicago Association 

 of Commerce in July, -n'ith comments on the leading- points of the 

 address which lyas an attack on the editorial policy of the Chicago 

 Tribune. That paper is accused by Mr. Bent of injuring legitimate 

 business in its attacks upon the National Association of Manufacturers, 

 and the accusation goes so far as to intimate that the paper is an 

 enemy to development and progress, strikes at men and measures which 

 are builders of industries, and in polities preaches what it does not 

 practice. 



The particular matter on which the arraignment ?s based is the 

 Tribune's part in the publicity given Mulhall's confessions. It is 

 asserted that in giving aid, comfort, and encouragement to Mulhall, 

 the Chicago paper has attacked the integrity of some of the country's 

 most valuable men, and has impugned the motives of the National 

 Association of Manufacturers. The most specific charge is that the 

 Tribune itself is not averse to following methods very similar to those 

 it blames and abuses others for following; that it is on the side of 

 socialism and against the tried 

 and proved policies of govern- 

 ment which have been found safe 

 in the past; and that its influence 

 is cast against rather than for 

 security in business and politics. 

 A good many people have long 

 been of the opinion that the Tri- 

 bune is not a friend of the lum- 

 l)er industiy, but of late it has 

 ceased its unjust and intemperate 

 attacks on this great and reput- 

 able trade. 



Caesar Crossing the Rubicon 



This may be putting the cart before the horse. Perhaps, the rail- 

 roads prosper because the country is prosperous, rather than that the 

 country's prosperity depends on that of the raOroads. At any rate, 

 the Interstate Commerce Commission will soon hear these arguments 

 and many more, and will either grant or refuse the request for a 

 general advance in freight rates. The matter is being thoroughly 

 advertised, and those who wish to be heard pro or con will doubtless 

 be accorded the opportunity. 



Ocean Freight on Lumber 



I X A UECEXT ISSUE of II.\kdwood Kecord an English view of 

 ■•■ the projjosed adavance in ocean freight on lumber between Amer- 

 ican ports and Europe was quoted. It appears that the proposed 

 increase has not yet gone into effect, but dealers on the other side 

 are figuring out -what is likely to happen. One trade paper says 

 that the seriousness oZ the feared increases takes on a rather unpleas- 

 ant aspect for buyers. It puts sellers in a distinctly better position 

 by assuring thou a good profit to commence with on spot stocks, and 

 another in prospect when they sell. Some in the trade are inclined to 

 think that higher freights will put serious restrictions in the way of 

 trade. Possibly some slight curtailment may take place, bnt as con- 

 siuners are without stock they must keep on buying and face the 

 market, whatever happens. There is always a more solid dcmanO 



for hardwoods in England than is 

 usually experienced with other 

 kinds of timber; in other words, 

 there is less scope for speculation 

 and speculative work. 



(See Cover Picture) 



When Julius Ceasar crossed the Rubicon. 



Rome sat upon her seven hills and howled. 

 A hemlock log was what he crossed it on, 



Along whose trunk fierce catamounts had prowled. 



High overhead the sullen wilderness 

 Shut out the sun by day, the stars by night: 



And blue-eyed owls sat moping in distress, 



And jaybirds screamed and wheeled in headlong flight 



Great Caesar crossed and Rome was free no more: 

 The loyal legions flung their shields away 



And hit the pike for Tiber's distant shore 

 And cried, "Proh Sancta Jupiter et te! " 



—Hu Maxwell 



Freig^ht Rate Advance 

 Advocated 



CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE 

 in St. Louis, Cincinnati, 

 Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Balti- 

 more and elsewhere have recently 



taken action against advance in freight rates by railroads in 

 \vhat is known as the official classification territory. The reason 

 assigned for taking that stand is that railroads are not now receiving 

 sufficient revenue to enable them to keep up their property, give 

 the besf service, and carry on contemplated and necessary im- 

 provements. 



The railroads have petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commissiou 

 for authority to raise the freight rates five per cent. The matter is 

 now pending and will be decided by the commission in the near future. 

 The actions taken by various chambers of commerce and business asso- 

 ciations are intended, of course, as expressions of opinion. They are, 

 to that extent, voices raised in favor of granting the petition of the 

 railroads for the advance. 



The same roads asked for permission in 1910 to raise freight rates, 

 and the request was refused. The Interstate Commerce Commission 

 suggested at that time that the roads increase their revenues bj- doing 

 more business rather than by raising freight rates. The roads insist 

 that they tried two years to work the problem that way, but without 

 success, and they have now come forward with the old request again. 



Those who are backing the railroads in their petition present argu- 

 ments which do not sound unreasonable. They say that the roads arc 

 greatly handicajipcd for want of sufficient revenue to place their 

 Imsiness on an up-to-date basis, and that the country's prosperity 

 responds in a great measure to the efficiency and prosperity of the 

 railroads. Therefore, it should be made possible for the railroads 

 to jirosper and devclo|>. :nid th;^ country will develop and prosper. 



Recent Railroad 

 Disasters 



J, 



HERE IS A VAST MASS 

 of hysterical pifBe in the av- 

 erage daily newspaper every time 

 a train made up of wooden cars 

 or wood with steel under-frame 

 cars is wrecked, and a howl goes 

 op that all railroad ears should 

 be built entirely of steel. 



In a number of serious acci- 

 sylvauia lines stand about "horse- 

 and-horse. " The jS'ew Haven 

 quite largely carries wooden or steel under-frame wooden sleeping and 

 passenger cars, while the Pennsylvania railroad equipment is almost 

 exclusively of steel coaches. The specialty of the New Haven is 

 collisions, while the Pennsylvania's difficulty seems to lie in keeping- 

 steel equipment on the track. However, every time there is a Penn- 

 sylvania wreck the newspapers invariably say that it would have 

 been much worse had the coaches been of wood. 



The general public fails to understand the basic frailties of steel 

 car construction, and the difficulties encountered in transporting 

 this very heavy, cumbersome and uncomfortable variety of passenger 

 and sleeping ear equipment. To suecesfully handle the heavy steel 

 cars the average railroad of the country should have to double the 

 weight of its rails and materially reinforce its road bed. It requires 

 extra heavy locomotives to jndl them, .'ind then it is difficult to main- 

 tain even ordinary sjieed. 



A photograph of a recent wreck on the New Haven shows a massive 

 locomotive which has ploughed into wooden coaches stripped to the 

 fire-box, and yet it- is announced that if the coaches had been of 

 steel of loss of life would not have been so great. Every lear-end 

 collisions where steel coaches have been employed has been just as 

 disastrous to life as a wreck of wooden coaches. 



AVhat is required is train operation that involves reasonable discipline 

 ;ind intelligent regidations. There is no safety to the public in any 

 type of railroad car that can be constructed to resist the impact of 

 ;i heavy locomotive. One type is just as dangerous as the other 

 to lif-e .and limb. 



