26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



soldiers were called together once or twice a year to drill and go 

 through various maneuvers. The drum was indispensable. There 

 must be at least one drum to every one hundred men, and the drum- 

 mer boy was almost as important as the captain of the company. 



That has changed. The old-time musters ceased long ago, and what 

 little drilling is now done is carried out with small use for the drum. 

 As an instrument of martial music it is now a back number. 



Another radical change is taking place in the use of the drum. 

 Twenty years ago it was the head and front of every political parade. 

 The flag and the drum led all processions, for all parties. The big- 

 ger the drum and the greater the noise it was capable of making, 

 the larger the crowd was apt to be. There was rivalry between dif- 

 ferent parties and different leaders to create as much enthusiasm 

 as possible, and the drum was relied upon to produce that result. A 

 parade without a bass drum to shake up the surrounding precincts 

 was doomed to failure every time. 



That custom is changing; in fact, it has nearly passed away. Pol- 

 iticians now put their dependence in literature, lithographs, and trans- 

 parencies. The eye is appealed to, rather than the ear. Conspicuous 

 objects are preferred to thundering sounds as creators of enthusiasm 

 in the ranks of voters. Consequently, "the war drum throbs no 

 longer," and the political drum is becoming silent also. 



During the late presidential campaign, with three candidates in 

 the field, drum manufacturers thought the occasion was opportune 

 for the revival of the noisy campaign. They attempted to interest 

 the leaders in drums, and pointed to that instrument's proficiency as 

 a kindler of patriotism and a promoter of enthusiasm. The plea fell 

 on deaf ears. The drum was dead, as far as political processions 



were concerned. A prominent drum manufacturer declared that the 

 last presidential campaign did not increase the sale of drums to the 

 amount of $200 in the whole United States. 



From the foregoing it might appear that the sales of drums are 

 decreasing. Such is not the case. New markets have more than 

 made good the loss of old. Musical bands still use drums in as large 

 numbers as formerly; but the new market came in with the cheap 

 nickel shows in the moving picture class. These places of amusement 

 have increased enormously in numbers in recent years. Many of them 

 use drums for advertising purposes — that is, to call attention to the 

 show. Sometimes the drum furnishes part of the entertainment inside 

 the show building. All sizes and kinds are demanded, depending 

 upon the particular service intended. 



Sizes of drums vary greatly, and there can scarcely be said to be 

 standard sizes. They usually run from a diameter of twelve inches 

 and a height of four, to a diameter of sLxty-five inches and a height 

 of eighteen inches. Few are made of the latter size. That is a very 

 Targe drum, but some are made full six feet in diameter, though never 

 except upon special orders. Very large drums have no regular sale. 

 Thoy are quite expensive, owing to the extra care required in their 

 manufacture. 



A large drui!! emits the heaviest sound of all musical instruments, 

 and the sound carries farthest. Well-authenticated instances are 

 known where a bass drum has been heard at a distance of eight miles 

 air line. The hoots of few steam sirens will carry that far. 



Practically no foreign drums enter the United States. They are 

 excluded by the high duty; consequently, American manufacturers 

 meet no competition except among themselves. 



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Aside from the interruption and disturbance caused by floods early 

 in the year, the past season as a whole has been a good one for pro- 

 ducing hickory handles. i'''ollowing tlie early spring floods there was 

 a season of good roads, resulting in bringing in more raw material 

 than usual, so that handle manufacturers as a rule were able to run 

 full time and to produce enough between that time and closing time 

 far the summer to make up for the loss incident to floods. The pro- 

 ducing so far as rough manufacturing is concerned was practically 

 ,all over by the end of June, and at this writing about all the 

 hickory handle manufacturers are doing is work in the finishing 

 room and in the shipping department. 



The season as a whole has been fairly good. Perhaps for those 

 who close their year or half year with the first of July or the first 

 of August the trade will show somewhat larger than for the average 

 year, but they will hardly be on a par with the status of hardwood 

 lumber, because there is neither the extra large volume of demand 

 nor the same percentage of increase in the prices. Hickory handle 

 prices increased some during the year, but not in the same ratio as 

 lumber, and there is a feeling in the trade right now that manufac- 

 turers should get more for their product than they have been getting 

 during the past six months, even though the prices for that period 

 have been somewhat above former prices. There has not been enough 

 advance in finished handles to harmonize with the advance in rough 

 lumber. 



The export trade, which is usually credited with taking at least 

 forty per cent of our hickory handle output, has been fairly good, 

 taking a little more than the average quantity. One of the dis- 

 appointing features of the export trade is that it calls for too much 

 hickory in the log and not enough of the finished hickory handles. 

 The exact figures are not available but there are enough in sight to 

 show that there were exported during the fiscal year enough hickory 

 logs to amount to more than $300,000. Added to this there was 

 quite a volume of export in bolts and billets or squares cut to size 

 for handle blanks. There were no separate accountings of these 

 items, but those familiar with the trade know that the English and 

 German trade purchased large quantities of billets for manufacturers 



abroad. These billets together with the logs made up quite a per- 

 centage of the English and German trade, and this same English and 

 German trade would buy many more finished handles if they couldn't 

 get the logs at satisfactory prices. However, even at that the export 

 trade for the season has been fairly satisfactory, and it still looks 

 good. 



In the domestic trade for the main part of the past six months 

 there has been a noticeable disposition on the part of the railroads 

 to buy just as little in the way of tools and tool handles as they can 

 get along with. They also manifest a disposition to keep down the 

 amount of improvements and new work. There has been enough, 

 however, with the call from railroads and big contractors and the 

 trade in general to make a pretty good volume of business so that 

 the season as a whole has proven fairly good for handle manufac- 

 turers. Perhaps the one point where there is most disappointment 

 is in that the manufacturers have not received proportionate advances 

 for finished handles as have been realized for lumber and timber. 

 They have done very well, though, and are seemingly in good shape 

 to do even better next season. Tliere will not be much hickory handle 

 work done during August, but the indications are that early in the 

 fall busy times will be resumed among the handle manufacturers. 

 Moreover, it is felt that by that time the railroads will be manifest- 

 ing a disposition to do more construction work and buy more handles. 

 If this happens there will naturally be quite a marked increase in 

 the demand during the fall, and if nothing hapjiens — if things just 

 jog along as they are — the business will be above the average and 

 the year as a whole should round up as a prosperous one for hickory 

 handle manufacturers. 



' ' Meeting together does not make saints of any of us, ' ' said a 

 successful hardwood manufacturer, "but the better acquainted we 

 get the less wicked the other fellow seems and the less wicked we 

 act toward him." 



It is just as important for the lumber salesman to know the exact 

 cost of transportation to the customer as it is for him to be in 

 formed on the market prices of his lumber. 



