42 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



charges. On October 15 the question of switchinjj charges in the Detroit 

 territory will be taken up. 



October 16 is the date for the hearing of the complaint of the Norman 

 Lumber Company against the Louisville & Nashville railroad. 



On October 2'2 the Wausan Advancement Association and the Memphis 

 Kroigbt Bureau will have hearings in their cases against the Chicago 

 & Northwestern railroad and the Illinois Central road, respectively. 



Lumbermen Protest Team Track Storage Charges in Wisconsin 



Much interest was shown by lumber manufacturf>rs and dealers of Mil- 

 waukee in the recent hearings of local shippers and receivers and repre- 

 sentatives of railroads with Halford Erickson of the Wisconsin Railroad 

 Commissicin. regarding the proposed new team track storage rules which 

 would mnki- an additional charge for cars held on the team tracks for 

 longer than forty-eight hours. Shippers and receivers in various lines 

 of industry of the state show sentiment against the now rules and hold 

 that the demurrage charge of $1 per day for a car is sufficient without 

 adding storage charges. While such rules are now in force on interstate 

 commerce, it is the opinion of those who have studied the situation care- 

 fully that the railroad commission will rule against the application of 

 the team track storage charges on commerce within this state. The com- 

 mission has now received evidence from representatives of the railroads, 

 manufacturers, jobbers, wholesalers and retailers. The report is not ex- 

 pected to be completed for several months. The rules to apply on inter- 

 state eomraerce are as follows : 



]. — No charge is to be made for the first forty-eight hours after the 

 car has been placed on the team track. Time to be computed from the 

 first 7 a. m. after car has been placed. 



2. — For the next succeeding two days a charge of $1 per day or frac- 

 tion thereof will be made. 



:>. — For each succeeding day thereafter a charge of $2 will he made. 



4. — Providing weather conditions are such that the car cannot be un- 

 loaded during the first forty-eight hours, no charge will be made for cars 

 held for this reason. 



Fiber Box People File Brief 



Representative attornr-ys of the Fibor Shipping Container Association 

 recently filed a brief with the Interstate Commerce Commission in the 

 Pridham case in reply to the Ijrief already filed by the allied lumber 

 and wooden box interests. The brief suggests that carriers have wholly 

 failed to justify the discrimination complained of by Mr. Pridham and 

 that the wooden box interests by the testimony which they have pre- 

 sented to the commission, have only confirmed what all along has ap- 

 peared, namely, that the fight is instigated by the manufacturers of 

 wooden boxes to put competing manufacturers out of business. The brief 

 is evidently leased primarily upon this contention, and upon the conten- 

 tion that the wooden box people merely want to secure a higher price 

 for theii* products, and therefore are endeavoring to eliminate the fiber 

 box. 



Regarding rule No. 143. the brief says that the carrier lawfully may 

 refuse to receive ap insecure or defective container, and that this is so 

 becauses the carrier is ^n insurer of the freight. The brief contends 

 that the best way for the carrier to protect itself under this liability is 

 by prescribing the specifications for a secure package. 



Attorneys for the fiber box container association deny the contention 

 of the wooden box interests to the effect that foreign trade is being lost 

 because of shipping in fiber containers, and that insurance companies 

 are making different rates and rules ou articles carried in fiber boxes is 

 not based on fact. 



Forest Tax Improvement for Maryland 



A pamphlet just issued by the Maryland State Tax Commission con- 

 tains suggestions concerning how the burdens of taxation upon growing 

 timber can be lightened and made uniform throughout the state. It is 

 pointed out in the pamphlet that the taxation of growing timber at the 

 lumber value has been discontinued by a number of states and that such 

 a tax is not levied until the tree is actually cut for the sawmill. In 

 this connection the statutes of various states are quoted to show what 

 can be done in the way of a reform, and greater liberality in the matter 

 of taxing the timber for the support of the state government is recom- 

 mended as beneficial to the prosperity of Maryland. The subject of tax 

 reform in so far as manufacturing interests in Baltimore and otbec cities 

 of Maryland are concerned has long been under consideration there, it 

 being the desire to attract new enterprises. Maryland's lumber produc- 

 tion, while materially reduced as compared with the output of ten years 

 ago, is still an important part of the industrial activities, and the matter 

 of taxation deserves the most careful attention, especially as an intelli- 

 gent handling of the problem of taxation is certain to do much for con- 

 servation and systematic reforestation. 



Wooden Box Specifications 



The house committee of the Northwesttrn Association of P.ox Manu- 

 facturers has under consideration a list of standard specifications which 

 have been recommended for wooden boxes manufactured in Montana. Wyo- 

 ming, Idaho. Oregon and Washington. The committee in charge of this 

 work is active in behalf of the movement, and believes that it will 

 succeed. 



At present all sizes of boxes are manufactured without any particularly 

 recommended standard. All of the box makers in that territory have 

 received copies of the specifications with the request that they express 

 an opinion. 



Only five classes of boxes have been worked out in the plans as far 



as they have gou'-. These classes include cereal product boxes, biscuit 

 boxes, dry fruit boxes, tinned goods boxes and boxes used for the ship- 

 ment of firearms. 



It is expected that the committee will make equally rapid strides in 

 the standardization of other chisses on which it will work. 



Baltimore Ships Hardwood to Buenos Aires 



What is perhaps xhv first shiitnicnt of hardwood lumber ever made from 

 Baltimore to a South American country went out September 17 on the 

 Italian bark Buenos Aires for the city of the same name in Argentina. 

 It consisted of 204,047 feet and formed part of the cargo, which included 

 1.120,284 feet of West Virginia spruce. Of the latter kind of lumber a 

 number of shipments have I)een made. The vessel was cleared by the 

 McCall-Dinning Company, a firm of ship brokers, and the shipment was 

 made on account of the American Export Company of New York. 



Wyoming Builds Koads With Forest Receipts 



In the state of Wyoming ten per c**nt of the receipts fritui the national 

 forests in that statr during the past fiscal year aggregated .?12,000. whicli 

 sum is now in the hands of the secretary of agriculture, and will prob- 

 ably be expended for the creation and maintenance of roads and trails 

 within the boundaries of the national forests. 



The state is already engaged in an active campaign in this direction, 

 and besides the receipts from national forests it utilizes the twenty- 

 five per cent of the gross income which gees by law to the states direct 

 for schools and roads. 



The idea of the new road movement is two-fold, it being planned that 

 the highways and trails will not only open Tip the country to a com- 

 munity development and to the further development of the forest 

 resources, but will open up delightful resort tcrritorii-s in which various 

 sports and recreations can be enjoyed. 



Canadian Coffin Com'jine 



It is expected that all tbp maki-rs of coltins tbrougliout Canada will soon 

 be amalgamated in one concern capitalized at .$;i.0O0.000. The usual plea 

 is made that there is to be no increase in prices. The main objects of 

 the amalgamation, it was n cently announced, are to effect economy in the 

 purchase of raw materials for the factories in large quantities and to 

 effect a saving in shipping costs by supplying orders in different parts of 

 the country through the factories nearest the place from which llie orders 

 come. All purchasing of raw materials will bi' done through the head 

 oflicc, and a great economy is expected when supplies are bought for all 

 the factories instead ot one. Four important concerns still remain out- 

 side the amalgamation, but it is expected that they will join soon. As an 

 incentive to its efforts the trust, under the present Canadian tariff, will 

 have substantial protection. The relatives of a Canadian with an imperial 

 turn of mind and desirous of importing a cotfin from (ireat Britain have 

 to face a tariff of seventeen and one-half per cent «*/ ralorcm. Ou coffins 

 imported from Australia or from foreign countries the duty is twenty-five 

 per cent. 



Lumbering in Brazil 



A consular report which deals with tlu- resources of the state of Vic- 

 toria, Brazil, says : 



There arc vast forests in this state, and himl)cring will n-ceive a great 

 impetus from the Victoria-Minas Itailway. Numerous kinds of hardwood 

 are found, some of the best known being the ".laearanda." used principally 

 for furniture: "Pan Brazil" iredwoodt. used for dyeing: and "Peroba." 

 which is as useful as the expensive "Thick wood" for shipbuilding. Large 

 quantities of cedar trees are also found. The main obstacle to lumbering 

 in this state is that not many trees of one variety are found close 

 together. 



Biltmore "Doings" for August 



In August Dr. C. A. Scheuek and his students of the Biltmore Forest 

 school spent a week in Cadillac, Mich., two weeks en route across the 

 Continent, and a week in Marshfield, Ore. The three days previous to 

 breaking camp at Cadillac were spent in summarizing the course, in sur- 

 veying and in estimating timber. The students also visited the opera- 

 tions of the Murphy-Diggins Company and cruised a considerable area 

 of the Murphy-Diggins' timber under the direction of D. Davidson, woods 

 .superintendent. The students then remained In Cadillac several days look- 

 ing over the mill operations where they visited various sawmills and 

 flooring plants, turpentine plant, retail lumber yard, handle factory, chair 

 and desk factory, and the Cadillac Veneer Works. 



The students were very much interested in the Cadillac Turpentine 

 Company, which extracts resin from the stumps of Norway pine. The 

 students' records show that from one cord of wood is obtained eleven 

 gallons of refined turpentine, two gallons of pine oil and 412 pounds of 

 resin. 



The students were much interested in the Cummer-Diggins Manufac- 

 turing Company, which manufactures wood alcohol from hardwood waste, 

 all hardwoods with the exception of elm being used. A trip through the 

 sawmills, under the personal guidance of A. L. Saunders, general man- 

 ager of the Cummer-Diggins Company, was made. 



En route west the students stopped at Duluth. Minn., and went through 

 the plant of the Clyde Iron Works, where the Clyde skldders and the 

 McGiffert loaders are manufactured. They were very much impressed 

 with the repair department where each piece that has ever been put into 

 Clyde machinery occupies a separate place and Is plainjy labeled, thus 

 enabling lepairs to be made at a moments notice. 



