HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



Again, the cost of steel car construction is much in excess of the 

 former type. The cost of haulage is immensely increased, and be- 

 yond that the very weight requires a track of largely increased 

 strength in order to carry the immense load with even an approxi- 

 mation of safety. It has been demonstrated that in collision steel 

 cars are just as prone to telescope and collapse as the steel under- 

 frame type. 



The average newspaper with a little knowledge of car construc- 

 tion has been over-zealous in its belief that steel cars insure 

 greater safety to the traveling public. However, high-class technical 

 railroad journals have rarely fallen into this error. Very few of 

 them have ever presented any arguments favorable to the steel ears. 

 It is doubtful if there is a first-class car construction engineer in 

 the country wlio holds that the steel ear in point of safety has any 

 merit over the older type of construction. 



The Wall Street Journal of New York^ of recent date, seems to be 

 an exception to the general class of newspapers, for it says: 



' ' Now there is a demand for steel cars, but the steel cars will not 

 make for human confidence if we have such passenger wrecks in the 

 East as they have had in the West with steel cars. They bum just 

 as quickly on the inside, and the moment a steel car is struck on a 

 corner, every door and window is wedged, while with a wooden car 

 they can be pried open. In a wooden car you can cut yourself out 

 with the axes and saws that the law compels passenger coaches to 

 carry." 



It is high time that the lumber trade, if it has any interest in the 

 furtherance of its own interests, collect full information on the sub- 

 ject of the relative merits of steel car construction and wooden car 

 construction on a steel underframe; put it in logical shape, and 

 present it to every member of Congress. 



Today there are a half dozen steel car bills pending at Washing- 

 ton, and while they will not come up for action at this session, un- 

 deniably they will at the next regular session of Congress. There 

 will be strong lobby at work to make it obligatory upon railroads to 

 equip their lines with steel cars, and this wood substitute game can 

 easUy be headed off by simply presenting the actual facts in the 

 case to every member of the House and Senate. The presentation 

 alone to this body of the evidence of the fraility of steel cars that 

 has been presented in Habdwood Eecord during the last year should 

 be sufficient to kill steel car legislation. In this effort the lumber 

 trade can have the support of practically every railroad in the coun- 

 try, save the Pennsylvania line, which is obsessed in the belief that 

 owing to its New York tunnels it is wise to employ steel cars. 



First Indications of Car Shortage 



THE USUAL CONDITION of rolling stock on the various rail- 

 road systems of the country contingent upon the movement of 

 farm produce is just beginning to be apparent in the various agri- 

 cultural sections of the country. Reports are current that there 

 is some little difficulty already in getting a sufficient number of 

 freight ears to take care of shipments. This rumor is not at all 

 general, but it is not at all unlikely that, with the ripening of 

 the enormous crops in prospect railroads will have their hands 

 full in taking care of their agricultural patrons. 



The conditions prevalent in the money market for some time 

 past and the generally hesitant tone of business have rather re- 

 tarded orders for new railroad equipment and hence motive power 

 and rolling stock are not what they should be in quantity and 

 condition. This will be another factor tending to reduce the 

 number of available freight cars. The usual foresight should be 

 exercised by large purchasers and shippers of commodities to get 

 as much of their inbound and outbound shipment moved prior to 

 the great rush of grain shipments as is consistent with good 

 business policy. 



Will Gum Succeed Circassian? 



ONE OF THE MOST NOTICEABLE DEVELOPMENTS in the 

 manufacture of high-grade wood goods of late years has been 

 the increasing interest in Circassian walnut products. This beauti- 

 ful and remarkable wood has come into very wide demand and in a 

 recent report from the government showing consumption of veneers 



in the United States for 1911 was noted the very material increase in 

 the use of Circassian for that year over the preceding year. This 

 increase has undoubtedly continued up to the present. Considering 

 these facts, the question very naturally arises as to how much Cir- 

 cassian there is left and how long the supply will be adequate to 

 meet the demand. It can be safely stated that the total supply of 

 Circassian walnut is not by any means inexhaustible and in fact it 

 is possible for those conversant with the supply of this wood to see 

 its exhaustion ahead. Furthermore, it is a wood which it is impos- 

 sible to reproduce as the very character of its figure is the result of 

 a long, slow, difficult growth. 



The popularity of the Circassian walnut figure when it began to 

 become so marked attracted the attention of the red gum producers 

 of the country who, where they had marketed red gum locally, had 

 merely sold it as an ordinary domestic wood. The possibility of 

 selecting the highly figured red gum for use in such high-grade 

 articles as were made of Circassian not only became a possibility but 

 a concrete fact. Today we see any amount of high-class furniture 

 and interior finish of all kinds made from red gum of particularly 

 good figure, some of it finished in the natural condition and some 

 finished to imitate Circassian walnut. The results are entirely satis- 

 factory in each case; in fact some interior finish has been produced 

 for notable structures in imitation of Circassian walnut, which actu- 

 ally defies the inspection of experts to detect the imitation. 



The possibilities for profit offered by this evolution have been 

 analyzed particularly by producers of red gum veneer. They are 

 paying particular attention to flitching with the idea of producing the 

 most beautiful figure possible from their logs. Slicing is the most 

 common method of manufacture in this instance not only because of 

 the superior physical qualities resulting but because the finest figure 

 is obtained by that process with less contingent waste. It is not 

 at all improbable that the very stumps of red gum cut several years 

 ago can be utilized in this class of manufacture with a distinct profit. 

 Apparently red gum will be the logical successor of Circassian walnut 

 when the supply of that beiutiful wood renders its price prohibitive 

 for all but those willing to pay the fancy prices that will unquestion- 

 ably be demanded. 



Who Is Responsible? 



A EECENT BULLETIN of the Lumbermen's Underwriting Alli- 

 '»• ance of Kansas City contains some interesting observations and 

 figures covering recent sawmill fires. The startling assertion is made 

 that of thirty-five sawmill fires occurring during the last eight years, 

 among Alliance members, twenty-nine occurred when sawmills were 

 not operating either at night or on Sundays, and only six occurred 

 when mills were actually in operation. Those fires occurring wheu 

 only the w'atehmen were on duty constituted from 82 to 86 per cent 

 of the total number. Further, of the total loss of $1,359,398.34 re- 

 sulting from total number of sawmill fires, $1,120,793.49 was lost 

 during the time when the mills were down. Fires on Sundays aggre- 

 gated 29 per cent of the total, whereas one-seventh of the total, the 

 pro rated percentage for one day, would be only 14 per cent. 



Also, the loss on Saturday nights was 28 per cent of the total night 

 fires, and should be only 14 per cent if proportionate. 



While it is suggested that one of the factors leading to this con- 

 dition is that owners of the mills postpone the general clean-up until 

 the week-end, and the accumulation of debris of all kinds is then 

 at a maximum, it is probable that because of the greater feeling of 

 freedom which is manifest in all laboring and business circles on 

 Saturday afternoons and Saturday nights, because of the day of rest 

 to follow, there is greater laxity at that time on the part of the 

 watchman, who cannot help but feel the contagion of the feelings 

 which affect other employes. This, of course, is purely a psycho- 

 logical suggestion, but it may be that it has some bearing upon the 

 condition. 



As a remedy it might be suggested that more rigid vigilance be 

 insisted upon at night, and in fact, it might be wise to increase the 

 watch service. Additional care should be taken in selecting watch- 

 men to secure those who give evidence that they will be conscientious 

 under all conditions. A man might be a faithful watchman during 



