42 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



chloride of zinc : chloride of mercury ; solulde glass ; limo water and 

 glue ; molasses ; creosote. 



Some of these (and there were at least a hundred others) produced 

 good results, and are still in use : hut others could have had little effect 

 on decay-producing fungus. Anything that will keep it out of the wood 

 will preserve the wood. That is all there is in modern wood preserva- 

 tion, except the question of cost. Different methods of treatment have 

 advocates. The cost is usually figured on the expense of first treat- 

 ment and the length of time it will preserve the wood. What is most 

 expensive at first may be cheapest in the long run because it assures a 

 long period of service. 



Building Operations Jan. 1 to July 1 



Building operations for .June show in their aggregate that moderate de- 

 cline towards wliich conditions had for several months l>een pointing. 

 The official reports of building permits issued by 60 cities, received by the 

 American Contractor. Cliicago, reach a total value of .$62,142,189 for the 

 month, compared with $74,200,800 for June. 1912, a decrease of 16 per 

 cent. It is interesting to note, however, that in many cities the con- 

 struction activities are considerably ahead of those of a year ago, 25 of 

 tlie 60 showing gains, among the more notable of which are Cedar Rapids, 

 154 per cent; Chattanooga, 177: Nashville, 196; Xew Orleans, 174; Pitts- 

 burgh, 2.''>7 ; Troy, 868 ; Evansville, 58 ; Detroit, 64 ; Cincinnati. 71. and 

 Birmingham. 61. The decrease comes mainly from the larger cities. New 

 Yorlt and Chicago contributing largely to the result, the former because 

 of the enormous activity a year ago, the latter perhaps in part because 

 of labor troubles. 



For six months ending June 30, building permits issued in 56 cities 

 reached a total of .?.342, 415,192, compared with $364,061,631 tor the first 

 six months of 1912, a decrease of 6 per cent. 



Jan. 1 to Jan. 1 to Per Cent 



City — July 1. 1913. July 1. 1912. Gain. L.>ss. 



Albany If 1.809.40.5 f 2,242,2litl 17 



Atlanta 3.111.777 3.l);;4.84ll 14 



Baltimore "1,381.404 3.li73.37-' 41! 



Birmingham 



Boston 14.413,926 11,576.786 25 



Bridgeport 



Cedar Rapids 1.351.000 775.000 74 



Chattanooga 630.875 871.490 28 



Chicago 47.889.000 40.892.500 17 



Cincinnati 4.960,606 4.001,312 24 



Cleveland 9,810.840 7.205.007 36 



Columbus 2.696.803 2.601.122 37 



Denver 1.^57.175 2.961.005 47 



Detroit 16.335,640 13.012.810 20 



Duluth ; 2,657.71)9 1,048.048 



Evansville 1,050.544 620.461 



Ft. Wayne 1.079.082 1.355.720 



Grand Rapids 1.448,315 1,204.037 20 



Hartford 2.132.445 4.707.085 55 



Indianapolis .1.210,907 3,990.0.50 30 



Kansas City .5.268.445 0.127.6.58 .. 14 



Lincoln 1,092,415 498.435 119 



Los Angeles 18.088,790 14.714,274 22 



Louisville 2,307,510 3.668.490 37 



Manchester 882,099 958,585 8 



Memphis 2,512,024 3,021,923 .. 1 



Milwaukee 6.280,322 6.961,553 



Minneapolis 5,930,700 0.299.205 



Nashville 1.2.55.371 



Newark 8.223.999 



New Haven 2,093,512 



New Orleans 2,491.133 



Manhattan 42,941.073 



Brooklyn 1K.(;39.044 



Bronx 10.112.746 



New York 77.093,403 



Oakland 4,.580.570 



Omaha 2.055.023 



Paterson 7.757,619 



Peoria 



Philadelphia 21.126.485 



Pittsburgh 9.221.016 



Portland 7.386,895 



Richmond 2,462,884 



Rochester 5.385.359 



St. Joseph 483.146 



St. Paul 4.064.394 



St. Louis 9.360,577 



Salt Lake City 1.149.738 



Scranton 681.933 



Seattle 5,219,470 



Shreveport 729,414 



Sioux City 1.101,228 



Spokane 1,323,595 



Springfield 400,309 



Toledo 2,933,837 



Topeka 400,942 



Troy 



Wllkes-Barre 546,057 



Worcester 2.725,315 



154 

 69 



10 



Totals 



$342,415,192 $304,001,631 6 



Commercial Worth of Oak Flooring 



Did you ever observi- wlicn mtcring a room in a rcsidcnci^ or any 

 building you instinctively first look at the flooring? There is nothing 

 so quickly noticed as the flooring. If the floors of a building arc oak 

 floors you will immediately catch the note of character and (|uaiity 

 throughout. Any building floored with oak flooring is distinctive and 

 Individual : It possesses the extra C(»mmerclal worth and salabllily tliat 

 belongs to distinctive tilings. Some idea of the value of oak llooring 

 can be secured by glancing down the "■•"or reni" or "For sale" columns 

 of any daily or Sunday papc-r where they so very often einpliasizc tlie 

 fact that oak flooring is used. It ha-; proven to l>e a big factor in mak- 

 ing sales as oak flooring even in an unfurnlslwd house creates an 

 atmosphere that Is friendly, and whi'n furnished it will harmonize with 

 any kind of furniture or decoration ; its color is rich and cheerful. As 



an example of the commercial worth of oak flooring — in Detroit a short 

 time ago two duplicate houses were sold ; one brought $6,000. and the 

 other .$5,000. The $6,000 house was floored with %" select plain oak 

 flooring at a total cost of only $280.90 — this included the finishing. The 

 house that brought $5,000 contained the original soft pine floors. The 

 real estate man who tnade the deal, and who caused the oak floor to be 

 laid over the old pine floor, knew the value of oak flooring. 



The modern machinery that is used in the oak flooring factories to- 

 day is entirely different from that used, say ten years ago. Oak floor- 

 ing is milled to-day with an exactness under expert inspectors, that 

 now requires but very little scraping on the part of floor layers. From 

 time to time these factories make up floors in alX)Ut ten feet squares 

 for the purpose of analyzing and reducing the floor scraping process to 

 a minimum after it leaves the factory. Expert testers constantly in- 

 spect the product at the different machines. Every known device that 

 brains could design and money could buy to make a perfect floor has 

 been put into use by these modern oak flooring plants. It is a common 

 practice for the manufacturers to follow up their oak flooring shipments 

 personally and watch the floor layers in the handling, laying, nailing 

 and iinisbing. In Ibis way they often get some valuable pointers and are 

 able at times to give some valuable advice to floor layers who may not 

 know the game. Oak flooring, after being milled and separated into 

 the different grades, is tied up into bundles, and each bundle is marked 

 with a rubber stamp to indicate its color and grade. The temperature 

 of the warehouses is carefully regulated to keep the stock in normal 

 condition. Many dealers through ignorance or carelessness handle oak 

 flooring lilte they would rough lumber and store it in damp places. This 

 is a grave mistake as da*mpness swells oak flooring on thi* face very 

 often as much as 1/16 of an inch, so if some bundles are. say 2^" 

 and some ,'c" over, it naturally makes unsightly crevices. Floor lay- 

 ers sliould see that oak flooring has been properly cared for by the deal- 

 ers and if it has been swelled or has taken in moisture in the dealer's 

 yard, it is then his duly to not lay it until it has regained its normal 

 condition. The best plan is to keep oak flooring in a good dry warm 

 cellar or room in the house in which It is to be laid for at least a week 

 or ten days. Oak floors ari; often badly damaged by incompetent layers 

 who do not do the scraping process as it should be done. The wavy 

 P-lipearance that is so often noticed on oak floors is due to this care- 

 less method of scrai)ing. The subject of laying, nailing and flnisbing 

 oak floors is thoroughly covered in a booklet that is issued by the oak 

 flooring manul'acturers, and can be secured through the dealers or by 

 addressing the Oak Flooring Bureau. Detroit, Mich., which will be mailed 

 free upon request. 



Foresters and manufacturers of oak lumber divide all the oaks into 

 two distinctive groups, the while oak ((/Mcrciig alba), and the red oak 

 Uiueniis rubra). The red oak nquires two years to mature its acorns, 

 and the wlilte oak but one year. The woods of tlu- two groups are struc- 

 turally different. In pliysleal structure the white oak is of a much 

 denser texture than the red oak. The white oak for flooring purposes is 

 preferred as it receives and holds a higher polisii. and is considered the 

 most durable and satisfactory. Collectively there are about sixty 

 (hotjinists do not agree among themselves on the exact number) 

 different kinds of red oak, but commercially tliey are divided into two — 

 the white oak and the red oak. The red oaks arc commonly called 

 black oaks. The lumberman usually determines the colors from the bark 

 of the tree rather than from the color of the wood. Some species of the 

 red oak have a hearlwood of a decidedly red color. In red oak floorinj; 

 there are sometimes seen pieces that the (U'dinary person might take for 

 white oak, which often leads to contei.lion on tlie part of the buyers. 

 The red oak grows faster than the white oak. thereby making it coarser 

 in texture. In quartered white oak a decidedly bitter figure is shown 

 than in the red. Most tlmbermen know the principal oaks by sight but 

 it takes an expert yardman to pick It out from a pile, rsually logs are 

 marked to indicate the color before they are ripped Into boards — this 

 helps the yardman to keep the lumber fipart. In segregating the two 

 colors the texture of the wood governs the color. 



The World's Railway Construction for 1911 



The I'nlted States led the wiprld in railroad construction feu- the year 

 1911, according to figures recently issued by the Bureau of Railway News 

 and Statistics, which shows that of the total of 17,151 miles of new 

 railroad in the world the rniled States built 5,394 miles. .Vccording to 

 the Hgures submitted by the bureau. Europe gained 3,100 miles in 1911 ; 

 Argentina built 1.860 miles; Canada. 620 miles; Cblna. 682 miles; British 

 East India. 2.399 miles; Africa. 2.232 miles, and Australia, 864 miles. 

 The total railroad mileage of the world at the close of 1911 was 655,842 

 miles, the gain being the greatest of any recorded during the last five 

 .years, the increase being 2.7 percent. While the Inited States made the 

 largest gain in proportion to anv counlry, its gain in relation to that of 

 former years was less. For five .years the growth of railroad mileage In 

 the I'nited States was 7.3 per cent, as against a gain of 10.5 per cent for 

 the entire world. .\sla and .\frlca, according to the report of the bureau 

 is rapldb' forging to the front In railroad building. America had a total 

 of 3:'.."i,437 miles of railroad at the close of 1911, and of this amount the 

 I'niti'd States contained 246.000 miles, or 36.000 miles more than all of 

 the railroads of Europe. The latter had a total of 210,000 miles of 

 railroad. Asia had 65,000 miles. Africa 25,000 miles, and Australia 20.000 

 miles at the end of 1911, 



