i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



demands wood of any kind gives the most important place to oak. In 

 the government report by utilization of wood in the single state of 

 Illinois, 473 uses are reported for oak, which is nearly as many as 

 for all other woods combined, and no other single wood approaches 

 it in variety of service. It is superior to changes in fashion, and is 

 little affected by fads and styles. It is substituted for no other 

 wood, but many are worked in as substitutes and imitations of oak, 

 which IS the highest compliment that can be paid any wood. Long 

 and extensive demand has lessened the supply, but not the popularity 

 of this material. It holds all of its old friends and constantly wins 

 new^ ones. The favorite wood of a hundred years ago is the favorite 

 yet. 



The Pioneer Basket Maker 



THE PICTURE ON THE i'ROXT COVER of this issue of Hard- 

 wood Record will mean less to the younger members of the 

 present generation than to those whose memories go back many 

 years. The person who forms the principal character of the pic- 

 ture is an old basket maker of the southern ranges of the Appala 

 chian mountaiiks. A century ago the basket factory was unknown 

 in this country. The whole output was liand work, and the article 

 entered little into commerce. Every community made its own 

 baskets just as it made its own slioes. ' Materials were various, 

 but most baskets then as now were of wood; some of round osiers, 

 others of thin ribbons drawn from tough billets, and commonlv 

 called "splits.'' That was the material of the well-known split 

 basket. 



During the past thirty or toity years the old-fashioned baskets, 

 and the old-style makers, h-ue l)oen passing away, until at this 

 time few remain, while tlie supply of baskets from factories h:is 

 increased. A few of the pioneer makers of split baskets yet re- 

 main among the Ajjpalachiau mountain ranges. They are usually 

 old men or old women who have 1 rought the quaint, rustic art 

 down to thi present, and who live in remote settlements where 

 the rush Mild lunry of niod.>rn business methods have inaile little 

 impression. 



The baskets tluis made arc of different sizes, from a bushel 

 down to a gallon. The thin drawn ribbor.s aie usually of oak, Iml 

 sometimes of hickory or asli; and the stiJening is secured by 

 small roils, railed ribs, car'jfully intei woven with the siilits. In 

 pio:;eer liiius the customiiry ]irice paid for such a basket was as 

 much shelled corn as it woiilu l.(.M. That manner of ]iaymeiit is 

 probably not much used now. 



"Cheeking the basket" was the secret of tlu' art wlihli tlie p:i- 

 triarchs ol the trade taught to their children and grand children. 

 That term referred to the basket's characteristic shape. Each 

 side bulged out like inflated cheeks, and the two parts came to- 

 gether forming a valley, as it wiie, acro.-s the bottom, which was 

 shaped not unlike the part of a saddle which fits on the horses "s 

 back. In fact, it is probable that the valley across the basket's 

 bottom was originally designed to fit the horse's back so that the 

 load could be easily carried on the animal in front of the rider. 



"Basket oak," a well-known and valuable southern species of 

 white oak, "basket ash," the tree usually called black ash, and 

 '•basket elm," the cedar elm of the South, are names commem 

 orating the activities of early basket makers. 



The Business Horizon 



f N VIEW OF THE MANY Di.sTL'KlilXt.; ELEMENTS in business 

 1 at thi.s time, it is remarkable that the outlook remains fairly satis- 

 factory. The war in the Balkans dragged oa with danger constantly 

 |ircsent that the area of hostilities might broaden and seriously affect 

 business conditions in Europe. Mexico continues to drift into anarchy. 

 iii'.d no statesman is wise enough to tell when the trouble will decline 

 longer to be confined south of the Rio Grande. The prospect of 

 trouble is constantly present in th.'.t direction. 



At home the proposed radical changes in the tarifl' policy and the 

 no less radical innovations in the country's financial system, are widely 

 disfussed pro and con; but the country's business refuses to be 

 alarmed. Nobody is afraid that something awful is about to happen. 

 Jf there is a little dullness in one place, and suiiie hesitation in 



another, people are willing to wait for conditions to improve, and 

 tlieie is a commendable disposition to help improvements along. 

 There is no more dullness on this side of the sea than on the other. 

 All commercial nations seem to be in the same boat without any 

 disposition anywhere to rock the boat. The mining interests of 

 South Africa passed safely through the crisis due to danger of a 

 strike, and are busy and hopeful again. The danger of a vast rail- 

 road strike in this country has happily blown over, and the horizon 

 is clear in that direction. The great activity in railroad building and 

 in the opening of new lands in Canada are proof that our neighbors 

 on that side are busy and hopeful. Nothing serious can be seen in 

 the road ahead of the business interests of this country. 



Increase in Use of Low Grades 



DURING THE HEAKING of the Memi.his-New Orleans rate 

 case by the Interstate Commerce Commission at Washington, 

 an interesting point was brought out in regard to the average 

 value of lumber shipped south from Memphis in 1907 and in U)l'i. 

 It was admitted that the value of some grades had increased, but 

 the railroads were unable to show that the value of an average 

 carload in 1912 was any greater than the average c-ar in 1907. 

 Evidence introduced by shippers showed that the opposite was 

 apparently the ease, though the evidence was not wholly conclu- 

 sive because there was not enough of it. The contention was that 

 low grades are now going to market in much larger amounts than 

 live years ago, and their low v-alue brings down the general aver- 

 age value of carload lots. The specific evidence was that the aver- 

 age price of all lumber sold by a certain firm, which was sup- 

 jiosed to be representative, was $32.80 per thousand feet in 1907, 

 and only $29.15 iu 1912. The princijial woods considered were oak, 

 jioplar and gum. Low grades of these woods were iiractically un- 

 salable in 1907, but have since become popular and are going to 

 market in such large quantities that they seem to lower the aver- 

 ag,' value of shipments, notwithstanding the liiglier grailes have 

 increased in value. 



Forest Products Exposition Definitely Organized 



T\ CONFlllvMlTV Wri'l! THK KE.Sdl.rTK IN aih.pted at the 

 ■I last meeting of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, 

 President llownman appointed a .special committee to provide plans, 

 for holding the proposed forest products exposition. The committee- 

 is composed of representatives of each of the various affiliated 

 associations. In addition, the secretaries of all the associations are 

 appointed auxiliary members of the committee with the same power 

 and authority as the other members. 



The first meeting of the committee was held at the Hotel LaSalle 

 (in Tuesday, August 5, there being a fair representation of the 

 members present. The entire day and evening were spent in discuss- 

 ing every ph.a.se of the proposed exposition and it developed that it 

 would be necessary to form a tem):orary organization to dispose of 

 the stock. As a result, L. S. Case of St. Paul was elected president 

 of the Forest Products Exposition Company, and J. E. Rhodes of 

 Chicago, secri'tary-treasnrer. Apjilication for articles of incorporation 

 have been made at Springfield, 111., the company to have a i-apital 

 stock of $2.').000 at fifty dollars jier share. The meeting of the 

 stockholders will be held on October 1, when it is proposed to elect 

 the officers :.nd directors of the National Lumber Manuf actnrei's ' As- 

 sociation as offi^-ers of the Forest Products Exposition Company 



The following were appointed an executive committee to work out 

 details, with reterence to the incorporation, negotiations with the 

 manager, etc.: L. S. Case, St. Paul, Minn.; George E. Watson, Now 

 Orleans, La.; M. S. Kellogg. Waujaii. Wis.; George K. Smith. 

 St. Louis, Mo. 



While no definite ]daic m date has been set for the holding of ihe 

 I'xpositioii, lenlative plans have been submitted to the board of 

 governors, together with the recommendation for the employment of 

 George S. Wood of Chicagc as manager. 



It is proposed that $2,000 of the capital stock shall be olleit'd for 

 sale til Imiilier iiiair.ifaitureis and that the remaiinli'r sliall be otTereil 



