40 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



A Great Traveler 



The English are not ranch given to boastinii but some of their papers 

 have recently commented on the great distame traveled by a leather 

 belt in its ordinary course of business in driving machinery at Smethwick. 

 The belt has been going round the pulleys for thirty-two years, from niue 

 to twelve hours a day, at the rate of 1,800 feet a minute. Some one 

 with a mathematical turn of mind has figured that this equals 1,850,000 

 miles, or enough to make four trips to the moon and back. This beats 

 the record of a battered suit case exhibited a few years ago in the 

 window of a trunk store in Washington, D. C, with the card : "This 

 suit case has traveled more than a million miles." The belt in England 

 and the suit case in ^^'ashington wrre both of leather. 



The New Illinois Compensation Law 



The Jjumberraen's Mutual Casualty Company of Chicago has just issued 

 an explanatory pamphlet describing in detail the new Illinois workmen's 

 •compensation act which became effective .July 1. The pamphlet is sup- 

 posi'd to lie for the benefit of employers and to enable them to pass judg- 

 ment upon the act and to determine whether or not they want to accept 

 its provisions. 



According to the pamphlet, in an extra hazardous employment an 

 ■emplo.vor. whether under the present act or net. need give no notice in 

 order to operate under the new act, but must give notice if he wishes to 

 reject it. In other employments notice must he given if the new act is 

 ■either accepted or rejected. Briefly stated, the changes from the present 

 act are as follows : 



The new act includes employes of the state, county, cities, etc., per- 

 mitting industries not classed as extra hazardous to accept its provisions. 

 There is no assumption of acceptance for non-hazardous employment. 



The act excUides casual employes and those not engaged in the busi- 

 ness of the employer, such as domestic servants. 



Where employer and employe acci'pt. the employe retains no option to 

 sue under the common law. 



Only widow.5 and children depend<'nt upon deceased can receive payment 

 in case of death, or other lineal heirs if the deceased had contributed to 

 their support during the previous four years. 



Specific injuries under the new act require specific indemnity, a 

 schedule of which has been prepared. A definite limit of eight weeks and 

 $200 for surgical and hospital after treatment are provided. 



The manner of computing the basis of wages upon which to base in- 

 demnities is clarified and fixed definitely. 



Commutation to a lump sum when ordered by the industrial Iward on 

 a proper showing requires deduction for interest in order to establish the 

 present value of the pension award. 



The employer has Hie option of commuting periixlical payments accord 

 ing to the award to a lump sum. based on the present worth, or to pur- 

 chase an annuity, and in either case is thereby relieved from liability. 



Lack of notice as soon as practical aftiT an accident and within thirty 

 days thereafter is a bar to recovery. 



I'nsanitary conduct or refusal to take proper treatment prejudicc-s the 

 right of the employe to compensation. 



Indemnities in case of insolvency are made junior to mortsages or trust 

 deeds en employer's property. 



The employer can be required under iicnalty to satisfy the industrial 

 board of his ability to pay the nominal requirements of the act. 



.4n industrial board for the state as a whole appointed by the gov- 

 ernor is provided for. to unify and control thc> administration of the act 

 and elab(ii-ate jirovisions are madr' to govern it. 



Manufactures of Wood Sold in Turkey 



A eonsidar report of recent date says that in the house-building and 

 house-furnishing lines, American manufactures, both of hardware and of 

 wood, stand a particularly excellent chance. To those products may be 

 added prepared paints, varnishes and putty. The American trade with 

 Turkey in doors, sash and blinds is small, agyri'gating $3,41G, but, begin- 

 ning in ]t)ll-12, it is also new. Of furniture the United States sold 

 .$4!),ni!l worth in 1911-12 as against ¥20,178 worth during the previous 

 fiscal year. Of all other manufactures of woods, $22,200 worth was sold 

 as against .1:16,200 in 101 0-H. Steps have recently been taken by the 

 consul general in Turkey to introduce into that country American lumber 

 on a large scale, both for furniture and construction. Among the woods 

 that find ready sale are red gum and yellow pine in lumber, mahogany and 

 birch in veneers, and oak and maple for flooring. 



Longleaf Pine as a Fire Tree 



Dr. Koland .M. Harper, in his recent report on the forests of Alabama, 

 has a favorable word to say for forest fires, in relation to longleaf pine. 

 "If it were possible." says he, "to prevent forest fires absolutely, the 

 longleaf pine, our most useful tree, would soon become extinct." He 

 thinks that fires visited the region periodically in prehistoric times, the 

 same as at present, and to that condition the mature pine forests owe 

 their existence. A portion of his argument in support of his theory is 

 SIS follows : "Fire consumes the herbage that covers the ground, and 

 prevents the growth of most thin-barked trees, hut does very little harm 

 to thc> longleaf pine after it reaches the age of four or five years. This 



pine withstands fire better than any other tree we have, but some of 

 the other pines and a few of the oaks and hickories are not much in- 

 ferior to it in this respect. Where the herbage has not been burned most 

 of the pine seeds lodge in the grass and fail to germinate, and if the oaks 

 and other hardwoods were allowed to grow densely, they would prevent 

 the growth of the pine, which cannot stand much shade, especially when 

 young." 



The fact has long been recognized that certain trees owe their im- 

 portance to forest fires. Lodgepole pine of the western mountains, paper 

 birch of the North, and wild red cherry are examples. Their seeds must 

 have bare soil or their germination is very low : but after a fire passes, 

 the seedlings often take possession of extensive tracts. The lodgepole 

 pine and paper birch, when once started, are usually able to crowd all 

 other trees out. In this they differ somewhat from longleaf pine, whicli 

 cast so little shade, on account of thin stand, that other trees are able 

 to gain a foothold, and may ultimately crowd the pines out, if the pe- 

 riodic fires do not visit the forests, kill the other trees, but spare the 

 thick-barked pines. 



Railroad Valuation Will Be Expensive 



It is estiniaieil that the proposal to place a physical valuation upon the 

 railroads of the country will cost the government between ,1ilO,000,000 and 

 .$1.'5,000,000 and that the actual work will cover a period of six or seven 

 years. Thi> Interstate Commerce Commission has asked of Congress that 

 it grant an immediate appropriation of .$1,500,000 to provide funds for the 

 purpose of organizing the engineering corp which will undertake the 

 actual work involved. The house committee on appropriations was tin* 

 recipient of .a report which was based on a carefully worked-out estimate 

 placing the cost of field work connected with the valuation at $1,921,500 

 a year. 



.\ccording to the plan in mind, the country will be divided into five 

 districts, each containing approximately 50,000 miles of railroad. It is 

 estimated that it will cost each year for each of these districts for the 

 expenses of the various groups of field squads, $384,300. making a total 

 each year for the five districts of nearly $2,000,000. In addition the 

 accounting which will be necessary will entail an expinditure of $350,000 

 a year and the valuation (tflices which will be maintained jit Washington 

 will require $]50.(X10. 'I'lie Interstate t^omiueree Commission expects that 

 it will be well able to take care of the work and organize the tield foi-i-e 

 through the Civil Servici* C<uuniission by the first of next year. 



To Forecast Dangerous Dry Winds 



A western forestry and conservation association, representing the patrol 

 org.inizations of the Taeific coast, has just been notified b.v the secretiiry <»f 

 Agriculture that a plan for forecasting hot. dry winds conducive to forest 

 fires, formulated jointly by the association, the Forest Service, and the 

 I'cMtland office of the Weather liureau. has been approved and that weather 

 citlicials are being instructed to cooperate in perfecting a system for reports 

 and forecasts to be issued from I'ortland and San Francisco. Most <if the 

 disastrous fires on the Pacific coast occur when a high pressure area In 

 n(»rthern British T'olumbia and Alberta coin<*ides with a low pressure area 

 in the California region. The resulting wind is usually exceedingly dry 

 and is vory much dre.'ided by fire lighters in that section, as fires not 

 thoroughly in hand are likely to be fanned beyond human control with 

 tremendous rapidity. 'I'he proposition. If worked out successfully, should 

 be of material assistance in (ombating forest fires in the northwestern 

 forests. 



Biltmore Doings and Changes in Curriculum 



The .Tuly issue of ••i;illir.iire I ii.iiii;s." pulilished by tile lliltiiinre Forest 

 School, states that the students had a busy month. The activities were 

 centered in the woods near the school camp on Lake Dayhuff on the hold- 

 ings of the Cummer-Dlggins Comr.-iny of Cadillac. Mich. The studi'nts 

 were guided in their inspection of the woods operations by Pavid David- 

 son, woods superintendent (nv the Cummer-Dlggins Company. The camps 

 In this section are of semi-portable type, consisting of sections of flooring, 

 walls and roof, each ten feet wide. A camp accommodating 100 men 

 requires 05,000 feet of himber and $1,500 to establish. It can be broken 

 up readily and loaded onto ears for transportation to a new site. 



The students were given many opportunities for observing modern steam 

 sledding where the sleds are skidded witli steam skiddcrs. They are pullod 

 to the landing two at a time over tl;e sledding roads while being loaded 

 simultaneously with two loading lines. 



A considerable part of the time was spent in surveying under the direc- 

 tion of .1. T. McDowell. Various instruments were tised for the running 

 of corners, laying out of curves, making of topogi-aphie maps, etc, 



.\mong the visiting lectun-rs were I'rofessor II. A. ,\llison of the I'nl- 

 versity of Missouri, who talked on ".\nlmal Husbandry :" Dr. Hermann 

 von Schrenek. who talked on "Tlinlwr Impregnation :" It. S. Kellogg, who 

 gave the students many new ideas in lumber statistics. 



The students left the woods of Michigan on Aug. 2 and. after visiting 

 the mills and factories in Cadillac, proceeded across the continent via 

 noithern Idaho to I'ortland and Marshfleld. Ore. 



Dr. C. \. Schenck. director of the school, has issued anmntneemi'nts con- 

 siderably amplifying the announcements contained in the last Issue of 

 IlAiiUWOOD Iit:cORD as to the change In curriculum, nrlefl.v. these changes 

 embody change from a one to a two-year course, the elimination of the 

 E\iropean trip for active students, the elimination of certain unimportant 



