i8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



The success of the efforts to exploit this wood are not alone the 

 result of mere advertising of the wood itself, but rather of the 

 painstaking investigation of the possible uses to which it might 

 be adapted and the suggestion to those who could make possible 

 its adoption for those uses, that they try it out. With the more 

 recent and more successful drying methods, the success of gum 

 has become more or less of a phenomenon. This is also true of 

 various other of the well-known woods of the United States and 

 it is safe to say that it will be increasingly evident in the future. 

 We are told that it is never. too late to make repairs, but that 

 an opportune stitch will save the more laborious operation. The 

 better policy, however, would be to sufficiently fortify oneself in 

 the direction above suggested even before that opportune moment 

 and liv doing so enable oneself to reap the fullest benefit from 

 tliis. the modern idea of merchandising lumber. 



A Poor Exhibition 



WK READ COXSIDERABLY IX THE PRESS a short time back 

 of the decision of our recently elected honorable secretary of 

 state to the effect that he found his modest income of .$12,000 per 

 .jinnuni insutKcicnt to maintain his household at Washington and 

 his more permanent home in Kebraska. Without commenting upon 

 the justification for this decision on the part of the secretary of 

 state, it is a fact that practically all of the criticism which resulted 

 from the announcement of his intentions emanated from the daily 

 press. There was an attempt at censure of our secretary 's ideas 

 jind methods in this particular, which, however, did not get very 

 far. 



It might be worth wliile to compare these circumstances with 

 others which have just come to the attention of H.^kdwood Record 

 involving one of the Forest Service's most expert of e.xperts, a 

 man who has made a particular, life-long study of one branch of 

 forestry work and whose services could not but be valuable to the 

 service that employed liim. Tufortunately this man lived in Wash- 

 ington where, we are leil to believe, the cost of living has soared 

 to an almost heavenly point. Unfortunately, further, the remun- 

 eration which is the rewanl for faithful performance of duty in 

 connection with work in tlic I'orest Service is in no comparison 

 with the actual value of service rendered. Therefore the man 

 in question sought to increase his really modest income by devot- 

 ing his evenings and other spare time to the jirejiaration of manu- 

 script which he submitted to various pmblications. He knew his 

 subjects so well and was such a clever writer that the majority 

 of the articles submitted were acepted. As a result this man 

 acquired a further income than that which he received from the 

 government, which was well, worth while. 



However, it seems that somebody closely in toucli with his 

 affairs, who had more or less authority over him, for some reason 

 or other became ratlier jealous of his ability as a writer of 

 readable articles or for some other reason, was leil to start an 

 investigation as to the lawfulness of this practice. As a result 

 of the investigation which followed, this man who, as stated, 

 was a valuable member of the service has been summarily dismissed. 



Without in any way wishing to criticize the Forest Service 

 itself, which is doing a great work, the comparison of the two 

 circumstances is so odious as to make comment irresistible. 



A Compliment to Wood 



THE BUSIXESS OF MANl'PACTURING FURNITURE, while 

 staple in its general character, is necessarily one of quick ad- 

 justments and at times fluctuations of the most startling and rad- 

 ical character. Of course, the fundamental principles are always 

 the same — that is, furniture manufacturers must always turn out 

 bedroom suites, dining room suites, parlor suites, and similar arti- 

 <des of a more or less standard nature to fill the established 

 demand for the various articles in question. During the early 

 ♦lays of factory furniture manufacture, that was about all there 

 was to the furniture business. Practically all of the furuiturc 

 th.-n made was of wood and it was simply a case of making enough 

 of it to supply the more or less easily satisfieil market. People's 



tastes in those days were not so fully developed as now; they 

 lequired less for show and more for pure utility. 



The creation of beautiful and practical designs in all kinds of 

 furniture has now become the very life-blood of the furniture in- 

 dustry. Sales competition is now based almost entirely upon this 

 feature and the furniture manufacturer each year adds a few more 

 gray hairs wondering if the styles which he has created will 

 "take." Thus the ideas in construction and design in the stand- 

 ard articles of house furniture change radically from year to year. 



A short time ago there seemed to be a very serious menace in 

 the apparently overwhelming popularity of the brass bed as com- 

 ]iared to the wooden bed. But, like many another fad, this 

 jiopularity was based on false pretenses which have been discov- 

 ered by the ultimate buyer of furniture and it is safe to state that 

 the wooden bed has now regained all it lost and more than made 

 up for its former decrease in prestige. 



It was argued at the time that brass beds were beginning to 

 be most conspicuous, that they were more sanitary and more at- 

 tractive than wooden beds. Even the most rabid advocate of wood 

 products will acknowledge that the modern brass bed is a more 

 lieautiful and more sanitary article of furniture than the old- 

 fashioned wood bed, which wo recall from our early days. How- 

 ever, the inroads made b}' brass bed manufacturers upon the 

 market for wooden beds very quickly aroused the manufacturers 

 of the latter article to a realization that they must do some- 

 thing and do it quickly. As a result, the latest designs both as to 

 construction and finished appearance, so far surpass the brass arti- 

 cle as to looks, sanitary character and general utility that there 

 is al)solutely no room for com[iarison. These efforts on the part of 

 wooden .bed manufacturers have led to a very just reward in that 

 ihe recent furniture exhibits are showing the bed of wood to be 

 overwhelmingly in the majority in the number of exhibits. 



This fact is reflected in the show window displays made by the 

 large furniture retailers. Actual observation has shown that not 

 one in ten of the more prominent dealers in the city of Chicago 

 is making a window display of bedroom furniture using brass 

 beds. The reason for this is seen in the modern wooden beds 

 themselves. They need absolutely no argument to convince one of 

 llieir greater desirability. Incidentally, these exhibits which in 

 some places are luxurious in the extreme, constitute a very decidei' 

 compliment to wood inasmuch as they are in effect recognition of 

 the impossibility of equalling the beauty, design and general aji- 

 pearanee to be obtained in arti<-los which are constructed of the 

 ]iroducts of the forest. 



Evidence is Necessary to Substantiate Claims 



IT IS OI'TEN MARKEDLY DIFFICl'LT in the handling of claims 

 *' against customers anil railroads, involving reported shortages, to 

 get sufficient evidence to j)rove beyond a doubt as to the exact method 

 of tallying the shipments. It is frequently a fact that it is dithcult 

 to ascertain beyond C)uestion whether or not a claim is against the 

 inistomer or against the railroad itself. 



With this in mind the National Wholesale l.nndier Dealers' Asso- 

 ciation has ofl'ered a very wise suggestion to its membership urging 

 the advisability of incor]iorating on invoice blanks the following: 



"Owing to the position assumed by carriers, loss or damage claims 

 will not be recognized unless lumber is tallied as it comes out of the 

 car or over the rail of ligliter or boat, and notation of loss or damage 

 made on carrier's receipt." 



While it is recognized that a clause of this sort on an invoice really 

 has no bearing on a contract from a legal standpoint, and further 

 is not binding upon the customer unless it is made a i)art of the 

 original order or contract, still if the suggestion itself is carried out. 

 it would tend to remove a great deal of confusion resulting from cir 

 cumstanees of this character. It would unquestionably assist in edu- 

 cating the buyer as to the method of tallying lumber in order to 

 ju-operly substantiate a claim for shortage to print tlie clause per- 

 manently on the invoice in red ink or rubber stamp. 



This is merely one of the many wrinkles which large shipiiers or 

 lumber should bear in mind in order to avoid as much as possible the 

 - ciiini>lications which arise in transacting business on a large scale. 



