THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



19 



thing as a printed set of inspection rules 

 in tlie time of Xoali. He probalily had a 

 crude set of his own. -which Ue carried in 

 liis head. Had he so desired. I see how 

 he could have worlied this matter to his 

 great advantage. There being no printed 

 set of rules he could have varied his rules 

 to suit the occasion. For instance, if a 

 saw mill man delivered him a lot of timbers 

 with the hearts well boxed, he could have 

 claimed that "heart," even when boxed, 

 was a serious defect, reducing below the 

 grade of common, and so on. 



There wore other opportunities presented 

 to Noah out of whicli a shrewd, modern 

 consumer would make a great fortune. 

 For instance, he knew that everybody was 

 to 1)6 drowned in a certain time and he 

 could have given paper for everything he 

 bought, knowing full well that the paper 

 would never need be met. 



* * * 



It is believed tliat <luring- the time that 

 Solomon was building the Temple the prac- 

 tice of inspecting lumlier at tJie shipping- 

 point first came into vogue, although there 

 is still no trace of printed inspection rules. 



In those days the cedar and other tine 

 woods used in the construction of the 

 Temple were transported from the forests, 

 on the mountains of Lebanon, on the backs 

 of the plain people, and there is no doulit 

 liut that after a man had lugged a stick 

 of timber on his back for a distance of 50 

 miles or so, only to have it rejected, he 

 became very angry, and if he had any in- 

 fluence, had Solomon written up in the 

 lumber papers as a robber, thus creating 

 a public sentiment which finally compelled 

 Solomon to send his insijectors to the ship- 

 ping point to receive the stock. 



• • • 



So you may trace sacred history from 

 its beginning to Its end and you find no 

 mention of inspection rules. In prol^ane 

 history we have the civilization of ancient 

 Egypt, where nearly everything was built 

 out of brick, and that of ancient Greece, 

 where nearly everything was built of mar- 

 lile. In ancient Rome wood was used to 

 some extent, but the Romans didn't fool 

 about making inspection rules. When they 

 wanted to steal lumber they stole it in the 

 old-fashioned way. 



« * * 



It seems only in the modern civilization, 

 where the gentle art of skinning your 

 neighbor has lieen reduced to an art, 

 through refined and dignified science, that 

 a set of inspection rules for the measure- 

 ment and grading of hardwood lumber has 

 been compiled and printed. 



Trevious to the general acceptance of in- 

 spection rules, lumber was simply lumber 

 and worth about so much. With only one 

 grade there was little chance for manipu- 

 lation and the lumbermen of those days 

 sighed, and panted for better things. 



In all lots of lumber, however, there 

 was some lumber not so goo'd as the bal- 

 ance, and it seems probable that the prac- 

 tice of grading lumber originated in the 



endeavor of the buyers of those days to 

 buy a lot of lumber to be measured, and 

 then persuade the seller to keep the poor- 

 est of the lumber. Another buyer would 

 then come along and get the rejects at a 

 very low price. 



This was all right in a way, but the 

 trouble was that -while the poor lumber 

 was bought at a verj' low price it was, in 

 fact, very poor lumber. It was evident 

 that if any man could devise a plan 

 whereby the good lumber could be classed 

 as rejects and bought at a reject price a 

 fortune awaited him. So with that for- 

 tune as an incentive, some man finally 

 conceived the idea of getting out a set of 

 inspection rules. 



And taking some of his brother lum- 

 bermen in with him he finally achieved 

 his hellish purpose. 



And the scheme worked. 

 * * * 



You see. the lumberman wijuld take his 

 little set of inspection rules in his hand 

 and start through the country explaining 

 them to the country people, who made the 

 lumber in tliose days, and the country 

 men would ship their product to the city 

 to be graded on those rules. That was his 

 opportunity and the fortune was soon 

 made. 



It lasted a good while, because, as one 

 said: "A sucker is born every minute,'" 

 but finally everybody got to working it, 

 and working it so hard, and there was so 

 much confusion resulting that the lumber- 

 man saw that the old system was doomed 

 and concluded to abandon it. 



And the result is the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association. 



• * • 



Inspection rules we will still haVe, for 

 there is much good in inspection rules, 

 properly used. It is in their abuse that 



the evil lies. 



* * * 



Law and order is a good thing. Imt what 

 would it profit a nation to establish a legis- 

 lative body to enact a lot of laws and fail 

 to provide a judiciary to interpret them, 

 or an executive to apply them? Very lit- 

 tle, and it wouldn't matter a stra-w how 

 good, nor how just, the laws might be. 



Tlie National association had not long 

 been established before it became very ap- 

 parent that no matter how eiiuitable and 

 fair the rules of inspection might be. if 

 there was no way provided for their inter- 

 Iiretation and application they would be 



utterly useless. 



4 « ^ 



In the National Hardwood Lumber As- 

 sociation the legislative powers are vested 

 in the full body of the membership. Rules 

 and regulations are made in the mass con- 

 vention, but the interpretation and applica- 

 tion of those enactments are in the liands 

 of the inspection bureau committee, which 

 is both the judiciarj" and executive. 



Inspection rules are not an end — only 

 a means of an end. An absolutely perfect 

 set of inspection rules will accomplish 

 nothing without the inspection bureau to 



give them force and discretion, protection 

 and guidance. 



"I don't care who makes the inspection 

 rules," said a lumberman. 'Mf they will let 

 me apply them." 



All this work which has lieen put upon 

 the making of inspection rules will be abso- 

 lutely wasted if the in.spection bureau be 

 not strongly supported. The making of 

 the rules was an important matter, but it 

 is to be hoped we are through with it, and 

 that all the members of the association 

 shall settle down to an acceptance of 

 them. 



* * * 



And that is how my mind runs on, 

 night and day, night and day arguing out 

 tliis and reasoning out that. But. thank 

 goodness, when this reaches .vou the St: 

 Louis meeting will be over and I will be 

 at rest. 



You will have observed that there is not 

 much coherency in this article. I started 

 in to ■write a history of the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association, switched to an 

 explanation of the origin of inspection 

 rules, and wound up with a stump speech 

 about the inspection bureau. 



If this strain continues I fear my mind 

 will give wa.v. 



LOCAL GOSSIP. 



Mr. A. J. Howard has removed his office 

 from 1104 Fort Dearborn building to suite 

 S04 in the same building. 



* * « 



Mr. R. A. Wells reports business good, 

 but orders not as plentiful as they w'ere. 

 The conditions, he says, are more natural 

 than they were earlier in the year, which 

 is to the benefit of the lumberman. The 

 R. A. Wells Lumber Company shipped a 

 valuable car of cherry recently approxi- 

 mating .$1.-100 in value. 



* * * 



The Keith Lumber Comijauy refer to 

 trade as in excellent condition. Mr. Riel 

 confirms the general report of a less fever- 

 ish demand, but states that shipments are 

 just as heavy as at any time during the 

 year, being made on old orders. 



* * * 



Mr. Otto Jleyer, representing the Bon- 

 sack Lumber Company of St. Loiiis, was 

 in Chicago a short time Tuesday of this 

 week and paid the Record office a welcome 

 call. 



« * * 



J. R. Newport, southern buyer for the 

 South Side Lumber Company of this city, 

 was home on a brief furlough this week. 

 Mr. Newport said he had been away so 

 long that his wife did not recognize him 

 until after he commenced to talk. 



* 4: * 



The Chicot Lumber Company of Chicago 

 and Blissville, Ark., has increased its capi- 

 tal stock from $300,000 to .$5M.OOO. 



* * * 



F. C. Bissell of Wausau, Wis., will es- 

 tablish a wholesale lumber firm at La 

 Crosse. Wis., under the name of the F. C 

 Bissell Lumber Company. 



