34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Toronto billiard and pool table manufacturer, 

 who has been supplied with a list of several 

 tupelo gum manufacturers, who possibly might 

 be interested in the sale of logs or bolts. Any- 

 one wishing the address can have it on appli- 

 cation to this office. — Editor. 



Seeks Solid Oak and Maple Panels 



Indianapolis, Inil., Dec. 1. — Editor Hardwood 

 Record : We would like the address of some one 

 who could make up for us solid %" panels out 

 of oak and maple, same as the veneer people 

 make up In five-ply. 



Co. 



The author of the above letter is a leading 

 bchool supply comj)any and it has been fur- 

 nished with a list of several panel people who 

 might be induced to build solid panels. Any 

 others who would be interested in this pros- 

 pective order can have the address on appli- 

 cation. — Editor. 



Returned Perforated 



The Kecord is in receipt of a letter from 

 J. V. Hamilton, the well-known black walnut 

 factor of Ft. Scott, Kan., which is accom- 

 panied by a badly disfigured copy of Habd- 

 wooD Record. In explanation Mr. Hamilton 

 says that on a recent trip to Mexico he took 

 with him some copies of the Record. On camp- 

 ing in a palm-thatched hut which constituted 

 his abode for some time his baggage was un- 

 packed for airing and the shack lacking such 

 objects as furniture and wardrobe hooks, 

 his clothing was hung on nails or stubs of an 

 occasional limb left jutting from the posts of 

 the structure. The Records in question were 

 placed on the floor for a few days and when 

 Mr. Hamilton had occasion to read them he 

 was surprised to see that the white ants had 

 come up out of the ground and were raven- 

 ously devouring them. Mr. Hamilton thinks 

 that even the white ants of Mexico know a 

 good thing when they come in contact with it. 



He states that this particular variety of 

 Mexican white ants are without eyes and hence 

 totally blind. The entire country seems to be 

 alive with these insects, of which there are 

 many species, one of whieh builds its nests 

 on the limbs of trees twenty or thirty feet 

 from the ground, and he has seen instances 

 where good sized trees had been broken off 

 by the great weight of their huge habitants. 



Concerning the recent disturbance in Mex- 

 ico, Mr. Hamilton says that he is now a ref- 

 t:gee from that country and was treated rather 

 better than civilly. He saw no instances of 

 great discontent among the people. However, 

 his visits were confined to the extreme south- 

 ern part of the republic. He thinks the fight 

 is entirely a local one and that Americans 

 liaving timber interests there will be in no wise 

 seriously injured, but that American mining 

 interests in the northern part of the republic, 

 ivhich are so great, will very likely suffer 

 somewhat. 



Wants to Market Hickory IjOgs 



An agricultural implement concern at Har- 

 riman, Tenn., whose address will be furnished 

 on application, advises that the outlook for 

 the woodworking end of its business in plow 

 I'andles and beams is especiaUy encouraging; 

 that the demand is active and the prices seem 

 to be stiffening somewhat. This company fur- 

 ther wri'tes : ' ' We find that we have a sur- 

 plus of hickory on the tract we are just now 

 operating and would be glad to find a market 

 for a few carloads of hickory logs." 



Seeks Timber for Feed Rolls 



Chicago, Nov. 22. — Editor Hardwood Record : 

 We have an inquiry from one of our members 

 for other than wagon material. This concern 

 desires to find a wood that will be satistactorj' 

 to use in feed rolls in machinery making twine 

 or cordage. The material must be reasonably 

 hard, even and clear as to grain and not sus- 

 ceptible to checking after dry. W'e have sug- 

 gested that possihly sycamore or some wood of 

 that character would be the proper thing. 



W'ill you kindly give us a list of your sub- 

 scribers and others who are cutting sycamore 

 and suggest to us any other wood of similar 

 character which might be used for this purpose? 

 The rolls referred to are from three to four 

 inches in diameter and from twenty to thirty 

 inches long, so would probably desire it cut in 

 squares and do turniug themselves after season- 

 ing. E. W. MCCULLOUGH. 



The writer of the above letter is secretary 

 of the National Wagon Manufacturers ' Asso- 

 ciation. Anyone interested in his communi- 

 cation may address him at his office in the 

 American Trust building, Chicago, El. It has 

 been suggested to him that, in so far as the 

 observations of the editor go, hard maple is 

 the most satisfactory material for the pur- 

 ]ioses he specifies. — Editor. 



VENEEK, 



VENEER FOR ORGANS 



Fifteen or twenty years ago the visitor to 

 the rural homestead was surprised if he did 

 not see across the corner of the parlor a cot- 

 tage organ, made of walnut, usually, and 

 ornamented with much scroll-work and a 

 bracket or two for the essential lamp and 

 the imposing china figure. 



This is not to say that the old-fashioned 

 ergan is no longer manufactured, for there 

 are still a few big factories which keep 

 hundreds of employes busy turning out in- 

 struments of the old time type. The Estey 

 factory, at Brattleboro, Vt., known as "the 

 father of them all," is still a big producer, 

 while at Washington, N. J., there are two 



factories, those of Cornish & Co., and the 

 Xcpdliam Piano & Organ Company, which 

 make the cottage organ a big feature of their 

 "line." 



Many of the organs are still consumed in 

 the country, but the manufacturer is driven 

 to the less wealthy districts for his custom- 

 ers. Rural churches used to be largo buyers 

 of organs of this kind, but they, too, 

 as a rule, are more ambitious, and 

 now ask for the higher-priced instru- 

 ments which require manual pumping 

 instead of the modest foot-bellows of 

 the original instrument. Finding their 

 market restricted in this country, some of 

 the larger organ makers are now going 



abroad, and it is said that one of the largest 

 has built up a big business in South Africa. 

 South America and Central America also 

 aflord a fine potential field for the cheap 

 organ, which is satisfactory in the absence 

 of competing instruments, and which sells 

 for a reasonable sum, not more than $40- 

 or $50. 



Reference was made above to the organ- 

 piano. This is a real organ in that the com- 

 pression and expansion of an air cabinet 

 develops the sound, but it is placed in a 

 piano case and makes a much better appear- 

 ance. Thousands of these are being sold 

 every year, prices ranging from $100 to 

 $125. They cannot be sold for more than 

 this, because after that figure is passed, they 

 come in competition with the cheaper grades 

 of pianos. 



The veneer man is very much interested io 

 watching the changes which time has 

 brought about in this end of the music 

 trade. In the old days, the cottage organ 

 manufacturers were big consumers, because 

 they required a large amount of glued-up 

 stock which was used in making the bellows. 

 Four pieces were required, the foundation 

 board, the division board and two upper 

 pieces. Three-ply stock was specified, and 

 poplar, basswood or Cottonwood went into it. 

 The thickness usually demanded was % or 

 •"4 inch. 



Inasmuch as the organs were usually put 

 up in cases of solid oak or walnut, veneers 

 were not needed. Now that the cottage or- 

 gan is being transformed into the more pre- ^ 

 tentious orgaxt-piano, however, handsome 

 cases, veneered with quartered oak or 

 mahogany, are the rule, and the veneer man, 

 is getting a good volume of business from 

 this direction. Good stock is required, be- 

 cause while the organ man cannot compete 

 with the real piano when the interiors of 

 the instruments are compared, he can at 

 least make as good a showing on the out- 

 side. A good many of the manufacturers 

 have the veneer men frame out their cases, 

 making up the panels for them so that the 

 problem of ease-making becomes much 

 simpler. The majority, however, buy the 

 veneers and lay them down themselves. 



While the piano-organ has become an 

 aristocrat in the matter of the case, and is 

 a considerable adjunct of the veneer trade 

 in that way, it still requires a certain 

 amount of gluedup stock, in spite of the 

 fact that the action of the instrument has 

 been altered so that the large, unwieldy 

 bellows is almost eliminated. The total 

 consumption is not nearly so much, how- 

 ever, as when the old-fashioned cottage 

 organ was in vogue. 



The average cottage organ factory con- 

 sumes 00,000 feet of glued-up stock a year,, 

 while tlie piano-organ factory of the same 

 capacity will require close to a quarter of a 

 million feet of veneers. The amount of 

 business represented b}' the tw-o is about 

 equal, though in most eases the glued-up 



