HARDWOOD RECORD 



63 



passed over the scales when I knew absolutely beyond a quos 

 tion of doubt that the weight was not correctly recorded. 



President Carrier: Did you make the weight in that case? 



-Mr. Yates: 1 know tliat to be an absolute fact, because 1 

 have done it myself. 1 had to in order to hold my Job. 



Mr. Powe: I can give you an illustration equally as gooil as 

 that and possibly better, because there is more assurance to it 

 than his partial case. I have eleven instances on my books i^ist 

 year where the weights varied on reweighing and T [laid on the 

 reweight. 



Mr. Mayhew: Mr. Powe says that he found where one scale 

 weight was incorrect by following it by another. In a case that 

 was decided in favor of the (daintiff, but in another case — I do not 

 know whether I can refer to the gentleman so severely — but he 

 had the nerve to refer to that one in deciding the other one. 



The chair now put tlic |peiiding motion to vote to refer to the 

 Traffic Committee and the motion carried. 



Secretary Doster announced that the report of the Couimittec 

 on Forestry woulil be presented by W. B. Townseiid. cliairmaii. 



Report of Porestry Cominittee 



Mr. Townsend: What ilo you want? (X voice 

 you got?") Of course, 1 do not want to make 



"What have 

 ii speech and 



know you do not want to be detained; but I don't know what 

 you do want. 



President Carrier: There is nothing especially 



wanted. 



1 



stuck something in my jiocket for fear I might be called on 

 for something of this sort. It isn "t big; it isn't long; it may 

 not be of any account, but it v.ill not detain you much. (Beading 

 report.) 



Forestry 



This is such a manysided sul)Jpct, and there is sn much printed and so 

 man.v speeches made on tlio various topics connected with this question, 

 that alread.v too much ill feeling and slander has been stirred up to 

 accomplish the maximum Kuod at a minimum expense. I will attempt. 

 in a brief wa.v, to touch on onl.v one phase of this jiteal ijuestion, and 

 that the one I believe luml>ermeu are most vitally interc>sted in, viz. : 

 Destruction of the forests by fire and its possible prevention in contrast 

 with what is being done. 



I will "not burden you with statistics — these are easily obtainalile from 

 governmental reports or records as compiled b.v the several splendid 

 trade journals of our industry — so I will merely call attention to two 

 vast domains, viz., Oregon and the southern Appalachians, which will 

 give some idea of the extent of the remaining stumpage, and in answer 

 to the pessimist who is constantl.v crying "AVolf — Wolf when there is 

 no wolf, and win:), with san<*iimonious air and grieved expression, claims 

 that with present metliods of manufacture, which he calls destructive, we 

 will have no standing timber left in a decade, 



DllKOO-N'S V.VST TiMBKR Re.SOL'RCES 



It is estimated that with proper conservation the timlx'r lands of 

 Oregon can be made to produce a perpetual annual income of .$100,000,000, 

 These figures are based upon a conservative estimate that the state has 

 at present 3.")0,0(i0,(i(i0,000 feet of standing timber within its borders. That 

 Oregon does not now lead all the states of the Union in the production 

 and sale of lumber is due to the fact that her timber wealth is at present 

 scarcely touched, chiefly because of lack of transportation facilities. 

 This tirab?r resource of Oregon constitutes a larger visible natural wealth 

 than is possessed by any other state of the Tniou. The known coal 

 wealth of Pennsylvania is smaller, and the production of any of the 

 gold districts of the world are almost insignificant in comparison. Thi- 

 condition is not without its responsibility, however, for timber is capable 

 of being destroyed more rapidly than any other natural resource of the 

 nation. The great forests cannot be insured, and with their destruction, 

 either by fire or reckless cutting, other losses follow. It is a generally 

 accepted theory that timber conserves the water flow, and a stable water 

 flow is necessary to all forms of irrigation enterprises and the growth 

 of crops. 



Now the vast Appalachian forests of the Southland. 



The 235 million acres of forest area in the southern states. Mar.vland 

 to Texas, including Arkansas. C)klahoraa and ^lissouri. ci^nstitute an 

 imperial domain. It is an area almost six times as large as all of New 

 England ; or, putting it in another way, an area considerably larger than 

 all of New England combined with New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Illinois, 

 liuliana and Wisconsin, 



The fact is an imposing ime. and coupled with its possession lies the 

 comforting fact that in this forest area is contained not only nearl.v 

 half of the nation's remaining timber, hut by far the nu>st valuable kind. 



It means that with proper management and b.v wise use this source of 

 wealth to the South can be made to iierpetuall.v yield an income which 

 in important' and size is onl.v second to the Sooth's cotton crop. 



Nr)w. the ouestion we as lumliermen and timl)er owners have to contend 

 with is the rapacity of individuals and the encroachment of fire, and I 

 think Wi» as lumbermen are justilied in criticizing and opposing the 

 methods of the l'"orestry Bureau as directed by a former chief. I think 

 results demon-strate that the vast sums of money appropriated by Con- 

 gress for forest protection have been improvidently expended. 



The destructive conflagrations that have swept over our forests this 

 last year forbid further avoidance or evasion — the fact is known that 

 during the last ten years some .$20,000,000 was placed at the disposal of 

 the Forestry Bureau to prepare to battle with the flames, but' the de- 

 struction wrought shows how inadequate tlie preparations were. An.v one 

 desiring the exact facts will rmd, by consulting the accounts of the Bureau 

 of Forestr,v, tluit but a small fraction of the appropriations were used 

 for woik in the forests and that a very large proportion was used for 

 general expenses very remotely connected with forest preservation. 



If the vast sums of mone.v used to em])loy an<i pay expenses of lec- 

 turers, etc,, had been used to make trails, build telephone lines, locate 

 tire guards, and to the employment of forest rangers and supervisors, the 

 fires of this last year would have been reduced to a minimum. 



The .vear of 1910 was one notable for excessive and long continued 

 droughts in large areas where timber operations are carried on. and also 

 for disastrous forest fires. The general lire loss for the I'nited States 

 and Canada for 1910 .aggregated $2:i4.470.(;.">0. being .$.'^0,000,000 in ex- 

 cess of the year 1909, In onl.v three preceding .vears has the fire waste 

 been as heav.v as it was in the year .lust closed. These were the years 

 *tf the Chicago. Baltimore and San Francisco disasters, 



.\!so the policy of expelling settlers and harassing miners and pros- 

 oectors results in the removal of a very large body of men who were, 

 from the very necessity of self-protection, excellent volunteer Are- 

 fighters. These men should be encouraged to remain and encouraged to co- 

 operate with the government in the protection of the forests. 



I trust the costly lessons of this year will result in substituting prac- 

 tical methods for theoretical ones — for it surely has been demonstrated 

 that lectures, editorials or new articles cannot stop the ravages of a 

 forest Are. and I am glad to note a change along these lines, and I 

 believ<» we ma.v expect ver.v material improvements- from the present 

 administration of this important department of our government. 



Mr. Vansaut: I niove that we endorse the sentiments ex- 

 jiressed and that a copy of that be sent to the forestry depart- 

 ment at Washington. 



The motion was seconded and carrieil unanimoiish-. 



J'resident Carrier: I wish to state that the National .disso- 

 ciation of Box Manufacturers will meet in Memphis on February 

 l."i, 1() and 17. As a member of that association and also as a 

 uicmljor of the Memphis Lumbermen's Club, I exteml an invita- 

 tion to all here to attend tliat convention. 



Report of Committee on Costs of Manufacture 

 .Mr. Fry: Mr. Fee requests me to state tliat he has not been 

 able to formulate any formal report, but submits a sketch on 

 uniform division of costs, and he has asked me to read it to the 

 assembly here. It is submitted because of the fact that when- 

 ever we want to compare costs between two or three different 

 companies we have no uniform system of classification. I have 

 formulated this into three general divisions, the woods end, the 

 mill end :iiul the overhead. Ft reads like this: 



Interest 

 Discount 

 Dues 

 Taxes 

 Insurance 

 Office salaries 

 General expense 

 ^AU other expense 



1 1\ i:i{iir.\i) 



I ti 



Selling expense 

 .Accounting 



JOS I-'.\D .* 



Cutting 

 Painting 

 Scaling 

 Tools 



Superintendence 



Hauling 



Loading 



Hauling 

 New spurs 



.' Either to river, 

 ( rail, mill direct 



{Labor 

 Repair 

 Fuel 

 Oil 



! Railroading 



Running rafts 



