HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



grade material from outstripping the supply, 

 the developmeut of the veneer trade has also 

 opened the door to the consumption of a 

 vast volume of low-grade and inferior lumber. 

 If veneers were not so generally used, the 

 condition vrould develop that poor stock 

 would have to be used in making furniture, 

 thus restricting the enjoyment of the pos- 

 session of pieces made of high-grade lumber 

 to those able to pay largely increased prices 

 for them. 



Since the application of veneers to the fur- 

 niture trade has enabled artistic and beauti- 

 ful articles to be purchased by nearly every- 

 one, low-grade material has come into nse in 

 centers and cores of built-up stock. This has 

 prevented the aeciTmulation of low grades 

 which would have come about had there been 

 no outlet for stock of that description, and 

 has been a real contribution to the problem of 

 reducing waste and increasing utilization. The 

 lumber trade thus owes to the veneer business 

 one of its biggest markets, for the manufac- 

 ture and consumption of veneers calls for 

 an equal supply of material to be covered, 

 and that, of course, consists of the low-grade 

 stock, which is not in demand otherwise. 



Xot only is this true, but the business has 

 brought into better standing woods which for 

 a long time were considered of little value. 

 Wormy chestnut, for example, was regarded 

 as almost useless, and though at last the 

 casket makers realized that it would answer 

 the purpose excellently in the manufacture of 

 covered caskets, they were for years almost 

 the sole consumers of note. The increasing 

 importance of the veneer trade as a consumer 

 of lumber made a place for wormy chestnut, 

 however, as it was found to be excellently 

 suited for that puipose. Its chief defect, the 

 worm-holes, proved an advantage in this con- 

 nection, offering a good ground upon which 

 to spread the glue and making unnecessary 

 the process of rough planing, which had been 

 applied to many materials in order to create 

 the uneven surface desired by many manufac- 

 turers of glued-up stock. The veneer trade 

 at present is consuming wormy chestnut in 

 enormous quantities, and by giving a use to 

 this wood has made a big market for it, which 

 would not have existed otherwise. 



I have said that the increasing consump- 

 tion of veneers has aided in preventing a 

 shortage of timber, since, as pointed out, it 

 has made one good log do the work of many. 

 This is really reversing the matter, however, 

 and it would probably be more accurate to say 

 that the increasing scarcity and cost of tim- 

 ber created a need, and therefore a demand 

 for veneers. Once that demand started, how- 

 ever, it developed quickly, and though it has 

 usually had to prove its worth before being 

 adopted it has had a good many advantages 

 on its side and has won out without great 

 difficulty. 



It is extremely interesting to recur to for- 

 mer days and note the slow, yet steady 

 growth, of the trade. I suppose that the 

 Singer Sewing Machine Company was the 

 original user of veneered tops, its seven-ply 

 glued-up stock having been in use for thirty 



years. The other manufacturers of sewing 

 machines were also early in the field in the 

 use of veneered tops. 



The idea of making panels for Ihe trade 

 developed gradually, bed panels probably be- 

 ing the first to come into general demand. 

 End panels for dressers and wash stands were 

 then proposed, and the manufacturers, after 

 being convinced of the utility of the glued-up 

 material, began to use them. It took a long 

 time to get into the manufacture of table 

 lops, and by the time that had been accom- 

 plished all classes of cabinet work had been 

 invaded. 



Interior work, such as doors, followed later, 

 the development of this branch of the trade 

 having been largely in the past fifteen years. 

 The use of veneers in packages has been 

 more recent, except that the veneered barrel 

 has been experimented with for a long time. 

 It has not been used to a great extent, how- 

 ever, on account of the difficulty of getting 

 the typical barrel shape. 



There is no reason to believe that the inti- 

 mate connection between the lumber and 

 veneer trades will be dissolved, since the 

 veneer business is a legitimate and logical 

 outgrowth of conditions in the lumber field. 

 As it becomes more diificult to supply the 

 demand for high-grade material in any lino, 

 the obvious solution is to use veneers. That 

 process has been going on in this country 

 for three-quarters of a century, the use of 

 veneers widening in ever-growing circles. The 

 diminishing timber supply has only one mean- 



Veneer Notes 

 The Gathings Furniture Company, Wades- 

 boro, N. C, has recently been incorporated 

 with a capital stock of $100,000. 



The Georgia Veneer &> Package Company, 

 manufacturer of fruit and vegetable pack- 

 ages and furniture veneer, Brunswick, Ga., is 

 erecting a veneer factory which it expects to 



have in operation in a short time. 

 * * # 



The "Wright Piano Company, 485 Green- 

 wich street. New York City, is planning the 

 erection of a five-story factory building, 

 75x90 feet, at Jersey City. Charles W. Wright 



is president of the company. 



» ^ * 



The Penrod Walnut & Veneer Company, 

 Kansas City, Mo., recently sawed an oak log 

 into quartered oak lumber which, according to 

 the annular rings, was 428 years old. The 

 log was 14 feet long and 58 inches in diame- 

 ter at the top end and grew in Clay county, 



Missouri. 



» * * 



The Central Veneer Company of Indian- 

 apolis, Ind., recently received its first ship- 

 ment of mahogany logs, which consists of 

 30,000 feet of Santo Domingo mahogany. 

 The big slicer has just finished cutting two 

 very fine Circassian logs for the Deco Veneer 

 Company of Indianapolis. The stock was 

 well cut, 1/90 inches thick, and is to be used 

 for interior decoration, etc. 



The plant of the Bacon-Underwood Veneer 

 Company of Stockton, Baldwin county, Ala., 

 is rapidly approaching completion. The mill 

 is a two-story structure, 80x125 feet, with 

 steam vats and boiler room adjoining. The 

 engine is on the ground floor, also the log- 

 haul machinery, the cross-cut saw and the 

 dust and waste carrier. The veneer knives 

 and trimmers are on the second floor, which 

 is on the level of the tops of the steaming 

 vats. The greater part of the machinery is 

 located on the ground floor and much of it 

 is now- in place. Three dry-kilns are under 

 construction, also a packing and shipping 

 house, all being made of reinforced concrete, 

 each building 100x150 feet. The mill will 

 cut veneers in several thicknesses. Shipments 

 w-ill be made through Mobile. 



The plant of the Baton Eouge A'eneer 

 Works, just north of Baton Eouge, La., was 

 recently destroyed by fire. The loss is esti- 

 mated between .$40,000 and $50,000, partially 

 insured. H. E. MacLeod, the owner, had 

 been called to Chicago a few days before by 

 the death of Ids mother, and was notified by 

 wire of the plant 's destruction. 



At the annual meeting of the Veneer & 

 Lumber Company of Dublin, Ga., which was 

 held recently, the following directors were 

 elected : D. S. Brandon, Geo. J. Schultz, P. H. 

 Eobertson, Z. Clark Yewing, Isadore Bashin- 

 ski, J. M. Finn, Joseph W. Irwin and J. F. 

 Garbutt. F. J. Garbutt was elected president; 

 F. H. Eobertson, active vice-president; Geo. 

 J. Schultz, treasurer and general manager, 

 and C. Eay Loving, secretary. 



# * * 



The Christman Piano Company, the Bronx, 

 New York City, has been incorporated with a 

 capital stock of $150,000. The incorporators 

 are J. Christman and G. J. Christman of 

 New York City, and H. Christman, Middle- 

 hope, Orange county, N. Y. The company 

 will engage in the manufacture of pianos, 

 organs, etc. 



* # # 



The Merrill Veneer Company of MerriU, 

 Wis., has recently secured A. Meyers of 

 Wausau, a practical man in the manufacture 

 of veneer, to assist in drawing the plans and 

 making special arrangements for operating 

 the veneer manufacturing plant. The com- 

 pany is buying a great many logs from farm- 

 ers, thousands of feet being unloaded every 

 day at the old Gilkey- Anson plant, which was 

 recently purchased by the Merrill Veneer 

 Companv. 



For ten years veneer in the manufacture of 

 trunks has been making such progress in com- 

 petition with lumber that today probably the 

 great majority of the best trunks have bodies 

 and tops of built-up veneer. That is, speak- 

 ing entirely aside from one conspicuous 

 make of trunk, which, as is well known, is 

 made entirely of veneer and has been exten- 

 sively advertised and widely sold during the 

 past few years. Veneer first became con- 

 spicuous in the trunk trade in the raanufac- 



