HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



A KINi: STAND OF DOUGLAS FIR, OREOOX. 



obtiiinalilo. Tlie wood is almost oxilusively 

 uslh] for dock piling and for foundations of 

 any lieavy structures built over soft ground, 

 on the Pacific Coast. Standard dimensions 

 for this purpose are 12 inches diameter, 60 

 to 70 feet long. In green logs from mature 

 trees the sapnood forms a narrow ring wlikli 

 docs not usually extend more than two inches 

 beneath the bark. When the timber has 

 been seasoned it can seldom be distinguishoil 

 by color. Although the grading rules allow 

 sii|)wood only on the corners for merchant- 

 able grades, lumbermen have no trouble in 

 meeting requirements in most cases. 



Douglas fir is of such varied quality that 

 specifications need to be drawn somewhat 

 more carefully than in the case of longleaf 

 pine in order to exclude the wider-ringed 

 ijuifk growth and knotty sticks. Lumbermen 

 divide their product into the red and yellow- 

 wood, the former dark and coarse, the latter 

 fine, lighter and more durable. This differ- 

 ence is thought to lie due to age. A cubic 

 foot of seasoned wood weighs 32 pounds. 



The Douglas fir is indeed one of the world 's 

 greatest trees, and the accompanying Illus- 

 trations show some very fine specimens. The 

 figure of a man shown in the foreground 

 of the forest picture gives a good idea of 

 relative size as compared with other trees. 

 The photographs from which these illustra- 

 tions were made were taken by the Xiser 

 Photo Company of Portland, Ore. 



A FALLEN GL\NT Flii. 



'Builders of Lumber History. 



John N. Scatcterd. 



{Sec Portniit Supplement.) 

 The house of Seatchcrd & Son, Buffalo, 

 established in 1857, is now running out its 

 fiftieth year in the lumber business. The 

 Hardwood Record wishes to join in commem- 

 oration of this, annivereary season, and to 

 that end takes pleasure in presenting to its 

 readers a portrait of John X. Scatcherd, 

 and a brief history of his company's pros- 

 perous and honorable career. 



It was in 1854 that James N. Scatcherd 

 left his Canadian home and went to Buffalo 

 to engage in business. At that time lumber 

 reached the city by small barges and sailing 

 vessels from Lake Erie and Canadian ports, 

 and was forwarded to Albany and New York 

 by canal. The young man was engaged by 

 the lumber firm of Farmer, De Blacker it 

 Decdes, and through his hard work and fru- 

 gality was able in 1857 to buy out his em- 

 ployers and estahlifh the business under his 

 own name. In lMt)5 he a.ssociated with him 

 Samuel J. Bclton, and the firm was known 

 until 1879 as Scatcherd & Belton; from that 

 time on as Scatcherd & Son. 



Both pine and hardwoods were dealt in 

 until 1878, when the former was dropped 

 and the firm has been exclusively a hardwood 

 house ever since. As the supply of hard- 

 wood lumber by lake sources became limited, 

 headquarters for purchasing were established 

 in Indianapolis, and tiio firm continued to 



NUMBER LVI. 



opero.te in the Middle AVestern States until 

 1892, when it moved its purchasing headquar- 

 ters to Memphis, where mills are still owned 

 and operated largely to supply the firm 's act- 

 ive export and domestic trade in oak. 



James N. Scatcherd died in 1885, leaving 

 the management of his large business to his 

 son, John X., who was born September 12, 

 1857, at Buffalo, and whose age thus marks 

 the anniversary of the establishment of his 

 present business. The boy was educated at 

 Hcllmuth College, London, Ontario, and at 

 the age of seventeen entered the employ of 

 his father, acting as tally boy in the Buffalo 

 yard. His present thorough knowledge of the 

 lumber business is undoubtedly due to his 

 father's stringent methods of instruction, 

 for he was required to master all departments, 

 including piling, driving the teams, inspec- 

 tion, and countless details in every line. This 

 training was of special value to the young 

 man in that his father's death occurred but 

 six years after he was taken into partner- 

 ship. 



The specialty of this house for many years 

 has been oak, although ash is no inconsider- 

 able portion of the output, and it formerly 

 purchased great quantities of poplar and 

 other hardwoods in Indiana, Kentucky and 

 Tennessee. Today its Memphis mills arc 

 stocked with logs purchased in territory trib- 

 utary to that market, particularly Missis- 

 sippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. 



Aside from his large lumber affairs, .Mr. 

 Scatcherd has other extensive interests. He 

 is president and principal stockholder in the 

 Batavia-Xew York Wood Working Company, 

 with ])lant at Batavia and offices in Xew 

 York City. This concern manufactures fine 

 iuterior finish and cabinet work. Mr. Scatch- 

 erd is also president of the EUicott Square 

 Company, the proprietor of the finest office 

 building in the city of Buffalo, and, indeed, 

 one of the handsomest in the entire country; 

 it is ten stories high and covers an entire 

 block. He is a director of the Buffalo Loan, 

 Trust and Safe Deposit Company, the Third 

 Xational Bank and the Bank of Buffalo, all 

 very strong financial institutions. 



Mr. Scatcherd 's numerous alliances with 

 clubs and associations of one kind and an- 

 other show not only his popularity but the 

 confidence in which he is held by his busi- 

 ness associates everywhere. For three years 

 he served as president of the Buffalo Lum 

 ber Exchange; for two terms as president 

 of the Xational Wholesale Lumber Dealers 

 Association; he was chairman of the Execu 

 tivo Committee of the Pan-American Exposi 

 tion, and is now a member of the Buffalo, 

 Ellicott, Country and Park clubs of Buffalo, 

 and of the Xew York and Republican clubs 

 of Xew York City. He is active politically 

 and served as president of the Buffalo Ec 

 publican League for three years, was a mem 

 ber of the Republican State Committee for 



