HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



'Builders of Lumber History. 



NUMBER 1.1 \. 



Orson E. Teager. 



(.See Poilrait SupphmcnI.) 



riio charaotcr of the men who compose 

 Buffalo hardwood contingent is very 



_n. They stand always for consistent and 

 upright dealing, for .justice to both producer 

 :iiil consnnier, for high and uniform grades 

 and for open and honest dealing with each 

 other and the outside lumber world. 



One of the leaders of this notable coterie 

 of lumbermen is Orson K. Yeager, now serv- 

 ing his second term as president of the Buf- 

 falo Lumber Exchange. Mr. Yeager comes 

 of mixed English, Holland and German an- 

 cestry, and was born at Moscow, Lackawan- 

 na county. Pennsylvania. .March 2-5. ISfiii. 

 He possesses all the sturdy, sterling qualities 

 of the genuine "Pennsylvania Dutch." 



Mr. Yeager 's father was a farmer, and 

 the boy assisted in the farm work until he 

 reached his majority, except what time was 

 devoted to study. He received a common 

 school education and spent several terms at 

 Starkey Seminary, Eddytown. K. Y., after- 

 ward teaching a country school for a couple 

 of years. 



At the age of 21 Mr. Yeager decided to 

 learn the lumber business and engaged with 

 Shaw & Co., of Buffalo, a firm not now in 

 existence, to assist about the yard, receiv- 

 ing $1.50 a day for his labor. After two 

 years' work he had mastered the measur- 

 ing and grading of lumber and in 1889 was 

 engaged by the successors of Shaw & Co. — 

 Bi'tts & Buck — a house which afterward was 

 absorbed by J. B. and M. M. Wall, of the 

 Buffalo Hardwood Lumber Company. 



He continued in this new alliance for two 

 y.nrs as traveling salesman and buyer, but 

 on January 1, 1891, formed with Frank W. 

 Vetter the firm i>f Vetter & Yeager, to 

 handle wholesale hardwoi cl lumber in the 

 Buffalo market. On July 1, 1892, this house 

 was merged into the Empire Lumber Com- 

 pany, ouH of the large manufacturers and 



haudlers of hardwood lumber at that point. 

 H. C. Christy was president, H. C, Bradley 

 vice president and Mr. A'etter and Mr. 

 Yeager became manager and secretary-treas- 

 urer respectively. 



In 1900 Mr. Yeager disposed of his stock 

 in the Empire Lumber Company to an inde- 

 pendent yard in Buffalo and has operated 

 under his own name up to the present time. 

 He has been eminently successful and is to- 

 day an important factor in the lumber trade 

 of the East. In his yard Mr. Yeager carries 

 at all times a stock of from three to four 

 million feet of hardwoods, but he specializes 

 in oak, ash and poplar; however, no neater 

 and more complete assortment of all kinds 

 of hardwood can be found anywhere. He 

 handles about 10,000,000 feet a year. 



Mr. Yeager is interested in the Matson 

 Lumber Company, of Campbellsville, Kj'., 

 of which concern he is vice president; J. M. 

 Knott is president, W. W. Knott secretary 

 and treasurer and W. G. Matson manager. 

 The company handles approximately 8,000,- 

 000 feet of lumber annually, of which a 

 large portion consists of poplar, oak and 

 chestnut. Mr. Yeager is also one of the 

 principal stockholders of the Lebanon Lum- 

 ber Company, of Lebanon, Ky., manufac- 

 turer of plain and quartered white oak, pop- 

 lar and other hardwoods. 



The social side of life appeals strongly to 

 Mr. Yeager and he is very popular in any 

 circle he chooses to enter. He is prominent 

 in Hoo-Hoo and was Vicegerent Snark of 

 western New York in 1902, and Jabberwock 

 of the Supreme Nine in 1903. He has served 

 as president of the Buffalo Hardwood Ex- 

 change, and as stated above, has twice been 

 elected president of the Lumber Exchange 

 of Buffalo. At the present time he is n 

 director in the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association. 



Mr. Yeager was married in 1891 to Miss 

 Catherine C. Fitzmartin, of Corning, N. Y. 

 Tlirv have two sons. 



stales, mused to be conducted some remarkable 

 tests of tlic stayhii; power and durability of 

 cedar when exposed to tbc rain nnd snow of 

 a rigorous .New Fln^Iand wlnicr, .iDd the hot 

 sun of (holr summers. The result of these 

 tests has t)ccn the Introduction of cedar doors 

 and bouse trim Into every bamlet of the Xcw 

 England slates. Kor years before this firm 

 bpg.-in to ntillzf the choicer loss for tlicse uses, 

 manufacturers of red ced,nr shingles were at 

 work all over Washington and Oregon and the 

 extension of the cedar shingle today is only 

 limited by the capacity of the sbiimb' mill.s on 

 the coast. There arc no available figures by 

 which one can determine at all accurately the 

 total cut of cedar that IJnds its way into 

 shingles as against doors, fioisbing, siding, etc.. 

 but it is safe to say that by far the greater 

 pan of the cedar product is siill utilized for 

 shingles. But little capital is ro(niired for a 

 shingle mill and a small plant can be so easily 

 and cheaply put down on the line of a railroad 

 contiguous to timber that the shingle business 

 has naturally flourished at the expense, perhaps, 

 of millions of feel of tine logs which would bet- 

 ter have been pnt into the higher priced prod- 

 ticts of the factory. Bevel siding demands a 

 large share of the better logs, and it is an inter- 

 esting fact that while the price of some other 

 western liunbor products has been tumbling of 

 late, cedar siding remains lirm and apparently 

 will continue to do so. This only indicates 

 the melancholy fact that cedar is getting scarcer 

 and harder to obtain year by year. Such In- 

 roads have been made by shingle mills that the 

 standing timber lias gradually receded farther 

 and farther from the lines of railroads. Logs, 

 in consequence, are rather scarce and at present 

 very high priced. 



\VnKi;i.En, Osgood Co.MrAxv, 



by T. E. nipley. 



Hardwood Record J\lail Bag. 



[In this department It Is proposed to reply 

 to such Inquiries as reach tliis r,ffice from the 

 Hardwood Kecobd clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to warrant publication. Kvery 

 patron of the paper is Invited to use this de- 

 partment to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made to answer ijueries pertaining to all 

 matters of Interest to the hardwood trade, in 

 • succinct and intelligent manner.] 



More About Pacific Coast Cedar. 

 Some time ago the H.^rdwood Recoup rc- 

 ■ sted information regarding western red 

 iar from T. E. Ripley, secretary of the 

 Wheeler, Osgood Company, manufacturers of 

 cedar doors, mouldings, sidings, shingles, etc., 

 ;it Tacoma, Wash. Their reply, as given be- 

 low, arrived too late for use in connection 

 "ith the article on this wood which appeared 



in the last issue, hut covers some interesting 

 points : 



Taoim.\. Wash., Iiec. IS. — i;dllor IIaudwhod 

 ItErouD : Itepiying to .vour favor regarding red 

 cedar, will say that of course our western wood 

 bears no relation to the red cedar, or pencil 

 :edar, of the East, Its color Is hardly as 

 pronounced a red, but verges rallw-r on tlie am- 

 ber, with beautiful reddish tints. Its most 

 salient characteristic is the marvelous way it 

 stays in place, without warping, checking, swell- 

 ing or shrioklng. This quality and its great 

 beauty have forced tlie atlentlim of architects 

 and builders to this handsomest of .Vmericnn 

 softwoods, and by virtue of its own value it 

 has sprung into general use for fine finish lum- 

 ber for doors, sash. Interior house trim and 

 such exterior work as mouldings, columns, poles 

 and shingles. Our company, which was the first 

 to force the cedar door into the Atlantic coast 



That Quartered Oak Question. 



Elba.nks, Kv., Dec. 27. — Editor IIakowooo 

 ItKCOKu : I note in your issue of December 25 

 a few letters regarding the first ones making 

 quartered oak in Indiana. I think I can fur- 

 nish you with the necessary details of this, as 

 my father, W. [I. McLaughlin, h.as told me quite 

 often of (lie first quartered or lignred oak, as it 

 was called, that was made in that state. He 

 was running a mill at Franklin, Ind., at that 

 lime, and is now on a visit to Teru, Ind., or 

 1 could furnish you a detailed description. I 

 will say lliat there was a man sent from Xew 

 York to teach J. H. Murray and \V. II. Mc- 

 Laughlin to saw Ibis stock. I would be glad to 

 furnish an.v information yon desire on this sub- 

 ject that can Iw of benelit to lumber history. 

 Both of these men referred to are making quar- 

 tered oak today, my father being very active 

 in the business at scvenlysix years of age. 



T. W. McLAfiJiil.IX. 



I'Mii.Aini.iiirA. I'A.. Dec. 24. — Editor Haro- 

 wiMiD Kkioimi: In a recent Issue of your paper 

 you slate that a correspondent wants to know 

 ihc name of ihe man who llrst cut quartered 

 while oak and at what place in Indiana. You 

 say It is conceded that the first man to saw- 

 It was tlic late U. Herman at his Evnnsvllle 

 plant. My father, .L L. Uumbarger, quarter 

 s;iwed wliite oak at his mill on Bean Blossom 

 cieek, Monroe county, Indiana, on the Louisville, 

 .New Albany and I'hicago railway, two miles 

 soulb of Gosporl. before Mr. llei-inan began buy- 

 ing lumber in Indiana. This quailered white oak 

 was manufactured either in ]S~\. 1.S72 or 1873; 

 father thinks it was in 1S72, and it consisted of 

 H lot of over 200.000 feet. He will look up 

 the date and when it is fixed I will write you 

 a complete history of the llrst transaction in 

 the niauufaclure of quartered white oak In Indi- 

 ana. This lot of over 200,000 feet of quartered 

 stock was manufactured for ami put into the 

 city hall of rrovldcncc, It. I. 



.TOHN J. RrMHAItGEB. 



