14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



done at certain limes of the year only. Bark of most trees will 

 not peel (woodsmen call it "slipping") after late spring and early 

 summer. It is commonly said that it peels then because the sap is 

 "going up." That will answer as an explanation if one does not 

 want to be too particular. The fact is, however, that sap going up 

 or coming down has little to do with the facility with which bark 

 may be strippeil at that time. The forming of the layer of now 

 wood just beneath the bark is the cause of the slipping bark; but 

 that is not particularly to the point in the present case. 



Paper birch is about the only tree whose bark can be stripped off 

 for practical purposes at all seasons; and that is because it sepa- 

 rates into thin layers, independent of the new growth of wood 

 forming beneath in early summer. 



When "the wayfarer wishes to build a forest shelter at a season 

 when bark will not peel, he uses small branches, spruce and hem- 

 lock if he can get them. A fire built in front throws the heat inside 

 the shelter, reflects it upon the camper, and he sleeps in comfort 

 on the "spruce feathers," which is the name applied to the pile 

 of twigs constituting his bed. If the wind happens to be. in the 

 wrong quarter, he gets a little more smoke than is conducive to his 

 comfort. 



There is luxury in such a camp for those who know how to enjoy 

 it; but woe to the city greenhorn whose sole experiences have been 

 with hair mattresses and eiderdown quilts. He will realize as 

 never before how close his skeleton lies to his sl^in. The owner of 

 one of the famous buildings of New Yorlc recently spent a night 

 in such a shelter with a rustic guide in the mountains of West Vir- 

 ginia. He murmured, groaned, and knocked hour after hour, ex- 

 claiming every few minutes, "I'd give five thousand dollars to be 

 in New York." Finally he raised it to "ten thousand dollars to be 

 in New York," to which the mountaineer replied, "I don't know 

 but that I'd give that much to have you in New York so I could 

 get some sleep. ' ' 



The cover picture shows a dense, typical hardwood forest in the 

 luxuriant foliage of early summer. Back of the shelter stands a 

 soft maple. Across the brook are fine yellow jjoplars, indicating 

 fertile land. It is not a limestone soil, as is evidenced by the 

 presence of the great laurel, for it will not grow on limestone. 

 Numerous other species may be made out by the foliage, if one is 

 disposed to examine closely. The brook flowing by completes the 

 luxury; for the water in such a stream is purer than all the health 

 boards in Christendom could make it with settling tanks, filters, dis- 

 infectants, and ultra violet ra3's. 



Hardwood Paving Blocks 



THE AMOUNT OF HARDWOOD PAVING in the United States 

 is comparatively small, but there is no good reason why it 

 should not increase. The requirements of a paving block are that 

 it be readily impregnated with preservatives, be strong enough to 

 withstand the stress of traffic, and not too high-priced. There are 

 a number of hanlwoods that comply with these conditions. 



In the early history of wood block pavements hardwoods such 

 as oak, cottonwood, mesquite and Osage orange were used. In 

 nearly all of these cases the blocks were untreated, or at most 

 dipped or boiled for a short time in tar, asphalt, or other mixture 

 of supposed preservative value, and they failed in most cases to 

 give satisfactory results. Untreated red gum from this country 

 was tried in England and for a time raised great hopes, but it 

 finally proved unsatisfactory. These failures, however, have no 

 bearing on present conditions for with standard methods of treat- 

 ment and laying now in use, many hardwoods are fully as efficient 

 as conifers. But if the woods used are too dense, heavy and hard 

 they will become more slippery than softer woods. 



In the wood-paving experiments begun by the Forest Service 

 in Minneapolis in 1906, one portion of Nicollet Avenue, 64 feet 

 long and 50 feet wide was laid with white birch blocks which had 

 been air seasoned for several months before being creosoted and 

 used. The width and depth of the blocks was four inches, the 

 lengths four, six and eight inches. The treatment was twenty 

 pounds per cubic foot of creosote oil of lower specific gravity tlian 



the specifications called for. Inspection after four j-ears of con- 

 tinual service showed the average wear to be only three-sixteenths 

 of an inch, which was exceeded by only one species. Some of the 

 blocks, however, showed decayed heart, as a result probably of 

 faulty inspection at the time of laying the pavement. 



The manager of the paving department of the Chicago Creosot- 

 ing Company saj's: "Experience has proved that in the Central 

 West we have at least four woods which, when tested by every 

 possible requirement, are suitable for paving purposes. These 

 woods are southern yellow pine, tamarack, hcndock and maplb. 

 One street paved in Chicago with southern gum is not considered a 

 sufficiently conclusive experiment to warrant one to form a definite 

 o]union. . . . Observations made at our plant during the past 

 year show that maple is the wood most easily treated, followed 

 closely by tamarack and hemlock, all three greatly outclassing 

 yellow pine in this respect. ... A little more than a year ago 

 our company furnished enough hard maple blocks to lay the inter- 

 section of Madison Street with Fifth Avenue, one of the heaviest 

 traveled spots in the city of Chicago. It is estimated that the 

 daily vehicle traffic on Madison Street is eight thousand, while 

 that on Fifth Avenue is over five thousand. Pounded by traffic 

 from four directions, these bloeks do not show the slightest sign of - 

 wear. In fact, so satisfactory was the result that the Chicago 

 Railways Company purchased its entire supply for 1912, specify-, 

 ing maple. ' ' 



Hardwood paviug blocks are also coming into use for factory 

 floors. While the use of hardwood for paving maj' be said to be in 

 its experimental stage there is no doubt but there is a considerable' 

 future lor the business if the hardwood manufacturers care to enter 

 that field and push their product. 



In- the Midst of Change 



A GREAT INDUSTRIAL CHANGE is actually taking place in 

 this country, and it is attracting far less attention than its 

 importance deserves. It is based on the development of hydro- 

 electrical power, that is, water power transmitted by electricity. 

 The dedication a few days ago of the great dam across the Missis- 

 sippi at Keokuk called attention to that particular project; but most 

 of the press comments were based on a comparison of the dam with 

 Egypt's largest pyramid as to size. It was really a comparison of 

 ' ' great things to small. ' ' 



The pyramid is a five-thousand-year-old monument to human folly, 

 the Keokuk dam is a monument to progress and industry. The 

 pyramid's one achievement was the harnessing of one hundred 

 thousand men to do the work of one tyrant; but the installment at 

 Keokuk will harness the forces of nature to do the work of three 

 million men. Therein lies the difference between progress in the 

 days of Cheops, and in the year 1913. 



Great water power plants are being planned and installed in 

 various parts of the country. Fifty years ago they would have been 

 totally useless, utterly incomprehensible, because only a small part of 

 the power could have been employed on the spot, and none of it 

 could have been transmitted a hundred yards beyond the water 

 wheels that developed it. Now electricity carries it hundreds of 

 miles. One vast central plant may supply power to half a dozen 

 states, and at so low a cost that coal cannot compete unless in 

 proximity to the mines that produce it, and it is doubtful if it can 

 long compete at the very mouth of the mine. 



There is avadable water power in thLs country to turn every wheel, 

 light every town, heat every home in the United States. Many of 

 tie installations will be enormous, others will be smaller; some will 

 utilize the falls of large rivers, others will be built on smaller 

 streams. Every ton of water that runs down hill has power in it 

 which a turbine, a motor, and a few lines of wire will render avail- 

 able for use. 



The Keokuk installment is the largest thus far in America; but 

 it will not be the largest long. In the Sierra Nevada mountains in 

 California, six thousand feet above the sea, a larger plant is partly 

 completed. It will supply power three hundred miles away, and a 

 stream so small that a sheep can wade across it will furnish it all. 



