34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



oui- insurnm'O collccllvcly Mr. Unit beUevps that an ImpiTssion may be 

 made on the old lino companies and that u material rediietion in rates 

 can Ix' effected. Should tln' old line (ompanies see lit to Ignore our 

 request for lower rates. Mr. Holt claims that he can place the entire 

 line with good, responsible outside companies, ranking a distribution that 

 will he entirely safe and satisfactory, at rates materiall.v less than the 

 old line stock company rates. .Mr. Holt thinks that the expense c.r 

 placing the insurance In this manner nut.v be about one per cei'it of tin' 

 premiums paid. 



The plan of forming an Inter association of our own, composed n( 

 members of our association only, .your committee hardly believes feasible. 

 We question viry seriously wiiether we can interest enough of our mem- 

 bers in such a movement to make it practical. Such a movement must 

 have a large support to make a reasonably safe distribution of the risk. 



We do not see any conflict hetwec^n :Mr. Holt's plan and the proposed 

 National Inter-insurance organlzatinn which as mi'inliei-s of the Xnllonal 

 association we desire to encourage. 



When the National association has formed Us Inter insuran.e depart 

 ment and we wish to avail ourselves of the benefits of that plan, we can 

 cancel enough of our insurance to turn over to the National uiovemint 

 as much as it may be willing to accept. 



The grading comniitt^-c recommended the manufacture of hard- 

 wood hearts of beech, birch, elm and maple into ties, believing there 

 was a more profitable market for thcin in that form. 



The following standard sizes of hiniber were reeoiiiinendpcl by tlie 

 enmniittee; 



I'm:, i: Sti i r l!..rcMi 



l.eii;;ths: 1, i;. s. '.i. Hi. l:.'. II, KJ, l.s, -I'l and :;4 fei't. 



Widlhs: 1, (i. .V. in Miid 1- inch. .% inches thick. 



I'.ip.HitlS, liOt'OH 



I.en.sclhs: 4. 0. s. 1 ci. l-j, H. l(i and 18 and lid feet. 

 Widths: -I. (i. K. Ill and I'J inches, 5/16 inches thick. 



lliacsSED I.f.MRKR 



i'iecp Sluff, Sl.SlIv 



1%X3?4, l%x5%, ]%x7%, VJl.v^iyi. l%xll-%,',. 



Boards SIS, 13/1(! inch thick. 



Flooring, celling, sbipiap, drop siding. 



Widths: rji/i, aVi, IVi. OVi and ll^d inch face. 



Standard thickness 13/10 inch. 



to sroaj^iTOHJ^isSK^OTasTOig^igzaiTOatia 



iSJf 



TOy)^^'Ma^TO!t^t^^ro^^!rotli!>^OTi)Sl^^ 



Kiln^Dried Hardwoods 



If you were operating a planing mill, small furniture factory or 

 doing any other work that lequired at times the use of thoroughly 

 kiln-dried hardwood, and should find yourself wanting some of this 

 thoroughly dried stock, would you know where to turn to get it or 

 have any idea where to look for it? 



This question was brought to mind quite recently by a man who 

 was contemplating making a feature of kiln-dried hardwoods for 

 market. He had not thought of it as an entirely new enterprise, 

 but owing to a certain circumstance he found himself with surplus 

 kiln capacity and was making a study of the possibilities of han- 

 dling hardwood and making a feature of offering kiln-dried stock. 



Did you ever" search through the advertisements of a lumber 

 paper with this idea in mind? If you did you have realized that it 

 is seldom met with. Kiln-dried stock is a fairly common phrase 

 in yellow pine because the larger mills make a strong feature of 

 kiln-drying. Hardwood mills, on the other hand, fight shy of the 

 <lry kiln and leave their customers to do the kiln-drying, confining 

 themselves largely to air drying. You can find dry stock — air- 

 dried stock — advertised, and now and then kiln-dried hardwoods, 

 but the instances are few. A thorough search through the current 

 numbers of two lumber papers, one of which was Hardwood Eecord, 

 brought to light two instances of kiln-dried hardwood being featured 

 in the advertising. There is another incidental mention of kiln- 

 dried haidwood flooring, but in the issue of the Eecord examined 

 there was only one instance among all the advertised hardwood 

 where kiln-dried stock was featured in the advertising. Perhaps 

 there are more mills and yards prepared to furnish kiln-dried stock, 

 but only one instance of advertising this fact was found. 



All this brings with it the other question of how much of a 

 market could be found or how great an advantage gained through 

 the handling of thoroughly kiln-dried hardwood. There are un- 

 doubtedly many of the smaller users of hardwood who are not 

 well equipped with dry kilns and would appreciate a convenient 

 source of supply where they could get thoroughly kiln-dried stoclc 

 for their work. 



A specific instance of this kind comes to mind now of a planing 

 millman who had a small dry-kiln equipment which he used to 

 more thoroughly dry quite a lot of his finish, including both pine 

 and hardwood. He found, however, that he couldn 't successfully dry 

 .quartered oak in this kiln, and at times he was seriously worried 

 over this matter. He had even gone so far in an instance as to 

 refuse to bid on some job of millwork specifying quartered oak 

 because he was not in a position to do the thorough drying neces- 

 sary to make the .job as good as it should be. There had been 

 some trouble with work in which the oak was not thoroughly dry 

 when put up and it was found after experiments that it was imprac- 

 tical to thoroughly dry quartered oak with his equipment. He was 



cojifrontid witli the proposition of either finding some place where 

 he could buy thoroughly kiln-dried quartered oak as he needed it or 

 passing up jobs involving this kind of material. 



There are perhaps many other planing millmen in just the same 

 position and it is likely that among the smaller users of hardwoods 

 there are times when it would be decidedly advantageous to the user 

 to buy his hardwoods already kiln-dried. 



The question is whether or not there are enough of these to 

 justify more featuring of kiln-dried stock. It is an interesting 

 question which would perhaps bring varying answers to the minds 

 of different people. It may set some men with hardwood yards to 

 thinking and figuring over the possibilities of making a feature of 

 kiln-drying as well as assembling and making up mixed cars. It 

 ma,y set some millmen to figuring on the advantages that might ac- 

 crue from putting in a dry-kiln equipment and preparing to furnish 

 their customers with kiln-dried slock. Anyway, it is an interesting 

 question that the hardwood trade may well give consideration to, 

 and it is a fairly safe gamble that we will see more of it in the 

 future, more featuring of kiln-dried stock in the hardwoods. Surely 

 there is a chance for those who are prepared to furnish it to gain a 

 little in the way of special trade by featuring this in their adver- 

 tising, since it need not cost any more than to feature band-sawed 

 stock or use any other feature lines in the advertising space. 



Logging in Memphis Territory 



The movement of logs to Memjihis during the past fortnight 

 has been on a somewhat smaller scale. The amount of logs along 

 the right of way of the railroad is reported comparatively small 

 and this is the explanation for the decreased receipts. The low 

 stage of the river has also been a factor, the arrivals by water 

 having been comparatively small. It is noteworthy, however, that 

 weather conditions throughout this territory during the past ten 

 days have been much more favorable for logging operations, with 

 the result that the outlook is considered better for an adequate 

 supply of logs for the winter. It is recognized, however, that 

 weather conditions will play an important part in determining 

 whether or not there will be enough timber prepared before tho 

 advent of real winter weather to meet the requirements of mills 

 at Memphis and elsewhere in this territory. 



Comparatively little is heard regarding the shortage of cars. 

 There are some complaints from non-competitive points in Mis- 

 sissippi, Arkansas and Tennessee where it is impossible to get 

 enough empties and where the railroads are slow in moving cars 

 after they have been loaded. As a general proposition, how- 

 ever, it may be noted that the situation is far better than usual 

 in respect to the number of empties available and the prompt- 

 ness with which these are moved after they are loaded. 



