HARDWOOD RECORD 



41 



been aJvanciHl about twenty iht cent and no corresponding advance bas 

 been made (rom competing territory In upper peninsula of Michigan and 

 Wisconsin to same destinations, therefore the proposed advances have 

 been protested and it will be up to the railroads to show the reasonable- 

 ness for such advances. 



It Is expected that the Michigan Kallroad Commission will not take 

 Immi.'dlate action on Mlchlcan rates until It is known how the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission will rule on the interstate rates. It might be 

 well to state that lumbermen in many localities are of the opinion that 

 the present basis on lumber In comparison n-lth other commodities, taking 

 into consideration the loading and unloading being done b.v shipper and 

 consignee, the heavy tonnage per car, small proportion of loss and dam- 

 age claims, a large portion of the lumber carried In flat or gondola cars, 

 should take a basis less than sixth class In ofllcial dassincailon territor)'. 



The railroads in lower Michigan s'eem to have taken advantage of the 

 proposed change In rates, cancelling all of their commodity tariffs, issu- 

 ing new ones or letting the classlficutlon take care of the rates, which 

 means an advance of from five per cent and running as high as t\yenty 

 per cent, so taken as a whole the shippers of Michigan will not re- 

 ceive a uniform live per cent advance, but will be obliged to take care of 

 a considerable higher rate and it appears that as soon as shippers do 

 awake to the actual siluallon many more protests will Ik* tiled. 



Court Decision Favors Open Shop 



The decision of the Federal Dlsfrict Court in session in this city in the 

 case of the non-union trim manufacturers against the United Brotherhood 

 of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the Master Carpenters' Association 

 and the Manufacturing Woodworkers' Association resulted In a victory 

 for the open shop and the trim manufacturers. The case has been before 

 the courts for over two years and is considered one of the foremost 

 labor cases ever brought in the courts of the country. The case was 

 known as the Irving & Casson case. Irving & Casson are manufacturers 

 of artistic wood trim, with headquarters in Boston. They had the con- 

 tract for some of the interior flnisb in the Cathedral of St. John the 

 Divine and one of the new halls of the Military Academy at West Point. 

 They have always conducted an open shop in the manufacture of their 

 trim and it was proven that the union had entered into a combination 

 to prevent them from selling or installing their product outside of Massa- 

 chusetts : that in pursuance of such conspiracy the company was placed 

 on the "unfair list" : was threatened with sympathetic strikes on the 

 above mentioned jobs and in other ways intimidated. The decision in 

 this CISC, by Judge Ward, makes permanent the temporary injunction 

 previously rendered and goes even further, for the court held that the 

 defendants also violated the Sherman anti-trust law, and the anti-trust and 

 penal law of the state of New York, which makes any and everybody to 

 the alleged agreement a criminal conspirator and opens the way for the 

 complainant to recover treble damages for injury proven to their business. 



This latter side to the question is of special interest because Louis 

 Bossert & Sons, trim manufacturers of Brooklyn, have a similar case 

 now pending In the courts and have filed a suit tor $200,000 for damages 

 to their business through strikes, boycotts and other practices under 

 this agreement. 



The case of the Paine Lumber Company and other non-union manufac- 

 turers of trim against the same Carpenters' I'nion and their agreements, 

 was dismissed and Injunctions denied. Judge Mayer, in this case, held 

 that the complainants did not show that they were singled out for attack 

 or that they had suffered differently than the public at large, therefore 

 any offence committed against them was a public offence and only public 

 officials could prosecute. Judge Mayer agreed with Judge Ward that this 

 combination resulted in restraining- competition between manufacturers 

 and operated to restrain interstate commerce and violated the Sherman 

 anti-trust and state business law. On the other hand be found that he 

 could not grant the Injunction in the Paine case because that might be 

 sought legally only at the instance of the United States or the state of 

 New York. 



Wisconsin Compensation Act Fails to Work 



Kmployers In general are interested in the decision of the Wisconsin 

 .Supreme court In the case of Henry Miller vs. the city of Milwaukee. 

 .Miller, a poor man aged sIxty-sIx years, was working for the city in the 

 street department and his foot was run over by a steam roller. It was 

 badly crushed and the great toe was amputated. For over two months 

 the old man could not leave his bed and for more than five months could 

 not work. A doctor attended to him for over ninety days, the time fixed 

 by the compensation act. The law requires the emplo.ver to furnish med- 

 ical attention at the time of accident and for ninety days after and 

 failing to do so "seasonably" is liable for the medical expense, also that 

 slity-flvc per cent of the wage shall be paid weekly. The city waited 

 forty-eight days before it sent a doctor and did not pay the wage re- 

 quired. The charge for medical services was $222. The Supreme court 

 decision criticized the medical charge as excessive, but allowed nothing. 

 The commission had decided that the city had not furnished a doctor 

 ".■ieasonably" and made allowance for ninety days. Tlie court held that 

 the city of Milwaukee acted strictly within its legal rights. This leaves 

 the Injured employe to pay the debt as best he can. 



"One of the most humane provisions of the workmen's compensation 

 act, as we have understood It. has been swept away," declared Chairman 

 f^harles H. Crownhart of the Industrial Commission, commenting on 

 the decision. "The great success of the act for two years Is made abor- 



tive. None but the educated or the cunning will obtain the benefits sup- 

 posed to have been conferred by the people's legislature upon the mass 

 of honest tollers. This I know : The law ought to be as we have all be- 

 lieved and practiced. If Insurance companies and employers follow the 

 decision of the court, nothing less than a calamity will have befallen 

 the workmen of Wisconsin ; but I am convinced that neither Insurance 

 companies nor employers will take advantage of this decision. Employers 

 win not take advantage because they are generally honest, and the dis- 

 honest are not fools. The thing for us all to do Is to see that the law 

 Is amended at the earliest opportunity so that it can not again be 

 ■obstructed.' Fourteen thousand men are Injured every year in the In- 

 dustries of Wisconsin. To deal with this number of men In a practical 

 manner must be the aim of the employers, the insurance companies and 

 the industrial commission. An.v system that hedges the workman in an 

 intricate system of legal procedure will be distressingly unfortunate for 

 all concerned." ' , 



Small Arkansas Roads Protest New Bates 



The Arkansas Railroad Commission recently made an order, effective 

 .November 10, fixing a flat rate on rough materials, as reported in a 

 previous Issue of H.\rdwood Recohd. The rate is to apply on rough 

 lumber, bolts, flitches and logs In carload lots, and is based upon the 

 following scale : Two cents for the first twenty-flve miles, and Increasing 

 one-quarter of a cent for each ten miles up to three hundred miles. On 

 November 6. the commission issued an order excepting a number of the 

 smaller roads in the state from the decisions of the new tariff, allowing 

 them to come in on November 17, and show why the rate should not 

 be applicable to their roads. At the meeting on the morning of November 

 17, however, the hearing was not completed, but was deferred until 

 January 12. The managers of the small roads had already filed with 

 the Arkansas Railroad Commission applications to be permitted to use a 

 higher tariff than those rates set out in Standard Freight Distance Tariff 

 No. 3, which was reissued l>y the Arkansas Railroad Commission on July 

 IS o£ this year. 



Cooperage Strike in Arkansas Unchanged 



The conditions existing at Para'-'ould. Ark., on account of the strike 

 of the members of the Coopers' Union at that place, remains unchanged. 

 The manufacturers are tenaciously holding to their original position, 

 willing to concede nothing to their employes, because, as they say, the 

 men have no real grievance. About the only contention that is now 

 being made by the strikers is that they be permitted to deal with their 

 emplo.vers through a committee. The continued disagreement and strike 

 is seriously affecting the business interests at Paragould. Many of the 

 business men have been drawn into the controversy, and are taking 

 sides either with the manufacturers or the strikers. A number of 

 prominent business men have openly derided the strikers^ in their con- 

 tention over this matter, which they regard as of little consequence. 

 These business men are in hearty sympathy with the manufacturers, 

 and are .saying so iu spite of the fact that tliey are being bojcotted by 

 members of the union and friends of the strikers. 



J. C. Clary, commissioner of labor statistics of Arkansas, has under- 

 taken to settle the contention between the employes and employers. In a 

 letter which he recently addressed to the manufacturers, he suggested 

 that an arbitration committee be selected, to be composed of two men 

 representing the stave manufacturers, and two men representing the 

 strikers, which four men should select a fifth, lie proposes to submit all 

 questions to this arbitration committee, also allowing the committee the 

 privilege of making investigation of all matters leading up to the strike, 

 and that each side agree to abide by the finding of the committee. So 

 far no reply has been made to Mr. Clary's letter by the manufacturers. 



Suggestion for the Woodlot Owner 



.V prominent school of forestry suggests the following method to be 

 employed by woodlot owners in estimating their standing timber : 



1. Count all the trees in a circle 118 feet across. — one-quarter acre. 



2. Select a sample tree as nearly average as you can. 



3. Determine how much of the tree you can saw in sixteen-foot logs 

 (eight feet counts as half a log). 



4. Add the top and bottom diameters inside bark and divide by two. 

 This will give you the average diameter of the used length. 



5. Square this average diameter. Subtract 60. multiply by .8 and you 

 will have the contents of an average sixteen-foot log. 



6. Multiply by the number of logs In a tree and then by four times 

 the number of trees on your plot and you will have the approximate con- 

 tents of that aero in board feet. 



The Circular 'Versus the Trade Paper 

 "Printers' Ink" In a recent Issue hit at the root of a common mistake 

 In modern merchandising. The article was quotetl from an interview 

 with an agency solicitor who. in view of preparing a trade circular, made 

 a tour of the retail trade In the line to which the circular was to be 

 devoted. He stated that some of the retailers he saw were getting fifty 

 and sixty circulars a da.v — most of which went to the floor and were later 

 swept out unopened. This particular expert stated that he had had some 

 experience as to the waste of dealers' literature before but that the con 

 dltlon today surpasses anything heretofore. He stated that the dealers 

 are being frightfully over-drcularlzed. 



This condition, of course. Is one noted among the retailers In other 

 lines than lumber but It nevertheless must be true to perhaps a less 



