HARDWOOD RECORD 



15 



The secoiul point dt'cidoil in the tieoigia I'lisc is that, in the 

 abseni-e of any law, valitl rule of the railroad commission, contract 

 or custom raisinj; such a duty, a deliverinjj railway company is not 

 liouuil. at the request of the consi>;nee, to deliver lumlier shipments 

 to another carrier, to be transported to a different part of the same 

 city, where the consignee may desire to reship the lumber. The 

 court said: '"It is argued that this works a great hardship on the 

 plaintiff, as he is compelled to pay demurrage, in order to have 

 the cars, which arrive at Savannah loaded with lumber, remain 

 on the tracks of the Seaboard Airline Kaihvay until called for. 

 Hut the jdaintiff is not compelled to do this. lie ships the lumber 

 to Savannah. When it arrives at its destination he can receive it, 

 and reship it when he desires to do so. If, instead of unloading the 

 lumber and keeping it in his yard, he prefers to let it remain upon 

 the cars, it is at his desire." 



The precedents thus establisheil certainly constitute still furtlicr 

 argument*: in fnvnr of prom]it liaiidliiij; of slii]itnriits u)iom Mriiv:Ll. 



Help for Interstate Commerce Commission 



SENATOR KKXYOX OF IOWA lias submitted a bill to increase 

 the membership of the Interstate Commerce Commission from 

 six to sixteen. The object in view is to assist that body in keeping 

 idoser up with its work. Dockets are long and crowded, and con- 

 liitions have been growing constantly worse. The business interests 

 of the country want decisions more promptly than they are coming 

 at present. The six members of the present commission have more 

 work than they can do. 



The bill introduced by Senator Kenyon contemplates the division 

 of the country into five districts, with headquarters at Washington, 

 Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City and San Francisco, with the prin- 

 cipal ofiice at Chicago, Three commissioners in any district, under 

 the terms of the bill, could decide a case, which could be taken 

 on appeal to the entire commission. 



The commission as at present constituted does not want its 

 membership increased, believing that the larger number would be 

 more unwieldly and would hinder rather than help in getting 

 through with the ever-increasing work. 



The commission has plans of its own for handling the business, 

 and has taken a step toward putting the plans into execution. It is 

 allowed a contingent fund which it is authorized to expend in 

 advancing its work. It has appointed "a board of examiner attor- 

 neys," whose duty it will be to hold hearings after the manner 

 of those held by masters in chancery, and to report on cases 

 direct to the commission, which shall render the final decision. 

 The commission pays the salaries of the additional examiners. 



This plan is an experiment. If it proves to be sufficient to solve 

 the problems of clearing the commission's dockets it may con- 

 tinue. If not, some such plan as that embodied in Senator Ken- 

 yon 's bill will likely he tried. The reasonableness of the demand 

 for more speed,v decisions is widely recognized. 



The Modern Idea in Lumber Manufacture 



A(iKKA'r DEAL 1« BKING HEAKl) these days regaidmg ef- 

 ficiency in manufacture and merchandising, and in general in- 

 dustrial efforts, but it must be confessed that the most conspicuous 

 examples of the gratifying results to be obtained through eflicieucy 

 are seen in connection with other lines of industrial efforts than 

 lumber manufacture and sales. It is true that concerns in the manu- 

 facture of steel products are probably in the forefront in such ef- 

 ficiency activity, both as to the development of the idea and its general 

 application. 



A prominent northern lumber operating concern is, however, doing 

 work along these lines which deserves the highest commendation, and 

 which is working out most successfully in developing the greatest 

 efficiency in manufacture and sales methods. The story of these 

 operations will be given in detail in another issue of Hard- 

 wood Record. The general manager of this operation, which is im- 

 mense in its scope and compares favorably with any others in the 

 country, conceived the idea sometime ago that the heads of the various 

 •departments under him were not closel.v enough in touch with the 

 heads of other departments, and he decided that a course of lectu 



and get-together meetings would result in a more harmonious spirit 

 existing between such departments. He decided to experiment along 

 these lines in the belief that eventually the whole machinery of his 

 organization would work together uu.re smoothly, as the knowledge 

 of the workings of the different departments became a part of the 

 work of the other departments. 



One of the first things which was accomplished was the enrollment 

 of the heads of the sales, accounting, manufacturing and similar di- 

 visions of the plant, in a well-known school of efficiency, these various 

 heads being requested to take up the studies as outlined by that 

 school. The idea immediately took. The result is that a great deal 

 of progress is being made. 



On account of the large enrollment, this school agreed to send a 

 special lecturer to the company's main office in Michigan once a week, 

 and in connection with the get-together meetings these lecturers now 

 give regular talks on some special subject which comes up for dis- 

 cussion. In addition to these talks the heads of the different de- 

 partments are asked, after having inspected other departments, to 

 give criticisms and suggestions for making short cuts. These criti- 

 cisms and suggestions of course are all made in the proper spirit and 

 are received in the same spirit. The head of the department being 

 criticised is given the opportunity at the succeeding meeting of re- 

 sponding to these criticisms and endeavoring to show where, if 

 possible, the methods in operation are the most practicable. Thus a 

 great many points are brought out in each gathering which mean 

 the saving of actual dollars and cents. 



The idea is a broad one, but not too broad to be practicable. That 

 this is true is proven by the unusual success with which it has beei» 

 attended. It is an idea well worth being followed out by any large 

 manufacturer whose organization comprises a series of departments 

 which are more or less removed from each other. 



The Exposition Supported by the Government 



IION. JAilES W. FORDNEY, of Michigan, national congressman, 

 *■ * recently submitted a joint resolution, H. J. 204, before the House 

 of Representatives, which resolution specifically provides that the 

 Secretary of Agriculture shall be authorized to make exhibits at the 

 Forest Products Exposition to be held at Chicago and New York, 

 and appropriating a sum not to exceed $10,000 for an exhibit on 

 the part of the Forest Service. The resolution was immediately re- 

 ferred to the Committee on Industrial Arts and Expositions, which 

 committee voted unanimously to support it. There is every reason to 

 believe that the appropriation will be authorized, and hence the 

 JTorest Service will have an exhibit at the Forest Products Exposition 

 which wOl be an unusually interesting and highly educational de- 

 monstration of what the service is doing and planning, and will add 

 very greatly to the value and attractiveness of the show. 



This effort, if it goes through, wUl be of great importance as it 

 aligns the government on the side of the lumber trade in the interests 

 of the exposition, and will give to that endeavor an unusual impetus. 



Regardless of other attractions which now promise to be of ab- 

 sorbing interest, the exhibit which the Forest Service can make with 

 such an appropriation at hand should be in itself of enough interest 

 that it alone would be well worth the price of the admission. 



It has been suggested that everyone interested in the project com- 

 municate with representatives at Congress urging that they support 

 the measure when it comes up for vote. While it will probably go 

 through without such communications, it would be decidedly in the 

 interests of the general lumber business to demonstrate to every na- 

 tional representative through this means that the lumber business is 

 awake to its opportunities and realizes the importance to the trade 

 of putting this proposition through iu good shape. 



Weak Places in Theories 



A GOOD MANY THINGS work eut on jiaper which do not work 

 *»• out in wood. Most of such things are properly classed as 

 theories with weak places. A few concrete examples to the point 

 were contained in a press bulletin recently issued by a well-known and 

 excellent forestry school in an eastern state. The purpose was com- 

 mendable, the effort praise-worthy, but the conclusions were not all 

 res practical. The object was to teach lumbermen to lessen the waste, 



