HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



insurance, railroad or machinery man with reference to their own 

 proposition? 



True, many consumers discourage discussions along that lino; 

 but at the same time, the more the lumberman knows about the 

 inside of the factory, the better he can serve it. The manufac- 

 turers and the lumbermen oufjlit to get toi;ether on this proposition. 



R£D GUM IN DISGUISE 



Bed gum, unfortunately, is one of the best substitutes in the 

 world. It is as good as birch in this respect, and its versatility 

 iu looking like other woods is giving it an undesirable reputation. 

 That is to say, gum is a wood which has qualities sufficiently 

 good to entitle it to a place among other high-grade woods in the 

 furniture, interior finish and other trades, on its own merits; and 

 putting it out in disguise, as it were, is causing it to be regarded 

 as a good material merely for imitative purposes. 



Gum is used in interior finish to represent anything from 

 walnut to mahogany. Furniture manufacturers are using it stained 

 as mahogany, and are likewise taking figured gnm and working it 

 up in connection with Circassian walnut. Some figured gum is 

 being put out to consumers under the name of Circassian. 



There is no reason why this should be. Red gum, when figured, 

 has a most pleasing appearance, and even without figure shows up 

 nicely in its natural color. Manufacturers of gum would do well, 

 if they expect it to bring prices such as were predicted until a 

 short time ago, to encourage its use as gum, and not simply as a 

 handy substitute for everything else under the sun. 



ON KNOWING THE TRADE 



The average sawmill man has very little idea as to the ultimate 

 use to which the lumber he cuts is put. He probably sells to 

 jobbers to a large extent, and even if he sells direct to consumers 

 he seldom studies the factory end of the business in order to see 

 just how the lumber is handled and why one grade is used rather 

 than another. That this lack of knowledge of the consuming 

 industries is a handicap can hardly be denied, for it is mainly by 



studying the needs of his customers that the modern business man 

 is winning the way to success. 



In striking contrast with this system are the methods used by 

 a largo mahogany house, which sends members of its official staff 

 not only to all of the leading markets in this country, but abroad, 

 for the sole purpose of getting a line on the conditions which go 

 to make the market. It has a survey of the consuming interests 

 of the world constantly before it, and it governs its operations 

 from taking out logs in the forests of Yucatan or Africa to operat- 

 ing its manufacturing plants, according to the results of the first- 

 hand investigations which it conducts everywhere. 



The average lumberman cannot, of course, make such an ex- 

 haustive study as this; but he should certainly make a point of 

 finding out everything that it is possible for him to know regard- 

 ing the possible uses to which bis product is being put. 



ADVANTAGE OF VENEERED WORK 



One of the greatest difficulties connected with manufacturing 

 solid tops for use in furniture manufacturing is making invisible 

 joints. In fact, it might almost be said that there is no such thing 

 as a joint which cannot be easily detected without the aid of 

 glasses. Some of the manufacturers of extremely high-grade 

 furniture — who say, by the way, that their material cost is only 

 two or three per cent of the total cost of the finished article — 

 assert that their finishing is of such a nature that the presence of 

 the joint is absolutely hidden, so that it is impossible to notice 

 it. But this is not the rule. 



The use of veneered tops, correctly matched and properly glued 

 up, gets rid of this trouble, because it is much easier to get a 

 proper joint when veneers are used than when solid material is 

 glued together. Open joints are found in veneered work occasion- 

 ally, it is true, but it is also true that, taken by and large, veneered 

 tops are seldom found defective in this respect. The improved 

 appearance of the veneered work on this score alone, not to 

 mention the better matching that is possible through the use of 

 thin stock for face work, ought to be a strong selling argument 

 for the veneer manufacturers. 



■x g^^>^:y^:ol^yl^:;:v>i;M&^M^y:xyi^^^toj;:;■^;l^^^ 



ASSUMPTION or RISK BY EMPLOYS 



The mere fact that an employe has notified his foreman of a 

 defect in appliances used by him, such as a defect in tongs used 

 in logging operations, does not make the employer liable for injury 

 resulting from such defect unless the employe remained at work 

 in reliance upon assurance that the defect would be promptly re- 

 paired. Unless he relied upon any such promise, he assumes the 

 risk of continuing his work with a defective appliance. (Texas 

 Court of Civil Appeals, Jones vs. Walker County Lumber Company, 

 1G2 Southwestern Reporter 420.) 



UNLAWFUL LABOR UNION AGREEMENT 



An agreement whereby carpenters and joiners bin.l themselves 

 to refuse to work on any job where trim or finish made in a non- 

 union shop is used is violative of the Federal anti-tru.st law, if it 

 involves interstate transactions. (United States District Court, 

 Southern District of New York, Irving vs. Neal, 209 Federal Re- 

 porter 471.) 



BREACH OF AGREEMENT TO LEASE LAND 



One who broke an agreement to lease land lor use as wagon works 

 is liable in damages to the wagon works company for the excess 

 of the value of the use of the premises for the agreed term above 

 the rental price agreed upon. (Georgia Court of Appeals, Williams 

 Wagon Works Company vs. Gunn, 80 Southeastern Reporter 668.) 

 SCOPE OF EMPLOYER'S LIABILITY POLICY 



A policy induninifyiug a liinibcr conijiany against injury to "saw- 

 mill" employes did not cover accidents to mill hands while drilling 



an artesian well for use iu connection with the mill. (Louisiana 

 Supreme Court, Rust Lumber Company vs. General Accident, Fire 

 & Life Assurance Corporation, 64 Southern Reporter 122.) 



INACCXJRACY IN MECHANIC'S LIEN STATEMENT 



Tlie Minnesota Supreme Court has just held that a niolianic's lien 

 for building materials furnished by a lumber company was not 

 rendered invalid through the fact that the property was misdescribed 

 in the lien statement, where it appeared that the lot described and 

 that upon which the building was actually constructed were both 

 owned by the same person and together constituted part of the 

 inclosure appurtenant to the dwelling house constructed. (Atlas 

 Lumber Company vs. Dupuis.) 



ACCIDENT TO SAWMILL EMPLOYE 



A sawmill employe was guilty of lontributory negligence in at- 

 tempting to cross a live roller bed to avoid an ajiproaching plank, 

 where he could have easily avoided the plank by jumping to one 

 eide, and therefore he is not entitled to recover for consequent injury 

 to his foot which was carried by a roller through an opening into a 

 paw. (Louisiana Supreme Court, Patterson vs. Germain-Boyd Lum- 

 ber Company, C) Southern Reporter 930.) 



INDEFINITE CONTRACTS UNENFORCEABLE 



A contract employing plaintiff to cut timber was too indefinite to 

 be enforced by him, if it did not show how much timber was to be 

 cut, when the work was to be done, where the logs were to be de- 

 livered, or how nuK'h equipment was to be furnished by the employer. 

 (Georgia Supreme Court, Prior vs. Hilton & Dodge Lumber Company, 

 80 Southeastern Reporter 5.')9.) 



