HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



riie.e li^ive beiii variuiis !illiiiin<>? anl other or^auixatiuus an<uug 



i.ibcmicn for thu purpose of firo iiisuraucc, and various workmen's 



Mipciisr.tion laws have be<;n pa-i^otl, fome compulsory anj seine 



■liei-wiso; liut the present movement appears to be the first attempt 



• write straight casualty insuranco tor himbenneu as a special class. 



time :ai(] results will Jetermino whether the field is large enough 



::■! conditions favorable for sue os;:. Half a million persons arc 



engaged in the lumber business in the United States, in mill, forest, 



and yard. Conditions under v.hiih they woik and live are somewhat 



■ different from those of the majority cf workers in other lines, and 



insurance which considers those conditions specially, should appeal to 



lumbermen. It has not yet been announced when the new company 



will ho ready for business. The lists of officers and directors, which 



may be found in another column of this issue, contain the names 



of v.ill known bii«iiio=5: men. 



Getting Ready for the National Convention 



BUKF.ALO SEKMS TO HAVK BKKX unusuaUy blessed this year 

 in the matter of important lumber conventions, it having enter- 

 tained the Xatioua! wholesalers early in March, and now being slated 

 to receive the Xational Hardwood Lumber Association, which numbers 

 something like 90ii members. This convention will take place at 

 the Hotel Statler, .Tune IS and 19. The Buffalo lumbermen have 

 shown their metal by the entertainment offered at the wholesalers' 

 convention, and it is expected that they will surpass all previous 

 efforts in connection with the National hardwood meeting as plans 

 are already being perfected to take care of the vast number of 

 attendants. 



President Aithur W. Kreinheder of the Buffalo Lumber Exchange 

 •jailed a special niteting of all committees that have been appointed, 

 for the purpose of completing arrangements, and each committee has 

 beeu given a definite idea of what it is expected to accomplish in 

 order that plpns may bo perfected as rapidly and as completely 

 as jK)ssible. 



It is, of couise, customarj' to say in anticipation of any convention 

 that it promises to be one of the best ever held, but it can be truth- 

 fully said in connection with this gathering of National hardwooil 

 men, that there is no room for doubt, considering the vast member- 

 ship, the advantages offered by Buffalo, plans fjr entertainment 

 and other features, that no other convention ever held by the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association will have been more satisfactory ihan 

 I he gathering at Buffalo in June. 



The Flood Situation 



PKKSK.NT INDICATIONS are iliar l\w lower Mississippi valley 

 will escape serious flood visitation this spring. The season is 

 far advanced and no large volume of water is yet under way from 

 the head streams to the lower reaches of the Father of Waters. 

 There may be heavy rains over extensive areas which will change 

 the situation yet, but such are not anticipated. Unusual storms would 

 be necessary to produce destructive Mississippi floods under present 

 and prosiiective circumstances. Little snow lies in the upper Missis- 

 sippi valley; the same situation obtains on the headwaters of the 

 Ohio. The snows on the upper tributaries of the Missouri are a 

 long way off, and they are not particularly heavy. If a late spring 

 flood goes down the Mississippi this year it will be produced chiefly 

 by rain, with little assistance from n.elting snow. Siu'h is not 

 looked for. 



Nevertheless, the flood peril remains in the lower Mississippi valley 

 as a ])erpetual menace. One year may miss, bii; another will hit. 

 Unfortunately, when immediate danger is not ajiparent, the people 

 are prone to forget the necessity of jireparing for trouble; but when 

 the danger comes, it is too late for adequate preparation. 



Bills are before Congress whi'-ii provide extensive, and what is 

 believed (o be ad<quate flood protection for the low country along 

 the Mississippi. The bills have not yet become laws, and after they 

 are made effective, if they ever are, years will be necessary for the 

 carrying out of the plans. Meantime, floods will periodically go 

 down the rivers and cause destrii-tioii of property on thousands of 

 miies of inundated land. 



'ihe coinjiri'lu'iisive jdaii of river improvement includes more than 

 levees along the lower reaches of the streams. Tributary rivers are 

 included, and jiarts of the floods arc to be held back by reservoirs 

 and improved forest conditions near the sources. The storm water 

 will thus be given an opportunity to flow away gradually, and the 

 larger streams lower down will be al)lo to take care of it as it comes. 

 The ilis.'ilssippi flood problem is national in its scope. It embraces 

 most of the region between the Appalachian mountains on the oast 

 and the Kocky Mountains on the west. 



Standardizing Veneers and Pjinels 



IT IS UNt^I'KsllOXABLV A i'ACT tli.-it one of the rhief lo- 

 tardants in the development in tlie use of veneers and panels in 

 cabinet, interior and similar work, has been the lack of standardized 

 sizes and thicknesses for various purposes. The growth of 'he use 

 of this class of material in the face of the difficulties which have 

 confronted it has been nothing short of astonishing. Nevertheless 

 there has been of late a dei-ided tendency on the part of mani:f.-ic- 

 turers to endeavor at least to standardize specifications as to sizes, 

 thicknesses, etc., for different classes of work, and this idea as it 

 develops \vill pro\e of exceeding importance in furthering the use of 

 veneers and panels. 



There is really no excuse for lack of standard sizes in 7>ractically 

 all lines and uses, as such standard specifications would be compara- 

 tively easy to formulate with a little application of the right kind. 

 The lack of stand.-ird sizes makes veneer and panel work more expen- 

 sive in ever}' way as it obviates the possibility of continuous opera- 

 tions en stock goods during times of slack orders for special work, 

 .ind it is entirely practical that if the manufacturer cotdd go ahead 

 accumulating stock of standard dimensions and specifications when 

 things are a littlt; slow in the other lines, he would be able to 

 materially reduce his average cost of production. 



It is to be hoped that work in this direction will progress as 

 favorably as it has of late, and that eventually the proiiositiou will 

 so far as is possible be standardized in every way. 



Steel Ties and the Sunday Supplement 



TilAT K.\XKI.\(; AUrilOKlTY (.'), the .Siindny suiiplemcnt of a 

 well-known metropolitan dail.v, a^ers that steel ties will eventually 

 prove the salvation of the railroads and of aU those who travel on 

 them either by force of necessity or for pleasure. It avers that 

 the woodtn tie has proven a veritable terror as a cause of wrecks, 

 resulting in an endless succession of accidents due to spreading rails, 

 and that the more stable security ofl'ered by the employment of 

 such a solid material as steel will not only offer additional comfort, 

 but will offer absolute safety and incalculable saving in the cost of 

 maintenance. 



Inasmuch as the main contention was based on the safety factor, 

 it is probably well to take up that point first. A little investigation 

 on the part of the writer of this story, which would be humorous 

 if it were not read by several hundred thousand gullible and unin- 

 formed people, would have disclosed the fact that the main cause 

 of rail spreading is not failure of the ties, but failure of the spikes 

 which are made of the same metal as this writer proposes to put into 

 the ties themselves, namely steel. It can probably be safely stated 

 that not one case of rail spreading in a hundred is caused in any 

 way directly by the ties themselves. 



As to the factor of comfort: The various unsuccessful experiments 

 which have been made here and abroad have left no room for argu- 

 ments as to which is the more comfortable tie to ride on — the wood 

 iir the steel, with Ihe modern methods of preserving wooden ties 'he 

 life of such tie material is infinitely greater than the life of steel 

 ties. Subject to the trying conditions of part contact with soil 

 and part contact with air, the question of rusting out would be a 

 matter of but a short time. Such rusting would further be insidious 

 and difficult of ascertaining until such tie had claimed its toll of 

 life and property by failing at the crucial moment. 



This is but another of the misguided and unwarranted att.o-ks 

 upon products of the forest, which it is hoped will be somewhat 

 nullified in their etTect by the Forest Products Exposition. 



