July 10, 1917 



Getting There First 



Manufacturers "who are in a position to anticipate their wants 

 would do well to emulate the example of certain far-seeing con- 

 cerns which are laying in heavy stocks of lumber and veneers. The 

 immediate necessity is the probability of rolling stock being tied 

 up during the crop-moving period just ahead; ratheT, substitute 

 the certainty of that happening. This is a time when food looms 

 as the most important thing in existence, and it will certainly be 

 ^iven the right of way. The only sure method of having all the 

 material needed for full-time factory operations is to get it in 

 ahead of the rush. 



In this connection it is also worthy of note that veneer concerns 

 with warehouses in consuming centers are arranging for heavy 

 stocks to be carried there, when shipping conditions at the mills 

 permit. These warehouse stocks, located close to consuming fac- 

 tories, are likely to be an anchor to windward, and will, enable 

 concerns thus fortunately situated to take cdre of their customers 

 under conditions that would prove trying otherwise. 



Traffic Work in Localities 



Grover Cleveland created the epigram that the tariff is a local 

 issue; and this applies not only to the revenue tariff but to the 

 railroad tariff as well. That is to say that traffic problems, whOe 

 defined along industrial lines, are usually couched in terms per- 

 taining to the locality- of section. Thus traffic work may be efii- 

 cientl.v organized not only by industries, but by groups of those in 

 the same industry and in the same locality. 



In the hardwood business this plan Is being worked out very 

 effectively. Local organizations are taking up the subject of get- 

 ting traffic service, and are combining to pay the necessary ex- 

 penses of operating a traffic bureau. Getting a man who knows the 

 traffic situation and can give real service takes money, though not 

 so very much after all, the value of his services considered. Still, 

 if the office must be maintained at all, with a complement of 

 tariff files and other equipment, there is no reason why it should 

 be a one-concern affair, but the whole trade in the community can 

 contribute to its support. 



Often the organization of local traffic bureaus presents problems 

 as to tl)e distribution of the cost of operation. While it is not 

 always true that the extent of the service rendered by such a 

 bureau to an individual concern varies directly with the volume 

 of its traffic, still that is often a good enough basis on which to 

 figure membership dues. This plan has been tried in at least one 

 community and has worked well. 



Traffic is too big an item in every lumber business to be neglected, 

 and if the business of the concern is too small to warrant the or- 

 ganization of a traffic department, with a qualified man in charge, 

 steps should be taken to form a bureau serving the locality, to 

 which all of those in the industry may belong, so that the expense 

 of maintenance will fall heavily on no one company. 



Wood in Elevator Cabs 



Did you ever notice how much attention is being paid nowadays ' 

 to the design of elevator cabs in hotels, office buildings, mer- 

 cantile structures, etc? Formerly the car of an elevator was re- 

 garded from a purely utilitarian standpoint; it was the "lift," 

 and that was all there was to it. It did not matter whether it was 

 attractive in appearance or not, so long aS it took the passenger to 

 the floor that he wanted to reach, and took him there quickly and 

 safely. 



But the architectural possibilities of the elevator cab have been 

 realized of late, and attention paid to this subject has resulted in 

 more study being devoted to tliis detail. This has meant that in- 

 stead of the cabs being principally of metal, whose bars suggested 

 a cage or prison of some kind, these are now usually finished almost 

 completely in wood. Handsome panels of mahogany, oak, walnut 



or some other fine wood have been utilized, and the effect on the 

 person in the car is very agreeable. 



Office buildings have been among the last to give the proper atten- 

 tion to this subject, for in hotels and store buildings, where th& 

 effort has been to create a proper atmosphere, in thorough keep- 

 ing with the character of the establishment as a whole, the interior 

 trim of these cars has been properly treated for some time. But, 

 as suggested above, even in office building design utility has been 

 combined with beauty in the treatment of car interiors. 



In the new Kimball building, Jackson and Wabash, Chicago, for 

 example, the^cabs of the elevators have been finished in oak. The 

 natural color of the wood is brought out. 



Apple Trees and Saw Handles 



The wood of the apple tree is highly favored for use in making 

 hand-saws; or so those attending the convention of the National 

 Veneer and Panel Manufacturers' Association in Chicago June 

 12 were informed b,y a representative of Henry Disston & Sons, 

 Philadelphia, who proved his point with an interesting moving pic- 

 ture demonstration of how saws are made. 



The number of saws turned out, and the way in which boards, 

 were converted into blocks and then shaped into handles, was sug- 

 gestive in the amount of material which is used up in this way; 

 while the selection of this particular variety of wood, because of 

 the special qualities of color which it possesses, is likewise in-- 

 teresting as showing that there is a place for evrry wood. 



Apple trees are not cut down often enough to furnish a great 

 deal of wood, but there are plenty of examples of wood varieties 

 which are valuable intrinsically but unpopular commercially. 

 The right kind of industrial investigations would find the market, 

 for these woods, and would win for them a permanent place, be- 

 cause of their aflinity for the work which they do — like the affinity 

 of the apple-handle for the saw. 



At the Falls of the Ohio 



The recent organization cf two new veneer companies at the 

 Falls of the Ohio — one in Louisville and the other in New Albany — 

 calls renewed attention to the almost unique place which that 

 locality holds in the manufacture of veneers and glued-up stock. 

 In number, variety of products and class of concerns operating, the 

 Falls Cities deserve no little consideration. 



Louisville is an old-timer in the veneer business, some of the 

 veterans of the trade having their headquarters there. The Louis- 

 ville Veneer MOls, headed by D. E. Kline, and the Kentucky Veneer 

 Works, operated by the McCrackens, are good examples. The 

 LouisviUe Veneer Mills is especially interesting to the observer 

 because of the wide scope of its operations. It has a bandmill 

 and cuts its own flitches. It operates not only saws and slicer, but 

 veneer lathes as well. Then it proceeds to make glued-up stock of 

 quality, and has a lumber-yard that frequently carries a very siz- 

 able stock of lumber cut on its own mill. 



The C. C. Mengel & Bro. Company's plant is interesting because 

 of its contributions to the domestic supply of mahogany veneers,. 

 though the concern has often made other stock, such as walnut. 

 But through its large connections in Mexico and Africa, and the 

 organization of its own fleets to transport the logs, it has occupied 

 a big place in the mahogany trade, and carries an immense stock. 



In the panel business the New Albany Veneering Company is 

 conspicuous for the modern equipment and efficient management 

 of its plant, and it is understood that enlargements are contem- 

 plated by E. V. Knight, head of the company. 



These are only a few of the nationally known concerns whose 

 prominence has put Louisville and New Albany on the map, and as 

 new on^»s seem to be developing right along, there seems to be good 

 reason to regard the Falls of the Ohio with respect when it comes 

 to the manufacture of thin lumber and laminated woods. 



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