August 25, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



BARK ROLLED TIGHT BY WARPING. 



A Common Sight in Forests Where Bark Is Peeled for Tanning or Otlier 



Purposes. Drying All on One Side. 



When moisture below a certain percentage is taken from wood, 

 the wood shrinks. The vital problem with all kilns is to dry lumber 

 in such a way that this shrinkage is distributed equally over all parts. 

 If unequally distributed, one part will contract more than another 

 and warp the material or produce checks and cracks. Devices have 

 been provided for extracting the moisture so evenly from all parts 

 of the plank that every stress will be counteracted and the plank will 

 remain straight and without checks. Speed is necessary, but speed 

 has its limits. Moisture from the interior of a piece of wood can 

 come away only so fast. Attempts to speed it up too fast will cause 

 shrinking in some parts, with checking and warping. 



Veneer panels, such as furniture makers use, are built up of single 

 sheets, the grain of the superimposed sheets crossing one another 

 at right angles. That is done to counteract stresses due to the shrink- 

 ing and swelling of the wood during alternate changes from wet to 

 dry weather. The pull of one shrinking sheet is in one direction, 



WARPED BY GRAVITY. 



Horse Racks .-Vmong Mountains of California Bent by Weight of Heavy 



Snpw. Pressure Was All on the Upper Side. 



the next pulls in a different direction, one offsets the other, and the 

 panel remains straight. The manufacturer of articles of wood must 

 be eternally on his guard against the strains produced by the shrink- 

 ing and swelling of the material. He cannot wholly prevent them 

 and must meet them the best he can. No matter how carefully wood 

 may be seasoned, it is liable to absorb moisture enough from the 

 air in wet weather to cause some swelling, and it is liable to part 

 with enough in dry weather or in a heated room to cause some 

 shrinkage. The man who successfully handles wood that goes into 

 exacting situations must work out almost as many problems as the 

 general who conducts a military campaign involving master strategy. 

 The shrinkage of wood is caused almost wholly by withdrawing 

 water from it, and swelling by putting water into it, the effect of heat 

 and cold being almost negligible so far as they diminish or increase 

 the bulk. That is different from metals and many other materials 

 whose bulks respond quickly to changes in temperature. 



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The hardwood resources of the country are being mobilized as never 

 ^before in history, in order to meet the demands of the government 

 in carrying on the war. The organization was brought about at the 

 request of the government, and the terms of the Sherman act have 

 been practically suspended, so far as the lumber industry in connection 

 with government business is concerned, until the war is over. 



The mobilization is being done under the name of the Southern 

 Hardwood Emergency Bureau, which has established offices in the 

 Union Trust building, Cincinnati, O. The work is under the immediate 

 direction of a committee of prominent hardwood manufacturers repre- 

 senting the entire producing capacity of the country, the personnel of 

 which is as follows : 

 . M. W. Stark, St. Albans, W. Va., chairman. 



L. P. DuBose, Charleston, Miss. 



F. W. Mowbray, Cincinnati, Ohio. 



H. B. Weiss, Memphis, Tenn. 



B. B. Burns, Huntington, W. Va. 



R. L. Jurden, Memphis, Tenn. 



Briefly, the purpose of the liureau is to make immediately available 

 to the government an ample supply of hardwood lumber for prompt 

 delivery, as well as the mobilization of the hardwood mills so that 

 special orders can be placed to insure prompt service on government 

 requirements. 



The bureau will act as the authorized agent for the government in 

 placing government orders for hardwoods, and, at the same time will 

 be the official representative of the hardwood manufacturing industry. 

 The bureau will fix maximum prices that the government will be 

 charged for all grades and kinds of hardwood lumber. It will secure 

 from hardwood mills lists of stocks available, cutting capacity and 

 other information necessary in placing government orders for quickest 

 action. The government will i^lace its specifications and requirements 

 in the hands of the buroa\i and the bureau will in turn locate the stock 

 and place the orders. 



Rules Governing the Business 



A letter has been sent to 1,500 hardwood manufacturers, of infor- 

 mation acquainting them with what has been done and outlining the 

 methods of procedure in this important matter. A summary of this 

 letter is given below: 



.\I1 manufacturers of hardwood lumber are notifiod that the government 

 requests them to co-operate in placing their facilities, including stocks of 

 lumber, at the disposal of the government, and, for that purpose, the 

 government asks them to agree upon a maximum price, beyond which it 

 will not be charged for the hardwood lumber it requires, and also that the 

 manufacturers agree to furnish such quantities of lumber as they may be 

 called upon by the committee authorized to handle the business. 



A representative committee shall be appointed with full power to 

 bind the manufacturers for prices and deliveries. 



The committee shall obtain the agreement of each manufacturer to bind 

 himself as to maximum prices and proportions of stock, whether he is a 

 member of associations or not. 



Each manufacturer committing himself to the committee shall furnish 

 a .list of his available stocks upon blank forms provided by the committee 

 and shall notify the committee of changes in stocks from time to time. 



Blank forms sent out by the committee to the manufacturers in response 

 to inquiries received from the government tshall show the items indicated 

 CPU the inquiry, but shall not show the amount of feet of each item. The 

 manufacturer should specify the amount of each item which he has on 

 hand or can furnish at prices fixed by the agreement. 



The authority to divide the orders among the manufacturers in accord- 

 ance with their stock filed with the committee shall be vested in one indi- 

 vidual, and the committee itself shall not assume authority of dividing 

 .the orders. In no other way can criticism regarding the division of orders 

 be avoided. 



The person delegated tu divide the orders shall not be connected with 

 any firm offering stocks for sale to the government, and obviously should 

 be a person in whom all manufacturers have entire confidence. 



When orders are divided among any number of manufacturers for ship- 

 ment of hardwood lumber on any particular job the person authorized to 

 divide the orders shall issue a list of the firms with which the business 

 was placed, showing the total quantities in feet ordered from each manu- 

 facturer, but not the specified quantities of each item. 



