October l'."i. liUl 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



Selling Lumber by the Piece 



Suggestion was put forward at a committee mectiug of the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association in Chicago on October 10 that In some 

 instances it might be more advantageous to sell lumber at retail by the 

 piece or by the hundred feet, than by the thousand, as the custom now Is. 

 It was argued during the discussion which the proposal lalled forth that 

 a pric-? by the thousand feet sounds high to the man who wants tuily a few 

 pieces or a few hunilred feet : but if a total price were iiuoteil, on the 

 exact quantity wanted it would not seem so high. The direct propor- 

 tion between the small bill of lumber wanted and the price for a thousand 

 feet is not always immediately apparent to the prospective purchaser, par- 

 ticularly when his wants are small. 



The only action taken was to refer the matter to the new trade e.'itensioii 

 committee. It is needless to state that customs long established cannot be 

 easily changed ; yet when change is advantageous it can be brought about. 

 In the discussion in the committee's meeting differences of opinion devel- 

 oped as to the best means of putting the new system of quotations into 

 effect, in case it should be liecided to do so. Some felt that the start in 

 quoting in this fashion could best be made by the retail dealer, while 

 others felt that were the manufacturers to begin quoting in this fashion 

 to retailers, the latter would immediately pass it on to the public, and the 

 custom would thus become established. 



Labor Troubles in EvansviUe Factories 



The Industrial Workers of the World are trying to get a foothold in 

 Kvansville, Ind., as evidenced by a strike among the workers in the furni- 

 ture factories In that city which was called on Thursday, October IS, when 

 many of the wood working plants were closed down. For some time the 

 furniture workers in EvansviUe have been quietly organizing a union that 

 is known as the Workers' International Industrial Union, and this is said 

 to be a part of the Industrial Workers of the World. The strikers say 

 they have over 2,000 members. The workers made a demand of the manu- 

 facturers for a fifty-hour work week and an increase in wages amounting 

 to about fifteen per cent. The manufacturers paid no attention to the 

 demands. When their demands were ignored the strikers agreed to walk 

 out and many men who had not joined the union also quit their jobs. The 

 manufacturers are taking matters easy and are now making necessary 

 repairs on their plants while they are closed down. They say they will 

 treat with their men and raise their wages as individual cases would war- 

 rant, but that under no cir^mstances will they treat with a union that has 

 no standing and which is known to be a part of the Industrial Workers of 

 the World. In some factories in EvansviUe the workers are now receiving 

 more money than they would get if their demand for more money was 

 granted them. The men demand a fifty-hour week, but want pay for 

 sixty hours or more. The strikers have no means of support and have 

 appealed to the working people of EvansviUe for help, but help is not 

 «ipected very soon for the reason that the EvansviUe Central Labor 

 Union and many of the other unions of that city have recently passed 

 resolutions denouncing the Workers' International Industrial Union, saying 

 that it Is affiliated with the notorious Industrial Workers of the World. 

 EvansviUe manufacturers say that they expect to continue to till their 

 ■orders promptly and in their opinion the trouble will soon blow over and 

 the strikers will be glad to ruuic back. 



Forest Service Made Over to War Work 



Acting Forester W. L. Hall says that over 160 persons in the Forest 

 Service have gotten leave for mUltary service besides temporary employes, 

 such as forest guards, fire fighters, etc. The service is pushing the Liberty 

 Bond campaign for all it is worth and about $10,000 has been subscribed 

 in the Washington office alone. 



The war, Mr. Hail says, has caused many changes in the plans of the 

 Forest Service. One is a slackening up of the work of purchasing forest 

 lands In the Appalachian mountains under the Weeks forestry law. Mr. 

 Hail says that this is being confined to filling in gaps in the new eastern 

 and southern national forests, because the Forest Service is sliorthanded 

 and the department of justice staff is so busy working on the titles of 

 land for military and naval purposes that it does not have time to clear 

 the title of forest land. However, a meeting of the National Forest Reser- 

 vation ("'ommission will be held here in December to consider such land 

 purchase questions as may be ready for action. 



Mr. Hall says that a good deal of the scientific and investigative work 

 that could wait has been practically discontinueil during the war. This 

 includes much of the forest planting work and forest nursery work, and 

 general studies maile of the growth of timber and other scientific matters 

 -connected with forestry. 



On the other hand, the grazing studies have been increased largely with 

 a view to Immediate ulllizatlon of the range in the national forests to the 

 fullest extent. The Madison. Wis.. Forest Products Laboratory Is under- 

 stoo<l to be loaded up with war work, much of it new. 



The national forests arc doing their share of work to help the countr.v 

 In war. It Is stated. .Vt the Forest Service it Is said that among the 

 national forest products g<dng largely Into war uses at this time are 

 locust treenails from the southern Appalachian forests, for government 

 wooden ships ; Douglas llr lun)bi-r used in shiiihuilding on the west coast : 

 western .vellow pine from far western and southwestern national forests, 

 used largely In making boxes for the war department ; oak cut In the 

 Arkansas national forest and the Appalachian government forests, entering 

 Into material for submarine chasers. 



Wood as Structural Material 



A book of ■1.10 pages and well Illustrated, has come from the press of the 

 .McGraw-Hill Hook Company, New York. • The author Is Charles Henry 

 Snow who came before the wood-using public some llftevn years ago with a 

 book entitled "Wood. " The title of the volume which ha« just appeared 

 Is "Wood anil Other Organic Structural Materials." The materials other 

 than wood which Und places In this book are glue and rubber, and there 

 is more or less treatment of paints, varnishes and oils in their useful 

 application to wood. Si>asonlng and treatment to hinder decay also find 

 places on its pages. 



Wood holds by far the most Important place. Those woods which are 

 or should be familiar to the builder and the dealer arc listed and described, 

 and facts concerning their physical qualities arc given, their abundance or 

 scarcity, weights, colors, and other characteristics. 



The book is not a new edition of Mr. Snow's work on wood published 

 in 1903. This is a new work, much more complete than that, but to some 

 extent it follows the same general plan. So far as the field can be covered 

 in the limited space of 4r.o pages, this is a cyclopedia on wood as this 

 material is used at the present day. The price of the book does not appear 

 in the publisher's prospectus, but those who want a work of real value 

 along the line covered by this book wUI doubtless feel that they have 

 received the worth of their money if they buy the book. The author Is 

 a member of the -Vmerlcan Society of Civil Engineers, and dean of the 

 school of applied sciences. New York lulversliy. 



A New Book on Saws 



The D. Van Nostrand Company, 2j I'ark place. New York, has brought 

 out a book under the title, "Saws : Their Care and Treatment." It con- 

 tains 268 pages, a large number of diagrams and other Illustrations, and 

 retaUs tor $2.50. The author Is Harry W. Durham, and it is stated in 

 the preface that the book was written primarily for saw users In England 

 and the dependencies. It Is apparent from the text that the author 

 drew much of his material from American sources. Some of the Ulustra- 

 tlons and descriptions arc supplied by well-known saw manufacturers of 

 the United States. 



There is a general similarity in the work to be done by saws which cut 

 wood, no matter in what country they happen to operate, and for that 

 reason a scientific work on saws in England ought to be valuable to saw- 

 users in the United States. After giving a very brief historical account 

 of saws, the following tollies are more fully discussed : 



Particulars of reciprocating saws : 



Particulars of circular saws : 



Shapening saws by hand filing : 



Sharpening saws by machines ; 



Setting the teeth of saws : 



Ilainniering and tensioning circular and reciprocating saws : 



Sharpening large band saws. 



Following these topics, there are discussions covering topics of miscel- 

 laneous kinds, such as doctoring band saws, sawroom practices, saw pack- 

 ing and guides, power to drive sawing machines, and many other topics. 

 It thus becomes apparent that the field is well covered. The author claims 

 to have had twenty-five years of experience in hanilUng saws. The book 

 is well written and is printed in clear type on good paper. 



Tests on Kiln-Drying Propeller Stock 



The testing of kiln drying of woods tor airplane stock is deemed of such 

 importance that the Official Bulletin has issued a special announcement 

 on the subject. According to this, spruce can be used for aircraft produc 

 tion after kiln-drying without injury. It is hoped that similar results 

 can be obtained with kiln-dried ash, oak, mahogany and other hardwoods, 

 many of which are being tested. Following Is what the Oflicial Bulletin, 

 issued by the Committee on Public Information, says of the tests : 



When the United States entered the war the need for wood to build 

 airplanes quickly created a difficult problem. Most of the air seasoned 

 wood available had been bought for airplanes for the allle<l nations abroad. 

 Thorough air seasoning of such stock requires from one to three yt-ars, 

 according to the size and kind of wood. Kiln-dried stock uniler the meth>Nls 

 ordinarily used has frequently proved unsatisfactory and for that %ason air- 

 plane manufacturers have been reluctant to use it. If the needs of the 

 fighting forces were to be met adequately and without pndongeil di-lay. it 

 was essential that methods of conditioning should be available In which 

 full confidence could be placed. 



Long before this situation developed the forest products laboratory of 

 the Forest Servlc*'. at Madison. Wis., had been making a scientific stutly of 

 the drying of wood, and had developed a method of drying which has been 

 very successful with all the woods tried. Several kilns have be«'n bnllt 

 at the laboratory for e.vperimental purposes anil a number of ileiiinnstra- 

 tions made in commercial kilns. Ash and spruce are the woods most in 

 demand for airplane construction, and anticipating the present situation 

 the Forest Servii-e secured ji shliuneul of partially air-seasoned ash and 

 spruce plank fur preliminary tests. 



This material was kiln dried without Injur.v. Ijiler thoroughly green 



Sitka spruce, white ash (northern and southern), white oak. I' '■■- '^^. 



western white pine, and mahogany were secured In the log t- 

 spruce and ash logs were i-ut up and the green material from ■ 

 divided Into three matched groups. One group of each species .. .. - 

 green, another has been set aside to be tested when It has air ilrlcil. and 

 the third group was kiln-dried, trying several methods, and then ii ^iil 



Only the results of tests on the spruce have so far been analyzed. Cm 

 parlso'n with standard tests which had already been maile shows that 

 Sitka spnice can lie klln-drled from the green condilion with no miire. per 

 haps less. Injury to Its mechanical properties than liy air seasoning. 

 Dilinite specifications have been prepared for kiln drying spruce green 

 from the saw for airplane construction, and. If rkiilly enfori-<il. they 

 will Insure klln-drled stock of this species equal to alr-.lrle<l stock. 



.V iirellniliiary study of propeller construction has shown the need of 

 such Information on pro|ieller woods. The testing of the ash and other 

 si>ecles now on hand, which Include several prii|>eller woods. Is being pusheil 

 as rapidly as possible, and there seems reason to ex|M'ct as favorable re- 

 sults as for the spruce. 



