November 10. VM'i 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



Furniture Dovetailed Together 



Some of tlie finest Chinese fiiinltiiie Is put togetlu'r without nails, 

 screws, peps or pluo. AH the fasti^nUiRS consist of blind dovetails. A 

 set of such furniture, consisting of eighteen pieces, elaborately carved, and 

 made of the ivli'brated Chinese black wood, was recently placed on exhi- 

 bition at a furniture show at Toronto, Canada. The furniture was form- 

 erly used in the British embassy at Hongkong. 



Boys in Furniture Factories 



The public schools of Kvansvilb'. Iml.. have made arrangements with 

 furniture manufacturers of that city fi>r boys who attend manual train- 

 ing classes to put in a few hours daily learning the practical side of 

 furniture making in the factories. Sudi exiierience will do the boys 

 good and the help will be welcome in the factories where labor is often 

 scarce. The boys can learn more rajiidiy in a factory than in a manual 

 training class: but in Evantiviiie the l)ays will have both kinds of In- 

 struction. 



British View of 1918 



The London Timhrr Trade Joiirnnl, in u forward survey of timber 

 prospects for lOl.s. lias this to .say : 



That there will be a great demand for timber next year Is a certainty. 

 If, unfortunately, the war still continues, the p.Tce of military operations 

 must l>e more rapid, and the more moldlc operations will entail a greater 

 consumption of wood. The great climax of the struggle can only be reached 

 hy a vaster output of all descriptions of munitions of war, and in the 

 manufacture and transport of all war material wood forms a very im- 

 portant item. If, on the other hand, peace is declared, there is no' need 

 to enlarge on the prospects then before the timber trade. There must 

 be enormous competition for all goods which can be promptly imported, 

 and. iiaturally. during the coming months there will be considerable 

 anxiety on the part of our regular importers to make some arrangements. 

 <iulte different prospects are opened up according as the belief prevails 

 in peace or war conditions in lOl.S, but in both cases it is felt that the 

 problems before the trade should lie tackled in good time. In the Ameri- 

 can markets also private importers will have many difflculties with which 

 to contend. The governments of Great Britain and the United States 

 are co-operating very closely In all trade matters, and the control of the 

 tonnage over the .Vtiantic is so important in view of the very large 

 quantity which will be required for the tran.sport of the American army 

 and Its supplies, that no great hopes are centered on American timber 

 while the war lasts. Scandinavia holds out the best hopes, and it is on 

 the Baltic productions, supijiemented by sliipments from the west coast 

 of Scandinavia that the ordinary trader will have to rely in 1918. The 

 overlying stocks in Sweden will he very heavy, and there will be plenty 

 of ficope for winter negotiations, if only the trade can obtain reasonable 

 freedom of action. 



The Fuel Value of Wood 



Persons who plan to relieve the coal shortage this winter by burning 

 wood can figure, roughly speaking, that two pounds of seasoned wood 

 have a fuel value equal to one pound of coal, according to experts of the 

 Forest Service. While different kinds of wood have different fuel values, 

 the foresters say that in general the greater the dry weight of a non- 

 resinous wood, the more heat it w'ill give out wlien burned. 



For such species as hickory, oak. Iieech. birch, liard maple, ash, locust, 

 longleaf pine or cherry, which have comparatively high fuel values, one 

 cord, weighing about 4,000 pounds, is required to equal one ton of coal. 



It takes a cord and a half of shortleaf pine, hemlock, red gum, Douglas 

 fir, sycamore, or soft maple, which weighs about .3.000 pounds a cord, 

 to equal a ton of coal, while for cedar, redwood, poplar, catalpa, Norway 

 pine, cypress, tiasswood, spruce, and white pine, two cords, weighing abont 

 2,000 pounds each, are required. 



Weight for weight, however, there is very little difference between vari- 

 ous species. Resin affords about twice as much heat as wood, so that 

 resinous woods have a greater heat value per pound than non-resinous 

 woods, and this increased value varies, of course, with the resin content. 



The available heat value of a cord of wood depends also on the amount 

 of moisture present. When the wood Is green part of the heat which 

 it Is capable of yielding is taken up in evaporating the water. The 

 greater amount of water in the wood the more heat is lost. 



Where wood is to be burned in a stove or furnace intended for coal. 

 it will be found desirable, the foresters say, to cover the grate partly 

 with sheet iron or fire brick, in order to reduce the draught. If this is 

 not done the wood is wasted by being consumed too fast, and makes a very 

 hot fire which in a furnace may damage the fire box. 



Wood- Working Machinery Abroad 

 United States consuls and commercial agents in foreign countries, 

 particularly in England and France, have recently made reports concern- 

 ing prospects of selling American woodworking machinery abroad after 

 the war. 



Timber grown in the United Kingdom consists of oak, ash, and beech of 

 the harder kinds, and soft elm. Pine and flr, as well as spruce, are grown 

 in large quantities in Scotland. Considerable birch is grown throughout 

 the country. Imports include mahogany from Africa and Mexico, teak 

 from India, and pine from Russia, Norway and Sweden. Canada and 

 the United States supply great quantities of pine. A substantial amount 

 of timber is sawn in the Midlands of England, although the larger mills 

 are found at the various ports, sucli as London. Liverpool, Hull, etc., from 

 75 to 80 percent of the timber sawn in this district being Imported. 



In former years a good deal of American woodw<trklng machinery was 

 used, but British manufacturers of this class of machinery have made 

 such progress of late that they have obtained most of the trade, and the 

 machinery now used is generally of British manufacture. They have 



copied American designs whenever this has been possible and in some 

 Instances have purchased the patents. The new patents and designs act 

 has increased the tendency to purchase these patents or obtain the rights 

 to work them on a royalty basis. 



There Is no prejudice against the use of American woodworking ma- 

 chinery, but British manufacturers are on the ground and have reached 

 the point where they largely control the market. 



In Fkance 



Pine is the most plentiful and Important timber grown in France, and 

 that fact should be borne in mind by those who wish to sell machinery In 

 that country. The Frencli have made most of the woodworking machines 

 used in that countrj", though a few are American. Before the war some 

 machines were imported from Germany. 



There Is a probable opening In Spain for American woodworking ma- 

 chines to take the place of those formerly supplied by Germany. None 

 are now imported from that country and none can be while the war lasts. 



Building Permits for October 



Considering the well known fact that llu' huliding Industry is laljoring 

 under adverse conditions, the showing for October is not exceptionally bad, 

 as things have been going of late. Outside of those' Immediately Inter- 

 ested in construction work, there Is no wide-spread appreciation of the 

 leading part which our builders have occupied In the constructive ener- 

 gies of the nation, and of the importance of not only keeping It alive but 

 of keeping It above the point of struggling for lis existence. In spite 

 of discouragements, the building permits, l.ssued in 109 principal cities 

 of the country, as officially reported to tlie American runtrartor, Chicago, 

 total ,$56,251,179, compared with .<;87,692,090 for October, 1916, a de- 

 crease of 35 per cent. The decrease in September was only 27 per cent, 

 but in August it was 33 per cent. The total number of buildings, for 

 which permits were issued in these cities during October, was 20,435, 

 compared with 29,509 for October last year. 



Many causes are contributing to this considerable shrinkage in building 

 construction. One is the practical impossibility of procuring structural 

 shapes for the larger type of buildings, the government necessities right- 

 fully taking priority. There are steadily widening areas, tlirougliout which 

 buildings are becoming irksomely scarce, not only for the housing of work- 

 men in factory di-stricts, but for many purposes, and tliis scarcity Is be- 

 ginning to quite noticeably Increase the cost of living tlirough increased 

 rentals. Public policy would seem to dictate the largest extent of con- 

 struction work possible, consistent with the government necessities. 



There are a few cities that distinguish themselves in this tabulation by 

 their gains over October last year. Of the 109 cities reporting, 25, or 

 nearly one-fourth, make favoralile showings. The most important of these 

 is Boston and vicinity, which makes the notable showing of $12,319,000, 

 compared with ,$7,591,000 for October, 1910. Most of the larger cities 

 show radical losses, which is due to the almost entire cessation in the 

 construction of steel frame buildings, because the steel shapes have not 

 been procurable for early deliveries. 



The Locust Tree in Favor 



The Timher Xcws of London. F.ngland. advocates the planting of waste 

 land in that country witli .\merican locust ; that is, yellow or black locust, 

 the species which is just now in great demand for treenails and which is 

 always in demand for fcMice posts and l^ugg.v liubs. Trials have shown 

 that this tree grows well in ICngland's climate. Originally it was confined 

 in the United States to the Middle .\tlantlc region, extending three or 

 four hundred miles inland. It has spread, by planting, to all parts of the 

 United States. It does best in deep, fertile, well-drained soil, and it 

 matters little how stony it is. But in most parts of this country it is 

 an unprofitable tree because of the attacks made upon it liy a beetle 

 known as the locust borer (Cyllctie rohiniw) that devours the trees, 

 beginning with the liranclies and quitting when only a portion of tlie dead 

 trunk remains. This insect is the great drawback to planting locust. 

 In portions of this tree's original range It Is nearly immune to the beetle's 

 attacks. No information at hand shows that these insects have ever 

 attacked planted locusts in Europe. 



Beetles Bide Their Time 

 It Is somewhat strange tliat timliers which were immune to the attack 

 of beetles during hundreds of years should suddenly fall a prey to the 

 insects. That is the situation at Westminster Hall, England. During 

 centuries the timbers of the massive roof stood untouched by the wood- 

 boring beetles ; tlien the insects began to bore, and it is said that four 

 or five years will be required to kill the bugs and repair the damage. The 

 work must go forward during tlie war. because It cannot wait. The 

 beetles are killed by washing the affected timbers with cedar oil. The 

 fumes are so poisonous tliat workmen are compelled to wear ga.s masks. 

 Timliers which arc sf) miicli weakened that they are in danger of collapsing 

 are being braced and reinforced. No explanation is offered why no attack 

 by beetles was made during the past four or five hundred years. 



Leather from Fish Skins 



A company has taken over an nbl tannery in Pittsburgh with the 

 Intention of operating it hereafter exelusiveiy for the handling of flsh 

 skins. The company advises tlie Bureau of Fisheries that, at the outset, 

 it will be'able to handle 150 skins daily and that It is in the market for any 

 shark skins 2 feet or more In length. 



