20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



January 10, 1918 



the shipping board; Theodore Ferris, naval architect of the board, 

 stated that he always found the lumbermen helpful in co-operating, 

 and that he believed and hoped tliat wooden ships would continue 

 to be built, owing to the war emergency. F. L. Sanford of Zcna, 

 La., submitted facts to the committee showing tliat the .southern 

 pine men, not only had not fallen down on the job, but had been 

 shipping material ahead of the time required. 



Mr. Sanford made a good impression upon members of the com- 

 mittee, some of whom admitted that they had not been fuly ad- 

 vised before. Mr. Sanford said that he did not think the charges 

 were made with a view to shifting the blame for the delay upon 

 lumbermen, but because those making the charges were not well 

 informed as to just what the lumbermen had done. He then re- 

 ported in detail the enormous amount of work done by the lumber- 

 men in forwarding the shipbuilding program. 



The board and the fleet corporation were recently sued by the 

 National Timber Company of Mobile, of which Mr. Eichberg is 

 reported to be the controlling factor, for alleged breach of contract 

 on which account .$121,000 damages are sought in a District of 

 Columbia court. The suit says that the National Timber Company 

 got a contract August 3 for a quantity of oak timber to be used 

 in place of pine in government wooden ships, which order was can- 

 celed August 21 without valid reason and after the company had 

 spent several thousand dollars in preparatory work. The unofficial 

 answer of the shipping board authorities is that about that time 

 there was another change in the wooden ship plans and specifica- 

 tions, when it was decided not to substitute oak for pine. The 

 reason, it is said, was that marine architects thought the greater 

 weight of the oak would disturb the equilibrium of the ships as 

 originally planned to be built of pine. 



Boxes Preferred for Butter 

 Owing to the sbortage of stave iiiatorial and transportation problems 

 man.T creameries are having difficulty in securing butter tubs. Tlie United 

 States food administration recommends that boxes be used in place of the 

 familiar tub where bo.\ materials are readily obtainable. Butter can be 

 paclied in boxes at about one-third of a cent per pound less than in tubs. 

 Boxes ship as well as or better than tubs, and trade prejudice is the only 

 reason they are not more generally used. No doubt there will be quite a 

 quantity of butter required by Great Britain through the coming season 

 and the British much prefer the boxes to tubs. The food administration 

 is very desirous that all creameries and butter factories co-operate to the 

 fullest extent possible in the use of boxes in order to relieve the butter 

 tub shortage. 



Airplane Factory At Work 



The naval aircraft factory erected at the Philadelphia navy yard is 

 completed and in operation. This plant, which covers three acres, was 

 begun in August, the structure completed in November, machinery in- 

 stalled and the keel of the first flying boat was laid ninety days after 

 building work was begun. The plant, with equipment, cost about 

 $1,000,000. 



The plant now needs 2,000 skilled workmen to operate at capacity. 

 Almost every type of craftsman can help in some of the many kinds of 

 work necessary to make seaplanes. Machinists of all kinds will be needed 

 to make and assemble the parts. 



There is very skillful woodwork to be done in creating a flying machine, 

 so there is a keen demand for cabinet makers, pattern makers, boat 

 builders, joiners and millmen of all kinds. Women can sew the covers on 

 the wings and perform some of the lighter woodworking operations. It 

 is expected that, owing to war conditions, several hundred women will 

 be employed. A good many laborers will also be required. 



The need is urgent, and it is hoped that hundreds of skilled workmen 

 will register at the Board of Labor Improvement at the Pliiladolphia 

 navy yard for work. 



This factory will not only produce a portion of the aircraft needed by 

 the navy, relieving other manufacturers for army work, but will enable 

 the navy to conduct experimental operations without clogging the wheels 

 of production in private plants and to ascertain the costs of aeroplane 

 construction, which will aid in the adjustment of prices of aeroplanes. 

 Wood for I^el 



Wherever it is at all practicable the State Fuel Administrators are 

 doing all that is possible to popularize the suBstitution of wood-fuel for 

 coal ; and this has been found to afford striking and much needed relief 

 in many states. Harry Flood Byrd. state fuel administrator for Virginia 

 reports that while the fuel situation in that state is critical there has 

 been no actual suffering and no important industries have had to dis- 

 continue operations. After conference with the state highway commis- 

 sioners and the superintendent of the penitentiary, it has been decided 



to utilize the thirty convict camps located throughout Virginia for the 

 purpose ot cutting fuel wood for public consumption and to relieve the 

 coal pressure. 



No charge will be made for the labor of the convicts, and the distribu- 

 tions of the wood will be made through the local commissions to the poor 

 of the different communities. The cost will not exceed $2 a cord and one 

 cord of wood is equivalent of half ton of coal. If the experiment proves 

 successful each camp will be instructed to cut I'ln cords of wood making 

 0.00(1 cords in all. If this work does not seriously interfere with the 

 work on the public roads it is ]irobabIe that much more will be cut later. 



Indiana, through Its state fuel administrator, Kvans Woollen, has been 

 making a vigorous campaign for the substitution of wood for coal; so 

 vigorous that in many of the counties the fuel administrator and the 

 coal dealers are refusing to sell coal to farmers when It Is known that 

 they have an available supply of fuel wood. There are three campaigns 

 ou in Indiana, each urging the use of wood for fuel. The state forestry 

 department is giving the matter attention and showing not only where 

 wood may be obtained, but also issuing instructi<)ns as to how coal burn- 

 ing stoves may be made to burn wood with little expense for alterations. 

 The Boys Working Reserve is resi)onsible for the organization of many 

 "saw buck clubs" among the boys of the rural schools. These are In 

 addition to the campaign of the state fuel administration which has two 

 phases ; general educational publicity and more definite and specific work 

 through the county fuel administrators. 



Officers Appointed 

 The Adjutant General ot the .\rniy has announced the appointment of 

 Carl A. Libbey of the Hammond Lumber Company, Eureka, Cal., as first 

 lieutenant. Engineer Reserve. A number of additional assignments of 

 officers to the 20th forestry regiment have recently been made. 



Personal Mention 



Joseph O'Neil of St. Louis has resigned from secretaryship of the lum- 

 ber director here and gone home. E. A. Smith of New Orleans took his 

 place. 



Charles Edgar of the lumber director's office returned from Hot Springs, 

 .\rk., where he attended an annual meeting of the Wisconsin & Arkansas 

 Lumber Company. 



With the beginning of the year's operations many lumbermen who 

 have been here on government business are back from holiday trips. Mr. 

 Pritchard came back from Memphis, Roy H. Jones of the Northern Hard- 

 wood Emergency Bureau from New York, H. A. Taylor and C. H. Wor- 

 cester of the lumber director's staff from Buffalo and Chicago, respectively. 



Gen. L. C. Boyle is planning to open an office here and make the na- 

 tional capitol his headquarters in looking after lumber interests before the 

 trade commission and other branches of the government. 



Fish Shows Great Activity in New Bureau 



Frank F. Fish, secretary of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association, has sent letters to about 2,700 manufacturers or owners 

 of hardwood lumber in the United States, acquainting them with 

 the regulations governing the methods of the War Service Bureau 

 in purchasing hardwood lumber for the government's war needs. 

 Nine hundred of Mr. Fish's letters went to members of his associa- 

 tion and 1,800 to hardwood lumbermen not members of the asso- 

 ciation. 



The bureau confines its activities to material intended for the 

 United States government or its allies; and it deals with manu- 

 facturers af hardwood lumber, or with owners of such lumber. The 

 circular accompanying Mr. Fish's letter enters into the methods 

 i,nd procedure to be followed in selling to the government and in the 

 distribution of orders among those prepared to supply material. 

 Provision is made for keeping tab on the kinds, quantity and loca- 

 tion of available lumber, so that the government may at all times be 

 informed of stocks, and so that orders can be filled promptly. 



Price quotations by the bureau on specific inquiries or requisitions 

 shall show: 



(a) The name of the manufacturer or manufacturers by whom the 

 shipment is to be made, to be furnished within three days after placing 

 of orders. 



(b) The point from which shipment is to be made (or respective 

 IJoints of shipment in case more than one is involved). 



(c) The price per M feet on each item f. o. b. at such point or points 

 of shipments. 



(d) The tariff rate to point of delivery specified. 



(e) The estimated weight of the material of each specification. 



(f) At the election of the manufacturer, or when requested by the 

 director, the price delivered at destination. (Quotation of delivered price 

 does not alter necessity of disclosing point of shipment and freight rate, 

 since the source of supply in relation to car supply and price must enter 

 into the question of approval.) 



