January In. 1!>18 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



joyment of the trip. Probalilv «c t;"' more birds last year than any 

 selfresptH-ting hunters should liriiig home and so we stand squared 

 on the two exiursions. But the zest for the hunt was kept keen by 

 the fact that the geese were there. It seemed almost as though there 

 were more than ever. They seemed, though, to feel a foreboding 

 of disaster on the advent of the ' ' Marie. ' ' At any rate they exhibited 

 their confidence in the old adage having to do with safety in num- 

 bers for invariably the breast of the river was covered with immense 

 flocks which refused to move beyond the river banks. The resulting 

 infrequent llights did not make the best of shooting and had it not 

 been for our training in marksmanslii]) the score might have been 

 lower. But there is more satisfaction in dropping a bird dead from 

 eighty-five yards than in having him sit on the end of your gun barrel 

 and be compelled to chase him away with a club before you can get 

 a shot. Thus might be contrasted last year's shooting and this. 

 And because the chase was harder and the game more elusive, the 

 l)ag was more keenly appreciated. 



But were I to attempt to reconi and jiicture our hunt of last month 



1 could do no better than reinsert the story of the trip of last year 

 and even though the subject is chuck full of interest I have not enough 

 egotism to make me feel that my version of it would stand a second 

 handling. But it has saddened me to find that there are still some 

 who nourish a doubt as to our veracity of last year; who maintain 

 the unreasonable contention that we could not, by any chance, have 

 honestly come by the number of geese we brought back. It is to 

 convince these scoffers that I am writing again. Surely when we 

 freely confess to have gotten only forty-five geese this year you will 

 not continue to have your unkind doulits of the authenticity of the 

 figure you heard last year. We risk humiliation to convince you of 

 our honesty. .And if you should harbor ideas of your own as to 

 Sam Thompson's shooting ability or Lou Doster's' goose calling knack, 

 those hunters are now fortified with records of accomplishments under 

 fire which would convince you in spite of your utmost skepticism. 



And so the second trip of the Marie J. is now a memory, but it 

 is one so vividly pleasant that we, who were there, wish to share with 

 you who were not, at least the spirit of the cruise. E. W. M. 



i ^<s;i/5<>&^ivL;i<>:o:c^iA:.^0r!;A:t;\i>i;it^ 



Logging in Memphis Territory 



Heavy rains have fallen in the Memphis territory during the past 

 two or three days. All the snow has disappeared and the ground is 

 in better condition for logging work than it has been during the past 

 thirty days. It is thoroughly watersoaked, however, and the chief 

 change in weather conditions is the passing of the extremely low 

 temperatures which prevailed throughout the Mississippi valley 

 region during the greater portion of December. Logging work, 

 owing to the fact that there are so many logs on the rights of way 

 of the railroads or in process of being delivered thereto, assumes 

 less importance than usual, and for this reason hardwood interests 

 are not complaining about inability to cut and haul timber nor- 

 mally. It is estimated that there are some 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 

 feet of timber awaiting transportation in the delta, and this, 

 together with what is being turned over to the railroads' rights of 

 way, is sufficient to last for quite a while. These figures do not 

 take into consideration the hardwood timber awaiting transporta- 

 tion from points in Arkansas and from Tennessee and other states 

 from which Memphis draws its hardwood supplies outside of Mis- 

 sissippi. 



The railroads are falling down badly in the matter of furnishing 

 transportation facilities for log handling. The Valley Log Loading 

 Company reports a fair increase in loading during the last half 

 of December, but it has taken off one of its loaders on the Yazoo 

 & Mississippi Valley line of the Illinois Central during the past few- 

 days, which gives convincing proof that cars are not being fur- 

 nished in anything like the quantity desired. There is likewise a 

 great deal of timber that is sub.ject to overflow during flood con- 

 ditions, and the failure of the carriers to furnish cars is being 

 emphasized as a possible source of serious loss through high water. 

 Meantime, manufacturing operations are greatly curtailed as a 

 result of lack of logs at the mills. "The mill will nev«r grind 

 with the water that is past" is an expression as old as the ages. It 

 is equally true that they will not cut lumber out of logs which 

 are not placed on their yards, and just now the whole mauiifactur- 

 ing proposition hinges on the abilit.v of the roads to deliver logs 

 to the manufacturers and they are falling down in a most serious 

 manner. It is generally believed that government control of the 

 railroads will soon bring about a change for the better, but it is 

 admitted that, in the meantime, hardwood output is likely to remain 

 considerably restricted. 



There is some i-ncreaae in hardwood output since the new year 

 began, but this is due principally to the warmer weather. Many of 

 the mills, including some of those with fair log supplies, either 

 partially or wholly suspended operations when temperatures were 

 so low. Some ran all through the extreme cold, but they admit 



that it was a strenuous proposition getting results from labor and 

 from machinery alike. It is recognized, however, that normal 

 weather will not materially increase hardwood output unless more 

 logs are supplied by the railroads, with the result that everj' propo- 

 sition leads back to the same broad fact : That the rate at which 

 logs are handled will prove the determining factor in hardwood 

 output. 



Encouragement is taken from the fact that higher temperature, 

 accompanied by rain, has caused disappearance of the ice which 

 for quite a while blocked water transportation. The packets pl.v- 

 ing between Memphis and other river points are resuming their 

 schedules, and river mills which have their own facilities for 

 handling logs by water are resuming the use of these. This means 

 that these mills will fare materially better in the matter of log 

 supplies. The stage of the Mississippi and its tributaries, it should 

 be noted in this connection, is quite low for this time of the year, 

 and in some instances it is impossible to use boats and barges for 

 log handling. Altogether the transportation situation is something 

 more than a problem at this time whether by water or by rail. 



In the meantime lumber interests here are heartily in sympathy 

 with the movement of the government looking to increase in the 

 use of water transportation facilities and they are closely watching 

 every move in that direction. Memphis business men are co-operat- 

 ing with those from St. Louis, Xew Orleans and other river cities 

 to the end that these facilities may be realized at the earliest mo- 

 ment. It is recognized on all sides that the sooner deficient rail- 

 way facilities are supplemented by increased water transportation 

 the sooner the traffic situation will return to something like normal 

 eflrciencv. 



Standardizing Truck Spokes 



One interesting example of the tendency toward standardization 

 all arOuhd is found in connection with wheels and spokes for motor 

 trucks, especially for farm use. At a recent meeting of the vehicle 

 people the farm wagon department recommended that the meeting^ 

 go on record as indorsing the plan that truck wheels shall not be 

 constructed of greater diameter than thirty-six inches, and that 

 the f ron\ and rear wheels be made of the same size and interchange- 

 able in order to create a marked distinction between trucks and 

 wagons and to advance the utility of the truck. So far as investi- 

 gations have been made there was found no perceptible difference 

 in draft on farm trucks, because the rear wheels are a little higher 

 than the front. As varying the size does not justify itself by any 

 visable advantages, a standard size is preferable. 



