3Sd 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



ri-biu;n-.v in, imS 



Occurrences at Washington Interesting to Lumbermen 



Personal Mention and the Activities of Various Boards and Committees 



Iloiaoe F. Taylor, after serving tlircc months on War Imlustries 

 Board, has roturnoil to Uiiffalo and lias been succccdod in Washing- 

 ton by Walter K. C'hambcrlin, who is interested in John M. Woods 

 & Co., Kast Cambridge, Mass., and the J, M. Woods Lumber Com- 

 pany, Memphis, Tenn. 



While President Wilson has intiniatcd that he will press Con- 

 gress for legislation extending government control, inphuling price 

 regulation, over many necessities, of which the president is under- 

 stood to regard lumber as one, hardwood men who have been in 

 touch with the government operations here do not believe that it is 

 contemplated at this time to fix hardwood prices. iSome say that 

 such prices never will be fixed. A report that grades and prices for 

 vehicle stock have been fixed has been officially denied. It is esti- 

 mated by hardwood men that 100,000,000 feet of vehicle stock has 

 been required for army vehicles and spare wheels. This is on the 

 basis of 700 feet per wagon. 



Investigations have been made into the ]iossibility of using fur- 

 niture, sash and door, and other woodworking plants for relieving 

 the overburdened wagon factories in connection with the production 

 of necessary spare parts for army wagons and vehicles, thus releas- 

 ing a portion of the existing wagon manufacturing capacity for 

 the production of farm wagons. It is also proposed to use steel 

 wheels for army kitchens, thus relieving the shortage of seasoned 

 material for wooden wheels, and the development of additional 

 gun carriage capacity through the transformation of existing plants. 



The navy has gone on the market for 265,000 feet of Philippine 

 mahogan_y for delivery at Norfolk, Va. 



Bids to Be Opened 



The general supply committee of the governincat is out with 

 an announcement that bids will be opened here March 6 for offer- 

 ings to supply the government departments in Washington with 

 lumber, millwork, packing boxes, etc., during the fiscal year begin- 

 ning July 1 next. The specifications call for numerous items and 

 lots of hardwood and softwood lumber for various purposes, ineliul- 

 ing ash, basswood, birch, cherry, mahogany, ma]de, oak, poplar, 

 chestnut; also cypress, yellow Jiine, white Jiine, sugar {)ine, flooring, 

 hickory, laminated wood, etc., in manv sizes, lengths, qualities, 

 grades and varieties and for many puri^oses, including moulding, 

 posts, shingles, veneering, baseboard, doors, labels, maple doweling, 

 plugs, rollers, sills, stakes, etc. 



Boxes by the thousand are also wanted next fiscal year oy govern- 

 ment departments here. These bids should not be confused with 

 the war contracts that are being let by various branches of the 

 government. The former are for strictly ''lionio consumption'' in 

 the department buildings here. 



The Andrew C. 8isnian Cumiiauy of Detroit, which lias been biil- 

 ding on joinery work for government wooden ships, is reported to 

 be on the market for quantities sufficient for fifty vessels of such 

 materials as studding, sills, capping, decking, sheathing, ceiling, etc. 



It is reported that birch for airplane proiiellers has been recently 

 Ijought by the government through the Northern Hemlock and Hard- 

 wood Bureau. Major Charles K. Sligh, formerly of the aviation 

 branch of the service, has been succeeded by Lieutenant Edward 

 L. Ryerson of the signal corps. The Forest Service is sending two 

 experts into the southern Appalachian, the White mountains, 

 Adirondacks and Maine to study spruce timber with a view to using 

 some of it for airplanes. 



The service has also recently awarded a contract for 24,000,000 

 feet of Sitka spruce, much of it suitable for airplane stock, in the 

 Tongas national forest, Alaska, to the Craig Lumber Company of 

 Craig, Alaska. 



The West Coast Lumber Emergency Bureau expects to furnish 

 100,000,000 feet of airplane stock, fir and spruce, this year, under 

 the improved methods of production that have been adopted by the 



government. The bureau expects to be cutting 10,000,000 feet per 

 month. A bill has been introduced in Congress for legalizing the 

 cutting of airjdane stock from National forests without complying 

 with existing laws, whiih require thirty days' advertising before 

 a sale is made. 



Government lumber purchasing and construction officers were 

 warned recently by Dr. Nichols, an agricultural department expert 

 on borers and other injurious insects, that care should be taken to 

 keep these pests out of timber and lumber before it is used and out 

 of the wood in buildings, slii]is, air]ilanes, etc., after they are com- 

 pleted. 



The Heatless Monday Order 



Thanks to protests from hiiiilptrnien, woodworking jilants and 

 other business interests, it is believed the "heatless holiday" pro- 

 gram is checked so far as mills are concerned. Recent rulings as to 

 the application of the ])lan have been issued by Dr. Harry A. Gar- 

 fi(dd. Federal Fuel Administrator, as follows: 



(A) Woodworking mills not otherwise e.xenipted may nijorate only to 

 the extent that their product is placed In their own yards for seasoning. 

 This applies in general to mills sawing green timber into lumber. 



(F.) Other woodworliinj; mills not <jtherwise exempted, which use their 

 own waste as fuel, may operate to prorlnce sufficient lucl to prevent injury 

 to their plant from freezing. 



C(') Such woodworliinK mills as are accustomed m supply fuel to 

 houseliolders in their immediate neighbrhood must apply to their local fuel 

 administrator for permission to operate to sucli extent as is necessar.v 

 for the welfare of the coinnumity, such power of discretion being given 

 local fuel administratftrs under Section 8. 



Another thing lumbermen are protesting against is the announced 

 policy of Director General of Railroads McAdoo not to include in the 

 government system of railroads a great many tap lines and other 

 short lines that he does not deem necessary for government purposes. 

 Business interests and people generally in the regions affected have 

 told their senators that to leave short lines out in the cold will 

 seriously injure them and put many of them out of business, to the 

 detriment of the communities ami the industries, including agricul- 

 ture, that they now serve. 



The Government's Building Plans 



The government is reporteil to be building a big plant at Collin- 

 wood, Tenn., for the distillation from hardwood and other wood of 

 wood alcohol and the manufacture of other by-products of wood ' 

 that are needed in the pr(\uction of munitions and other necessary 

 war materials. The ]5lant will cost $2,000,000 and employ 1,300 men, 

 it is said. 



Government housing plans are rapidly getting into shape. The 

 lower house will soon pass a bill already O. K.'d iiy the Senate 

 ]iroviding .$.50,000,000 for housing operations by the shipping board 

 to house shipbuilders. The War Department wants .$1,000,000 from 

 Congress to provide dormitories and homes here for government 

 emp'oyes. The Labor Department is whipping into shape a com- 

 prehensive plan for housing under all departments of the govern- 

 ment, including the navy and the ordnance bureau, which are hav- 

 ing iliflficulty finding space for workmen engaged on government 

 contracts. Housing programs are being prepared for Sparrows 

 Point, Md. ; Newport News, Va.; Charleston, W. Va.; Newport, 

 R. I.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Bethlehem, Pa.; Wilmington, Del.; New- 

 ark, N. J.; Quincy, Mass.; Bristol and Hog Island, Pa. Large quan- 

 tities of lumber, including hardwoods, will be needed. 



Government control over building construction operations, public 

 improvements and the issuance of securities for various ))urposes is 

 proposed in a bill drafted by Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo, 

 which Congress is asked to pass, to create a war finance corporation, 

 to pass upon the above class of projects and give assistance to finan- 

 cial plans that are thought necessary for war industrial purposes. 

 There seems to be a good deal of opposition to this measure. 



The estimate of 3,000,000,000 feet for portable houses for Amer- 



