40 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 25, 191S 



Maple Sugar Prospects Good 



High lost and scUrclty of otlior kinds of sujiiir will result In an Inrreased 

 output of maple sugar and sirup this spring. Maple sugar Is principally 

 a farm output, from trees growing In woodlots. The Industry has been 

 on the decline the past fifty years. The production of maple sugar In 

 the country was 40,000,000 pounds in ISOO and only 14.000.000 in liiln : 

 but that decline wa.s partly offset by an increase in slrvip from l.SOO.dim 

 gallons in the former year to 4.000,000 In 1010. There has been a con 

 slderable decline in the number of maple trees during the fifty year pcrio<l ; 

 but If all available trees are used this year, it is believed that a substantial 

 increase In sugar and sirup will result. High prices will stimulate pro- 

 duction. The season for maple sugar is now at hand. During the first 

 warm days of spring the sap within the trunk Is put under pressure by 

 the expansion of the air in the pores and cells of the wood, and that is 

 the right time for tapping the trees. The sap and sugar remain in the 

 trunk all winter and do not rise from the ground In the spring as was 

 formerly supposed. 



The Foreman's Place in the Mill 



The Woodworker, Indianapolis, Ind.. has the following summary regard- 

 ing the foreman's place in the mill : 



The sawmill foreman is the boss of every one working in the mill, except 

 possibly the filer. lie may not have authority to hire or Are the engineer, 

 the sawyer or the millwright, but he has authority to give them orders 

 regarding the work. He must be enough of an organizer to build up and 

 maintain an efficient crew that will work together to the best advantage, 

 so that the daily cut of the mill will be at or near maximum at ail times, 

 and even in the face of difficulties. 



The sawmill foreman must know logs and finish sawed lumber, like an 

 expert, lie must know sawmilling thoroughly, in order to hold his own as 

 the head of a modern sawmill crew. He should know how to saw. but there 

 is no need of his being a crack sawyer. He should be something of ar 

 engineer and millwright, in order to Intelligently direct repair work and 

 keep the entire mill running in the best possible condition. 



He must be able to recognize the relative efficiency of every member of 

 the mill crew (including the filer) by the work they turn out. He should 

 be the one to settle any differences that may come up between flier and 

 sawyer, or any other members of the crew. He must look out for the 

 interests of his men, and at the same time the interests of his company. 

 If he is really big enough for the job, the company will look to him for 

 results, and all orders will be issued through him. 



Of course, in different mills, the requirements, qualifications and duties 

 of the sawmill foreman vary greatly. Hard and fast rules can hardly be 

 made to apply, for obvious reasons. 



American Furniture for Colombia 



Although only ten per cent of the 5.000.000 inhabitants of Colombia 

 buy imported furniture, the trade is gradually increasing and prospects 

 becoming brighter for the American manufacturer, according to a recent 

 report on the subject by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. 



Austrian bentwood chairs were in demand before the war, but the 

 medium and cheap grades of American chairs are now selling very well. 

 Furniture made of reed, rattan, and similar materials is gaining in 

 popularity, as it is admirably suited to the climate. There is a good mar- 

 ket for center tables, as the custom is to place a table in the center of 

 the room and arrange upon it a large amount of bric-a-brac and orna- 

 ments. 



The author of the report. Special Agent Harold E. Everiey, urges that 

 special attention be given to packing, as goods are carried by boats, trains, 

 mules, and men, are exposed to tropical rains and sun, and are trans- 

 shipped no fewer than six times between the coast and some of the in- 

 terior cities. He also warns against sending veneered furniture into the 

 tropical sections of the country. It will not stand the climate. 



Copies of "Colombian Markets for American Furniture," Special Agents 

 Series No. 162, can be purchased at the nominal price of 5 cents from the 

 superintendent of documents, government printing office, Washington. D. 

 C. 



A Concerted Effort to Start Building 



What is believed to be the most significant undertaking devised in 

 recent months by building, material and allied interests, iooking to bring- 

 ing about improved conditions, is the movement of the National Associa- 

 tion of Builders' Exchanges to place before the government the true facts 

 that now affect the industry. To this end the Cleveland hardwood inter- 

 ests, members of the Cleveland Board of Lumber Dealers, are now cooperat- 

 ing. Interest of the hardwood trade here is indicated by the fact that 

 the principal outlet, in building construction, for hardwoods, is in hous- 

 ing, and of this there has been practically none in the last several months. 

 For this reason they and the board as a whole are earnestly endeavoring 

 to assist the survey inaugurated by the Cleveland Builders Exchange, as 

 part of the national campaign of the national builders' exchanges. "We 

 not only will assist the local committee in gathering the data as it ap- 

 plies particularly to our branch of the business but will seek to interest 

 the various national lumber associations in the question," says J. V. 

 O'Brien, secretary of the board. "We feel the strength of the movement 

 to present to Washington the necessary facts and arguments regarding 

 the building situation should not be dissipated by the independent action 

 of the various bodies, but that every branch of business involved in build- 

 ing should unite In common effort, so that a permanent committee at 

 Washington, which can represent building interests in general, during 

 the period of the war will result." This stand substantiates the resolu- 

 tion of the National Association of Builders' Exchanges, adopted at the 

 national convention at Pittsburgh early in February, and in which a fed- 

 eral advisory board on national construction is urged. 



Mahogany from Bluefields 

 The exports of mahogany and cedar logs fr.iiu the Bluefields, Nicarffgua^ 

 consular district, to the United States Increased from 3,051,407 feet, 

 valued at ?176,043 for 191G to 5,800,786 feet, valued at $734,483 for 1917. 



Hardwood Isieivs ISJotes 



-■< MISCELLANEOUS >•- 



The National Iletrigeralor it Fi.\luri' Coniijany. St. Louis, Mo., Is now 

 conducting business under the style of the National Refrigerator Com- 

 pany. 



Ernest C. McCann has been appointed receiver for the Robinson & Curry 

 Company, Marysville, O. 



The Eagle Furniture Company, Jamestown, N. Y., has assigned. 



The Ingersoll-Rand Company has succeeded the Gordon Millwork Com- 

 pany at Painted Post, N. Y. 



The following are recent Incorporations : The St. Clair Lumber & 

 Manufacturing Company, St. Clair, Mich., capital $35,000 ; the Newark 

 Woodworking Company. Newark, N. J., capitalization .$50,000 ; the Gar- 

 man Wheel Company, Oxford, N. C, capitalized at $50,000, and the Hor- 

 gell-Hiilstrom Shipbuilding Company, Prosper, Ore. 



The name of the French Timber Company, Battle Creek,' Mich., has 

 been changed to the French Lumber & Manufacturing Company and the 

 capital Increased to $100,000. 



The capital of the A. B. Klise Lumber Company, Petoskey, Mich., has 

 been decreased to $75,000. 



At Paducah, Ky., the Southern Hardwood & Tie Company is closing 

 out. 



.-V loss by fire has been sustained by the Memphis Furniture Manufac- 

 turing Company. Memphis. Tenn., and the Tidioute Furniture Manufac- 

 turing Company of Tidioute, Pa. 



Among New York concerns who have incorporated recently arc : the 

 Newton Door Sash & Trim Company, Brooklyn, and the Rochester Mould- 

 ing Works, Rochester. N. Y. 



=-< CHICAGO y- 



The R. R. Slayton Mill Company has filed an involuntary petition in 

 bankruptcy, as has also the Piano Back & Case Manufacturing Company, 

 both local institutions. 



The Dermott Land & Lumber Company announces that it has just moved 

 its offices to the Steger building. The move was necessitated by a desire 

 to enlarge its space, this being impossible in the Railway Exchange, where 

 it has been located. The company is adding considerably to its force and 

 will have much more extensive and desirable quarters in the new location. 



It is stated that the Englewood Turning Company of Chicago is con- 

 templating locating its plant at Lincoln, HI. It is said that the present 

 plant must be vacated on May 1 and the officials of the com"pany are con- 

 sidering different locations. 



P. E. Gilbert, vice-president, and J. B. North, sales manager of the 

 Wisconsin Lumber Company, Harvester building, Chicago, left Sunday for 

 a week's trip to the company's big mills at Deering, Mo. They will stop 

 off at St. Louis on the way south and at Memphis on the journey home. 



P. S, McLurg, president and general manager of the Kneeland-McLurg 

 Lumber Company, Phillips, Wis., with Mrs. McLurg passed through Chi- 

 cago last week en route to southern vacation points. The trip will cover 

 about two months. 



The Bissell Lumber Company of Marshfleld. Wis., was represented In 

 Chicago last week by F. K. Bissell and L. H. Schoenhofer. 



Other prominent northerners were Chas. Gill of the Gill-Andrews Lum- 

 ber Company, Wausau, Wis., and T. E. Lee, sales manager for the Below 

 Lumber Company. Stanley, Wis. 



A. O. Davis of the Sabine Tram Company, Beaumont. Tex., and secre- 

 tary of the Southwestern Hardwood Manufacturers' Club, writes Hardwooi> 

 Record that the club will hold its next meeting at Alexandria, La., on 

 February 27. 



Word comes by letter from the Pittsburgh Wood Preserving Company. 

 Pittsburgh. Pa., that that company with the Ohio Wood Preserving Com- 

 pany, the Michigan Wood Preserving Company and the Acme Tie Com- 

 pany, will have general offices in the Century building, Pittsburgh. 



=-< BUFFALO > 



Horace F. Taylor Is again giving his attention to the lumber business of 

 Ta.vlor & Crate, after spending several months helping out Uncle Sam In 

 the purchase of lumber at Washington. 



New York state officials are making it possible for farmers to use 

 tractors for operating buzz saws to cut wood. Forty of these machines 

 were used on farm work in all parts of the state last summer and twenty 

 more are being purchased. All are equipped with pulleys for driving buzz 

 saws. Conservation Commissioner Pratt Is making a strong effort to 

 increase the use of wood as fuel in order to help out the situation another 



