March 25, 1918 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



31 



Veneered Clothes Chests 



The claim has been made that veneers have not been able to 

 make any inroad upon the cedar clothes chest, and that it prob- 

 ably never can do so because the stock of which such chests are 

 made is so knotty that if sliced in veneer the sheets would fall to 

 pieces. The more knots in the stock the better it is liked, for 

 the knots give the wood a figured appearance. 



However, the veneered cedar chest is not unknown, but the 

 general rule is reversed, and the veneer is employed as an inside 

 lining instead of an outside covering, but chests of that kind don't 

 seem to be very numerous for the probable reason that they are 

 not in much demand. 



The popularity of cedar for clothes chests is due to the fact, 

 or the supposed fact, that the odor of the wood keeps moths and 

 other insects away. Whatever odor the wood has comes from the 

 surface, and a chest with a cedar veneer lining gives off as much 

 odor as would be supplied by a chest made of solid cedar, and if 

 the odor really repels insects, they would leave the contents of 

 such a chest alone. 



Cedar chests don't owe their popularity wholly to the odor of 

 the wood, but largely to its beauty and novel appearance. The 

 high color of the knots and heartwood and the whiteness of the 

 sap form pleasing and attractive contrasts, and many users think 

 of these oftener than of the moth-repelling qualities. Plenty of 

 cedar that is free of knots can be had, and if there were a demand 

 for veneer of this wood it could be produced, but the demand is 

 not strong. 



Several species of cedar are used by chest makers, among them 

 being the southern red cedar, the incense cedar of California, and 

 the Port Orford cedar of Oregon. Though these three species are 

 called cedar, they are not as nearly related as their names would 

 indicate; no two of them being of the same genus. Botanically, 

 they are no more nearly related than white pine is related to 

 hemlock. There are several cedars native to the Rocky Moun- 

 tain region and westward that are closely akin to the southern 

 red cedar, and no reason is apparent why their wood is not suit- 

 able for clothes chests. There is no question but that they are 

 knotty enough to please those who like knots. 



solid if it contains any veneer. That opinion was formerly held 

 applied to furniture or finish, does not mean that veneer is not 

 present, but that the article is all of one wood. 



Opinions Have Changed 



it was formerly a popular notion that anything that was 

 veneered was cheap and dishonest. People thought the veneer 

 was put on to conceal defects. That notion no longer exists 

 among intelligent people, and the result is an enormous increase 

 in the use and popularity of veneered articles, from boxes up 

 to the finest furniture and interior house finish. Veneers are 

 employed primarily for two purposes. First they make a stronger, 

 better article; and second, they make it possible to economize in 

 costly woods. A finely figured board one inch thick, used as a 

 plank, is good for one panel; but if that same board is sliced 

 into thirty sheets of veneer, every sheet will have an appearance as 

 fine as the surface of the original board, and will furnish the 

 outside, visible part of thirty panels. That is economy, and at 

 the same time every panel is not only as beautiful as that made 

 of a solid piece, but it is more serviceable, it will warp less in 

 weather changes, shrink less in the heat, swell less in dampness, 

 and hold its own fully as well in all ways. 



Different opinions are held as to what constitutes "solid" fur- 

 niture or finish. Some hold that the article should not be called 

 solid if it contains any veneer. That opinion was formerly held 

 by nearly all persons who had any opinions on the subject; but 

 it is not so now. The other view is that an article is solid if it 

 is all of one wood, even if of built-up veneers. Under that inter- 

 pretation, a walnut table would be solid if it contained no wood 

 except walnut, whether made of lumber or of veneer panels. 

 Custom will finally decide this matter, and the tendency seems 

 to be toward acceptance of the view that the term solid, when 



Statistics showing the production of veneer by states or by 

 regions are meager. Emphasis is laid on the kinds of wood used, 

 the quantity of each, and the thickness of the product, whether 

 sawed, sliced or rotary-cut; but figures have not usually been pub- 

 lished in a way to show how much is produced in different states. 

 Perhaps it is not important that this should be shown, but it 



would at least add interest to statistics. It is pretty certain 

 that the South furnishes more than half of the country's veneer. 



American Woods Strongest 



'I'lMt ti'sts made iiy llu I'nitnl Stairs Fnnst rrcKlucts Laboratory mid 

 liy tile Canailliiii Foivst Service to (letermine the strength of various 

 woods indleate that wood from the United States is far superior to that 

 of Cniinda, Norway. Uiissla or any of the Baltic countries. Is revealed 

 In a copy of the .[oiirnal of the Royal Institute of British .\rchltects 

 which has just been received at the Chicago office of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' .\sso<-iation. 



This Journal i-i'porting a recent meeting of two of the most important 

 <'ommittees of the Royal Institute of Architects quotes John R. Walker, 

 trade commissioner of the United States, as .saj'ing in an address to the 

 British architects : 



"Elaborate te.sts have been niaile hy the United States Forest Products 

 Lalior.atory, and ity the Canadian Forest Service, to determine the strength 

 of various woods, and these tests indicate that the Southern pines are 

 from ii:i^;t per cent to 5t> per cent stronger than Canadian and Baltic 

 yellow pine, red pine, and spruce, and that Oregon pine is 25 per cent 

 stronger than these Xorthern woods. I have also seen the results of 

 special tests made in this country for various purposes, which confirm 

 the general comparisons above given. It. therefore, appears that while 

 a 6 l)y 2 Southern pine Joist dried and finished to 1% by 5% would con- 

 tain 12'/^ per cent less cross section or cubic area than a G by 2 Baltic 

 or Canadian red wood or white wood full-size Joist, yet it would po.sse.ss 

 the equivalent strength of such a Joist, and in fact something Iii<e 15 per 

 cent inr)re strength. 



■Till' pl.in which I propose is that in your building plans of the future 

 pruvision l)e iiiade for the use of American woods in the .American standard 

 sizes as an alternative for the Baltic woods In their standard sizes." 



A hearty vote of thaniis to Mr. Walker for the careful ami lucid man- 

 ner in which he had put his information before the members of the 

 Institute was proposed and carried unanimously. 



To Investigate Airplane Lumber Waste 

 stories of waste at the Curtlss Aeroplane Company's plant at Buffalo 

 are to be Investigated liy government officials, who will also investigate 

 the alleged delays to the airship program which are said to have oc- 

 curred. It is claimed that iinniature inspectors have l)een employed, 

 much to the disadvantage of the speeding-up plans evolved liy the govern- 

 ment. It is said tliat many carloads of spruce lumber have lieen rejected 

 ■without sufficient cause at Buffalo, as well as in the state of Washington. 

 The Curtiss company and other firms are said to have sold rejected lum- 

 ber at losses of from 20 to 60 per cent. JIahogany, which is nsed for 

 imipellers, is said to have been accepted and passed and later rejected 

 without due reason. The charges are that inspections have been Im- 

 proper, that produi'tion has been distressingly small, and that co-opera- 

 tion has not existed between Curtiss plant officers and government In- 

 spectors. .Archer .\. Landon. president of the Chamber of Commerce of 

 Buffalo, who has been acting I'or the government as assistant to the 

 chairman of the aircraft board, says that an Inquiry will be gladly wel- 

 comed liy the manufacturers and that public Judgment should be withhold 

 in the meantime. 



New Form of Airplane Propeller 



Kxperlence lontlnucs to teach new things in air navigation. In Eng- 

 l.uid a new pattern for airplane propellers has been invented. It has 

 omeave transvi'rse grooves cut aiross lioth faces, the grooves ou the fore 

 face, however, leaillng out before they reach the leading eilge, and on the 

 after face leading out in a similar way before they reach the trailing 

 edge of the blade. Tile inventor claims that thesi' grooves have the- effects 

 of increasing the rearwanl thrust of the air back of the propeller and of 

 increasing the suction of the forwani face: Imt their chii'f purpose is to 

 reduce the slippages of air toward the ends of the blades, due to centri- 

 fugal force. 



Building and Abandoning Railroads 



liuring 1017 tlie railronils of flic United Sr;i(es l.uilt 062 miles of new 

 track anil ali.'indoncd 042 miles of old track. The new mileage built was 

 less than tlial Imilt In any other year since the civil war, except 1015, 

 wlien •X'.:: miles were constructixl. The high price olitainable for old scrap 

 is one of tlie nasons for scrapping so much track at this time. If It Is not 

 paying as railroad it may pay as Junk. 



