42 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 10, 1918 



Foreign View of American Shipbuilding 

 The London Timber Trades Journal gives its own upiiilon anil quotes 

 from the opinions of others on the subject of shipbuilding in the Dulteil 

 States. It says : 



Probably In order that too great hopes may not be raised, our ministers 

 have lately been rather niaklnjy; our ilosh creep by references to the dlf- 

 Ilculty which America is having In keeping abreast of her estimates In 

 the way of shipbuilding. The accounts in the .\nierlcan trade papers 

 certainly do not j,'ivc this lnii>ression, but rather afford hopes of even 

 greater results than those whU-h have been promised. On this question, 

 we publish, in our North of Europe Notes, translated extracts from an 

 article In a Swedish paper giving the views of a Norwegian shipowner 

 on the probabilities at tonnage supplies after the war. l<'rom this it will 

 be seen that the smaller neutral countries view with concern the prospects 

 opcnetl up by the enormous efforts which are being made by .American 

 shipbuilders. The idea which the Norwegian shipowner puts forth of an 

 excess of tonnage after the war is quite a novelty, but, so far fi i feel- 

 ing alarnted at the prospect, which is purely a shipowner's point of view, 

 it is clear that the world's trade and a quick return to something like 

 normal conditions depend more than anything else on a sufficiency of 

 tonnage during the critical period of the early days of peace. America 

 need not have any fear of overdoing the shipbuilding Industry, as there 

 will certainly be a demand for every boat that can be built for many 

 years to come. 



The Work of Fimgus' 



Nearly every sawmill man knows that bluod and sapstalncd lumber is the 

 work of fungus that grows on the surface and among the fibers of the wood 

 and changes its color. The thing that puzzles many people is, how does the 

 fungus get there in such quantities and so quickly? A gangway of freshly 

 cut lumber will be stained in a day or two of damp weather. 



The work is done by the spores or seeds of fungus that float through 

 the air and light on the surface of the damp wood, where they quickly 

 sprout and send their roots into the wood. They are small plants and 

 the sprouting spore goes through the operation about as a bean does. In 

 warm weather in wooded regions the air is full of them, though, because 

 of their small size, tbey escape notice. Their numbers are almost beyond 

 the power of the Imagination. A single shelf fungus or punk, the kind that 

 grows on old logs, stumps and trees, will throw off spores at the rate of 

 9,000,000 an hour and keep it up for a long period. Thus a single punk 

 the size of a man's hand will scatter enough spores in a season to supply 

 fifty to every acre of ground in the United States, if they were equally 

 distributed. A hundred such punks may occur on a square rod of forest, 

 or even on a single tree. Besides that, there are hundreds of other kinds 

 of fungi, all scattering spores at the same rate. There are 8,000 species of 

 fungus known in the United States. That is more than a dozen kinds for 

 every kind of forest tree. 



The spores scattered abroad are too small to be seen Individually, but 

 they are present. It is safe to say that if all the people in the world were 

 brought together, the number would be much short of the number of spores 

 which fall in one day on a single square rod of many a lumber yard. 



It is no wonder that the lumber sap stains and blues. The only wonder 

 Is that a square inch of it ever escapes. Fortunately, conditions must be 

 exactly right or the spores will not germinate. They will not grow it they 

 fall on stone, clay or any substance whictf does not contain their kind of 

 food. In addition to that, the condition of dampness must be just right. 

 In warm, dry weather the spores cannot germinate and they quickly die. 

 They do their worst in warm, damp weather. 



The Bootjack Comes Back 

 The war has brought the bootjack back. The army oflScer must have 

 the assistance of this bifurcated machine in removing his footgear, and 

 the leading hotels are hastily laying in a supply. It is found that the 

 Industry of manufacturing bootjacks had to be built from the ground up, 

 because the long bootless period that has just come to a close had put all 

 the jack makers out of business. For years there had been no sale of 

 bootjacks except in Texas where the boot continued to hold its footing in 

 spite of changes in customs elsewhere. Two or three of the large New 

 York hotels always kept jacks for the benefit of booted travelers from 

 Texas during their New York visits. But all is changed now, and the 

 bootjack, like the .Adirondack beaver, "has come back to its old stamping 

 ground." 



Announcement 

 To the Factory Trade 



We have added a 

 Hardwood Lumber Department 



and solicit inquiries for all kinds, grades 



and thicknesses of Hardwood Lumber. 



KILN-DRIED or AIR-DRIED 



ROUGH or DRESSED 



Memphis Hardwood Flooring Co. 



MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 



Non-SpUntering Timber 

 Willow Is used for cricket bats and cottonwood for bottoms of barrow* 

 for wheellnK brick and stone because these woods are not liable to split 

 and splinter when tbey receive sharp blows. Neither do tbey dent deeply. 

 Tupelo Is In favor for warehouse floors where the fall of heavy articles 

 with sharp corners Is to be expected. The wood Is not easily scarred 

 because indentations quickly close on account of the tupelo's tough and 

 fibrous character. It was formerly the custom to line wooden battleships 

 with heavy mahogany planks, because cannon balls would pass through 

 that wood without tearing off large splinters to fly across the decks. Id 

 the days of whale hunting with hand harpoons, the whale boat with red 

 cedar planking was preferred, though a very soft wood. A blow from a 

 whale's tall, during a fight, simply broke a hole in the side which could 

 be temporarily stopped with a mat or a coat; but most woods under sncb 

 treatment would be splintered beyond repair. Llguum-vitae bowling balls 

 are nearly as hard to split as balls of solid rubber. The black gum 

 mauls with which the pioneers split millions of fence rails were not very 

 hard, but It was next to impossible to burst one of them by pounding 

 the heads of Iron wedges. 



Telegraph Company's Liability 



Where loss was entailfd upon |»l:iintUT lumber coinp.nny by negligence 

 nf defendant telegraph company in making a telegraphic quotation on 

 lumber read .$20 per thousand, instead of $22, the defendant's liability 

 for the loss was not avoided by a condition on the telegraph blank pur- 

 porting' to limit the defendant's lialulity to the toll paid for sending the 

 message, such iJrovislon being invalid as an attempt on the telegraph 

 company's part to avoid its responsibility for its own negligence. (Mis- 

 sissippi supreme court, Warren-Goodwin Lumber Co. vs. Postal Telegraph- 

 Cable Co.. 77 Southern Reporter, 601.) 



Editor's Note. — As to interstate messages this decision cannot safely 

 be followed, for recent decisions of the federal courts have established 

 the rule that in the case of unrepeated messages telegraph companies 

 may validly restrict their liability to the amount of tolls paid for its 

 transmission. 



Philippine Vermilion 

 The vermilion or padouk of commerce has hitherto come from Anadam 

 islands and the neighboring coast of India; but it is said there is a 

 supply in the Philippine islands which has been used only locally. There 

 are three species which botanists distinguish, but wood-users can see no 

 difference. This does not imply that the woods are all of one color. The 

 tact is, they vary in a remarkable degree. The differences are due to 

 soil and situation. Wood growing in one place may be of quite different 

 appearance from the same species growing elsewhere. Colors range from 

 very pale yellow through all shades of salmon and red to deep red. 

 The wood shrinks but little and warps scarcely any. It is easy to 

 work, has a pleasant odor, possesses a beautiful grain, and In its native 

 home the lumber is insect-proof. It is in much demand locally. One- 

 piece round tables are oftener of this wood than of any other. The 

 trees are widely dispersed over the islands and are abundant. The 

 natives call it narra. 



\;)8i;;i>aiMyaiiKiiTOtromM)iW^^ 



< MISCELLANEOUS > 



The capital stock of the following Indiana concerns has been increased : 

 That of the Klamer Goebel Furniture Company, Evansville, to $150,000, 

 and that of the Banta Furniture Company, Goshen, to $100,000. 



The Jeffris Lumber Company, Jeffris, La., has filed an involuntary peti- 

 tion in bankruptcy. 



The Aprin Hardwood Lumber Company, Atlanta, Wis., is reported to 

 have sustained a loss by fire. 



The Virginia Car Furniture & Lumber Manufacturing Company, Roanoke 

 Rapids, N. C, has been incorporated. 



The death is announced of Thomas R. Winfield, president of the Cole 

 Manufacturing Company, Memphis, Tenn. 



The capital stock of the Giilct Manufacturing Company, Clio, Mich., has 

 been increased to $100,000. 



An application for dissolution of corporation has been filed by the 

 Stark-Lambert Lumber Company, Beaumont, Tex., and the company will 

 liquidate. 



The A. B. Anderson Lumber Company, Asheville, N. C, recently began 

 business, as has the Scott Barker Lumber Company, Charlotte, N. C. 



The Waterman Lumber Company, Blocker, Tex., recently had a fire. 



At Galveston, Tex., the Galveston Dry Dock & Construction Company 

 has incorporated with $500,000 capital. 



The New London Milling Company, with a capitalization of $100,000, 

 is doing business at New London, N. C. 



The Utley-Holloway Saw Mill Company has incorporated at Clayton, La. 



The capitalization of the Arkansas Oak Flooring Company, Pine Bluff, 

 Ark., has been increased from $50,000 to $75,000, and that of the Con- 

 tinental Car Company, Louisville, Ky., to $200,000 from half that amount. 



The Gulf Coast Hardwood Milling Company recently began business at 

 Houston, Tex., with mill at Sweeney. 



