May 10, 191.". 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



13 



■wherein wood structure, the phTsical properties of wood, standard 

 grades and sizes, proper seasoning and preservation, paints and stains, 

 prevailing prices, cost of wood construction, specific uses and selec- 

 tion of material, etc., will be considered, would give valuable sugges- 

 tions not only to the young man starting in, but the old-timer who 

 thinks he has learned about all there is to know, but still is suffi- 

 ciently frank with himself to admit that there might possibly be one 

 or two things that he hasn't yet learned. At least, the fee is modest 

 enough to make it a reasonable investment for anybody sufficiently 

 interested. 



Another Step Ahead 



T N THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BUREAU for the exchange of 

 1 waste, the Forest Service has taken long strides in the direction of 

 the ultimate consumption of our forest resources to the final point of 

 economical possibilities. In another part of this issue details of this 

 plan are sketched in a more complete story of just what the movement 

 means. 



The question of the saving of waste is always contingent upon the 

 location of the proper market for specified dimensions and forms. 

 It is all very well for the conservationist to decry the loss in cutting 

 up valuable material of whatever kind it might be, but the average 

 business man is much too busy with his other problems to take the 

 time to locate some remote industry which might possibly use for 

 major manufacture the material that he has left over. 



If he has the time, the chances are that the thought has not been 

 presented to him in the proper light, or at least that he has not 

 realized the possibilities. 



With a central agency of this kind working in the direction in 

 which this bureau seems to be aiming, there cannot but follow a 

 vast amount of good to the wood consuming trades in almost every 

 capacity. The service has representatives in its various investigations 

 and field work constantly on the lookout for openings for just such 

 products as come from the machines of one factory and for possible 

 use in divergent lines perhaps in some district altogether remote. 



It has heretofore been extremely difficult to bring these two factors 

 together, but the arrangement of a common-sense working plan of 

 this kind will mean that a great many people will make dollars grow 

 hereafter out of what has formerly been a question of dollars with a 

 minus sign before them. 



Of course the plan is very largely dependent for success upon the 

 co-operation and consideration it gets from the producer and possible 

 consumers of specialized raw material.- If those in position to sell 

 waste and those in position to profitably buy the surplus of others, 

 do not embrace this opportunity, it simply indicates that they have 

 no proper realization of modern efficiency. We in America have ex- 

 cused ourselves too long on the plea that we cannot afford intensive 

 conservation. In the main, however, or at least in a large measure 

 this has been but an excuse to cover up lack of desire to use the 

 proper mental effort to solve the problem. With the means of doing 

 so provided, there should be an immense amount of lumber utilized 

 in refined dimensions which heretofore has been marketed as fire- 

 wood or simply dumped into the hog and taken to the burners. 



"Repented and Went" 



SOME TIME AGO Hardwood Record took occasion to criticize, 

 in a respectful way, the red tape rule in the United States navy 

 regulations which prevented colliers about to return empty from the 

 Philippines from bringing with them cargoes of hemp and other 

 perishable merchandise which was in danger of rotting on the Manila 

 wharfs for want of vessels to carry them to market. It was pointed 

 out that a regulation like that, in a time of emergency like the 

 present, should be disregarded in the interest of public welfare; 

 particularly so, since the observation of such a regulation could not 

 possibly result in good for anybody. 



It is with feelings of satisfaction, and with a desire to commend, 

 that the announcement can now be made that Hahdwood Record's 

 well-meant advice is being followed. The nat'y collier Proteus, with 

 3,000 bales of hemp, has since sailed from Manila for Boston, 

 according to information contained in a recent consular report. 



The Value of Maps 



•-pHE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY distributes 

 *■ 1,500 maps daily. They reach every part of the country and all 

 classes of people, and are so extensively used that their value for 

 business and educational purposes can scarcely be overestimated. They 

 have come to be a common text in many schools, particularly in the 

 teaching of local geography; because in many instances they enter 

 into minor details concerning features of landscapes that lie in the 

 immediate vicinity, so that pupils can walk- out of the school houses 

 upon the very ground delineated upon the maps and can study the 

 means used by map makers to show natural and artificial features of 

 land and water. This suffices to introduce the pupil in a natural way 

 to the study of geography as a science. 



The business man finds the study of such maps no less profitable. 

 They are usually drawn upon a scale of one, two, three or four miles 

 to the inch, and are printed in three or four colors and show in 

 minute detail not only the topography of the areas mapped, but also 

 the raUways, highways, paths, towns, and in many instances even 

 the farm houses. Contour lines show the elevation above the sea of 

 every point on the map. By this means the height of every hill, and 

 the depth of every valley or other depression, is easily calculated. 



The value of such maps to lumbermen is great, particularly in 

 preliminary examination of tracts of land. Of course, if a man 

 decides to lumber a large tract he will want to make special surveys 

 to meet his own particular needs; but in preliminary work the maps 

 supplied by the United States Geological Survey are of the greatest 

 value. For instance, if a man is in the market for timberland and is 

 offered a dozen boundaries lying, perhaps, in as many states, and has 

 not yet personally examined any of them, a study of the detail maps 

 covering the different tracts will give so much information regarding 

 the lay of the land that he may be able to dismiss half of the propo- 

 sitions without going to look the land over. He can determine from 

 the maps that the topography is not suited to his method of logging. 

 Time and expense are saved by eliminating at the start what he is 

 certain will not suit him. 



Less than half of the area of the United States has thus far been 

 covered by these detail maps, or 1,200,000 square miles. It is the 

 purpose to cover the whole country, ultimately. Thus far, most atten- 

 tion has been given to regions where development is in progress in 

 preference to areas without known mineral or timber resources, and 

 to regions where farming and manufacturing are of great value. 

 The maps are all quadrilateral in form, their boundaries being 

 parallels of latitude, in degrees and minutes, and corresponding lines 

 of longitude. The finished maps thus fit perfectly, edge to edge, and 

 by pasting the various sections on a large sheet, a map of an exten- 

 sive region is completed. It is said that these maps are being put 

 to practical use by more than one hundred professions, trades, and 

 callings. 



The Geological Survey has been continuously engaged in making 

 these maps since 1879. Actual surveys and measurements are made 

 of every stream, road, hai, path, mountain, and other natural and 

 artificial features of the landscape. Every acre of ground is 

 examined and measured before it is mapped. 



Chicago's Hopes Realized 



C'OR TEARS THE WORKERS in the Chicago lumber trade have 

 A been bending their efforts toward what has finally been accom- 

 plished, the construction of a building devoted mainly to the housing 

 of lumber interests both through the individual offices and as repre- 

 sented by the quarters of the local association. 



With the informal opening of the Lumber Exchange building, a 

 beautiful new structure on the southeast corner of Madison and 

 La Salle streets, the plans of those who have been hoping and labor- 

 ing toward this end have been completely realized in a manner that 

 is possibly beyond their original expectation. 



Just what this centralized plan means for Chicago is hard to con- 

 ceive at present, but it goes without saying it will do a great deal 

 toward bringing the different elements in the Chicago trade more closely 

 together, and also will mean for Chicago a greater prestige in outside 

 territories. Those who are responsible for this splendid accomplish- 

 ment are indeed to be warmly congratulated. (See pages 24-25.) 



