July lu, l!)l.j. 



Veneer in Trunk Making 



It is difficult for one «ho has not been in close touch with the 

 industry to get a fair conception of the extent to which veneer is 

 used in trunk making and the Tarious applications which are made 

 of it. This use of veneer has probably developed more in the past 

 twenty years than it has in many other lines where it is more gener- 

 ally known to be employed and to be making progress. 



Among the displays of trunks today one may find not only the 

 entire body made of built-up veneer but many fittings for the interior, 

 including not only trays, partitions and compartments, but also three 

 and five ply hangers as a part of the equipment of the wardrobe type 

 of trunk. Some of these trunks show the use of more veneer on the 

 interior and in the fittings than is involved in the making of the 

 entire body, and it is the interior uses that constitute one of the 

 interesting features in the use of veneer in the trunk business and 

 perhaps open a market for wood that heretofore people have sought 

 to place elsewhere. 



About twenty years ago there was what seemed at that time a 

 pretty lively interest in the use of veneer for the making of trunk 

 tops. Just when the use of veneer for this purpose began is not 

 known, nor is it very material to the present purpose. About that 

 time, however, the matter was receiving attention from the makers 

 of built-up veneered work. The work at that time consisted quite 

 largely in making nothing but the tops, practically all of which were 

 three-ply. Soon there was a little pushing of rotary cut stock for 

 trunk strips. These had a pretty hard time in competition with the 

 sawed trunk strips, but they kept making some progress. 



As wide stock in lumber became scarce and high in price, and as the 

 makers of trunks kept casting about for the greatest strength with 

 the smallest weight, interest was shown in the idea of using built-up 

 lumber for the trunk bodies, for the sides, ends and bottoms as well 

 as the tops. The entering of built-up lumber into this work enlarged 

 the field for the use of veneer, for to make the entire body of the 

 trunk of built-up stock called for more than four times as much veneer 

 work as was involved in making the top alone. This work gradually 

 enlarged until, perhaps ten years ago, the majority of trunk bodies 

 were being made from built-up stock as well as the tops. Some solid 

 lumber was still used, and perhaps there is a little yet, but the point 

 has been reached where trunk making, so far as the woodwork is con- 

 cerned, is practically a veneer and built-up lumber proposition. It 

 makes a business of much more magnitude than most men have any 

 conception of. Today trunks are made that are very elaborate in their 

 interior equipment. There are complete wardrobes, and most of the 

 trays, compartments, etc., are made of veneer or built-up lumber, 

 three and five ply, because in this way the manufacturers can secure 

 the maximum of strength with the minimum of bulk and weight. 



To get an idea of the various uses of built-up work in connection 

 with trunk making one should go into a store where a full line of 

 these elaborate trunks is kept, and ask to see the offerings. You will 

 be surprised both at the quantity of veneer used and at the various 

 forms in which it enters other than the readily discernible and well 

 understood forms of its use in the body and top of the trunk itself. 



Incidentally this use of built-up stock for clothes hangers in 

 wardrobe trunks should suggest a line of development in the use of 

 veneer for coat and skirt hangers for the closets and wardrobes in 

 the home. There is a big field here which, if properly cultivated and 

 thoroughly developed, should consume 'an enormous quantity of plain 

 built-up veneer stock. 



Southern Traffic Association Action 



The Southern Hardwood Traffic Association, according to J. H. 

 Townshend, secretary and general manager, is considerably disap- 

 pointed over the tentative agreement reached by the carriers at their 

 meeting in Chicago June 6 in regard to the reclassification of lumber 

 and lumber products. Mr. Townshend said that this agreement would 

 be submitted to the various organizations of the carriers and that 

 there was a possibility that the latter would modify it to some 



extent. He says that if this was not done a conference will be 

 asked with the raUroad organizations operating in the South, at which 

 the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association, as well as other lumber 

 organizations, will be present. It is hoped by this means to secure 

 more favorable rates for lumber jjroducts than have been tentatively 

 agreed upon by the railroads. He points out that, if the matter 

 cannot be settled through the conference method, it may be carried 

 before the Interstate Commerce Commission. Mr. Townshend said 

 that this subject had been very carefully studied for the past eighteen 

 months and that the association was in position to file a vast amount 

 of data and evidence in support of its contention for a more favor- 

 able classification than that suggested by the railroads. However, the 

 matter will not be carried before the commission except as a last 

 resort. 



The reclassification referred to may be summarized as follows: 

 Rough lumber, rough staves and other rough articles that have been 



through no process take the present lumber rate. 



Box shooks, flooring, dressed lumber and slack cooperage take a rate 



5 per cent abo\-e the lumber rate. 



Lumber onelsixteenth to one-eighth inch thick, tight barrel coop- 

 erage and other manufactured articles take a rate of 20 per cent above 

 the lumber rate. 



Woods of value, including mahogany, cherry and walnut, as well as 

 veneers, are withdrawn altogether from the lumber classification. 



It is pointed out by Mr. Townshend that this reclassification of 

 dressed stock and manufactured articles carries a proposed advance 

 averaging approximately 10 per cent, which is regarded as very 

 extreme under present conditions. This is the basis on which the 

 reclassification list will be protested by the Southern Hardwood Traffic 

 Association. 



The Southern Railway in Mii=sissippi has announced an advance in 

 log rates on intra-state shipments of about twenty per cent. As this 

 subject is outside the jurisdiction of the Inetrstate Commerce Com- 

 mission, the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association took it up before 

 the Mississippi Railroad Commission. J. H. Townshend. secretary and 

 general manager, appeared before that body July 7 in behalf of 

 members of this organization, of whom there are quite a number. 

 Among the Mississippi lumbermen who appeared at the same time were 

 B. F. Dulwebber, Moorehead, Miss., and H. H. Alexander, Belzoni, 

 Miss. 



The Southern Hardwood Trafiic Association has filed a petition 

 with the Interstate Commerce Commission protesting against a pro- 

 posed advance of one to two cents per hundred on shipments of 

 lumber and lumber products from original points in Arkansas to 

 destinations in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and 

 Wisconsin. Suspension of these higher rates is asked until the ques- 

 tion can be argued on its merits before the commission. 



Pine Not Affected by Bleeding 



Unable to prove its contention that the durability of pine is 

 affected by the removal of the turpentine the War Department has 

 decided not to specify unbled timber in its future contracts. The 

 question was brought to issue by the Great Southern Lumber Com- 

 pany of Bogalusa, La. The Forest Service advised the chief of the 

 engineer corps that its experiments had proven that the bleeding 

 of pine does not affect its durability, strength or hardness. 



This matter has been in controversy for a hundred years, and the 

 prejudice against timber that had been operated by turpentine col- 

 lectors many times has caused its rejection. It was one of those 

 cases where blind prejudice long held sway before it occurred to any- 

 one to submit the matter to scientific tests. It was much like the 

 prejudice which once existed, and to some extent still exists, against 

 the red heartwood of hickory. 



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