i8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



precedent it may be stated that there was a 

 time when people were not all agreed on the 

 question of how such stock as yellow pine 

 flooring should be manufactured, but after 

 they got together and made a standard size 

 they found it was bitter for everybody. 



The great advantage in having standard 

 sizes for wagon wood stock is that the manu- 

 facturer can go ahead and cut stock without 

 having orders in hand. He can accumulate 

 stock as conditions and timber favor this 

 class of work, and when he has enough to 

 make a shipment, he knows he has something 

 that if it will not sell one place it will at 

 another at some time or other. On the other 

 hand, as it stands to-day, when a manufac- 

 turer accumulates stock of a specific size, and 

 there is only one factory using that size, 

 his opportunity for marketing the stock is 

 confined to the one institution, whereas he 

 would have a very wide field to work in if 

 sizes were universal. Wagon manufacturers 

 themselves cannot advance any logical ob- 

 jection to standard specifications, not even 

 from the seitish standpoint id' holding the 



sawmill man down and making him ship tu 

 them whether he wants to ..r not, because of 

 the special size that has been int. Suppose, 

 fur example, that stock was extremely scarce 

 and a wagon manufacturer wanted some spe- 

 cial sizes in a rush. He could not go out on 

 the market and buy them, because they would 

 have to lie cut to order, while if there were 



standard sizes ami specifications, and he could 

 not get enough to supply his needs through 

 regular channels, he could go out into the 

 country anywhere and wherever he found 

 stock it would be of a standard size and 

 available for his use. In short, wagon manu- 

 facturers would find in the end that it would 

 be an advantage to them as well as to the 

 manufacturers of wagon wood stoek t.. have, 

 as far as possible, standard sizes and specifi- 

 cations for practically all stoek that goes into 

 the make-up of standard wagons. Inasmuch 

 as wagon manufacturers themselves are work- 

 ing along the line of standardizing wagons, 

 the adoption of uniform sizes and specifica- 

 tions for wagon wood stock ought to lie \el\ 

 easily accomplished. It is a work that would 

 pay well for the getting together and main 

 taining an association for manufacturers of 

 this class of material. 



The standardizing of sizes and specifics 

 tions for wagon wood stock is only one 

 branch of the work; there arc others just as 

 important. The furniture dimension stock 

 business offers the same opportunities for 

 standardizing sizes and specifications, and 

 there is in some respects really more room for 

 good work along this line because of tin 



"tenter variety of stork used. In addition to 



the above named advantages accruing from 

 having standard sizes, the specifications wul 

 serve to facilitate adjustment of differences 

 that may arise in regard to the grading of 

 stock. As it is to-day, if a car of special 

 dimension stock is sold and trouble arises in 

 regard to its quality and litness for the work 



in hand, there is nothing to go on but the 

 opinions of the parties concerned. When 

 they differ there is no place to turn for a 

 basis of adjustment, no recognized rules and 

 specifications, and as a result cases arise fre- 

 quently in which the shipper of stock is, or 

 at least imagines he is, abused by the pur- 

 chaser, and the worst of it is he is not in a 

 position to help himself. In fact, so im- 

 portant is this matter of having grades and 

 specifications uniform as far as practicable on 

 dimension stock, that if an association never 

 .lid anything but establish these grades and 

 have them recognized by users of the ma- 

 terial, this of itself would make the forming 

 of the association worth while, and would in 

 short be :t great work. Moreover, work along 

 the line of establishing uniform grades and 

 specifications is the first essential step toward 

 establishing tan and uniform values for ma- 

 terial. A system 01 series of prices on any 

 • lass of stock can never be adjusted until the 

 stock is classified and specified so that the 

 same thing is being given the same valui and 



tile same value is being realized for the same 



material, i alter win-re the buyer or pur- 

 chaser may be located or where the material 

 comes from. In short, the making of grades 

 and specifications is the first step toward 

 making prices, and without them it is prac- 

 tically impossible to make definite pi I. I s, 

 and without definite prices there are no prices 

 tit all. , 



The problem ot waste is a very important 

 one in the manufacture of small dimensions 

 and shaped work, and incidentally it has 

 some connection with grades and specifics 

 lions, inasmuch as by having -| ilications 



and being able to work and accumulate 

 various kinds of stoek one can make a much 

 closer clean-up than when having to cut 

 everything to specific orders. What the trade 

 needs to get at, and it can only be done by 

 the various manufacturers meeting and ex- 

 changing notes and experiences, is the ques- 

 tion of what is the minimum waste in making 

 small stock of various kinds and how to tit- 

 tain it. Some manufacturers who have 

 bought lumber, flitches and short logs and 

 worked them up into small dimension stock 

 have found, on tallying up, that about 

 twenty-five per cent of their stock disap- 

 peared in the manufacture, even though they 

 cut several different kinds of small dimen- 

 sion so as to make a reasonably close clean 

 up. In some instances the waste percentage 

 is higher than this, especially in the making 

 of such shaped stock as felloes, chair rockers 

 and other band-sawed stock of this class. 



To determine the amount of stock that is 

 being wasted in the manufacture of small 

 dimension and shaped work, and to figure ou 

 combinations of various kinds of stock that 

 will make the closest clean-up of the material 

 being winked, are two important phases of 

 this subject. It is very likely, too, that when the 

 trade gets together and discusses thoroughly 



this waste subject it will be found that while 

 some small dimension stock is being made out 

 of what we term waste material, in reality 

 there is more material wasted in cutting thi- 

 class of stock than almost any other kind of 

 hardwood lumber, and when the matter is 

 Considered in this light it will give a much 

 clearer idea of what ought to be realized in 

 the way of prices for material of this kind. 



A Lumberman's Letters to His Son. 



i no \,,,i. Oct. i\ 1905. 



My Deal S In order to get yon in the 



char I want to say a few things to you about 

 the philosophy of salesmanship. 



(let your linger on the right button. This 

 making friends of customers is a mighty good 

 thing, but don't get too friendly. It is pos- 

 sible t" get SO close to a man that you can't 

 do business with him. You can get so friend 

 ly with a fellow that he presumes on your 

 friendship to an extent that there is no 



i lev iii him. It is all right to gain a 



patron's regard, in- respect, and his confi- 



. but don't yt chummy. Business is 



like coal oil — it won't mix with anything but 



busi ness. 



Things are picking up out here. Local 

 trade is improving every day. and we are 

 going to ha\i a good fall and winter busi- 

 ness. You follow my steer and keep away 

 from .New York Citj for the present. Lum- 

 bi mien with and without excuse thick there 

 in swarms like flies to an empty New Orleans 

 molasses barrel. When they get the other 

 -lie of th. North river they get bug-house 

 and lose whatever sense they ever had about 

 lumber values. In spite of all the glowing 

 reports wc have had about New York busi- 



ness during the hist mix months, the truth 

 is that it has been unusually dull in the hard- 

 wood line. Oak and maple flooring have 

 been the only strong sellers in the market. 

 These tire fails, .lust you copper any state 

 incut anyone makes about the easy marks you 

 can find strolling along Broadway. 



Gel busy. 



It you don't succeed in cinching a mole 

 intelligent grasp on selling lumber very soon. 

 I am going to call you in and have your 

 mother pin a rose on your coat and let you 

 continue your music lessons. 



Your affectionate FATHER. 



P. S.— Some wise man has said that when 

 a pup has been born to point partridges, 

 there is no use trying to run a fox with 

 him. 



A New Kramer Operation. 

 As recounted in this paper some time ago, the 

 veteran hardwood manufacturing house, the C, \ 

 W. Kramer Company of Richmond, Ind., lias pur- 

 • based 5,500 acres of timber near Princedalc. 

 Ark., thirty-five miles west of Memphis. The 

 mill on this timber property has since been com- 

 pletely rebuilt, and has recently been started in 

 active operation. The Kramer timber holdings in 

 this section are rich in oak, hut contain some 

 gum and other hardwoods. II. M- Kramer will 

 have immediate charge of Hie Prlncedale opera 

 i ion. 



