14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Nornnlxv ZS, lOIS 



Scc'Kiii^ a Munition 



IT WOULD HK I'UKTTY IIAUD Tn SAY SOMKTHINO about 

 drvint; lumWr wliicli had not been wiiil iiinuj- tinicn In-forc, yet 

 Ibo la.it word on lumU'r drring has not yet boon npokcn. Tho kiln 

 problem ia modern. Kxperienco does not ^o far into tho imHt. In 

 old times when relatively littlo lumber wnii used and that little was 

 permitted to lie two or three ycnrs and slowly dry in Uio open air, no 

 seaxonini; problem vexed Uio car|>enter, cabinet maker, and builder. 

 All that a man had to do was to wait, and Mun and wind cured liiH 

 lumU'r. It took a lonf; time to do it, but nobody knew any other 

 way and nobody cxjiected anything; else. 



Moilem business moves so fast that a man cannot wait for nir- 

 seasoned lumber. If he attempts to do so, ho is loft so far behind 

 that ho can never catch up. The road from tho tree in Uie woods 

 to the plank in the floor or tho rail in the stairway iB very short 

 these days. That road passes through a sawmill and a drykiln, and 



at the end of two or three weeks, 



if the ca.so is urgent, the lumber 

 is put to ita final uw. 



When the Civil War came on, 

 a convention of ^^insmiths was 

 held in South Carolina. The dif- 

 ficulties facing their business was 

 discuiised, and the conclusion was 

 reached and announced that no 

 wood was suitable for punstocks 

 until it had been airdried for 

 twenty years. That was, of 

 course, an extreme opinion, but it 

 shows what was believed at that 

 time. It used to be a common 

 saying among hatters that wood 

 for hat blocks — forms over which 

 to stretch hats during the process 

 of making — must season during 

 six years before it was fit for 

 use, and the last year ' ' must be 

 spent in a stove room." The 

 cross-roads wagon shop stored its 

 oak and hickory under sheds to 

 season and kept it there so long 

 that frequently the son worked 

 up the billets which his father 

 had stored — provided the powder- 

 post beetles had not already 

 ' ' worked them up. ' ' 



The dry kiln has reduced years 

 to days; but the days are often 

 full of trouble for the kilnman. 

 He has checking, warping, case- 

 hardening, and hoUowhorning to 

 contend with. Haste is what does 

 it. The processes by which water 

 is forced out of a board in a few 

 days, which in the old natural 

 open-air way required a couple of 

 years to make its exit, are severe on the lumber. As time shortens, 

 strain increases. The makers of drykilns are trying to lessen the 

 severity of the strain while shortening the time to the last limit. 

 That is one of the hardest problems in tho whole domain of physics, 

 and many an inventor loses nights of sleep while trying to figure out 

 that vexatious problem. The idea of what is wanted is very clear. 

 No mystery stands in the way of perception. But the thing to be 

 done is a bard thing to do. 



Is the solution any nearer f Unquestionably it is. Every passing 

 year sees a nearer approach. The way to dry lumber perfectly in a 

 short time will be found out, but the thing has not quite been done 

 yet, though progress in that direction is constant. The makers of 

 kilns are on the right road and will finally win. 



When nature puts water into wood, the water is corked fast within 



THE COVER PICTURE 



tlic compliratod |iorca, tubes, cells, kod cavities, and drnstie jirocossM 

 arc rc<|uircd to take it out quickly. Tho water does not lot gu und«r 

 any sort of mild moral suasion ; and when force is used to hurry up 

 tho work, tho water comes out mudi as dynamite comes out of • 

 drilled hole in n stone quarry- tearing tliin^m ns it coinen. That Is 

 what docii till' rlicrking, warping, and hoUowhorning. The kilnnian's 

 liaril job in to hinder that, and ronx the water to come out without 

 blowing up tho fibers and slitting tho cells. It is a man's job, and 

 tho tinkerer who tackles it is wasting his time. 



Export Record Broken 



IF KXrOUTS CO.NSTITUTK A HAH<i.MKTKU to measure jiros- 

 perity, this country attained an important eminence in September. 

 All records of exports of merchandise were broken for that month 

 in other years. Tho total was nearly twice that of the corresponding 

 month in 1914 ; but tho comparison is hnnlly fair, )>ecaus^ in Beptem- 



lK!r of ln^t year the war was in 

 its second month ami commerce 

 was in a panic. Olil channels 

 were closed and new ones liad not 

 yet been opened. After a full 

 year of war, many trade chan- 

 nels remain closed, but that dis- 

 advantage is more than offset by 

 tho oficning of new markets for 

 our proilucts. 



A largo part of tho September 

 exports for this year consisted of 

 commodities which would not be 

 salable in such amounts if there 

 were no war, yet it is a mistake 

 to conclude that the principal por- 

 tion of the three hundred million 

 dollars' exports for tho month 

 consisted of war material. A list 

 of some of tho important items 

 will show the correctness of this 

 statement. Wool going abroad 

 was worth $2,500,000 ; bread- 

 stuffs, $39,600,000; domestic ani- 

 mals, $10,200,000; automobiles, 

 $12,800,000; cotton, $37,100,000; 

 fruits and nuts, $3,800,000 ; meat, 

 $18,500,000; paper, $2,100,000; 

 tobacco, $6,700,000; lumber, $5,- 

 300,000. Many other large items 

 were intended primarily for the 

 civilian population, though doubt- 

 less the armies in the field re- 

 ceived some of the benefit. 



AVar materials added several 

 considerable items. For instance, 

 during September the value of 

 explosives crossing the sea was 

 $18,400,000, and copper $9,600.- 

 000. A pretty high percentage of 

 automobile shipments goes to the front. 



It is a mistaken idea that this country's prosperity depends upon 

 export business. It helps, of course, and such business is highly de- 

 sirable; but homo business is the backbone of prosperity. Just now 

 the lumbermen need more trade at home rather than abroad, and 

 other industries are in the same situation. The ideal conilition con- 

 sists in plenty of business both at home and abroad, and indications 

 now point that way. 



Quarantining Against Decay 



PREDICTIONS HAVE BEEN VENTURED that before many 

 years the sanitary condition of lumber will be made the subject 

 of oflicial inquiry in much the same way that food products and trees 

 and vines from nurseries now are. That day may not come soon, but 



(Thanksgiving in the North Woods) 



Steam jets from coffee caldrons pour; 



The roast is browned; the dip is stirred; 

 It is the hour when from the door 



The dinnerhorn's high note is heard. 



The heavy intonations roll 



Their deep-mouthed welcome through the spruce, 

 Inviting many a hungry soul 



To hasten to the noontime truce. 



Near by and loud, and far and low. 



Like echoes, one by one come back 

 Across the wilderness of snow 



The answers of the lumberjack. 



The clarion call is understood 



On track and trail and forest way; 

 It sounds through glen and glade and wood 



An anthem of Thanksgiving Day. 



The sky is blue; the atmosphere 



With crystalled frost is whetted keen, 



And breezes whisper low and clear 

 Among the hemlocks dark and green. 



Who recks of cold? Is not the board 



Spread for the forest jubilee 

 To greet the onward-rushing horde 



That comes like billows o'er the sea? 



Even though the mess-shack's paneless walls 



Let in the merest struggling ray. 

 It matters not; no palace halls 



Are brighter on Thanksgiving Day. 



Goodwill and other goodly things 



In rich profusion there abound. 

 While tote-road princes, canthook kings. 



Pass steaming trenchers round and round. 



