Adversity and Versatility 



''Sweet are the ub«>» of a.lMTsity,'' aiul um< of tlioiii, wliicli ilovcl- 

 0|>9 almost as n umttor of courM), is loiirniii); to ito ninny tliini^s. In 

 the plant wlicro business is dull, and wlioro various dcpartmunts nrc 

 idle from time to time, it is desirable to koop tlio best men constantly 

 employed, and tliis monns that they bo shiftod from one kind of work 

 to unotlier. Of course, from the staiulpoiiit of the employe, this is 

 the ' re is, because it increases his capabilities and 



mak' r all-around man. 



"See lliat cliup over there f" sjiid the head of a big woodworking 

 plant recently, jwinting to one of tlic ninohino hands. "He has Wen 

 handling six different jobs during the past few months, and has 

 got so that he is good at all of them. That was In-oause we had to 

 do a lot of shifting of our small force to got out the work, which 

 wa!<n 't large enough in volume to justify all dciiartmcnts being 

 manned with full crews. Now that we're getting gradually back 

 to a normal basis, it is going to be a big advantage to have a number 

 of versatile hands like the man I referred to, who can lit in anywhere 

 they are needed." 



Veneers for Packing Purposes 



Large producers of luod proiiucts. ini'liiiling canners, packers and 

 preservers, as well as manufacturers of glassware and other more or 

 less frogile material, have found that veneers make unusually good 

 packing for their goods, holding the different pieces apart, and taking 

 up enough of the shock of impact with the sides of freight cars, 

 platforms and other things to prevent breakage. Consequently veneer 

 manufacturers are accustomed to receive occasional inquiries for small 

 sizes, which could easily be cut out of scrap. 



It is a matter for surprise, however, to find that large buyers, 

 asking for quotations on the delivery of as much as a million feet 

 of this material, are able to get offers evidently based on the supposed 

 yalue of the stock as waste, and not as regularly manufactured 

 material. 



In fact, one veneer man who quoted on such an inquiry just as he 

 would have done on any other, figuring the cost of manufacture of 

 the veneers as a legitimate and essential part of the cost of the 

 dimension stock to be delivered, was told that he was 'way out of 

 line, and that most of those who had made offers were going to be 

 able to get the stuff out of their scrap. 



"If that is the case," said this veneer man, in discussing the sit- 

 uation, "the concerns referred to must have some scrap piles, and 

 I'd hate to think that I had 1,000,000 feet of veneers which were 

 worthless except for scrap. It shows that stock has been cut up at 

 random, without very much thought or provision for taking care 

 of the residue, and the chances are that the buyer who profited by 

 getting his sizes just as he wanted them was not called on to pay for 

 the unsalable stock that was left, ultimately to be soM on a scrap 

 veneer basis. ' ' 



Gifts from the Greeks? 



A certain manufacturer of composition board, uim-n, :l^ is well 

 known, has been largely advertised during the past few years for 

 use in place of all other wall coverings, has been trying to get the 

 cooperation of the lumber trade to the end that it boost his prod- 

 uct, instead of opposing its use. The manufacturer claims that since 

 wood strips have to be put over the joints of the wall-board, using 

 his product is really a boost for wood, and therefore lumbermen ought 

 to be willing to help him along. 



The amount of lumber used, as compared with the total footage of 

 wallboard, would be, of course, extremely small, and even assum- 

 ing that this would be a net gain, which it would not be except when 

 wall-board took the place of plaster, the increased use of wood 

 would not be sufficient to worry about. On the other band, using 

 composition board instead of plaster eliminates the use of lath, 

 and a good many hardwood mills work up a lot of their scrap into 

 this material. 



There is another phase of the situation, too, and that is that fiber 



board in being urged for t'lahniaU' wurk ulicre »uod ]iuneliug would 

 ordinarily be uito<l. Ita iiiakerK advertiHC that it in junt as lieautiful, 

 durable, serviceable, etc., n« wood, and much Ium expensive, and 

 some important interior jobs have recently been referred to us having 

 been handled witli this muterial, caacs whore wood evidently was 

 thrown out l>ecnusc of the appeal of the cheaper suliRtitutc. 



This Ijoing the case, there does not seem to l>e much chnnco of 

 effective "cooperatiJin" by lumlicr mnnufaclurers with composition 

 bonril. 



The Same Old Story 



The advertising manager of a large panel manufacturing company 

 decided one day to got married, lie nmdc the decision, of course, 

 with the assistance of the young lady who was to bear his name. So 

 it really should bo said that they decided. However, the important 

 tiling is tliat the decision was actually made. 



This led, later on, to the inspection of some furniture on the floors 

 of local stores, for the purpos^e of getting a line on the pieces to use 

 in the new home. The advert ising manager, naturally, was con- 

 siderable of a fan on veneered work of the right sort, and ho was 

 careful to examine all of the pieces he was shown to see whether the 

 veneering had been properly done. 



While in one store, the polite and enthusiastic young salesman 

 luillcd a cliiffonier around at an angle, made a graceful gesture 

 toward it and said, "dust look at this! Solid mahogany, too! " 



The prospective customer wasn't especially impressed with that, 

 but he walked over and pulled "ut a drawer. The front was a 

 built-up panel of the usual type. 



"I thought you said this was solid," said the inquirer, pointing 

 to the exposed edge of the maple core. 



"Why — ah — ah, is that veneered f" the salesman asked. 



"It sure is," was the reply. "Can't you see for yourself?" 



"Well," apologized the young man, now almost a nervous wreck, 

 "I thought it was solid mahogany. That's what they told me!" 



And that's why the public keeps having "solid mahogany" dinged 

 into its cars year in and year out — because manufacturers anil deal- 

 ers in furniture haven't taken the time and trouble to explain to 

 them what veneered work is, and what its good points are. Certainly 

 if goods of that sort are to be bought and offered for sale, there is 

 no good reason why they should be disposed of through misrepre- 

 sentation, which is likely to have all sorts of come-backs. 



In fact, even those furniture manufacturers whose jiosters, ' ' Solid 

 Mahogany — No Veneers, ' ' on their goods seem to hurl defiance at the 

 idea of using glue to hold their work together are sometimes found 

 to be chasing the devil around the stump, and simply facing the work 

 with mahogany cut too thick to be termed a veneer on any technical 

 basis. But that doesn 't satisfy the public — and it shouldn 't. If 

 solid veneer is dcniandod, give it to them, to the last drawer-pull. 



Mill Waste and Open Fireplaces 

 Sawmills which are located in fairly large communities can dis- 

 pose of much of their mill waste, in the event that they are not able 

 to sell all of it advantageously to the usual commercial buyers, to 

 householders whose open fireplaces are kept going with wood. Slabs 

 and waste of other kinds, provided it is cut to the right length to go 

 into the fireplace, will do, and the average person will gladly pay $:! or 

 .$4 a cord for the material. This would be delivered, of course, and 

 there is the rub with the sawmill man, who has no teams to spare for 

 such small retail operations. The next best thing is to encourage 

 some wood-peddler to work up a demand of that sort, and then to get 

 his wood at the mill. Of course, if there is not much surplus fuel, it 

 would hardly pay to devote much attention to this point, but the way 

 sawdust and wood accumulate around a busy mill shows that some- 

 body might spend some profitable time in working out a more sys- 

 tematic plan of selling the material. A few ads in the classified 

 columns of the local dailies would develop a lot of interested 

 inquiries, and a $10-a-wcek office employe could attend to the whole 

 question of sales without any trouble. 



