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The auuual meeting of the National Association of Chair Manu- 

 facturers came to a close November 13, at noon, following beneficial 

 discussions and the transaction of business of importance. 



The following officers will serve during tlie a|iiiroachiug year: 



President, A. W. Iligbfield, Sunoriur Wis. 



Vicf.-Pkksident, Asbton i'. Dorhy, (Jiinlner, Mass. 



Treasui;ki{, Nels .Tohnson, Chitairo, lil. 



Secretarv, J. L. MaUby, Chua^'o, 111. 



Executive Committee: Calvin U. Hill, CliiciiHo, III.: K. A. Zundell. 

 Sheboygan, Wis. ; J. H. Conrades, Jr., St. Louis, Mo. ; K. 1". Burkhardt, 

 Dayton, O. : M. J. IMurpby, Detroit, Mich. ; C. K. Finch, TliomasvilU', 

 N. C. ; M. H. Gunlocke, Wayland, N. J. : F. M. Fonton, liiiffalo, N. Y. : 

 M. ,7. Greenwood, Gardner, Jlass., as well as all officers. 



The opening session was given over to the hearing of addresses 

 of welcome and responses. The first session was called to order by 

 President Highfield and George S. Powell was the first speaker. He 

 welcomed the visitors to this city on behalf of the city of Asheville, 

 the local Board of Trade and the Appalachian Park Association. He 

 said that in selecting Asheville as the place of holding their meeting, the 

 chair makers eliminated aU spirit of commercialism, remarking that tbe 

 visitors to and residents of the ' ' Land of the Sky ' ' are so busy 

 drinking pure mountain water, seeing sights of grandeur and explor- 

 ing excellent .systems of highways that they have hut little time to 

 nse chairs. 



On behalf of the Western North Carolina Lumber and Timber As- 

 sociation President W. O. Eiddick welcomed the visiting manufac- 

 turers to this city. He referred to the fact that Asheville is in the 

 midst of a great hardwood district and invited the visitors to visit 

 the various lumber plants of the western counties of North Carolina 

 before returning to their homes throughout tlie country. 



Mr. Conrades responded to the addresses of welcome, stating that 

 the members of the organization are delighted with the city of the 

 clouds and have been impressed with the spirit of hospitality in 

 evidence on every hand. He remarked, however, that the chair makers 

 would not be able to spend a great deal of time in the pursuit of 

 pleasure, saying that the meeting was purely a business session at 

 which the manufacturers would discuss matters of vital interest to 

 tlieir commercial welfare. 



One of the interesting features of the meeting was the decision of 

 tlie organization to use its influence to secure country-wide endorse- 

 ment of the movement to hold but one exposition a year, this deci- 

 sion being reached following an interesting address delivered by 'Mir. 

 Derby, who urged such action. In presenting the matter, he declared 

 that the holding of various shows in many different sections of the 

 country works a hardship on the manufacturers and the jobbers, the 

 cost of making the exhibits at all seasons and in different sections 

 being a heavy expense on the former while the expense and loss of 

 time necessary to attendance upon many expositions each year keeps 

 the attendance small among the latter. Benefit will accrue both to the 

 manufacturers and the jobbers by holding but one exposition a year, 

 the speaker declared, and in this declaration he had the endorsement 

 of the other members of the organization. 



The discussion of factory efficiency by L. J. Cleary, Grand Rapids, 

 Mich., was heard with close attention. Mr. Cleary declared that the 

 manufacturer must devise methods which will make all of his de- 

 partments work in harmony with the minimum expense, loss of time, 

 wear and tear of machinery and accidents to employes. He gave 

 some interesting experiences gained along these lines. Following 

 his address, the members exchanged ideas as to the best methods of 

 producing a product which will not suffer in cjuality at a smaller 

 outlay of money. 



Chairman Fenton, of the committee on freights and tariffs, re- 

 viewed the work of his committee during the past year and reported 

 that excellent progress is being made on the movement looking to 

 the adoption of a uniform classification of chairs and other packages 

 shipped from chair factories, both in carload lots and smaller quan- 

 tities. The speaker said that the members of his committee are 

 impressing upon the freight officials of the different railroads that 

 the association is not antagonistic to the interests of the carriers but is 



desirous that chairs be handled with a fair profit and with the 

 minimum loss of time and breakage. He said that many reports 

 have been investigated during the past year, and expressed his appre- 

 ciation of the services of the other members of his committee and 

 the spirit of co-operation manifested during the past twelve months 

 among the members of the organization. 



J. T. Ryan, High Point, N. C, secretary and treasurer of the South- 

 ern Furniture Manufacturers' Association, spoke at length on the prob- 

 lems whidi have confronted that organization during its career and the 

 methods which have been resorted to in solving them. He said that 

 the question of freights and tariffs had given the members no lit- 

 tle trouble and gave some of his experiences. 



It was decided at this meeting to hold the association's next meet- 

 ing at Chicago on May 14 and 15. 



The King of England has given permission to have a part of the 

 royal estate placed at the disposal of the school of forestry at Cam- 

 bridge University for purposes of experiment and demonstration. 



The Russian government has placed an embargo on all kinds of 

 lumber, to prevent its exportation ; walnut lumber, including Cir- 

 cassian walnut, much prized by American furniture makers, is 

 specifically mentioned. 



Recent experiments indicate that round timbers of all the pines, of 

 Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, tamarack, and western larch, can 

 be readily treated with preservatives, but that the firs, hemlocks, 

 redwood, and Sitka spruce, in the round, do not take treatment easily. 

 This information should be of value to persons who contemplate 

 preservative treatment of round posts, poles, or mine props. 



Excited Bystander: "What's happened, officer; is he hurt? 

 Opkiceu : "Naw, he just sold a car of lumber." 



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