38 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the possibility of the hardwood mills in the United States closing down 

 forthwith. 



Forestry and Warfare 



The fighting in Europe has called attention to the possible place which 

 forestry may have in warfare, according to military critics, and inci- 

 dentally has proven the wisdom of the plans which Uncle Sam has worked 

 out for the planting of screens of trees near the principal coast defenses 

 in this country, particularly the defense batteries that protect New York 

 harbor, I^ong Island sound and Boston harbor. Trees will also be planted 

 to screen the batteries which will protect the Panama canal where 

 needed. 



Americans will be interested to note what use the United States has 

 planned to make of forests, both natural and planted, as a part of its 

 preparations for any possible war in which this nation should ever 

 become involved. Because of the forest cover which already exists along 

 most of the eastern coast of the United States, and also because foreign 

 intervention is considered such a remote possiliiiity, no effort whatever 

 has been made heretofore to maintain or to secure forests for their 

 relation to military movements. 



In recent months, however, the War Department has called upon the 

 Department of Agriculture to make working plans for the planting of 

 screens of trees near the principal coast defenses of the East, and experts 

 of the United States Forest Service have already completed the plans 

 for the artificial forests which will screen coast defense batteries which 

 ivill protect New Tork harbor, Long Island sound, Boston harbor and 

 Pcnsacola, Fla. Congress has not yet made appropriation for the plant- 

 ing work, but it is believed that it will do so at the coming session, now 

 that the value of forests in warfare has been demonstrated in the 

 European war. 



American army officers have pointed out that the retention by France of 

 certain forests along her eastern border has had a profound influence 

 upon the movement of troops, the placing of batteries and the conceal- 

 ment of war moves in general. It has been stated that the French 

 forests have offered particular advantage to the armies of the Allies 

 because of the character of their growth. 



Disease Attacks Mountain Sheep and Goats 



The Department of .\griculture has undertaken the investigation of a 

 serious disease which is affecting the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and 

 the mountain goats, and is reported as existing on the Lemhi national 

 forest in Idaho. 



The forest officers think that it is the same disease that caused the 

 mountain sheep to die in great numbers during 18S2-83. The nature of the 

 disease is not known, though it results fatally and sheep affi-cted with it 

 seem to have rough and mangy coats and are very much emaciated. Three 

 bureaus of the department are engaged in the study — the Biological Surve.v, 

 Bureau of .\nimal Industry, and the Forest Service. A competent veteri- 

 narian has already gone to Idaho to start the work. 



"The Last Kick" 



Orchardists and foresters say that when a tree is about to die it concen- 

 trates all its energy and produces a phenomenal crop of fruit or seeds. 

 This is called "the last kick." 



The walnut trees of England bore an unusually heavy crop of nuts this 

 season, which circumstance is thought to have an uncanny significance. 

 The walnut trees In England were not planted for their nuts, but to have 

 a supply of wood for gun stocks when the hour of need should arrive. The 

 hour has come, and many a walnut grove and isolated tree will stock 

 rifles before the forests bloom again. People who are inclined to he super- 

 stitious are wondering why this year's crop of walnuts happened to be 

 unusually large. 



The largest walnut grove in England is at Kempston, near Bedford. 

 It contained at first 365 trees, one for each day of the year, which were 

 planted about a century ago by the then owner of the farm, who cynically 

 remarked that wars would never cease and the timber would always be 

 wanted for gunstocks. 



Building Operations for October 



As compared with September, the building operations for October show 

 Improvement. As compared with October, last year, there Is a decrease. 

 Permits issued in 71 cities during September decreased 32 per cent, as 

 compared with the permits issued during September last year. The shrink- 

 age in October, as compared with the corresponding month of 1913 is 

 about 20 per cent. The loss in itself is serious enough. The favorable 

 condition is that during the early days of November there have been dis- 

 tinct gains in a number of cities. The easier money markets are per- 

 mitting the delayed execution of many plans. 



The official reports of building permits, issued by 74 cities, during Octo- 

 ber, received by the American Contractor, Chicago, total $42,657,228, as 

 compared with $."i2.988,653 for October, 1913, a decrease of 20 per cent. 

 About one-fourth the cities show gains and about three-fourths, losses. It 

 is interesting to note that among the cities showing gains is New York, 

 the building operations of which for the month expanded IG per cent over 

 those for October, last year, the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and the 

 Bronx showing gains, and Queens and Richmond, losses. Scranton and 

 Syracuse make the best statements, gains of 194 and 141 per cent respec- 

 tively. 



For the first ten months of the year the aggregate, as shown In the 

 detailed statement below, is moderately below that for the corresponding 

 period of 1913. Details are as follows : 



October, 



City— 1914. 



.\kron ; ? 304.815 



Albany 239.225 



.Adanta 215.988 



Baltimore 299,098 



Birmingham 138.373 



Bridgeport 174.437 



Buffalo 604.000 



Cedar Rapids 245.000 



Chaltanooga 61.872 



Chicago 6.774.200 



Cincinnati -. . 402.235 



Cleveland 2.265.685 



Columbus 649.220 



Dallas 204.150 



Dayton 30,203 



Denver 157.985 



Des MolncB 14.5.084 



Detroit 1,491.225 



Duluth 230.625 



East Orange 122,507 



Evansville 99.850 



Ft. Wayne 161,400 



Grand Rapids 152.080 



Harrisburg 50,475 



llarlford 360,135 



Indianapolis .337,689 



Kansas City 533.790 



I>inco!n 53,800 



Los Angeles 1,573.222 



Doulsvllle 327.040 



.Manchester 97.40<» 



Memphis ]0.'i.580 



Milwaukee 011.877 



.Minneapolis 1.064.570 



Newark 707.086 



.New Haven 201.815 



New Orleans 286.378 



New York City 9,242.638 



Manhattan 4.023.152 



Bronx 1.292.080 



Brooklyn 2,719,320 



Queens 1.076.192 



Richmond 131.894 



Oklahoma 19.975 



Omaha 157.075 



Paterson .55.247 



I", orla 165,660 



Philadelphia 2.467.310 



Pittsburgh 1,085,348 



Portland 508,705 



Rochester 401.192 



Salt Lake City 107,005 



San Antonio 83.150 



San Diego 115.886 



San Francisco 1,479.518 



St. Joseph 25,100 



St. Louis 1.11.5.874 



St. Paul 1,001.300 



Scranton .300,835 



Seattle 610.660 



Shrevcport 75.985 



Sioux City 52,795 



South Bend 25.153 



Spokane 60.050 



Springneld. Ill 63,525 



Svracuso 293.079 



Tacoma 46.563 



Toledo 404,939 



Top,^ka 50,565 



Trov 64.178 



Washington, D. C 407.411 



Wilkes Barre 54.087 



Worcester 590,807 



Total ?42,657.228 



October, 

 1913. 

 ? 463.426 

 781.965 

 338.340 

 697,606 

 254.741 

 1.S5.195 



1, 347.000 



4'.I0.I!00 



80,470 



9.314.050 

 589.345 



1.979,075 

 5»(),005 

 519.435 

 252.225 

 241.703 

 123.360 



3.079,540 

 212,452 

 130.966 

 139.086 

 17.3.785 

 257.8'13 

 150.015 

 423,040 

 573,048 



1,540,705 

 89,037 



1.701.550 

 .332,580 

 149.1122 

 190.090 



1,213.605 



1.240.950 

 675 530 

 214,085 

 208.750 



7.985. 108 



2.990,840 

 907.397 



2,553,180 



1,333,382 

 194. .306 

 15.800 

 294,025 

 175.255 

 2'i0.'.i00 



2.715,S.".n 



1.3«2,:i87 

 681,710 

 73.5.403 

 171,390 

 275,405 

 554.779 



1,118.280 



01.128 



820.073 



804.252 



102.251 



474.190 



87.485 



365.162 



40,250 



140,340 



110.015 



121,, 305 



l:!8.223 



845,3tio 



.50,735 



114,000 



600,032 



206.687 



494.044 



$52,988,053 



Per Cent 

 Gain. Loss. 

 34 

 69 

 36 

 57 

 46 

 6 

 55 

 51 

 31 

 27 

 32 



14 

 10 



6 

 8 

 37 

 16 

 34 

 42 

 6 



30 



24 



194 



29 



61 

 86 

 35 



5i 



ii 



28 



7 



41 



65 



15 



41 



65 



40 



8 



2 



35 



46 



50 



15 



19 



32 



46 

 68 

 43 

 9 

 20 

 25 

 45 

 37 

 70 

 79 



13 

 86 

 38 

 67 

 42 



66 



52 

 3/10 

 43 

 38 

 74 



20 



The Inventor of Shrapnel 



Most everything seems to get back, sooner or later, to the lumberman. 

 Shrapnel — an explosive shell filled with bullets — are Just now being heard 

 and heard of pretty frequently in Europe. 



The 7'imber Trades Journal says that It is not generally known that a 

 well-known member of the London timber trade is a great grandson. In 

 direct descent, of the Inventor of the shrapnel shell which has been 

 adopted by all countries as a weapon, and in every land goes by the name 

 of the inventor. The gentleman alluded to is II. V. Shrapnel, now one 

 of the managing directors of the North Russia Timber Agency, Ltd. The 

 Inventor of the projectile was General Henry Shrapnel, R. A., who was 

 born in 1761, and was the son of the owner of a large cloth mill at Brad- 

 ford-on-Avon, in Wiltshire. After serving with the Duke of Y'ork 'u 

 Flanders, young Shrapnel, inspiied by the trivial effect of round shot 

 and the very limited ranges of case and grape shot against troops In the 

 field, set to work to devise a better projectile, with the result already 

 known. He, however, labored long to bring his invention to perfection, 

 and it was not until 1S02 that the spherical case shot, as it was originally 

 called, was adopted for issue to the British army. The statement that 

 shrapnel shell won for England the most important battles In the Penin- 

 sula, and even Waterloo, is no exaggeration ; the dispatches of Wellington 

 and the reports of high artillery commanders testify to that. General 

 Shrapnel was approached on several occasions by emissaries of foreign 

 powers offering him large sums for the secret, but he spurned these offers, 

 the secret being eventually discovered by a Belgian In 1834. All the 

 government gave General Shrapnel was $0,000 a year, though William IV. 

 offered hlra a baronetcy In 1837, which honor he was too poor to accept- 

 He died in 1842 a poor, and it Is to he feared, an embittered man. The 

 general's son and heir was compelled to sell the family seat, Midway 



