HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



I'ui-c the Germans would never eat that sawdust bread In their own 

 country. 



German bread was a very welcome factor to Belgium and northern 

 Franco, where the English frauds destroyed millions of francs" worth of 

 provisions which might have done much good to the people whom the 

 I'Inglisli plunged into this horrible war. The above fact I heard more 

 than once from soldiers who helped to distribute bread and to supply 

 food to the poor fugitives from the German military kitchens. 



I would thank you very much if you would publish this article in your 

 worthy paper for the enlightenment of j'our readers and to rectify the 

 reputation of the German nation. 



I am the daughter of an .-imericnn citizen, live in Germany now 20 

 years, so that my opinion is free from all partiality. If you would send 

 nic a copy of your paper containing the above article it would be a great 

 pleasure to me and thankfully received. In Chicago I have a number of 

 Jriends. 



ThanUiug you beforehand. I am, sir, 



Elisabeth liOFFLEB. 



Ne« Telle of St. Louis, Mo. 



Hardwood Record -wants to assure its German friends — and it sin- 

 cerely hopes it still has some friends in Germany — that in spite of 

 the cable 's well-known tendency to leave out the spirit of the message, 

 the little item which occupied only a half-dozen lines was published 

 in the spirit of good-natured "kidding" of the German's serious 

 minded concentration on utilization. It was not supposed to be in 

 the nature of war news and in fact was in no way connected with the 

 ])resent conflict. It was not thought for a moment that anyone would 

 so seriously doubt our intelligence as to think that we believed the 

 little yarn, and in the same light this ofEce certainly did not think 

 anyone would give it credence. As a matter of fact, the type had 

 been held over for some months — probably from prior to the date of 

 the beginning of the war — and was intended purely to fill in a little 

 hole. 



Hardwood Eecord hopes that if in some way this story should 

 come into the hands of the medium of communication which gave the 



former item such an unfortunate twist, it will do us the justice of 

 assuring its correspondents on the other side that it was really more 

 of a jesting compliment to German thrift than anything else. The 

 actual figures were added merely to hinge the story on. Xo German 

 would consider as more than a joke the story of Chicago 's stock 

 yards in which it is said that the enterprising packers, having found 

 a use for all by-products of the pig but the squeal; have found a 

 process for canning that for phonographic use. The sawdust story 

 was just about as serious in its intent as that, and Germans surely 

 ought to give us credit for a little more intelligence than to think 

 that it was used as a statement of fact. 



The incident points out the possibility of much more serious mis- 

 understandings on other matters where the intent and explanatory 

 information are not carried with the report of many items coming 

 from this side and taken up as affronts liy the warring nations. 

 It is regrettable that all seem to be looking for some excuse on which 

 to hinge a protest of unfair treatment. Truly, Uncle Sam is placed 

 in an unenviable position right now, and his friends abroad shoul<T 

 see to it that the efforts of this or that belligerent to pin on him the 

 badge of unfairness be not so twisted as to result in his receiving 

 much more seriously unfair consideration from all. New evidences 

 are seen every day that this is occurring constantly, but all of our 

 friends in Europe, who complain of distorted tales reaching our 

 shores via wireless and cable, should bear in mind the fact that the 

 same injustice might result to the source of the messages going from 

 this side. The little incident of the sawdust shows that this spirit 

 is not always mixed with the consideration of many statements which 

 the cable and the wireless put into the mouth of Uncle Sam. By 

 using only parts of a statement it can be shown that, in the opinion 

 of eminent scientists, black is white. Those across the water should 

 remember this possibility. 



f ty^iba:>5waiuw)iiM;twtii;iWi^^ " 



Knife Whetting as an Art 



^i 



"Whetting, as an art, does not depend altogether on the skill of the 

 man using the whetstone. As the painter must be skilled in the 

 selection of colors and have the colors to select from, as well as being 

 skilled with his brush, so also must a good mechanic who takes up 

 the art of whetting consider the matter of the whetstones themselves. 

 But whetters must not lose sight of the purpose of their art. 



Proper whetting serves more good purposes than may be credited 

 to it. Here, for example, is a point you may have overlooked. The 

 longer you can keep a set of planer knives on a cutter-head doing 

 good work before regrinding the smoother will be their work. In 

 other words, in doing their work those that extend a little more than 

 the others are worn more, and in the process of whetting them down 

 one trues them up better than it is practical to do so by gauges in 

 the original setting. 



This should not be taken as an excuse for continuing the knives 

 on the cutter-head after they need grinding, running them blunt, so 

 that thev pull heavily, or wasting time taking off metal tediously 

 with the Nvhetstone that should be taken off with the grinder. It 

 should, however, he taken as a reason for grinding, whenever prac- 

 tical, with a view to long service on the cutter-head, and the maximum 

 amount of whetting before the knives are to be removed. That is, 

 it is an argument in favor of grinding the bevel back a little more 

 than one might otherwise, and also in favor of hollowing it out so as 

 to facilitate whetting to an edge from time to time, as the knife 

 becomes dull from service. 



This idea is perhaps most valuable in connection with working 

 pine, Cottonwood, and other soft woods. These permit of compara- 

 tively slender grinding, and one can humor the whetting m this way 

 on soft woods more than is practical in working such hardwoods as 

 oak, maple, birch and beech. 



In connection with this point of advantage of keeping the knives 

 on the cutter-head and continued whetting before regrindmg, one 



should bear in mind that the better the whetstones the less time is 

 wasted and the more satisfaction can be had from it generally. It is 

 doubtful if the average man realizes the chances for discrimination 

 and selection among the whetstone offerings of today. .Just as much 

 progress has been made in whetstones as in grinding wlieels, and 

 therefore there is not much excuse for a man to use a stone that does 

 not cut rapidly and smoothly. Quite a varied assortment of whet- 

 stones can be had — some in natural stones and many in the artificial 

 stones that are made on a scientific basis, as to grit and composition. 

 The makers of artificial whetstones have studied the subject as care- 

 fully as they have studied that of grinding and other abrasive work, 

 so that they can furnish stones for all purposes — some for rapid 

 cutting, and others for slicking up and taking the wire edge off. 



It is conceded by those who are in position to know that a soft 

 rapid cutting stone is not good for taking off the wire edge and 

 putting a keen point on a knife. It takes the hard slip or close- 

 grained stone for this. 



Investigate the whetstone business. Get an assortment. The more 

 you learn about them, the more easily you will lie able to do whetting 

 to your satisfaction. Keep them in good working shape. There are a 

 number of different methods of curing for them. Some men keep 

 them immersed in a can of coal oil. others prefer different methods. 

 Take your own choice of methods, or better yet experiment a little 

 with the different methods as well as with the different stones. Soon 

 you will not only learn that whetting is something of an art, but you 

 will get some pleasure out of a job which heretofore has been to& 

 much of a nuisance to the average planer man. 



To guard against tree repair fakers, or quack tree surgeons, the 

 Massachusetts Forestry Association will inspect the shade trees be- 

 longing to its members, free of charge. 



