24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



JONE 10, 1918 



A— 26%x20y2 xl3% 

 B— 28y4Xl7%xll% 

 C— 37%xl3 Xl3 

 D— 13% xl2% xl2% 

 E — 40% xl3% xl3% 

 F— 29% xl7?i X 9 

 G — 25 x20%xl0% 

 (Variation 1/16 allowed each dimension.) 

 The boxes are to be Style 2, except that the 

 through the top. Sound, well seasoned lumber is 



of 



DC surfaced two sides ; ends to be of IJ-inch hardwood and cleats 

 1% Inches softwood. The vertical and bottom cleats are 2\% inches 



wide and the top cleat 2 inches wide. The vertical cleats are grooved for 

 %-inch Sisal or Manila rope handles, which extend about 7 inches under 

 each cleat, and must be long enough to be able to pass over a 2x4 laid 

 flat on the top of the box. The sides, top and bottom are to be %-inch 

 to %-inch softwood or scant %-inch hardwood. Ends and sides to be 



in two pieces and top and bottom to be in three pieces. No piece to be 

 less than 2% inches. All pieces to be tongued, grooved and glued. All 

 nails to be standard cooler or sinker cement coated nails except cleats 

 may be nailed to ends wtih common wire nails. Nails are to be mostly 

 7d and set staggered and on ends to average 1% inches centers and cleats 

 to have six nails each. 



Boxes to be strapped by either two Signode straps %-inch by .020 gauge, 

 with six staples, four at edges and two over the tie, or three strap irons 

 %-inch by .040 gauge with the end straps fastened with 3d nails and 

 the middle strap fastened with y2-inch barrel nails, all placed 6 Inches 

 apart. 



The office of the quartermaster general has been considering the exclusive 

 use of wire bound boxes for shipments of canned goods abroad, together 

 with the subject of general box specifications, and has just issued boxing 

 specifications for the quartermaster corps dated May 23, 1918, which 

 provide that both nailed and wirebound boxes shall be used for this pur- 



The Southern Labor Situation 



But few people, other than those directly connected with logging 

 operations, realize the gravity of the labor situation in the south- 

 ern hardwood regions. It is not only serious; it is appalling. 

 While the car shortage and embargoes so greatly handicapped the 

 getting in of raw material and shipping of manufactured prod- 

 ucts, the labor shortage was serious but its real tone was not 

 realized until after the railroad situation had been alleviated. Of 

 course, the shortage of cars has not been overcome, but it has been 

 greatly modified, and after the extraordinary winter operators 

 looked forward to a little better sailing. Those companies operat- 

 ing their own tram roads, or having proper connections, and those 

 on good waters have naturally had a good supply of logs. But now 

 there are many piles of logs that don't seem to make proper prog- 

 ress in the way of depletion, and the answer is lack of help. 



In this connection it is well to state that the spring season, 

 usually marked by soggy and water-covered woods, was excep- 

 tionally dry. In fact it seems that prohibition hit the country so 

 hard that it affected the rain fall. This has resulted in excellent 

 logging conditions, but has had the reverse effect on log trans- 

 portation to those mills dependent upon small streams for float- 

 ing in their supply. This shortage in connection with the depleted 

 labor supply has resulted in some mills being closed entirely, and 

 others operating only half capacity. 



In other words, it is an impossibility to get sufficient labor to 

 man the mills to meet the extraordinary demand for their product. 

 Of course, the draft has reached thousands of workers of every 

 description, and many men have been lured to far away points by 

 the extraordinary wages being paid men who can saw a two by four 

 or drive a tack. 



As is not generally understood by the consumers of southern hard- 

 woods, white labor is not only scarce, but it wiU not as a rule en- 

 gage in common labor. In the past wages have not been sufficiently 

 remunerative to attract them, and then a white man just naturally 

 won't do a "nigger's" work. The negro is the chief laborer of 

 the Sunny South, due to his overwhelming ubiquity, and the paucity 

 of white labor. It was but a few years ago (count them on one 

 hand) when the prevailing rate for labor was $1.25 per day, and 

 $1.50 was extraordinarily high; and even last fall the operators 

 were complaining that the rates of $1.75 to $2.00 per day were 

 woefully high. But, they are beginning to realize that those were 

 low rates compared to present wages. The negro labor is now be- 

 ing paid $2.25 to $3.50 a day, and the end is not yet. Common 

 white labor except in isolated instances is unheard of. 



It is but a few days since a tight stave company from one sec- 

 tion invaded the domain of another, offering $3.50 a day for labor; 

 stave jointers 85 cents a thousand, and other rates proportionately, 

 with the result that one mill in particular was practically minus a 

 working force. A year ago jointers were paid 50 cents a thousand, 

 and considering that a good jointer will cut as high as 8,000 staves 



a day, possibly 10,000, you can appreciate what happens to the 

 pay roll with an increase of 35 cents per thousand, and correspond- 

 ing increases in other lines. But even at these rates it is impos- 

 sible to procure the necessary help, and it is a common sight to see 

 young boys and girls, hardly in their teens and some ten or eleven 

 years of age, piling staves, and helping the jointers. One plant 

 visited had an excellent supply of bolts, but the heading mill was 

 short of help; the jointers were put to work stacking, and the 

 vice-president of the company and his bookkeeper were working 

 overtime loading a car of staves. 



Every operator in the South is similarly affected. Tards are full 

 of debris and unpiled timber; production is curtailed, equipment 

 unrepaired, and the labor that is procurable seems to take an in- 

 terest in its work but one day every two weeks — pay day. 



Labor in the South is peculiar. During a stress like that at 

 present, its idiosyncrasies are more exasperating to the operator 

 than is the most radical union labor in the North. In the North 

 the men do not hesitate to work if working conditions and money 

 matters are taken care of, but negro labor in the South becomes 

 more independent, or indolent and less inclined to work the 

 greater its earnings become. Sufficient money to last a few days 

 seems to be the predominating idea. A man works a few days, 

 earns a few dollars, takes a few days vacation, spends the few 

 dollars, and then returns to repeat the trick. It does no good to 

 discharge a man, because he knows that the operator across the 

 street is waiting for him with open arms. The spirit of "manana 

 por la manana" which obsesses our neighbors in Mexico seems to 

 be merely transformed into "Boss, Ah done been sick; Ah cain't do 

 no wo'k today." The more money paid, the greater sickness pre- 

 vails, and the smaller the crews. 



Many plans have been tried and are now being employed not 

 only to retain labor, but to get the men to work six days a week. 

 One company pays a bonus which amounts to from thirty to fifty 

 dollars, providing the men work steadily for a certain period. This 

 period extends through the cotton picking season, and if a man 

 leaves his work to earn the bigger wages paid in the cotton fields, 

 he loses the bonus. Another plant offers an extra 25 cents per day 

 to each man who works six days a week. Another offers prizes 

 running from $1.50 to $5.00 for the best records in attendance at 

 work, and one patriotic operator offers war savings stamps. How- 

 ever, the greatest magnet is the high wage which assures a "good 

 time" for a few days' work. 



One operator whose plant was more or less isolated, seemed to 

 have little trouble retaining his help. Of course special quarters 

 were provided for the men, and as the location was a long ways 

 from any town, women were allowed in the camp, "easy boot- 

 legging, ' ' and more or less personal-liberty made a very good hold- 

 ing card. 



Many of the operators have employed women, both white and 



