HARDWOOD RECORD 



VUGl-ST 10, 101 



Holt Interests Buy Big Plant 



One of the most imijoi-taiit Ijusiuess transfers recorded in the northern 

 hardwood industry in recent months was the purchase by the Holt inter- 

 ests of Oconto, Wis., and Cliicago, of the major interest in the W. E. 

 Williams Company, Oconto, manufacturing hardwood flooring, from W. E, 

 Williams. The new owners have reorganized the business under the style 

 of Holt Hardwood Company, and elected the following ofBcers : President, 

 W. A. Holt : vice-president. W. L. DeWitt : secretary, Alfred Klass ; 

 treasurer. George H. Holt. Mr. DeWitt was associated with Mr. Williams 

 in the management of the business. The mill has been making maple 

 flooring almost exclusively, but its facilities are now being increased to 

 include other hardwood products. It is also reported that the Holt com- 

 pany will install a complete metal-working plant to handle government 

 contracts, there being ample floor space available in the flooring mill and 

 auxiliary buildings. W. E. Williams retired from all connection with the 

 concern on August 1. 





^amirottwtt TOitJTOBtmiTOWiKmgtL'JiTOi*^^ 



Pertinent Information 



Use of Wood per Capita 



A writer in the London Timber Trades Journal has compiled figures 

 showing how much wood per capita of population is consumed yearly by 

 eight leading nations. Fuel Is included with wood used for other pur- 

 poses, and the figures represent cubic feet, as follows : 



Germany SG.r, T'i]it<'.I Stntcs 260 



Frt 



192 



United Kingdom 14 i;uv-)'i 



Italy l:i An-Hi.i llunuaii 5T 



Rafting Swedish Lumber Across North Sea 

 According to the British Timlier Trades Journal of June 8, the Rafanut 

 Aktiebolaget has been formed in Stockholm to exploit new methods of 

 shipping wood, in view of the anticii)ati'd shortage of tonnage after the 

 war. The plnii N t.i i-ift tlir liniil.rr .i, r,.ss the North Sea, and it is to be 

 specially mi.^l ili:ii tli. , ,ii,i|,iiii\ - j,i. n is to facilitate the shipment of 

 sawed go<..l-. Snmr iirexinns , \ 1 1. ■ I i ri 1 . 1 1 1 s in floating large masses of logs 

 have been Mir.,s~iiil. Imt it i-i tli.iuL:lit that no previous attempts have 

 been made to float sawed goods long distances at sea. 



Woods of South India 



According to a report i>y Consul Lucien Memmlnger at Madras, India, 

 the commercial woods of Suntli lin]i;t are leal^, ebony, rosewood, red 



Sanders, Indian mahogany, rtiii la-Mim w i (white cedar), sandalwood, 



pine, erool, bamljoo, jamliu ii'laelv iilmii), niani. ninpoo, nux vomica, rub- 

 ber, camphor, palymra and ema l\ iii u^. Ttie eiosstie wood sal is found 

 to a small extent in the nnnliem |i.i;i mI tlie .Madras area, but the other 

 crosstie woods, deodar and |iyinl;a.l.i. are not yrown here to any extent,- 

 the latter being found partieiilarl\ in r.iirnia. The value of minor produce 

 in Madras is $693,470, and includes, besides some of the above, myrobolan 

 for tanning, gum kino, lemon oils, cassia bark, cardamons, pepper, thetsi 

 damar, semul floss, etc. 



Hardwoods for War Purposes 



The war demand for hardwoods is steadily increasing. Softwoods for 

 cantonment buildings and for ships came first, but a recent announcement 

 tells a different story. A total of 28,000,000 feet gross, or 20,000,000 feet 

 net. of hardwood wheel stock now is required for cannon wheels alone, 

 not to speak of wheels for thousands of auxiliary trucks and vehicles of 

 every description. 



Concern is expressed over the problem of getting rid of side stocks 

 in ^otiiM (e.i, with getting out wheel material. But, considering the di- 



\' \ 1 uses, this probably will mean merely a larger develop- 



111 I I - III' 1 1 le in dimension material, as compared with that of ordinary 



Federal Banking System Strong 



In a recent address before the New York Leaf Tobacco board of trade, 

 Beverly D. Harris, vice-president of the National City Bank of New York, 

 said of the country's finances : 



"The Federal Reserve banking system has been the salvation of this 

 country in this crisis. 1 may go further and say it is the salvation of the 

 world, for upon it depends the marshalling of our resources, upon the 

 .11. II il iiiiiiMration of which depend the destinies of all mankind. 

 ' I ! - are huge, we ma.v feel reassured by our basic conditions 

 t. We have about one-third of the gold money of the world, 



all III iiiimI ,,t gold exports, an assured heavy balance of trade in our 

 favor, full employment of labor, inexhaustible raw materials and natural 

 resources to make us practically self-supporting and inestimably greater 

 than those of any other country ; agricultural products of an estimated 

 value of nearly twenty billions of dollars annually, an annual Income 

 estimated at fifty billions of dollars and the position on a large 'scale of 

 a creditor nation. Our Federal Reserve Bank position indicates present 

 reserves of approximately $1,750,000,000 gold, or approximately 65 V2 per 

 cent against circulation and 021/3 per cent against deposits, with a floating 

 gold supply roundly of more than one billion dollars, which could be made 

 available as a further basis of credit. These things combine to make our 

 credit and economic position incomparably stronger than that of any 

 other country. 



Oak Dinner Gong in Woods 



A camp cook whose only means of calling the members of his party 

 was pounding on a pan with a knife handle was unable to make them 

 hear when they were fishing or hunting at any considerable distance from 

 the .aiiii.. One of the party to whom he complained thereupon made what 

 1m iIiiI a uirpal.i, savs the Manchester Union, 



i II. ill- \:i- iii.i.ly a piece of well-seasoned oak plank two inches 



'li II I. ^^l.l.■ aTi.l fbur feet long. Through the center he bored a 



li.'i. 11. 1- ..1 a r.i|i.> itua.iiyh it and suspended the plank from the branch 

 of a tree. The cook "rang" the instrument by striking it with a mallet, 

 first on one side and then on the other. 



The man who made the "klepalo" had seen similar contrivances in small 

 Bulgarian villages, where they are used instead of church bells to call the 

 people to worship. A test of the instrument used by the campers showed 

 that in ordinary weather conditions it could be heard two miles. — Chicago 

 Daily Xetcs. 



Vermont's Maple Sugar Industry 



A census of the maple sugar yield in Vermont this year shows a total 

 production of 12,430.000 pounds of sugar, valued at $2,000,000. The 

 production of maple sugar per tree averaged only 2.26 pounds, practically 

 the same as the production of 1917, which was considered rather a 

 poor year. 



The Barton (Vt.) Monitor credits Vermont farmers with splendid 

 patriotism, increasing their output in spite of difficulties. It says : "The 

 ruling of the food administration calls for 30 pounds of sugar per annum 

 per capita. This allowance would give Vermont in round numbers 12,800,- 



sugar orchards nearly supplied the 

 ■s not mean that Vermonters will 

 iiiaple sugar and sirup are shipped 

 ■ very foreign country, but it does 

 -■ .sugar supply of the nation nearly 



000 pounds. Therefore, Vermon 

 needs of the state. Of cour^,.. 

 not need white sugar, becaiis. V 

 all over the United States .in. I 1 

 mean that Vermont will coiilrii.i 

 as much as she consumes." 



David's Temple to Become a Museum 



"David's Temple," a church built early last century in York county, 

 Ontario, has been purchased by the York Pioneer and Historical Society to 

 be used as a museum for historic relics. The old church, erected by the 

 late David Wilson, head of a religious sect known as the "Davidites," took 

 six years to build, is entirely of wood and today is in a remarkable state 

 of preservation. The lasting qualities of wood never were better exemplified 

 than in this structure. White pine in the main was used and the wood 

 today is the admiration of all sightseers. 



Many years ago remarkable religious ceremonies were celebrated in the 

 temple by the "Children of Peace," but for a long period the building has 

 been sadly neglected. Work on the church was started in 1825. It is 

 three stories high, surmounted by a gilded ball on which is inscribed the 

 word, "Peace." The church contains nearly 3,000 panes of glass in the 

 windows and spires and has a symbolic meaning attached to all its parts. 

 One feature is an altar that took 365 days to build. It stands on twelve 

 gilded pillars representing the twelve apostles, and is emblematical of the 

 relision of Christ. 



The building was intended to be used fifteen times during the year ; 

 never at any time for Sunday worship. Services were held on the last 

 Saturday of each month, when the members made contributions for 

 charitable purposes. The first service was held October 29, 1831. The 

 church was painted white with green facings. 



Products From the Sap of Birch Trees 



A man is Alaska claims to have discovered that sirup as palatable at. 

 that produced from maple sap can be made from the sap of birch trees. He 

 must have experimented with paper birch, for the yellow and sweet birches 

 do not occur in Alaska. If he has discovered what he says he has, and 

 if the quantity that may be produced from a tree is not too small, he has 

 made a valuable discovery. Birch trees are plentiful in all the cold 

 countries of the north temperate and north frigid zones. These trees are 

 paper birch or species wlii. li l.ear <lose resemblance to paper birch, that is, 

 birches with scaly l.aik ..1 Mliit.- ...lor. 



If sirup of goeid iiiiality .an l.e niade from those semi-dry trees, it is 

 reasonable to suppo.se that a much better article could be produced from 

 the sweet birch of northeastern United States and Canada. In the first 

 warm days of spring, this tree furnishes sap in phenomenal quantities. 

 If tapped like maple, it will flow three or four times as much. It is 

 recorded that one of these birches, if a vigorous tree of moderate size, will 

 yield its weight of water in a single season. A flow so large is perhaps 

 unusual, but there is no question that a fair-sized sweet birch may flow 

 two or three barrels of sap in a season. 



The sap as it flows from the tree into the vessel set to catch it has a 

 slight wintergreen taste, but otherwise it differs little from the water 

 flowing from springs or taken from wells. But it quickly ferments and 

 then it takes a slightly acid taste, and the longer it stands in the vessel, 

 the stronger the taste. Many persons acquire a liking for it at that stage 

 of fermentation. 



By a little doctoring it is made into beer and is then regarded as a drink 

 good enough for anyone who likes a beverage which is so mild that it must 

 be consumed in large quantities before It becomes even slightly intoxicat- 

 ing. The beer is made by placing a pint of shelled corn in two gallons 

 of birch sap and letting it stand until it reaches the proper stage of fer- 

 mentation. 



