36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



October 10, 1918 



Detailed specifications for veneer logs have already been de- 

 termined upon by the government representatives, veneer manu- 

 facturers and representatives of the Northern association. These 

 specifications have already been agreed upon and mailed out and 

 will be maintained uniformly by government iitspectors. The 

 specifications follow: 



SirB(MFicATKiNS Full Brui'H AM) Basswoou Vknebb Logs. 



12" and over in diameter. 



Length : 8' and up; not over 10% to be under 12'. 



Lengths, S, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16'. 



Log-s to be 2" over length; if log does not run 2" full over the length, 

 it is to be cut back to the next length. 



Logs from 12 to 14" to be scaled the small way ; over 14" to be scaled 

 at the average diameter. Fractions to be on a 50/50 liasis. 



Rule : Scribner Decimal C. 



12" to 14" logs will permit 3" hole ; 15" and up will permit 6" hole, 

 including dote. 



One foot in length to be deducted for each defect. Any defects which 

 can be cut out in one foot in length constitutes only one defect. 



8, 9 and 10' logs must be surface clear; 11 and 12' logs must cut fi' 

 surface clear; 13 and 14' logs must cut 7' surface clear; 15 and IG' 

 logs must cut 8' surface clear. 



Mr. Record Replies to Mr. Mead's Letter 



In the two preceding issues of Hardwood Recoed were carried items 

 regarding Philippine mahogany, tne first being an article by S. J. 

 Kecord, in which certain statements were made to which exception, was 

 taken by the various handlers of Philippine mahogany, acting cou- 

 certedly through Mr. Mead of the Indiana Quartered Oak Company of 

 New York. Mr. Mead's letter appeared in the issue of September 2.5, 

 and his comments are answered by Mr. Record as follows: 



I have read with interest Mr. Mead's reply in your issue of Septem- 

 ber 25 to my statements regarding the use of Philippine ' ' mahogany ' ' 

 for airplane propellers. My work has kept me in very close touch witli 

 the utilization and inspection of woods for propellers, and I wrote from 

 personal knowledge. I am not interested in exploiting any wood, but I 

 am concerned in getting at the facts without bias. It would be very 

 easy to take up Mr. Mead 's contentions seriatim and show their fallacy, 

 but I do not wish to give the impression that the Philippine woods are 

 without merit because such is not the case. I look upon all woods 

 with a friendly eye and firmly believe that the indifferent reputations 

 of some of them would be materially improved if the woods were used 

 with more discrimination, and that others would appear in much better 

 light if their promoters abandoned the attempt to make them shine 

 with borrowed radiance. > 



When the Philippine forests were first exploited by tlie Americans 

 there was little demand for the dipterocarps, but the forestry ofiScials 

 recognized their latent value and encouraged their use. Their faith 

 in the woods has been fully justified, and with the cutting off by the 

 war of timber shipments from our Pacific coast the dipterocarps have 

 gone far toward supplying the needs of the Orient. I consider it very 

 uiLfortunate that they should have been introduced into foreign mar- 

 kets as mahogany since they are no more related to it than elm is 

 and have only a superficial resemblance to justify the appropriation of 

 the name. This course was followed, over the protest of the Philip- 



^HEELER-XlMLIN LUMBER COMPANY 



MANUFACTURERS AND WHOLESALERS 



HARDWOOD - HEMLOCK - PINE 



Wausau. wis. 



Three o( U* WUl Be Benefitea it 



pine authorities, because the quickest returns could be secured by 

 trading on the established reputation of another wood. The Philippine 

 Bureau of Forestry has never approved this practice, and the most 

 recent official publication on the woods of the islands condemns the 

 use of the terms "Philippine mahogany" and "South Pacific ma- 

 hogany" as "misleading." (Bui. No. 14, Manila, 1916, p. 170.) 



Wood produced by trees of the genus Swietenia, native to Tropical 

 America, is recognized the world over as the true mahogany. The 

 African genus, Kluiya, belongs not only to the same family (Meliacese), 

 but also to the Swietenia group within that family and the woods of 

 the two genera have many properties in common. Accordingly, the 

 name African mahogany is fully justified and in no sense misleading. 

 The appropriation of the name mahogany for other woods with what- 

 ever actual or fancied resemblance tliey may bear to the genuine does 

 not convey any moral right to the use of the name, regardless of the 

 motive of the producers in appropriating it. And this situation is not 

 affected in the least by the well-known fact (emphasized in my pre- 

 vious article, though apparently overlooked by Mr. Mead) that ma- 

 hogany exhibits a wide range of variation in quality. 



It is unfortunate for all concerned that the Philippine woods were 

 not marketed under a distinctive niime and allowed to build up a repu- 

 tation of their own. There is nothing the matter with their right 

 names, red lauan, tanguile, etc., and the use wotdd spare the pro- 

 moters the necessity of apologizing "thousands of times" for the mis 

 use of another to which they are not entitled either Ijotanically or 

 ethically. Mr. Mead sweeps aside the term " botanically " as thougli 

 it were the merest technicality, but no amount of sophistry will dis 

 pose of the ethical side of the matter. And I think that even he will 

 have to admit that botanical relationships are sometimes important, 

 otherwise we might gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles! 

 Very truly yours, 



Saju-el .T. Record. 



^wyatiaMraaiiw^i g mtmiKiv^^ 



Clubs and Associations 



Meetings of Open Competition Plan 



Two meetings of the Open Competition Plan of the Hardwood Mauufar 

 turers' Association were scheduled for this month. The first meeting 

 scheduled for Cincinnati, Tuesday, October 8 was called off because health 

 authorities of Cincinnati closed all theatres and other meeting places and 

 have prohibited all public meetings of any cjiaracter. 



The second meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 23, and will 

 l)e held at the Grunewald hotel, New Orleans, La., in connection with the 

 regular monthly meeting of the Southwestern Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Club. 



Program for Southern Logging Meeting 



A preliminary copy of the program of the annual meeting of the South- 

 ern Logging Association has been issued through the offices of James 

 Boyd, secretary. The session will run for three days, namely, Wednes- 

 day, Thursday and Friday, October 23, 24 and 25. In addition to the 

 regular reports and addresses, there will be addresses on Labor For Log- 

 ging Camps by Cliff Williams, Conservation of Wasted Energy by W. T. 

 McGowin, Labor Maintenance In the Logging Industry by John Mahoney, 

 Conservation of Food by U. S. Food Administrator, Should the Cook 

 House Make Money? by C. C. Curry, Make-Shifts In Emergency Repairs. 

 J. H. Grimmett, and addresses on motor trucks covering their advantage 

 in logging and use in cypress swamps, on accident prevention and safety 

 first methods. 



There will be discussions on logging railroad and bridge construction, 

 on handling down timber and falling timber and cutting into logs, on 

 track laying, on height of stumps, skidding and loading problems, care 

 of teams and speeding up on government work. 



There wUl be a general discussion on Wednesday afternoon of welfare 

 work after which will follow election of officers and adjournment. 

 New Southern Traffic Office 



Jesse S. Thompson, now in the employ of the Southern Hardwood Traffic 

 Association at Memphis, has been named district manager of this organi- 

 zation for Texas and Louisiana, with headquarters at Alexandria, La. He 

 . will proceed to that point in a few days and complete arrangements for 

 opening offices there. 



This is the third branch to be opened by the association. The other two 

 are at Louisville, Ky., and Helena, Ark. The Alexandria branch will be 

 for the exclusive use of hardwood producers in the -two states already 



Mr. Thompson brings toKIa new duties a weTTlir of ejtjjerience in- rate- 

 add traffic matters, as well as in hanclling claims and adjustments aud in 

 pfeparlng r^pnr.Ttion cises for. the Interstate Commerce ComnjluBion. 

 You Mention HARDWOOD RECORD 



