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HARDWOOD RECORD 



fundamental process of alternately (Hitting one foot before the 

 other. The world moves step by step. Evolution is constantly 

 transpiring in morals, in religion, in business. There is no such 

 tiling us successfully standing still. Such things us do not advance 

 go backward, and the great world wide impulse is forward. The 

 National Association made its Buffalo bargain with no one bin 

 itself. If it be proven (and I his seems to have been most conclu- 

 sively done at the Cincinnati meeting I that the present inspection 

 rules are not up to date ami are not ill some respects in accordance 

 with current commercial practices, why should not the former error 

 it judgment be corrected! When a just man makes a mistake his 

 .■arliest impulse is to right it. Why should an association differ 

 from an individual? This opinion is fully shared by the last ex- 

 president of the association — the most astute diplomat and politician 

 who lias ever taken part iii its work — as evidenced by his arguments 

 in favor of abrogating the Buffalo resolution. It can plainly be 

 Men that to him want of progress means retrogression. 



There are many high-class, upright, intelligent business men 

 associated with the National. Hardwood Lumber Association. A 



g I many of them were present at the Cincinnati meeting, but 



another large element of the same class was conspicuous by its 

 absence. It is unfortunate that the importance of association work 

 cannot be so thoroughly impressed upon .'very man prominent in the 

 hardwood industry that he will be present at every business meeting 

 of his organization and take part in its deliberations. If he neglects 

 this duty and legislation transpires which is unjust, faulty, or defi- 

 cient, he has no one to blame but himself. The National Hardwood 

 Lunibei Association has almost unlimited opportunities for the bet 

 lering of the morals and the character of the industry. These oppor- 

 tunities should not lie neglected. It is the sincere hope of the 

 HARDWOOD RECORD that at the next annual meeting of this associa- 



ti very man who is a member, who has a pride in his calling, who 



stands for dean and up to date methods, who is honest with himself 

 and his trade, will be present and assist in legislation looking 

 toward the highest standard of business morals and business progress. 



Crooked History Repeated. 



The Hardwood Record congratulates itself that a good many of 

 its patrons have been saved no inconsiderable loss by its exposure of 

 the Pittsburg Fuel Company of Pittsburg, Fa., an. I its immediate 

 successor, the Delaware Hardwood Lumber Company of Wilmington. 

 Del. Advices recently received indicate that the latter outfit has 

 discontinued business, and .1. ( '. Harris and his confederates have 

 left for parts unknown. Of course there are creditors left to hold 

 the bag, which always happens to those who "fail to read the 

 papers.'' There is a movement on foot among creditors to raise 

 a fund for the purpose of putting- detectives on the trail of Harris 

 and Ins confederates and apprehending an. I prosecuting them in a 

 criminal way. In the case of the Delaware Hardwood Lumber Com- 

 pany he has adopted his usual and favorite plan of operation. He 

 induces the unsophisticated hardwood man to ship a car of lumber 

 t,, a certain point; upon its arrival makes a quick sale at a low 

 figure, and, by allowing an especially high discount, secures prompt 

 cash. How many creditors the concern has has not yet developed, 

 but they are not inconsiderable in number in spite of the repeated 

 warnings of the Record. 



It is passing strange that any lumberman of even ordinary intelli- 

 gence could be induced to ship lumber to strangers, no matter how 

 alluring the bait in the way of price and terms proposed might be. 



In the present condition of hardw I affairs there is no good reason 



ivhy hardwood lumbermen should not sell every foot of their lumbei 

 ai a good price to reputable concerns. 



Meeting of Michigan Hardwood Manufacturers. 



At th af of the Michigan Hardwood Manufacturers' Asso- 



ciation held al Traverse City Oct. 31, that body put itself squarely 

 on record for the basic principle that the manufacturer is entitled to 

 legislate on the inspection of his own product insofar as that in- 

 spection is "fair and jnsl to both producer and consumer.'' In- 

 spection rub's covering the chief varieties of woods growing in the 

 Wolverine state were adopted and are printed elsewhere in this Lssui 

 of the RECORD. While the association declared itself as being in- 



clined to cast its fortunes with the Hardwood Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation of the United States, it also held out the olive branch to the 

 National Hardwood Lumber Association, with which many of its 

 members have formerly been allied, and appointed a committee to 

 confer with it on the subject of amending its inspection rules on cer- 

 tain varieties of w Is to suit the present economic needs of both 



producer and consumer. 



The full proceedings of this meeting, printed elsewhere in this 

 issne, show that identified with this movement are concerns repre- 

 senting between seventy-five and eighty per cent of the total hard- 

 wood output of the state; also that Michigan hardwood stocks have 

 never been in as short supply as at the present time, and fully dem- 

 onstrate that the position of the association for successfully adminis- 

 tering its own affairs is a remarkably strong one. 



The meeting was marked by the manifest interest of leading 

 hardwood producers of the neighboring slate of Wisconsin, and it is 

 more than probable that the manufacturing element of that state 

 will promptly join the movement inaugurated by the Michigan 

 operators. The Michigan Hardwood Manufacturers' Association has 

 made a splendid beginning, which il will certainly carry forward to 

 the inestimable advantage of both its members and the trade at large. 



Substitutes for Favored Woods. 



The Furniture Journal of Chicago in editorially discussing the 

 question of substitutes for favored hardwoods notes the necessity 

 which is being forced upon manufacturers of furniture for using 

 some other wood for oak in view of the steadily diminishing supply 

 and high cost of this wood. The writer notes that the increasing 

 price of oak is entirely out of proportion to the price which furni- 

 ture manufacturers secure for their goods. The Journal says that 

 one manufacturer who has looked hopefully toward birch, which it- 



still cheap and plentiful and an admirable cabinet w I, finds that 



the public will not buy furniture of plain birch in the natural finish, 

 and he has some difficulty in matching the wood, which is not 

 always uniform in color. Thus it is contended that to secure 

 uniformity of color entails more waste than the manufacturer can 

 afford; that the stained birch has a tendency to fade, and that con 

 sequently birch is not a satisfactory substitute for oak or mahogany. 

 Tin- Journal advocates the use of red gum as a substitute for some 

 of the highest class American woods for furniture making. 



Undeniably gum has the making of a very desirable wood for 

 many kinds of medium and low-priced furniture, and in some in- 

 stances would work admirably into the finest goods. It certainly 

 is a magnificent wood and its use is extending in many directions 

 outside of the furniture trade In fact, the call for gum today 

 is well up to the full probable supply for some time t one. 



Of birch as a material for furniture making the HARDWOOD 

 Record has information from reliable producers of medium and 

 high-class furniture that is quite at variance with the opinion of 

 He' Journal. Primarily outside of the very best furniture no 

 atempt is now made by manufacturers to closely match figure. In 

 a glued-up job the maker puts his sap edges together and his heart 

 edges together, because that is the only way that he can make a cer- 

 tainty of a g I glue joint. No matter whether the w I be 



mahogany, oak or birch, he then stains it either darker or lighter. 

 as taste and demand may dictate. In the case of the sap, or light 



u I. ii is given a coat of stain approximating the tone of the 



heart wood. A second coat of stain is then applied to the entire 

 surface, and general uniformity is insured. The stain often is 

 given in part by the filler. Of birch it may be said that it has 

 the highest physics, i. e., the highest quality of any American hard 

 wood growing in a reasonably large quantity, save that of the better 

 types of oak. It has a density and strength far superior to gum, 

 will hold its finish infinitely better, and if analine stains are not 

 used it will hold the stained color as well as any wood. In short, 

 birch has density, weight, strength, good working qualities, and is 

 comparatively cheap. For the purpose of furniture making there 

 is but one weakness that .an be urged against it. Owing to the 

 slight percentage of oil contained in the wood considerable care 

 has to be exercised in the drying process^ so as to insure a perma- 

 nent glue joint. 



