HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



'Builders of Lumber History. 



Hans Dierks. 

 Si 1 poi trait 8-upplemt nt. 



Hans Dierks, the subject of the sketch and 

 portrait supplement presented in lliis issui 

 "i the II AKDwiKPi) Record, is a type of thi 



- ssful and capable German stock which 



has become a structural part of out nation 

 ality. He was born near Hamburg March 

 II. 1850, but is to all intents American, for 

 his parents emigrated to thi.s country and 



located on a t'arn ar Clinton, la., when 



he was but two years old. He secured the 

 education that the public schools of the place 

 afforded and worked on his father's farm 

 from the end of his school days until liis 

 twenty-fourth year. At that time he married 

 -Miss Bertha Schmitt of Clinton and began 

 farming on his own account, buying a place 

 near Walnut, la. 



His inclinations and abilities, however, 

 found too narrow a scope in agricultural pur- 

 suits and in 1881 he formed a partnership 

 with his brother, John Dierks, and a Mr. 

 Lampson for the purpose of carrying on a 

 retail lumber business. The firm operated 

 yards at Walnut and other points in Iowa 

 until 1884, when the co-partnership was dis- 

 Mibeil and the holdings disposed of to various 

 parties. Hans Dierks then moved to Ne- 

 braska and started yards at Juniata and 

 Kenesaw, but he practically only established 

 them, for in 1885 he sold the properties to 

 Howard Bros, of Denver, Col. The same 

 year, however, he laid the foundations for 

 the great system of interests which has since 

 become known as the Dierks Lumber & 

 I 1.1I Company by .starting lumber yards at 

 Broken Bow and Litchfield. Neb., taking into 

 partnership his brother Herman and styling 

 the firm Dierks Bros. Later on Peter and 

 Henry Dierks, also brothers, were taken into 

 the firm, although Henry died about Four 

 years afterward, and new yards wen' added 

 to those already owned until the total number 

 under the control of the partnership amounted 

 to thirteen. In 1893 they moved their head 

 quarters to Lincoln, Neb., and incorporated 

 under the name of the Dierks Lumber & Coal 

 < 'company. 



In 1S9U Mi. hierks removed to Kansas City 

 and opened a retail yard at Sixteenth and 

 Magee streets, and the same year broadened 

 his business by establishing a planing mill 

 at Petros, 1. T.. where he manufactured the 

 output of the small sawmills in that vicinity. 

 In 1889 1 In- present extensive manufacturing 

 interests of the Dierks Lumbei >\ Coal Corn- 

 pan 1 wen 1 ounded bj 1 be ei ect ion of a lai gi 

 yellovc pine saw and planing mill at De 



Q 11. Ark., and the following year a modern 



uood band mill was established at the 

 same place. As conditions arose which aece 

 sitated the extension of the company's busi 

 ness. they were met in a practical and com 



prehensiM manner. The Di Qi and 



Eastern, a standard gauge railroad, fifty miles 



NUMBEU XXXIV. 



long, lapping 100, :n res of fine 3 ellovi 



pine and hardwood timberland owned by the 

 impany, was built, the mills were constantly 



PRINT (IF BLACK LOCUST FOLIAGE. 



improved by the addition of modern ap- 

 pliances, and the distribution of the lumber 

 from the forest to the consumer through the 



ium oi the retail yards and othei sources 

 was developed to a high degree of efficiency. 



I he mills at I le Queen 1 he com 



puny have a daily capacitj of lfi0,000 feet 

 of yellovi pine and 10,000 feet of hardwoods. 



The headquarters of the Hierks Lumbe/ 

 & Coal Company arc still located at Lincoln, 

 Neb., from which point the business of the 

 retail yards, now numbering eighteen, is 

 direi ted, p, bill 1 he general ma nagement of 

 the mill, railroad and timber interests of the 

 concern is carried on from Kansas City. The 



present holdings of the eompi - in which 



Hans Dierks is the controlling figure and 

 principal owner, namely, the Dierks Lumber 

 \ foal Company, the He Queen and Eastern 

 Railroad, and the Hierks & Sons Lumber 

 Company of Kansas City, exceed in value 

 $2,000,000. 



The career of Haus Hierks is an incentive 

 to anyone who knows it. He started with no 

 financial advantages other than those held by 

 numerous young men in this country and by 

 strict application to business, an opportune 

 grasp of advantages as they came within his 

 vision, and the foresight to broaden his enter 

 prises to meet the needs of the times built up 

 a series of operations which give employment 

 to hundreds of men and are financially among 

 the strongest in his section of the country. 



Mr. Dierks has four children, Herman, who 

 is manager of the mills at De Queen, Ark.; 

 Harry, who has charge of the wholesale offices 

 at Kansas City; Mrs. Ada Frey, who lives at 

 Broken Bow, Neb., and Miss Rosa Hierks. 

 He takes an active interest in lodge matters 

 and is a member of the Elks, 1 Idd Fellows. 

 A. O. U. W., and the ( oncatenated Order of 

 II00-H00. 



HardWood Record jVfa*7 Bag. 



[In this department it is proposed to reply 

 to such inquiries as reach this office from the 

 Hardwood Record clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to warrant publication. Every 

 patron of the paper >s invited to use this de- 

 partment to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made to answer queries pertaining to all 

 matters of Interest to the hardwood trade, in 

 a succinct and intelligent manner.! 



Rock Elm Dimension. 



New Ycikk. i >ii *jf Editor Hardwood Rec- 

 ord We wish to gci into communication with 

 a mill that can gef ouf small sizes in rock elm, 

 in squares .iml dowels, and could use a carload 

 a month. 



I f any of the readers of 1 he 1 1 \un» ood 

 Record can supply the requirements asked 

 for in this letter they will be put into com 

 mimical ion with 'tic writer by addressing tins 

 office I'm 



Seeking Black Walnut. 



Wii.m 1 m. pin. 1 ml. 1 id 31. Editor 1 1 urn- 



u Record: Can you assist us by giving us 



the 11.' s of well-known walnut manufacturers 



win, would likely have * .. . ■"•„ ami : '-, Inch thick 



in. 1. \\ 1 ha re an order to place for 100, 



<ii and will give hank guarantee oi the ac 

 mm and "ill paj slghl draft attached to hill 

 of lading, less two per tent. 



Such terms an attractive, of course, to anj 

 one, unci perhaps you could find a mill for us 



that would want this order. We Uiink the -Mis 

 souri and Arkansas walnut ought to be all right 



for this. . 



The writer of the above letter has been 

 supplied with the address of quite a number 

 of walnut producers, but others who wish to 

 be put into communication with him may ad- 

 vise this office. — Editor. 



Concerning Log Scale. 



Amsterdam, Holland, Oct. 9. Editor Hard- 

 wood Record: We have a question at issue with 



one of our buyers about the asurement of 



poplar logs. We sold our buyer in dollars per 

 1,000 square feet and he demands a calculation 

 to he made -7 inches and under, per the Doyle 

 rule-, and us inches and over, per Si Tinner's 



I'llle. while We eali'llhllecl In 111 lit pel' Uoyle TUlC 



We would like to know which is correct. — 



Both the Hardwood Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation nt the United States and the National 



Hardw I I ber Association authori 



their official log measui ernes 



Scribner rule, which calculi 27 inches 



and Nihlia by the I >oj le rule and 2S 



ami o\er In the Scribner rule This rule, 



then, is practically the official and standard 



on-' iii the I ni" However, in some 



