HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



upon a given area in a specified time than 

 from any other American tree. The wood 

 is the most enduring of all our trees. It 

 succeeds over a greater range of territory 

 than any other valuable tree of this conti- 

 nent. Its habit of growth is upright, with 

 long trunk, where it has an opportunity, thus 

 differing from all other forms of oatalpa. 

 The chemical constituents of the wood are 

 so resistant of decay as to make expensive 

 artificial wood preservation entirely unneces- 

 sary. The roots are strong, vigorous, large 

 and deep, holding so firmly to the earth that 

 storms do not blow them over. It is 

 subject to disease and attacks of ins - 

 than any other tree of my acquaintanc. . 

 The wood has the same texture as butternut, 

 firm enough for tie purposes and hoM- 

 spike well. For inside car finish it is ad- 

 mirably adapted, partakes of high polish, lias 

 a handsome grain and is a superb wood for 

 furniture and inside finish. It is easily 

 manipulated with edge tools. Its strength is 

 ample for all requirements in railroad 

 work. 



TYPICAL '1/ iLPA BI6\ONOIDB8 GROWTH. 



This last named fact is well recognized by 

 railroad men. A prominent official of the 

 Illinois Central stated as long ago as 1871 

 that the catalpa will make a tie whieh will 

 last forever: that it is easily cultivated, of 

 rapid growth and will hold a spike as well 

 as oak, and will not split. An expert with 

 the Iron Mountain wrote that a railroad 

 once tied with catalpa will find its annual 

 expenses for repairs diminisheu $200 per 

 mile. 



Telegraph and telephone companies will 

 speedily welcome relief from the increasing 

 expense of obtaining poles, and this tree 

 with its tall, straight bole, is peculiarly 

 adapted to this -purpose, quickly grown, and 

 an admirable substitute for the rapidly di- 

 minishing cedar. For mining pari - - 

 eanoes, fence-posts, rails, cabinet work and 



interior finish its lumber is desirable; it is 

 suitable for the medium grades of furniture 

 and as a base for veneering it neither warps, 

 sivells nor shrinks unduly, and holds the glue 

 well. 



Tin- heartwood is brown, the sapv 

 lighter, nearly white: - - grained 



anu compact, with the annual layers plainly 

 indicated. Its open grain absorbs filling 

 readily and it may well be employed for the 

 purpose of imitating more expensive woods. 



The Hardwood Record is indebted to 

 .lohn P. Brown of Connersrille, Ind., author 

 Practical Arboriculture" tor much of 

 ti.e information contained in this article, and 

 fnr the photographs with which it is illus- 

 trated. Mr. Brown is the highest authority 

 in the United States on this subject and is 

 in charge of a number of plantations which 

 have been established by railroads in this 

 country and Mexico for the purpose of grow- 

 ing this wood in commercial quantities. 



'Builders of Lumber History. 



Frank F. Fee. 



The clean-cut, youthful-appearing mag- 

 netic face depicted in the supplement to this 

 issue of The Hardwood Record will be 

 recognized by a wide circle of lumbermen 

 as that of Frank F. Fee of Newark. O.. and 

 Newport. Ark., one of the most prominent 

 factors in the oak trade of the United 

 States. 



Mr. Fee was born in Ft. Wayne. Ind.. in 

 - . and comes of sturdy Scotch-Irish stock. 

 His grandfather was an Ohio pioneer, re 

 moving from Massachusetts to the present 

 site of Cleveland about 1S00. when that city 

 contained but five houses. His father was a 

 furniture merchant at Ft. Wayne, and it 

 was there that Mr. Fee received his educa- 

 tion, graduating from the high school at an 

 eariy age. He was about to take up a uni- 

 versi-v course when stricken with a severe 

 attack of malarial fever, and he was 

 obliged to give up the plan. In lieu of it 

 he de3ided to read law. and continued the 

 study for three years. Before he was able 

 to complete the course, illness again over- 

 took him and prevented the consummation of 

 that purpose, and forced him to take up some 

 line of business - \:ng and confining. 



In 1S>1 he began his career as a lumber- 

 man in the office of the Peters Box & Lum- 

 ber Company of Ft. Wayne, a position which 

 he kept for two years. He then went into 

 business on his own account, starting a hard- 

 wood sawmill at Markle. Inn., which he 

 operated for eight years. At the end of that 

 time, scarcity of timber caused him to 

 abandon this site and he erected a mill at 

 Lima, O.. which he operated for the next six 

 years. At the end of that time he closed out 

 the business there and removed to Xewark. 

 O., where he has been manufacturing lumber 

 ■rs. 



Mr. Fee has always been known as a - 

 cialist in oak. particularly quarter-sawed, 

 and his thoroughness in everything pertain- 

 ing to his business enables him to turn out 

 a product whi - - shed his reputa- 



tion as a manufacturer of the finest oak 

 lumber ever produced v. 9 of Ohio 



and Indiana. 



Within the last few months he I - 

 ized the Fee Crayton Hardwood Lumber 

 Company, with temporary ..See at Newport, 

 Ark. This new enterpris arge and 



NUMBER XXXVT1I. 



diversified one, including as it does the pur- 



chase of several large timber tracts: a band 

 sawmill formerly owned by the Windsor 

 Lumber Company at Dermott. Ark.; the 

 building of a new band mill at Newport; the 

 purchase of a circular sawmill and wagon 

 material factory at Jacksonport. Ark., for- 

 merly owned by J. M. Gibson, and also a 



LEAF ANT' FLOWER. CATALPA SPl 



circular mill formerly the property of the 

 Snyder Lumber Company at Strawberry, 

 Ark. Th- - - ind important inter- 



- - will make Mr. Fee s company one of 

 the most prominent factors in the state of 

 Arkansas in the production of oak. hickory 

 and gum lumber, and in the manufactui 

 g n material as well. 



The timber properties and various lumber 

 operations are all located upon the White and 

 Black rivers, making the entire ente 

 easily - . and on the whole a remark- 



ably com; 



of hardwoods will unnu- 



ally, a portion of this _ into the 



rt trade by wi Orleans: the 



- 'ill lie marketed in the East. Mr. I 

 lumber is as favorably ;v 



