IB 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



known abroad as in the home markets, and 

 the same high standard of manufacture and 

 grading that he has always followed will be 

 maintained in the new plant. Associated 

 with Mr. Fee as secretary and treasurer of 

 the new company is E. W. Crayton, who has 

 long been prominent in real estate and bank- 

 ing circles in Ohio. 



Mr. Fee at present resides at Newark, but 

 is making plans to almost immediately move 

 his family to Little Rock. He is married 

 and lias several children. Not only will lie 

 prove an acquisition to the social life of 



that city, but a great addition to the lumber 

 manufacturing element of Arkansas. 



Personally he is an all-around ''good fel- 

 low" in the very best sense of the term — 

 companionable, agreeable and popular, but 

 withal a man who holds out for high stand- 

 ards in everything he undertakes, and strict 

 integrity in business methods. He is promi- 

 nent in the affairs of the Hardwood Manu- 

 facturers ' Association of the United States, 

 and at its meeting in Memphis on Jan. 30 

 last was elected to membership on its Ex- 

 ecutive Board. 



Lumber Insurance Affairs. 



The Lumber Underwriters. 



The Lumber Underwriters, 66 Broadway, New 

 York City, announce that the results of last 

 year's business- are the most satisfactory of any 

 in the history of the organization. It is con- 

 stantly growing, although limited strictly to the 

 lumber business, which includes lumber mills 

 and woodworkers. The present quarters have 

 been enlarged. The name has been changed, 

 "at Mutual Lloyds" having been dropped. Eu- 

 gene F. Perry is the present attorney, taking 

 the place of 1". W. Mattocks, resigned. The in- 

 terests of J. .1. McKelvey, Pendennis White and 

 F. W. Mattocks have been bought by (be com- 

 pany, and Tin* remaining underwriters are C. 

 11. Carleton, Frederick W. Cole, Lewis Dill, R. 

 W. Higbie, W. A. Holt, W. C. Laidlaw, H. Shum- 

 way Lee. II. «'. Lippincott, E. F. Perry, C II. 

 Prescott. Jr.. Frank C. Rice, Horace F. Taj lor 

 and M. S. Tremaine. The Lumber Underwriters 

 are in no way whatever, , either directly or Indi- 

 rectly, .■.»nii. '.'ifil wiii A any other insurance rum- 

 pa ny. 



Pennsylvania Lumbermen's Mutual. 

 The annual meeting of the policyholders of the 

 above company was held at its office, 943 Drexel 

 building. Philadelphia. < n January '2'2. The 

 secretary's, treasurer's and auditors' reports 

 were presented and the showing for the year 

 was most satisfactory. During 1906 the pre 

 miums in force have increased from' $129,874 to 

 $149,727 ; the nel cash resources have grown 

 from $205,390 to $247,123; securities invested 

 amount to $200,242. This is the market value 

 -ui December 31, 1906, and shows an increase 

 of $47,055 for the year. The surplus increased 

 nearly $82,000 and amounted on December 31, 

 1906. to .?17'J,200. The company was mosl for 



tunate in its tire record during the past year; 

 its hisses amounted to $36,755. As a result of 

 the very excellent reports for the year, the 

 board of directors unanimously agreed to a 35 

 per cent dividend. This is an increase of 5 per 

 cent, the dividend paid during 1906 having 

 been 30 per cent. The company is writing in- 

 surance at full board rates where these rates 

 are regarded as adequate, relying upon the divi- 

 dends to effect a saving for its policyholders. 



/The officers for the ensuing year are as fol- 

 lows : Edward F. Ilenson, president ; Richard 

 Torptn, first vice president : W. Z. Sener, second 

 vice presidcnl ; Fdwin II. Coane, treasurer ; 

 Harry Humphreys, secretary. 



Lumber Insurers' General Agency. 

 The Lumber Insurers" General Agency, of 

 which K. II. McKeUey is secretary, has issued 

 financial statements of the three companies un- 

 der its management for the year ending January 

 1. 1907. These companies are the Lumber In- 

 surance Company of New York, the Toledo Fire 

 & Marine Insurance Company of Sandusky, O., 

 and i he Adirondack Fire Insurance Cumpany 

 with headquarters in New York City. The lat- 

 ter, the youngest company of the group, began 

 business May 1. 1906, and in its short existence 

 has accumulated a volume of business almost 

 equal to the average amount of insurance car- 

 ried by the ten or twelve specializing lumber 

 companies in the United States. This record 

 certainly emphasizes the fact that the lumber 

 trade is awake to its opportunities and quick to 

 take advantage of ,the facilities of a new com- 

 pany entering the field. The Toledo Fire & 

 Marine Insurance t'ompany was organized in 

 1848, and reorganized under the present man- 

 agement in 1902, since which time the fire losses 

 paid have amounted to but $158,494.01. 



The Modern Furniture Factory. 



THE FINISHING BOOM. 



The value of tin/ finishing room as an aid 

 to selling goods is exemplified in the experi- 

 of :< Michigan firm less than three 

 years old. In the short time they have been 

 in the business of furniture making thej 

 have -'in their sales increase over 300 per 

 cent, and they trace their success to the care 

 bestowed on their stock in the finishing 

 room. Before the pieces were sent out they 

 were filled, stained, and varnished most care- 

 fully ; in fact, considerable more time was 

 s|m nt on them than is usually the case in 

 the modern furniture factory. The result 

 was that when trial orders were secured their 

 stock stood out so decidedly on the floor 

 among competing products that sales wen- 

 rapid. Their furniture was not better made, 

 but it had been given a finish that was a 

 little more expensive and had been put on 

 more carefully than that of their competi- 

 tors. 



By the time a piece of furniture has been 

 made up and assembled for the finishing 

 loom, the surface of its parts have been 

 planed and sanded on the different marl s 



to an almost perfect face. It is then ready 

 to have the filler applied to it. The fillers 

 are compositions made up in different colors 

 to prepare the surface of the wood previous 

 to the varnishing. They fill up the pores of 

 the wood, rendering the surface hard and 

 smooth. In cases where the wood is to be 

 finished in the natural no stains are applied, 

 but after the filler has dried, which it does 

 in about twenty-four hours, the first coat of 

 varnish is applied. When shellac is used as 

 a liasis for the varnish it is dissolved in 

 alcohol or some other solvent and applied 

 with a brush over the surface of the piece. 



G I varnish ought to dry quickly and show 



a hard and tough film. It ought also to 

 show a good and permanent gloss and be 

 durable on exposure to the weather. When 

 these qualities are found in a high degree 

 the surface attained after several coats is 

 one that will last without perceptible change 

 for a generation. 



In order to secure such a finish and be 

 sure of a durable surface, fine class furniture 

 is put through the varnishing process many 



times. In the case of the more pretentious 

 work in mahogany as many as twelve coats 

 are given the wood, and as each one tends 

 to render the surface smoother and the grain 

 clearer a most beautiful effect is produced. 



After the coat of varnish is applied it is 

 left to stand until it thoroughly dries, a 

 period of some ten days, before it is given 

 to the rubbers to be polished. The rubbers 

 use a felt mitt with oil in order to rub in 

 the substance and sweep the surface from 

 en. I to end, being careful to rub slowly in 

 the direction of the grain. Too fast and 

 too hard rubbing induces a heat that destroys 

 tne effect. After the coat has been thor- 

 oughly polished, another surface is put on 

 and again left to stand until it thoroughly 

 dries when the same careful process of rub- 

 bing is gone through again. 



It is when woods are stained to other than 

 their natural color that the skill of the fin- 

 isher becomes most apparent. For instance, 

 the back and arms of a rocking-chair may be 

 made of mahogany, and the legs and rock- 

 ers of birch which is a strong, tough wood 

 and better suited for the purpose thau the 

 other. In order to secure a uniform appear- 

 ance, the birch is stained a mahogany color 

 and as the grain is somewhat similar it is 



exi dingly hard for anyone not an expert 



to tell the difference. Birch takes all the 

 shades of dark stain with beautiful effect, 

 has a fine grain and takes a high ponsh. 



The filler must be a good one, having as 

 its basis silex, and thoroughly penetrate the 

 wood, for if it is only a species of cheap 

 varnish it will remain on the surface and 

 fail to cover the marks and pores 



In order to secure the best results the bet- 

 ter practice is to use a thinner filler on open- 

 grained woods such as oak, ash, cypress, etc., 

 than on close grained woods such as maple, 

 lurch, etc. 



In making uniform the color of a piece 

 of furniture or finishing one wood to re- 

 semble another stains are employed, either 

 lighter or darker as the ease may require. 

 Tin' wood then stands until it is dry before 

 the varnish that gives it a durable and 

 glassy appearance is put on. In the weath- 

 ered oak effects, which are very popular, wax- 

 plays a great part in the final surface, being 

 thoroughly rubbed into the wood after the 

 filler ana stain have been applied. It also 

 shows a surface that does not mar, is dura- 

 ble, and what is of more importance to the 

 average housekeeper can be renewed with 

 little trouble, by using beeswax with a very 

 Utile paraffine and enough turpentine to dis 

 solve it. When this is rubbed into the sur- 

 face it renews the finish and makes it more 

 durable than ever, so that each time the 

 operation is performed, the coat becomes 

 more substantial and lasting. 



The preparation of fillers, stains, varnishes 

 and wax is now being done so scientifically 

 that the most beautiful results are being at- 

 tained. When it is considered that there is 

 little difference in the price of good and bad 

 varnish, and that one coat more or less does 

 not materially affect the cost of production, 

 but on the other hand results in an increased 

 degree of attractiveness in the piece, the 

 economy in a hurried and slovenly treatment 

 of furniture in the finishing room can hardly 

 be recognized. 



