24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



regained upon subsequent seasoning. It is quite 

 certain, however, that the brief steaming pre- 

 paratory to kiln-drying, which lasts only from 

 five to fifteen minutes, will have only very slight 

 effect, or no effect at all, on the strength of the 

 material. 



Submersion in Water. 

 Prolonged submersion of wood in water is be- 

 lieved to prepare it well for drying. The prob- 

 able reason for this is the leaching out of the 

 sap constituents so that the cell cavities finally 

 contain approximately pure water ; for the or- 

 ganic sap, as we have already seen, appears to 

 hamper the extraction of water in drying. In 

 rafting, logs frequently remain a long time in 

 water before they are sawed, and the lumber cut 

 from such logs is held to dry more readily and 

 thoroughly. For the past two years the Forest 

 Service has been conducting experiments on the 

 influence of submersion upon subsequent air- 

 seasoning. These experiments are not yet con- 

 cluded, but present results add weight to these 

 views. The effect of submersion upon subsequent 

 drying varies with species and climate. 



Testing the Results. 

 For thoroughly testing the effects of kiln- 

 drying on the wood, methods must be employed 

 which call for specially trained men. The quality 

 of workability in the mill, for instance, though 

 hard to explain to the tyro, is readily recognized 

 by planing mill men, sawyers and woodworkers 

 generally. 



Kiln-dried material should work smooth under 

 the planer and sander ; should pass through the 

 saw with a peculiar resonance, and should stand 

 up to cutting edges of all descriptions with little 

 tearing of the fiber. Improperly dried material 

 tears out either with or across the fiber and can 

 be given a polished surface only with difficulty. 

 Workability is thus rather a. complex quality; it 

 is determined by the general judgment of the 

 trained workmen handling the stock- 

 Differences of color, smell and resonance, by 

 which also the experienced kiln operator judges 

 his stock, are almost as difficult for the layman 

 to distinguish. 



Measurement of shrinkage and of loss in 

 weight forms a somewhat more scientific test for 

 freshly kiln-dried material. For this, disks are 

 cut from the middle of kiln-dried stock and care- 



fully measured either with a scale or by tracing 

 their outline, and are also weighed. The disks 

 are then put in a hot box or placed directly on 

 a steam pipe, with free circulation of air. After 

 being heated for a few days to a temperature 

 higher than that in the kiln, they are remeas- 

 ured or compared with their former outlines to 

 determine shrinkage, and reweighed to determine 

 loss in weight. The extent to which kiln-drying 

 has fulfilled its purpose is thus brought out. 



Unsolved Problems. 



That the foregoing discussion of hardwood 

 kiln-drying is incomplete is due to lack of exact 

 information upon a number of points of more or 

 less importance. It may prove helpful to call 

 special attention to several of these. 



Physical data of the properties of wood in 

 relation to heat are very meager. Figures on 

 the specific heat of wood, for instance, are not 

 readily available, though upon this rests not 

 only the exact operation of heating coils for 

 kilns, but the theory of kiln-drying as a whole. 



Great divergence is shown in the results of 

 experiments in the conductivity of wood. It 

 remains to be seen whether the known varia- 

 tion of conductivity with moisture content will 

 reduce these results to uniformity. 



The maximum temperature to which the wood 

 may be exposed without serious loss of strength 

 has not been determined. 



The optimum temperature for drying Is en- 

 tirely unsettled. 



The interrelation between wood and water is 

 as imperfectly known to dry-kiln operators as 

 that between wood and heat. What moisture 

 conditions obtain in a stick of air-dried w r ood ; 

 how is the moisture distributed ; what is its 

 form? What is the meaning of the peculiar sur- 

 face conditions which, even in air-dried stock, 

 appear to indicate incipient casehardening? These 

 questions can be answered thus far only by 

 speculation or at best on the basis of incom- 

 plete data. 



Until these problems are solved kiln-drying 

 must remain without the guidance of complete 

 scientific theory. The Forest Service is now 

 studying the effect of temperatures and steam 

 pressures used in drying upon the strength of 

 wood, and will take up other related problems as 

 opport unity permits. 



Netos Miscellany. 



Conference Over Inspection Matters. 

 A conference has been arranged to take place 

 early in March between representatives of the 

 National Hardwood Lumber Association and of 

 the New York Lumber Trade Association for 

 tie purpose of considering inspection matters, 

 particularly the system now In use in that 

 market. The enthusiasm regarding uniform in- 

 spection, which has been so marked at several 

 recent meetings in the middle west, has reached 

 the east, and it is presaged that the forthcom- 

 ing conference will show important results. 



Enterprise of a Contemporary. 

 The St. Louis Lumberman has commenced the 

 publication of a series of articles on the utiliza- 

 tion of wood waste by distillation by W. B. 

 Harper, M. S. In the discussion of this subject 

 the chief wood that will be considered is long- 

 leaf yellow pine, although reference will be made 

 to others. The articles are from a standard 

 authority and it is proposed to eventually pub- 

 lish them in book form. 



of the compauy. were indicted for using the 

 mails to defraud. The criminal case is pending 

 in the federal court. Miller, in his petition, 

 informed the court that the business of the con- 

 cern was still being conducted. 



Isaiah B. Miller, involved in the foregoing 

 cases. Is of the firm of Markley & Miller, con- 

 tractors for the International Lumber & Devel- 

 opment Company, which has its headquarters 

 at Philadelphia. They were the promoters of 

 that enterprise as well, and these two institu- 

 tions are of a number of enterprises of a sim- 

 ilar nature which have been instituted and 

 exploited by Miller, Markley and others. 



Bankruptcy Proceedings Dismissed. 

 On Wednesday. February 20, Judge Landis 

 dismissed the bankruptcy proceedings begun in 

 Chicago August 24 last against the Tobasco- 

 Chiapas Trading & Transportation Company, of 

 which Isaiah B. Miller is treasurer. The dismis- 

 sal was based upon the petition of the treasurer, 

 in which the court was informed that the con- 

 troversy between the persons' who had filed the 

 involuntary petition in bankruptcy and the com- 

 pany had been settled, and that due legal notice 

 had been served upon all the creditors and none 

 had protested. Following the filing of the in- 

 voluntary petition against the concern, Isaiah 

 B. Miller and Henry D. Bushnell. another officer 



American Woods Abroad. 



Statistics show that practically the whole 

 world is calling for American woods and wood 

 goods. Exports of this kind increased 33 per 

 cent during nine months of 1906 over 1905, and 

 in that time amounted to . $50,000,000. which 

 sum does not include the value of shipments 

 from American ports to contiguous territory, 

 which amount to at least $3,000,000. This sum 

 is nearly double the total value of exports of 

 this kind made ten years ago. They consist in 

 large part of boards, deals, planks, joists and 

 scantling, the next important item being furni- 

 ture. 



Wood Pavements. 

 The five cities in which the largest amount of 

 wood pavement are found are. in order, Indian- 

 apolis, New York. Minneapolis. Toledo and Bos- 

 ton. Together these cities have more creosoted 

 wood pavement than all other cities in the 

 United States combined. The total amount of 

 this pavement in use in this country at the end 

 of the year 1903 was about 1.400.000 square 

 yards, equivalent to nearly eighty miles of pave- 

 ment on a street thirty feet wide. — Woodcraft. 



Manufacturers of Parquet Flooring Meet. 



The parquetry flooring industry is beginning 

 to mark some of the important steps in its 

 progress. This trade has been growing consid- 

 erably of late years, and to insure its growth 

 in the right manner and to increase the use of 

 the product, the leading manufacturers of par- 

 quetry flooring have recently organized an asso- 

 ciation, which held an interesting meeting at 

 the Seelbach hotel, Louisville, Ky., February 

 11 and 12. Several of those prominent in the 

 trade have been meeting together informally 

 for some time, and this meeting practically com- 

 pletes the work of cementing the members to- 

 gether into an association for working in har- 

 mony to promote the use of parquetry flooring 

 and the general good of the industry. 



Sessions were held during the two days for 

 the discussion of various topics of special inter- 

 est to the manufacturers gathered together, and 

 between sessions the visitors were the guests of 

 W. A. McLean of the Wood Mosaic Flooring 

 Company of New Albany. Intl. On Monday even- 

 ing Mr. McLean treated the visitors to a lunch- 

 eon at the Pendennis Club, and a theater party. 

 After the final session. February 12, they w T ere 

 taken in automobiles out to the Highland Park 

 plant of the Wood Mosaic Flooring Company, 

 which manufactures hardwood ' lumber, part of 

 which is used at the New Albany plant to make 

 flooring and part of which is used for flitches 

 in the veneer mill there ; considerable of it is 

 also shipped east, direct from the mill. Later 



W. A. McLEAN, WOOD MOSAIC FLOORING 

 CO., NEW ALBANY, IND., PRESIDENT. 



the guests were taken to New Albany to look 

 over the plant of the Wood Mosaic Flooring 

 Company there, which is not only extensive but 

 strictly up-to-date in every respect. 



The officers of the new association are : Pres- 

 ident, W. A. McLean, New Albany, Ind. ; vice 

 president, C. H. Comstock, Indianapolis, Ind. ; 

 secretary. M. J. Traub, Anderson, Ind. ; treas- 

 urer, Henry Latham, Indianapolis, Ind. 



Not only the officers but all the manufacturers 

 are enthusiastic over parquetry flooring, and 

 tiny feel confident that it is the coming flooring 

 material. Oak and the other hardwoods that 

 go into this work are acknowledged to be the 

 best for the purpose, and manufacturers of par- 

 quetry hold that their method of putting it up 

 not only gives a grace and elegance of pattern 

 not found elsewhere, but insures economy In the 

 use of woods, which is a great point in Its 

 favor. 



Eoddis Veneer Plant Burns. 

 On the night of February IT fire destroyed 

 the plant of the Roddis Lumber & Veneer Com- 

 pany at Marshfield, Wis., causing a loss of 



