HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



" 'Joe, says Barney to me one night, after 

 he had come back and found me in the cook 

 Bhanty, 'it's just like heaven over there in 

 that hunggalou. ami if the old man don't do 

 somethin' for them kids I'll never cook 

 another meal for him as long as I live.' I 

 saw that Barney was all winked up over 

 somethin', so i said, 'Ye know Shakespeare 

 says, "Be it ever so humble, there is no 

 place like home," and the Bible tells us 

 "Heaven is love." So with that bunggaloo 

 hi a home and each other tn love thej ean 

 git alnng without the old man fer a little 

 w bib'. ' 



" 'But, Joe. the girl's got to get out to 

 town soon. She can't staj here much lunger. 

 She'll soon need the doctor's care and some 

 11. hi tn be with her, and this mornin' the 

 1 1 . . % came home sirk. He looked feverish to- 

 night. I tell ye, when the old man comes 

 up agin he's got to go over to that bunggaloo 

 if 1 have to take him in my arms.' 



" 'Ye ran do it. Harney, and if ye ean't, 

 1 il help ye,' 1 sai.l to him as I turned in. 

 The nrxt night as we was settin' down to 

 the supper table I thought I saw through the 

 window the girl cumin' up the path, but I 

 went tn the door and as I found no one 1 

 tin. light I was seein' things and said nothin' 



body. But .jess as we were goin' to bed 



Barney came to me and whispered, 'Come out- 

 side, and don't let the boys get onto ye.' 



••I. got out as i|iiick as I could, and there 

 was Barney and the girl, her face all teary 

 and pale-like, her lips bine ami In -r teeth 

 chatterin' with cold. 



" 'Joe,' saiil Barney, 'can ye hitch up and 

 go fer the doctor? The buy is crazy sick and 

 the girl here is much worried about him. 

 We've gut tu git over there as soon as we 

 kin.' He followed me to the barn and 

 whispered, 'I am afraid that buy's gut the 

 smallpox, so it I don't come back in the 

 mornin' will you and the shanty buy do the 

 b 1st ye ' an foi 1 he boys ' breakfast .' ' 



" 'Sure 1 will,' 1 called back as I drove out 



for the doctor. As luck would have it I 1 



him ah. nit two miles out eoniin ' in to see 

 Jim, who ha.l smashed his leg, ami we hur- 

 ried back to the bunggaloo. Barney met us 

 at the door ami he would nut let me come 

 iieac. tui' he said In was sure the buy had the 

 smallpox. 'Ye go out tu the town,' he sai.l. 

 'ami ye see thai old skunk that claim- to 

 I,.- this buy's father, ami ye tell him his eook 

 is takin' care ul' a man with the smallpox, 

 aail it lie iluii'l want his camp tu go on a 

 strike he better get another doughmixer .lam 

 quick.' .lust as I was turnin' round he came 

 as neai tu me as he dared and sai.l, 'Joe, ye 

 must contrive tu see the boy's mother ami 



tell her she must get a couple of w en out 



here purty quick, because il looks as though 



Eore mornin' there'll be a live baby or a 

 dead mother in here besides the smallpox 

 patient. Drive like hell, Joe,' he yelled after 

 in., ami don't come back without a couple of 

 women if ye have tu kidnap 'em.' 



"Boys, did ye ever drive all night through 

 1 snow-covered forest? It was so still, and I 

 was m. nervous that the horses' houfbeats on 



the hard snow seemed poundin ' on my heart. 

 I believe I cried as well as swore, and I 

 killed one of the ..hi man's best mares that 

 night, buys. It dropped in its tracks as T 

 pulled up at the gate uf the old man's house 

 as the sun was cumin' up over the tree tops. 

 I commenced tu holler before I '.I fairly pulled 



il)i the horses, ami he flung up an upper win- 

 dow with a jerk. 'What's the matter?' he 

 asked, 'Are the camps burnin ' up?' 



" 'Worse 'n that.' I answered. 'Old Bar- 

 ney's gone to nurse a man with the smallpox, 

 and you've gut a strike on your hands.' 



" 'Damn his rotten hide,' 1 heard him ex- 

 claim, and then the white face uf a woman 

 appeared at the window. 



"Someway, buys, mothers always guess. 



•• 'Joe, is it my buy that's got tin- small- 



puN 



the ul'l mail 's w ife asked. 



' ' I nodded my head. 



"It didn't seem a minut before that 

 blessed woman was downstairs, ami then I 

 told her the whole story. In less than an 

 hour we were on our way agin with two 

 women, a man who'd had the smallpox, tic 

 buy's mother and enough hot-water bottles, 

 rubes ami other things to keep a regiment 

 warm. A bed was put in the back of the big 

 sled, and the old man's wife said quietly, 

 'John, I'll bring our sun's wife home.' The 

 ul. I man didn't speak; lie blew his nose jest 



terrible. It was 1 n before we gut to the 



bunggaloo, and we drove up as near the door 



as we dared. Barney c ut. his face 



whiter 'n I've ever seen it. but his eyes was 

 all tender-like ami his mouth was smiling. 



" 'Mary, ye 're a grandma,' he said. The 

 old man's wife answered, 'Thank God for 

 ye, Barney. Ye have done for me and mine 

 inure than any other mi this earth.' Jess 

 then I remembered that Harney and the old 

 man wanted tu marry the same girl, and it 

 kinder choked me all up. 



"It was fixed up between them that tin 

 mother and the baby should be wrapped up 

 well and taken out to the old man's house, 

 though the girl begged hard to be left with 

 her husband. I heard Barney say to her as 

 he tucked the hot-water bottles and robes 

 'round her, 'Don't you worry, dear, old Bar- 

 ney '11 stick by him and he'll come out all 

 right. Ye see. we musn't let the kiddie get 

 the smallpox. ' 



"Well, buys, Harney ami the nurse brought 

 the boy through, and the mother and baby- 

 got along fine, and 1 never heard him speak 

 of that night but, once, and that was when 



the whole family can nt tu tell him the 



boy was name. I after him. It was then the 

 girl threw her arms about his neck, and Bar- 

 ney said as the tears streai I down his face, 



'I'm damned glad, little gal, that old Bar- 

 ney was 'round that night, for God only 

 knows what you'd dune there all by yourself, 

 but I'm free tu say that nut fur ten years 

 of my life would 1 go through it agin?' 



"Ye see," concluded the oracle, as the 

 siiuml of Barney's sleigh bells grew fainter in 

 the distance, "it's just as the Scotch poet 

 Milton says. 'The boss may be the cuss with 

 the dollars, but even the camp cook can be a 

 man fur all t hat. ' 



National Veneer & Vanel }Aanufac= 

 turers 9 Association. 



The report of the first .lay's session uf the 

 first annual meeting uf the National Veneer & 

 Panel Manufacturers' Association appeared in 



the last issue of the ll.utnw Recohd, save Unit 



three very practical ami interesting addresses 

 were uf necessity omitted. They were those of 

 M. ('. Dow on lie subject of "Manufacturers' 

 c'usl in Veneer ami Panel Making"; of L. I'. 



Groffman on "G I Fellowship"; ami of E. r. 



Sawyer un "Our Business Progress in the Fu- 

 ture." These three addresses arc herewith re- 

 produced 



M. C. Dow's Speech. 



1 pur worthy secretary lias on several asions 



at our meetings endeavored to start a discussion 

 relative to the cost o£ the different articles pro- 

 duced in the plants of the members of this 



assiicialii.n, but fur some mini untable reason 



his efforts have uei 1 n responded tu. 



It is without question true that t.. bring up a 

 discussion on this subject would develop several 



tacts which would tend to show that tin si 



ul production in one plant could nut lie. or was 

 in. 1. met by that in another. The handling <>1 

 the logs, which is the lirsi step in any plant, 

 is much more economically carried out in s..m.' 

 plants than in others, and while the difference 

 in cost may not be very great in the .lay's run, 

 Still (luring 1 In- year il amounts to quite an 



item. The si .1 at which the lathes are run 



is another very serious cuTisi.ieraii.in. In some 

 plains the lathes are geared to run fourteen to 



eighteen revolutions, white in others the si 1 



1. twice as great, and I have in mind where 

 lathes are run in plains owned by members of 

 1 his association as high as fifty revolutions. 

 v.. 11 can readily see that the difference in the 



-1 .] of the lathes makes quite a difference in 



the daily output. The question of handling the 



mat. -rial' from the lathe to the drying apparatus, 



time required in the different modes of drying, 



of stock in the drying and handling differs 



so greatly in the different plants that it would 

 he an extremely difficult task to get facts that 

 could be reiie.i upon. 



The handling of the stock from the drying 

 room to the glue room and the gluing up of 

 same is another problem which is so vastly 

 different in the several plants that it would be 

 extremely hazardous for anyone to set up a 

 standard to a., by. The spread of glue and 

 handling of the material after being glued to- 

 gether differs very materially in the different 

 plants. We are all uf us prone to think we 

 have the best system in our own plants, and it 

 is best perhaps to feel Unit way. for it is about 

 the onlv satisfaction we are gelling. Inasmuch 

 as the facts stated are true, as I believe every- 

 one will recognize, the question arises, what are 

 we here for as an association? Some of us, 

 while we wish to be on friendly terms with our 

 competitors, do not care to have them visit our 

 plants and ascertain our ways of doing busi- 

 ness: and admitting that to be a fact, what can 

 we do to benefit all without giving away the 

 secrets of our ways of running our plants'/ 



We have met from time to time and we all 

 agree that we have been benefited in many ways 

 by our meetings, and outside of the friendships 

 made, and they have been many and pleasant, 

 the benefits all point to the gain account 

 Whether we have gained knowledge, how to do 

 this or that thing more cheaply, or increase 1 

 our output without increasing our wage account, 

 or whether we have received encouragement, 

 thereby enabling us to gel more money for our 

 goods, it has all resulted in our being benefited 

 financially, and to be benefited in that manner 

 is must pleasant, we will all admit. I presume 

 every member present her.' today believes him- 

 self 'well versed in his business, but I would 

 like to call your attention to a matter that I 

 believe has a bearing on future pries of panels. 

 By many il is believed that t<. belong to an 

 association of this kind is to make them forget 

 their friends among their many customers, and 

 that prices may be advanced to a point beyond 

 prudence: I am one who believes that way, al- 

 1 1,,, iuIi up to tic present time we have been so 



