HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 





LEAF AND FRUIT OF HONEY LOCUST. 



but ii is the usual habit of the honey loeust. 



As a timber tree Gleditsia triacanthos 

 would doubtless surpass in value and utility 

 many of those now in general use, and as it 

 becomes more widely understood, and hence 

 appreciated, it will be set out in artificial 

 plantations with some of the other little- 

 known and undervalued trees which are to- 

 day almost unknown to the average lumber- 

 man, but which are destined to take the place 

 ot' the rapidly disappearing varieties. 



S.mie of the railroads have tested the 



honey locust for cross ties, found it satisfac- 

 tory and are now willing to accept its u I 



tor that purpose. However, it is not often 

 offered as the farmer on whose lot it grows, 

 although disliking its presence there, finds so 

 many opportunities to use it to advantage 

 himself that lie is reluctant to sell it. 



The Hardwood Eecord is indebteu to Will- 

 iam H. Freeman, secretary of the Indiana 

 State Hoard of Forestry, for the handsome 

 photograph from which the accompanying 

 tree illustration was made. 



'Builders of Lumber History. 



NUMBER XLI. 



John Leighton Alcock. 

 I .s- < portrait yi'i>i>l< merit. ) 



The Hardwood Eecord is gratified at be- 

 ing able to present to its readers as supple- 

 ment to this issue the portrait of a man who, 

 though he has never made the slightest bid 

 for public recognition or reward, has loug 

 been quietly and earnestly working for the 

 g t of a certain phase of the hardwood in- 

 dustry — the export trade — and has been one 

 of the most important factors in placing it 

 upon the high plane which it now occupies. 



.lohn L. Alcock of Baltimore, Md., was 

 born in Shropshire, England, in the year 

 b868. He came to America at the early age 

 of sixteen, being lured hither by the talcs 

 of wealth to be acquired on this side of the 

 water, told him by friends who visited his 

 home town. With three other boys about 

 his own age, he embarked on a steamer for 

 Halifax, Nova Scotia, in April, 1884. He 

 went first to Toronto, and from then' to the 

 Georgian bay district, where he obtained a 

 position with a large lumber concern. He 

 remained only a few months, however, ao1 

 being satisfied with conditions as he found 

 them in that part of 1 anada, and went south 



to Baltimore, Md., which city has 1 a his 



home ever since. 



His first position was with John Spencer 

 & Co., one of the leading lumbermen of 

 .Maryland, under whom so many now promi- 

 nent and prosperous men obtained their early 

 tuition in the intricacies of the lumber busi 

 ness. Young Mr. Alcock exhibited such sin- 



cerity and faithfulness in his work that his 

 advancement was rapid, and he became a val- 

 uable addition to the Spencer forces. Un 

 the death of the senior member the concern, 

 four years later, William Conway succeeded 

 to the business, and Mr. Alcock remained 

 with him until 1893, when he resigned in 

 order to establish the firm of Alcock & Ellis. 

 This arrangement expired by limitation with 



the end of the year 1898, and since thai 1 



.Mr. Alcock has been conducting his affairs 

 under the style of John L. Alcock & Co 

 His special line ot' hardwood products con 

 sists of oak wagon planks, black walnut, 

 hickory and poplar logs, and he conducts an 

 export trade exclusively, which he has broad- 

 ened out to a remarkable extent since its 

 inception. 



His success in commercial affairs is a 

 marked refutation of the oft-quoted, pessi 

 mistic idea that mercenary motives and 

 questionable method a 1 1 ai cessarj to the at 

 tainment of position and influence in the 

 business world. Mr. Alcock is known 

 throughout the lumber fraternity from Bal 

 timore on the East to Arkansas on the West, 

 and from New Orleans to Canada, as well 

 us in the foreign markets, to be a man who 

 stands first and foremost for integrity in 



business methods. Added to this he has the 



reputation of being always willing to give 

 lavishly of his time and money toward the 

 furtherance of any measures which will tend 

 to the betterment of trade conditions. As 

 an instance Qi this characteristic, the work 



which Mr. Alcock has done in connection 

 with the National Lumber Exporters' Asso- 

 ciation stands onl prominently. Not very 

 many years ago conditions in the export 

 trade were decidedly unsatisfactory, not only 

 to the vendors of American woods, but to the 

 importers of them as well. The business was 

 handled in a sort of hit or miss fashion which 

 kept it unimportant, not to say unprofitable. 

 With the formation of the National Lumber 

 Exporters' Association these conditions came 



lo lie understood and combated, with the re 

 suit that the trade has been placed upon an 

 intelligent, fraternal basis which has been 

 productive of much good. In this evolution Mr. 

 \hock has played a prominent part, giving 

 evidence repeatedly of his disinterested will 

 ingness to endorse any measure, or labor to 

 any extent in the interest of good trade rela- 

 tions, and for the benefit of lumbermen gen- 

 erally. 



The house of John L. Alcock & Co. is a 

 synonym at home and abroad for honest deal- 

 ing and high business standards. It has 

 alliances in all the principal markets of Eu- 

 rope, and caters to a large and high-class 

 clientage. One of its important contracts 

 was the furnishing of the timber and tie's 

 for the construction of London's "two-penny 

 tube," planned and executed by Charles T. 

 Xerkes. 



Mr. Alcock is also president of the Cheat 

 River Lumber Company of Elkins, W. Vn., 

 and is secretary and treasurer of the Bando 

 Oil Company, Eitchie county, the same state. 

 He is a member of the Baltimore Lumber 

 Kxchange, and has served actively as chair- 

 man of its managing and hardwood inspec- 

 tion committees. He is allied with the Na- 

 tional Wholesale Lumber healers' Associa- 

 tion and with the National Hardwood Lum- 

 ber Association. 



Mr. Alcock is married and has two chil- 

 dren. During the winter he resides in Balti- 

 more, and a part of each summer is spent 

 on his farm at North Branch, where he is 

 free to indulge his fondness for agricultural 

 pursuits. He is a Hoo-Hoo, a Shriner and 

 a Knight Templar, and is interested in many 

 benevolent and philanthropic enterprises. He 

 is a communicant of the established Church 

 of England. 



Eoddis Lumber & Veneer Company. 



The Itoddis Lumber & Veneer Company, which 

 recently suffered a loss by lire of not only its 

 big veneer plant at Marshlield, Wis., but also of 

 iis sawmill at Park falls, has completed plans 

 for the rehabilitation of its big industries. It 

 at first contemplated erecting both the veneer 

 plant anil sawmill at Park falls, but ibis plan 

 would have thrown out of employment many 

 skilled ami veteran employees ai Marshlield, who 

 owned their own homes in thai town, and -Mr. 

 Itoddis has concluded to rebuild a large and 

 modern veneer plant at Marshlield, and also 

 en, t a small sawmill at this point so as to 

 convert into lumber such logs as arc not suitable 

 for veneer making. The company will also 

 Immediately rebuild its sawmill at Fark Falls 

 and continue lumber operations at that point. 

 Work on both plants will be rushed with dili- 

 gence, ,-11111 it is expected that they will be in 

 operation before midsummer. 



