22 



HARDWOOD KKCOHD 



.««. 



Tbe Wauty of wood wait :i ri'\i'l:iti<iii In iiu>»l |"T»iiim wlm mi» 

 tho exhibit, aiitl it* iiiflnitc vnriotv wim n |>priH>tuiil Hur|>riiic. Tlii> 

 Kuiiii' wou<l, fiuiiihp<l in n <lor.<>ii wiiyn, wbh ho hniiditoiiu' in all of 

 them that ,>t wan often ini|iuMtililo to toll which wiiit niottt plonH- 

 iui;. There wait Noniethin): new to In- iteon at every turn, ii ron- 

 iitant serie.i of >ur|iriM>?>. In one in.itiint it wa* the Ni/.o that in- 

 tercHted the ii|H>rtator, in another it wan the OfH' of nonie venernlde 

 Mpei-inien; acnin itonie |>ecnliarity, or qunintneHH nf doiiiKn, or 

 unique ronre|>tiou, wan the attraction. Mont of the exhibitH were 

 highly artistic. They were |dunned hy cx|iert,s and conipleteil 

 by niantor artisaun. This feature added inunensely to the at- 

 tractivenoM of the exhibition, and not n little to its eonimerciul 

 value. 



The Rchcmo of decorations includes n pleutiful use of pnpei 

 birch (Betula 

 papyrifrro), the 

 white b a r k e d 

 tree w h i c h 

 Krows nbund- 

 nntly in the 

 northern coun- 

 try. This wn.H 

 the tree of 

 whose bark the 

 Indians made 

 their canoes, 

 and some of 

 these light ves- 

 s<ds arc still 

 made of it in 

 Maine a n il 

 custom Canada. 

 At the Coliseum 

 the railing en- 

 closing many of 

 the stalls w.ns of 

 p a p e r b i r c li 

 poles with the 

 bark still on, 

 giving the work 

 a rustic appear- 

 ance h i « h I V 



OAK MANU- 

 FACTURERS 



T h -■ I :. r n .■ 

 and higlily re- 

 spectable fam- 

 ily of oaks in 

 the United 

 States was 



represented at the Forest Products Exposition by a well-a])pointcil 

 room in which interior finish was the leading feature, although sonic 

 carverl furniture of the same wood added to the completeness of the 

 display. The exhibit was in charge of W. K. Gibbs of Chicago. 



It is not an easy matter to spring any surprises on the cultured 

 American, in the appearance of oak as material for interior finish 

 anil for furniture, because this wood has been used so long, and 

 so widely that the better classes of Americans have known it. 

 and have admired it all their lives. It is the finish which always 

 has been in taste in the home. It has always been i>0]>ular in the 

 office. It has held its place in the public hall. The best churches 

 have had it for their massive fittings and finish. In short, where- 

 ever the American has gone he has been face to face with oak, 

 until it has become an incident of his daily life. 



That sentiment was manifest constantly at the exposition amonfj 

 the visitors. They made the rounds and saw all the displays. 

 They examined woods from the East, the West, the South, and 

 the North. Many of them were beautiful, some were novel; many 

 were old, some new. But after making the rounds of all others, 



came l>ack t< 

 I'ut ailmiratiii 



cklnliit mid took another 

 • )<•. Il r iiidcd them <if 



i>n shown, for it wan 

 but no attempt waa 

 iif unti<|u«H, or to dis- 

 ple Ktory was bettor, 

 I'ooils, that " it 'is tho 



the MMtors iioiii 

 look at it with 

 Ikiiiic. 



Very old samples of oak might have bi 

 among the earliest wooils used in Americii 

 maile to prove antiquity, to make an array 

 play age. It was not necessary. The sii 

 for it can be sui<l of oak, as of few other 

 same yesterday, today, and forever." 



The room was finished wholly in as perfect specimens of oak 

 lumber as were ever brought together. The ceiling was of beams 

 and jianels, nuissive enough to produce the effect of solidity. Tho 

 walls were jiaiieled with quartered oak. The mnntel was in har- 

 mony with the walls and ceiling, and the room was completed by 



a subst a n t i a t 

 llonr of IU>« 

 .nine «ood. All 

 nil- modern, up- 

 11 ilate; and the 

 .election of the 

 iiaterial and 

 t II e workman - 

 .liip showed ex- 

 •ellent taste. 

 Oak'.s Hioii 

 I'l.ArE 

 Oak occupies 

 ;i high place in 

 I h e country 's 



smg in- 



II.\NI 



IMK INTKRIOK EXIIirilTKl 



n.VK M.\NII'ACTUlti:US 



dustries. It has 

 more than 1,000 

 well - recognized 

 uses. It is 

 claimed that in 

 its scope of 

 utility it 8ur- 

 j) a s s e s any 

 other native or 

 foreign woo d. 

 1' r a c t i c a 1 ly 

 every industry 

 that uses any 

 kiml of wood, 

 uses oak. 



It is the most 

 :il>undant hard- 

 wood of this 

 country. The 

 supply of oak in 

 the forests 

 equals the com- 

 Iwood class. Estimates 

 I stand of the wood at 



known to l,.' f.iirly iiccurate i.lacc the total 

 200.000,000,000 feet in the Unite 1 States. 



The annual sawmill cut exceeds that of any other hardwooil. 

 In fact, it is three times as large as its nearest competitor, maple, 

 and it furnishes about forty per cent of the whole sawmill cut 

 of hardwoods in the country. 



More oak is used for manufacturing jiurposes than any other 

 two hardwoods, and the total annual demand is believed to equal 

 nearly 2,000,000,000 feet. 



In strength and stiffness it ranks among the highest. It is the 

 standard for hardness by which all other woods are compared. 

 When employed as interior jiarts of buihling it excels most woods 

 in resistance to dry rot. 



Those who had the planning and construction of the oak exhibit 

 at the Coliseum ha<l almost an unlimited field to choose from. 

 They selected a simple scheme that accentuated the most valuable 

 qualities of the wood. 



Available statistics show that planing mill jiroducts, in which 



