HARDWOOD RECORD 



55 



i-ctril IniKoly at the pnucipiU defi-cts of wood, both 

 • H iiiiiii' iiral purposes. It is stated among other things 

 IK, 1. 1, ..ihI consequently a hazardous material to use 



I i- • riitrated in more or less congested districts, 



II .iiirv Mild towns. It IS furthermore pointed out 

 to il.ray and that it doe.s not have the permanence 

 I. r ^iiii.tiiral materials. Attention is also called 

 |iliysi(Ml iltaracterlstics are inferior in some respects 

 tructural materials. Many of these criticisms are 



This .riti.iMi 

 for ciiii-inirii 

 that w - 



that wood is 



of some of 



to the fact tl 



to those of 



without doulit absolutely true, hut the mei-e presence of a defect is not 



necessarily a reason for condemning a valuable product. 



It is my purpose today to dwell briefly on some of the considerations, 

 as I see tliiiii. which determine the use of wood, and to outline some of 

 the requir.iiiints for the safe and acceptable use as they arc viewed 

 by the .Tr< hiti ct and engineer and the consumer in general. 



Wood t~ ^|M riii. all_\- valuable because it has a certain strength value 

 and at 111. -aiiir li Iiecause it is light and easily worked. It further- 

 more is iill r,,i,i|ia ratively cheap, readily obtainable in large quantities, 

 and is im Ili'i mui-.. . apable of being so handled that many of the apparent 

 detects are easily lorrected. There is no question but that it is generally 

 recognized that wood is inflammable and will burn, and also that wood 

 will decay, some kinds after very short periods of exposure, others not 

 until they have been exposed for a great many years. The engineer and 

 architect and the consumer generally have certain spcclflc requirements 

 which any material used for a definite purpose must fulfill. Where an 

 engineer constructs a railroad trestle, he knows that the material of which 

 this trestle is to be constructed must be capable of withstanding certain 

 strains, due to the load passing over the bridge. In the same way 

 the architect demands that his material must have a certain stiffness 

 in order to withstand loads of a known value. Both the engineer and 

 architect requin iliar tli. material placed in any structure must serve 

 as long a tim. i- |....sii.i. in order to reduce the cost of repairs and 

 the disturbuiH' n. nl. m ili. i. t... In addition to the strength and lasting 

 requirements, th-r.' ar, ^u, li factors as pleasing appearance, ready and 

 satisfactory api)lication of paints, stains, etc., nail-holding capacity, ab- 

 sence of shrinkage in volume, the maintenance of proper shape, etc. 

 Confusion and Misundebstanding 



With Hi' lai-. iiiiiiiher of woods now available, each with its own 

 peculiar ipialiiic- ami characteristics, it is not surprising that there is 

 frequiritiv rMH-i.i. i ii.je confusion and misunderstanding on the part of 

 the oiiiisiiiii, !■ a- lo «liat he may reasonably expect of any one or more 



grouiis III -I tl. kjii.K .,t «.....!. 11. >w is he to find out what kind of 



wood sii.iiil.j li. 11^. . I 1.11 a -|...iii. iMirpose? How is he to ascertain, 

 after makin. a ,.i. .ii..ii, ,i~ t.. wi.ili.T the particular wood selected is 

 best lilt.. I r.ii- his s|,r.ial ri'iiiiii.in..iitsV The lumberman today, while 

 he may have a general knowledge of the timber as it occurs in the tree, 

 and while he may have a specific knowledge of the wood which he manu- 

 .facturcs. frequently and in fact in the majority of cases has no oppor- 

 tunity for telling the consumer anything about this particular kind of 

 wood. His chief aim and purpose hitherto have largely been confined 

 to cutting down the tree, manufacturing it into lumber, and selling it as 

 lumber. With the changed condition of the use of materials and with 

 the increasing demand for specific information about all classes of struc- 

 tural materials, it is no longer sufficient for the lumberman, either the 

 manufacturer or retailer, to have general knowledge ; he must have a 

 specific knowledge in order to meet this increasing demand for informa- 

 tion. If there is one point which I would insist on strongly today, it is 

 that the attitude of the lumber industry towards the merchandising and 

 use of lumber in its various forms is undergoing a very radical change, 

 and to call attention to the absolute necessity for actively assisting in 

 disseminating more information about wood and lumber in Its various 

 forms among those who are interested in its use. 



In order to emphasize this point I would call your attention to the 

 lessons which can lie learned from those industries that are actively 

 competing with lumber in the markets of the world. I hold in my hand 

 a numlier of pamphlets from a number of companies manufacturing 

 cement. I would call your attention to the fact that these are text-books 

 of information and instruction Issued by the producers of cement to the 

 consuming public, in which the fullest possible information is given as 

 to the physical and chemical qualities of the' material, with specific direc- 

 tions as to how- it can be properly used. The most striking part of these 

 pampiilets is the information devoted to a discussion of the failures of 

 the material, with numerous photographs showing failures, and followed 

 by detailed discussions as to the reasons for these failures and suggestions 

 as to how they may be avoided. If I had time I would like to go ex- 

 tensively into this phase of the matter and point out what the steel 

 industry is doing in this regard, also w-hat the brick people are doing, 

 but most of you can readily obtain this information yourselves. 



All I wish to do is to point out the desirability of your considering the 

 way in which the so-called substitute materials are advancing the cause 

 of their industry. If I were to sum up their attitude, it would be that 

 they are making it their particular business to know more about their 

 particular product than anyone else ; that they investigate the nature 

 of their product from every possible viewpoint ; that they maintain ex- 

 tensive investigating laboratories with highly trained experts, and that 

 from time to time, through their publicity departments, they give the 

 public the advantage of the information so secured in very attractive and 



readable form, such as those which I have liefore me. They not only 

 issue these pamphlets ; they go a step further, and by means of care- 

 fully considered advertising they call the attention of the prospective con- 

 sumer to the reasons why their product is specially adapted for various 

 purposes. Their agents visit the prospective user and advise with him 

 as to the best methods for getting the best service out of their material. 

 In other words, each industry makes it its particular business to stand 

 as the advance agent of its own material, to know more about it than 

 anybody else, and above all else they make it their special business to 

 let everybody know about it. 



What H.we the Lumbermen Done? 



If we turn to the lumber industry, what have the lumbermen of the 

 country done to meet this changed condition of utilization of their prod- 

 uct? I have only one instance to cite which is at all comparable to the 

 policy pursued by the manufacturers of cement, steel, brick, etc., and 

 that is the work which has been done by the Southern Cypress Manu- 

 facturers' Association under the able leadership of its secretary, George 

 E. Watson. Most of you are familiar with what this association has 

 done, and I need not go into details farther than to say that the keynote 

 of the work of the cypress association has been to first of all find out 

 what cypress wood was good for ; to investigate its uses in all parts of 

 not only this country, but abroad ; and when they had found out what the 

 wood was good for, they told about it in pamphlet form, in magazines 

 and exhibitions, and they told about it not once but many times. The 

 work which the cypress association has started has been pursued with 

 vigor, and if in order to believe what their work has done, may I re- 

 spectfully suggest that they ask the secretary? It would have been im- 

 possible to have- accomplished what the cypress association has done 

 without a strong realization on the part of the members of this industry 

 that they had a valuable product, l>ut that it was necessary for them, 

 however, to let others h.sicl..s iii. m,. iv.'s know this, and when once they 

 had called the attention i.. ili. ii|.. i i..rity of their product along certain 

 lines that they had to ...niiiin t.. .1.. so, and I express no vague predic- 

 tion when I say that what th. ijiin.ss industry will do in the future 

 will compare ia ways, which few of us can appreciate, with what they 

 have done in the past. One reason for their growing success has been 

 their conservatism. They have called attention to specific points for 

 which cypress wood was fit. They have not hesitated to point out that 

 it was not a cure for all things, and If there is one point which I would 

 emphasize with all the strength I can it is that the acknowledgment of 

 defects is as desirable and necessary a part of any propaganda as. the 

 emphasis laid upon favorable qualities and applications. 



It is an encouraging sign to note that the work that the cypress in- 

 dustry has started has been followed with great rapidity by the other 

 groups of wood, and it is confidently to be expected that the future will 

 show just as favorable results for them as it has for the cypress in- 

 dustry. 



This brings me to the statement as to exactly what should be done 

 with the various classes of wood ; what the architect, engineer and 

 consumer want to know ; what are the qualities of the wood ; what uses 

 are they fit for; how can they tell what kind of wood and what kind of 

 grade to buy ; how can they obviate defects or shrinkage, warping, checking, 

 decay, etc.? I would classify the lines of investigation into two broad 

 groups : studies of quality and adaptability and studies of obviating 

 such defects as decay and the lack of fire resistance. 



The National Lumber Manufacturers' Association recently has created 

 a branch of its work to he known as a technical department, for which 

 they have honored me by entrusting same to my care, and it may not 

 be out of place to say a few words as to what such an ofljce can be 

 expected to accomplish, not only for the national association, hut what 

 such an oSBce can be expected to do for the Individual associations. In 

 the first place, a vast amount of specific information concerning the 

 qualities of wood and their fitness for various purposes is being developed 

 every year by the United States Forest Service, at state universities, 

 by the- state forest and conservation commissions, in laboratories of our 

 universities and colleges, and not only through these agencies in the 

 United States, but through similar agencies in Canada and other parts 

 of the world. Many of these investigations are necessarily directed 

 towards specific problems, such as strength, durability, hardness, decay 

 resistance, etc. Much of the information is in scattered form, where the 

 individual interested in the use or manufacture of lumber would not 

 be liable to see it. 



One of the chief functions of the new office will be to keep the secre- 

 tary's office advised of any developments pertaining to the lumber in- 

 dustry .^s a whole as far as this pertains to technical questions of use 

 and adaptability for general purposes. Among such broad problems 

 there comes first and foremost the question of rendering wood more or 

 less fireproof. We have already undertaken a consideration of this broad 

 problem in cooperation with the National Fire Protection Association, 

 and it gives me pleasure to announce today that the executives of this 

 association are favorably disposed toward the creation of a committee for 

 the consideration of wood in ail its phases. Quoting from the April 

 number of the quarterly of this journal, it states : 



"The executives of the National Fire Protection -Association are favor- 

 ably disposed to the appoiutment of a committee to Investigate the sub- 

 ject of the fire retardant treatment of wood. The general condemnation 

 of wooden shingles, wooden window frames and the use of wood trim in 



