HARDWOOD RECORD 



The Selling Association 



It would seem that the lumber producer must get directly back of 

 the distribution of his product more actively. The retailer only 

 reaches a part of the possible consumption and he is not a dealer 

 any more in lumber, principally. The producer must get into the 

 field with better schooled salesmen. They must be more than order- 

 takers. They must work all possible channels not reached by the 

 retail dealer. If the individual producer has not sufficient output to 

 enable him to put skilled men — energized salesmen — in the field, he 

 must associate himself with other producers so that they can do 

 this cooperatively. 



Then, the lumber producer must go further. He must get back 

 of manufacturers of products which use wood. Wood block pave- 

 ment will never get its just desserts until lumber producers organize 

 their own paving companies and lay the pavement. Wood silos will 

 have to be pushed by the lumber manufacturer; probably it can be 

 done through the retail yard, but never without the cooperation of 

 the lumber manufacturer. 



To sum up: Lumber was formerly bought. Now it must be sold. 



Are we to continue to attend our Zone and our National meet- 

 ings, admitting to ourselves and to each other that these ills exist 

 and that remedies advocated should be put into use, and then upon 

 adjournment repair to our respective wood lots to continue our battle 

 with the cost sheet? We must hasten home to find whether or not 

 that oils and grease account has advanced a fraction of a cent 

 during our absence. We will scan the cost sheet and begrudgingly 

 observe the few pennies a thousand charged to association dues, 

 while our sales departments are thinking and acting in no less than 

 25- and 50-cent denominations. If 5 cents a thousand more were 

 secured on the lumber cut of this country a fund could be available 

 of $2,000,000. Why not add 5 cents a thousand to the amount 

 realized for our product, turn it over to our associations, and cease 

 considering association dues an item of expense? Here, gentlemen, 

 I wish to leave this tangible suggestion, which is the first move 

 necessary before any further progress can be made to accomplish 

 the ends desired, as voiced by all the papers and also the various 

 discussions that this program contemplates, namely, "Better 

 Merchandising." 



^:! roK««o:imiJiOTa^TOTO:>:i*iJi^^ 



•^ Crushing Strength of Wood -^ 



It is a matter of common knowledge that woods vary greatly in 

 strength, but just how great the differences are is not so generally 

 known. If a person well acquainted with both cypress and black 

 willow were asked how much stronger one is than the other he would 

 probably be at a loss for an answer. 



Before such a question can be intelligently answered by anyone 

 it must be expressly understood what kind of strength is meant, and 

 what is to be the test to determine it. Wood offers resistance in 

 several ways. A horizontal beam may be supported at its ends and 

 weights piled on its middle until it breaks. That is called the break- 

 ing strength ; but the length of the span between the supports, and 

 the shape and size of the beam must be known before figures of 

 strength will have any meaning. 



There is the strength which a pillar or post exhibits when it stands 

 perpendicularly and sustains a load placed on top. Again the length 

 and size of the timber must be given. A piece of wood may be 

 broken by a lengthwise pull, as sometimes happens when a long 

 sucker rod in an oil well parts under the stress of a vertical puU. 

 The strongest woods, in this test, are nearly or quite as strong as 

 iron, weight for weight. 



Woods may be subjected to a twist until they break. Numerous 

 and elaborate tests have been made to determine all of these 'points, 

 and engineers have tables and charts which show the respective values 

 of most of the timbers in xise. 



There is another test, and one of great importance, which deter- 

 mines the wood's crushing strength. Here the pressure is applied 

 on the side of the stick, as when a rail presses on a crosstie. This 

 pressure is said to be "perpendicular to the grain." The accom- 

 panying table gives the strength of the various woods on that basis. 

 It shows how much load they will carry per square inch of surface 

 before the fibers will be crushed. 



The actual figures are stated in per cent of white oak's strength. 

 This wood is properly taken as a standard for all hardwoods. Every- 

 body knows white oak, and its characteristics and properties are 

 better understood than those of any other single wood, so that when 

 any other is compared with white oak a pretty accurate idea is at 

 once conveyed. 



White oak requires a pressure of 853 pounds per square inch to 

 crush the fibers. For example, if a rail presses harder than 853 

 pounds per square inch that rests on a tie the rail will crush the 

 wood. 



The strongest wood on the list of fifty-one is Osage orange, which 

 will sustain a load of 2,260 pounds per square inch. The weakest 

 is black willow, which will crush under 193 pounds. The former is 

 nearly twelve times as strong as the latter. 



Osage orange 



Honey locust 



Black locust 



Post oak 



Pignut hickory 



Water hickory 



Shagbark hickory 



Mockernut hickory. . 

 Big shellbark bickory. . 



Bitternut bickory 



Nutmeg Hickory. ..... 



Yellow oak 



White oak 



Bur oak 



Wbite ash 



Ked oak 



Sugar maple 



Rock elm 



Beecb 



Slippery elm 



Redwood 



Bald cypress 



Red maple 



Hackberry 



Hemlock 



265.0 



133.9 



127.5 

 123.5 

 11S.6 

 116.0 

 115.7 

 110.0 

 100.5 

 100.0 

 08.0 



91.2 



Longleaf pine. . . . 



Tamarack 



Silver maple 



Yellow birch 



Tupelo 



Black cherry. . . . 



Sycamore 



Douglas flr 



Cucumber tree. . . , 

 Sbortleaf pine. . . . 



Red pine 



Sugar pine 



Wbite elm 



Western yellow pii 



Lodgepole pine 



Red spruce 



Wbite pine 



Engelman spruce. . 



Arborvitss 



Largetootb aspen. 



Wbite spruce 



Butternut 



Buckeye (yellow) . 



Basswood 



Black willow 



57.6 

 56.3 

 53.5 

 53.2 



34.0 

 33.8 

 31.5 



30.3 



Carrier's Right to Discontinue Switch Privileges 



A railway company was not warranted in terminating an ar- 

 rangement whereby freight of a lumber company was received 

 and delivered on a private switch track adjacent to its mill, al- 

 though the lumber company disputed liability for certain demur- 

 rage charges; the latter company being solvent and responsible 

 for any claim that the railway company might establish by suit 

 on account of such claim. If the railway company knew that the 

 lumber company would not accept delivery of a carload of logs on 

 a certain track, and the lumber company was entitled to delivery 

 at another point, demurrage charges could not be based on delivery 

 on that track. To prevent discontinuance of the switch service, 

 the lumber company was entitled to maintain a suit to enjoin such 

 discontinuance. Sales of logs, by the railway company, under an 

 unfounded claim for demurrage charges constituted a conversion 

 of the logs, rendering that company liable to the lumber company 

 for the value of the logs. 



