HARDWOOD RECORD 



that tlier liiivc all lla< iiititorinls ncopMitnr.r for the niinle dny'H wurk, 

 in tlioir |>ro|)or plnors. One Htcno|rriiplior rnn bo cliniiKOil from nnv 

 <1esk to niiutbpr and go riKlit on with lipr work without Hlo|i|iiii); to 

 !WH« wlipro this or tliat is. She knows. By iniitinct «he rpaohi'ii to the 

 firat luirtition for lotti'rhoailH; to tlio tiooond for Mocomlfihoi't!!; to 

 the thinl for piirclmM.' onliTs; lo tht> fourth, fifth and mIx for the 

 triplicate freight fonns; to the seventh for invoioee; to the eighth for 

 atatement.t. Knoiigh etivelo|>eH for the dny are before each one. An 

 eraser is attached by moans of a cord, to the typewriter. Pencils 

 and notebook are required to l>e on the desk ready for iiuilnnt dicta- 

 tion. No time is lost. Therefore, money is snved. Output (in the 

 fonn of letters, etc.), is therefore increased. Overhead charges are 

 therefore dwrensed. 



Slnndardiiation is economy. Have everything in a stated place. 

 Don't have your force hunt around to find things. Have two chnrtM 

 drawn up (about one concern in ten thousand does this but inside of 

 five years there will 1h' hanlly a concern without n chart), one show- 

 ing the organization and authority and the other showing where 

 everything is — each cabinet indicated and what it contains. Show 

 » stenographer's desk standardized as to materials within. Show 

 the storage wardrobes. When stores arc moved. che>'k them 

 oft" the sto<'k-list. A glance at these stock-lists shows when to order 

 ■;Mire materials. Besides it is systematic and efficient. 



The writer has seen some ilesks of the sales-managers around the 

 ciiintry and in nearly every instance it was a case for the street 

 cleaning de|>artment. Some managers actually take pride in accumu- 

 lating a mas-s of papers on their desks and point to them with pride. 

 As a rule it takes them from two to ten minutes to find any particular 

 pa|>er. The writer has found that the file-binder system is the most 

 efficient. He has one single binder for inquiries, with the answers 

 pinned to e.-ich. This is known as the "Inquiry File." It is always 

 in one place on the desk. Next is the ' ' Inquiries awaiting prices from 

 mills" which title explains the use of this file. After the inquiries 

 are quoted on. they arc transferred to the Inquiry File. This is also 

 always in one place. The third binder has four divisions in it. This 

 if slightly i.Trgcr than the stjindard letterhead size and is always on the 



I'culcr of the desk. From this binder all the huIck work i» carried uu. 

 In tho morning when the mail is sorted the Hnleii mail is divided and 

 put in each of tho four compartments of this binder. The first is 

 "Immediate;" the He<-ond, "Deferred;" tho third is, "Awaiting In- 

 formation,", and tho fourth is labeled " Ideas." No letters are ever 

 in sight because tho binders aro kept closed. Tho fourth binder is 

 entitled "Kesults, " which includes tho rccorils of sales with compari- 

 sons of years and months and weeks; also tho cost |>er car for sales, 

 uumlier of letters turned out daily, and other vital information. ThoHO 

 records are not for historical purposes. They ore for use and com- 

 parison. If costs are going up everything is carefully analyzed and 

 the cause is corrected or eliminated after a fair trial. 



An office force will do their best work under ideal conditions. Since 

 ideal conditions are more or less of a myth, and since it is not pos- 

 sible to please all, good average conditions should bo carefully 

 watched. For instance, if a ;-oom is too warm it is inclined to make 

 its occupants sleepy. If too cold, the reverse is true. It is better, 

 however, to have it too cool than too warm, although neither extreme 

 is good. If the office is clean, tho desks kept clear of all unnecessary 

 articles and the light good, your force will do their best work. This 

 may sound a bit fussy but efficiency strives to remove all obsta<'lcs 

 that bur speed and ])urpose. 



Some of you will wonder whether these principles are right or 

 not. Before the writer put these principles into effect ho made a 

 few notes of the work that was being turned out. Two stenographers 

 were turning out on an average of one hundred letters a day. Today 

 the average is 190. This amount is for the two together. Kfficiency 

 has therefore nearly doubled the output and reduced the cost almost 

 half. 



These are only a few of the wastes that occur. la the following 

 articles in this series the writer will give examples of wastes in ami 

 around the mill, in loading and so forth. 



Every motion that you eliminate, means just so much less in cost 

 and ,iust so much more in gain. Fvery motion that you save, every 

 waste you eliminate means that yoiir c:ipital is being used more 

 etfectively. H. E. S. 



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•5^ Automatic Sprinklers in Sawmills ^^ 



S;,nmiils have ahvavs l,ci-ii rcgunled Ijy lire iiiMuac,.,- , „ii,|,aincs 

 Bs rather undesirable risks. The character of the construction, the 

 kind of work done and the poor "housekeeping" which prevails in 

 Tiiany lumber manufacturing jdants is responsible for this, and it is 

 trequently the case that the rate goes up as high as five per cent, 

 Ahile the lowest mill rate on mills of ordinary construction is not much 

 iiider three percent. Compared with rates on other manufacturing 

 I'lants. this is unusually high, and forms a burden on the sawmill 

 man, which he should not be content to carry indefinitely. 



Fireproof construction is coming into use in a good many cases; 

 but owing to the heavy cost of this kind of building, only a very 

 small percentage of mills will ever be constructed in this way. 

 Improved construction is available, however, without resorting to 

 the fireproof type. Substantial wood construction, or the use of the 

 mill construction type, can be used, and if the building is then pro- 

 tected with automatic sprinklers, a low enough rate can be secured 

 to make the burden of insurance exceedingly small compared with 

 the rate which is charged against a building not so protected. 



The growth of the automatic sprinkler idea has been nothing short 

 of marvelous, and the use of this system has undoubtedly done its 

 liart to cut down the fire waste and decrease the fire hazard. Prac- 

 tically every- big concern, from a department store to a sawmill, can 

 make use of sprinklers, and in many, if not most instances, it will 

 be found that they can be installed on a basis that will enable their 

 cost to be wiped out in a few years by the reduction in fire insurance 

 premiums. 



The first thing that should be thought of in installing equipment 

 of any kind designed to reduce the risk or increase the protective 



lacilitifs js that tlic owiwr will l.cii.-lil .lii,-,lly lliiuiiyii ii-.lii.jii« llic 

 danger of having his business crippled by a destruction of his plant. 

 The reduction in the cost of the insurance is a secondary item, but 

 it is also one that merits careful consideration, because, as a practical 

 business proposition, the lumberman must consider the amount of the 

 investment he must make in order to improve his plant in this con- 

 nection, and the dividends he will earn on the investment through 

 reduced premiums, in addition to the satisfaction of knowing that fire 

 loss is less probable that it was before. 



Most lumbermen are familiar with the principle of sprinklers. 

 The system consists of pipes running to all portions of the plant, and 

 carrying a supply of water which is furnished either by an overhead 

 tank, or, if the local water supply is sufficiently large and the pressure 

 is great enough, from mains outside the building. The pipes are 

 equipped with sprinkler heads, placed closely together. The.se heads 

 are composed of a fusible metal, which melts when the temperature 

 rises abnormally. If a small blaze should break out, the sprinkler 

 head nearest it would promptly melt, the water in the pipe would 

 be released, and the blaze would be put out before it had time to 

 spread. The automatic feature is what gives the system its greatest 

 value. A sleepy night watchman or a careless employe cannot inter- 

 fere with the work of the system, as may happen in cases where human 

 intervention is necessary in order to get action. 



It is true that the water supply is sometimes inadequate, and in 

 that case the sprinkler system cannot operate to the greatest ad- 

 vantage; but in view of the fact that the fire is usually pnt out 

 before it can spread, the amount of water needed is not so great as 

 in the case of an ordinary fire. That is another advantage over 



