HARDWOOD RECORD 



a iiioiitli .'ij;o Hakd- 

 goiii^ into bore.some 



linv« not prpviounly b«>n |irovid«(l for, tnd nhirh rfport miik niUi|it<-<l 

 without (liHruiwion. 



Further than thin tlip n<|ilr««!W of Mr. Tn-fi, fioK) MH-rclnry of the 

 < hiinilM-r of I'oinnii'rro of the I'nitisl 8t«t»«)i of Aincricn, \\n» the 

 iiKist rciimrkniile fenlun-. Mr. Trefi'g lulilrfnit wnn no full of truth 

 mill KO fffwtivi- orntoriciilly that it wan a iliHtiiict privili'uo eiijoycil 

 liv the iiieiiiUTit of tin- awMMMation when they hennl him. 



.\ltonether the roiiveiition was n iliHtiiict Kueresw. Of thin there 

 I* no ilouM, ani) while the |ilenNure of witneKXinK an interesting liut 

 frienJIy wrap for the odice of presiilent wn» donieil the uttendnntt, 

 the HSMM'intion in ceouring for |ire!ii(lent the ninn who will head that 

 or^nizntion during the year has securcnl the serviros.of a man whose 

 :iroom|dishment.s nn<l aliility are so widely known that his mere ae- 

 '•'l>tance of the presiileney will give to the nssoeiation a very I'oii- 

 -i.leralde prestige. 



KverylMxIy who was fortunate enough to take advantage of the ehili- 



■ ■rate entertainment plans worked out by the RufTalo lumbermen will 

 long look lim-k with pleasure to the most enjoyable excursion ten- 



■ l.'re.l by the Buffalonians as host.". Tht-.ne gentlemen, who were 



■ \iilently put on their mettle by the selection of their city for two 

 • '■nseeutive national lund>er association conventions have certainly 

 ii.'monstrat«Hl that the choice of their city was an entirely worthy one. 



More Regarding the Grading Controversy 



IN AN KUrrolU.XL appearing in an issue of 

 wooo RKroitB endeavored to outline without 

 • Ictails the actual status of what seemed to he a more or less one- 

 -iile>l controversy lietween the hardwood handler anil hardwood con- 

 sumer regarding the agitation on the part of the latter faction to 

 favor 1012 grade rules of the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion in place of the rules of 191.'5 as adopted last June. Hardwood 

 Kecokd hoped to state its opinion of the jiroposition, knowing that 

 the suggestions made were based on facts. If seems, however, 

 that certain men prominently connected with consuming interests 

 and active in the grade rules agitation have taken exception to the 

 statements made in that editorial. They have specifically requested 

 that what they maintain as their side of the controversy be given 

 publicity in the pages of Hardwood Record. In the same communi- 

 cation these men take exception to statements made in the editorial 

 referred to, but Hardwood Record believes that they are not fully ^ 

 informed as to the actual facts governing the case and offers sjiecific 

 and absolutely authentic proof of the genuineness of the conditions 

 outlined in |irevious editorials. 



Inasmuch as these proofs are mere matters of record they outline 

 the status of the controver.sy as it actually is. This story appears 

 on another jiage of this issue. 



Advance in Railroad Rates 



IS SAID on what sieius In be guo.l authority that llie Interstate 



Commerce Commission will not make ofTicial announcement of its 

 decision in the railroad rate ca.se until late in July. Meanwhile a 

 I'reliminary, unofficial report, or the substiince of such a report, has 

 found its way to the public, presumably with the knowledge and con- 

 sent of the commission. It purports to outline what the decision 

 will be and to give a number of reasons for the decision. 



According to this announcement the roads will not be granted the 

 flat five percent increase in rates for which they asked, but they will 

 lie allowed to increase rates from one to five percent where the in- 

 crease is needed and justified. A flat increase would benefit roails 

 which are riot in need of it as well as those which are, and at the 

 same time the burden of paying the advance would fall as heavily 

 upon shippers poorly able to bear it as upon those amply able. 



The increase as announced will be graduated. It will be placed 

 on commodities which can bear it, and it will go to roads which 

 ought to have it. Some roads, it is claimed, do not need an advance 

 and ought not have it, while others must have more money in order 

 to carry on business. 



A stupendous task awaits those who must supervise the work of in- 

 creasing the rates. Thousands of commodities must be considered, and 

 each is a problem by itself. Not only will articles be considered 



IT IS 

 Com I 



Hcparntely, but geugrnphy and value will be taken into lu-rount alMi. 

 The relief of the Hhip|H>r mUHt In< thought of ax well oh the relief of 

 the carrier. 



The rommiKsion iH firmly convinced that the railronils of the 

 country were in a coiiH|iirncy to wvure an advance in rateii; but the 

 campaign was no managed that if they shouht fail to secure nii 

 advance they would accomplii>h part of their purpose anyway. Thai 

 purpose, according to the publiKhed forii-nNt of the decision, wait 

 three or four fold. The principal object was to secure the increnxc. 

 Failing in that, they hoped to so impresN the public with their poverty 

 that fewer reipiests for reduced rates wonlil Ik- made; fewer rIaimH 

 for losses and danniges would U- filed ; and less sympathy would lie 

 shown by the public for strikers when thi-y demamleil increases in 

 wages. 



Native Woods in Furniture 



THK RKVIKWKK.S (iK I-IH.MTI UK .STVI.KS and lendencicM 

 are now predicting a much more extensive use of native woods 

 in furniture because of the pretty general tendency toward the brown 

 tones. This comes according to these [iredictions an n part of the 

 high favor now being found for black walnut. Circassion walnut, and 

 gum, which woods in their natural colors run to varying shades of 

 brown. Meantime the brown stains in oak are cpiile popular and 

 the general tendency is toward colors an^ tones for which native 

 woods seem better adapted than some of the imported woods. 



This is about the best news that couhf come from the furniture 

 trade to the hardwood lumVier industry. Furniture manufacturers of 

 late have been falling far short of what the hardwood fraternity feels 

 they ought to have been doing in the way of native lumber con- 

 sumption. Part of this is becau.'e the furniture trade has been a 

 little slow, but it is evident that pTt of the drag in the furniture 

 lumber market has been due to an extensive use of imported woods 

 and not enough interest in exploitation of native hardwoods in good 

 furniture. 



At the furniture expositions mahogany has been strongly in evidence, 

 and this with other imported woods has made up too high a per- 

 centage of the good furniture exhibited for the welfare of the market 

 in native woods. One of the best things, therefore, that could happen 

 to the hardwood indiLStry would be for the furniture manvifacturers 

 of the country to turn more interested attention to the use of oak, 

 birch, maple, and gum in furniture manufacture. 



If the brown tone era in woodwork is going to help this along 

 we are naturally for the brown tone. This tendency, however, might 

 well include most of our native woods in their natural color and with 

 only enough in tho way of staining and treating to equalize or har- 

 monize the tone. Yellow birch has much beauty in its natural color, 

 and this goes well, too, in association with brown tints. Gum has 

 its natural brown, and oak both plain and quartered in natural or 

 near natural finish goes well with it. The main thing, however, is to 

 get the interest revived in native woods. If the furniture manu- 

 facturers and dealers prefer the brown stains, the native woods will 

 take them as well as any other, and if it leads to a proper appreciation 

 of our hardwoods in their natural finish so much the better. Native 

 woods have been more or less neglected in fine furniture the past few 

 years and it is high time we had a revival and an era of more favor 

 for native woods. It will be good for the hardwood lumber market 

 and should prove gooil for furniture manufarfurers and users also. 



The Sawmill and Its Customers 



IN A RECENT ADDRESS before the National Lumber Manufac- 

 turers' Association in Chicago, Howard F. Weiss, director of the 

 government timber laboratory at Madison, Wis., offered the sugges- 

 tion that the sawmill, and particularly the hardwood mill, would 

 do well to study more closely the needs of its customers and cater 

 to them. It might do this to the extent of cutting sizes which they 

 can use to advantage; and in grading they might have special con- 

 sideration for the purposes for which the lumber is to be used. By 

 doing so, a considerable loss due to waste might be eliminated. 



This brings up the general question : How far can the sawmill go 

 in cutting sizes which are out of the ordinary f How far is it prof- 

 itable to carry the manufacturing process toward the completion of 



