HARDWOOD RECORD 



TluTO arc sevornl rownooU* in the uiarkot, niiil i-vcn Iwtuiii!)!" I'm. I 



■ -ililf room for controvomy n» to ilifTorpiu-oii iK'twwii viirioiis 



A proinijimt niitlmrity on fort>it(u timU-rs lUtM foiirlfcii 



"t roM'wiHxl, mill tlu'v coiiio from nlmoiit iih nmiiy rouiitrif!) of 



I he torriil torn; I'liliroly >iiirrouii<liiie tlio world. The bcHt tliiiij; tlmt 



:i purrliiiMr of a rowwooJ |iirturo frame, or other article, cnii .lo ix 



III )>ii-k out the kimi that Miitti him, aud not Ih> too particular uliout 



th mitry from whirh it i-ometi, or its cxni-t liutauicnl name. Where 



l..!.iiii-ts .liMit;re4>, the onlinary user must take some tbiiiK!* on faith, 

 -ui.jl. Mieuteil hy his own juilKmout, aud thin is partii-ularly true 

 "here fureiKU woods nn' concerned. 



There nro several sorts of eliony, but the differcnce.s are more :i 

 matter of color than anything else. The notion that all ehony is black 

 is erroneous. Most of it is not black, but it is of all .shades from 

 black to brown and green. The representative of the ebony family 

 in this countrj- is the persimmon tree. It is somewhat remarkable 

 that ebony, the blackest wood, is most often imitated by holly, the 

 whitest. The holly is s|MHHlily converted into what nmy jiass for ebony 

 by boiling it in a kettle of dye. A good grade of ebony costs five 

 or six tinu>s as much as holly. The dye kettle can make holly as black 

 as ebony, but it cannot nmke it so heavy. Black ebony from West 

 Africa when nmde bone-dry sinks in water like a stone; but holly 

 llonts nicely. It is a good plan for those about to Iiuy :iu ebony 

 article to first heft it to see how heavy it may be. If it suggests iron, 

 the chances are that it is real ebony. 



Snakewood is a rather uncnnny name for material so beautiful. Its 

 figure suggests the scales of a snake; but it suggests other things 

 also, and this similitude is responsible for a pretty long list of name.«, 

 and the user has considerable liberty of choice as to which of the fol- 

 lowing he will cJiU it: Letterwood, lizardwood, leopardwood, oatwood, 

 tigerwood, speckledwood and a long line of other names in foreign 

 languages. Most of the wood reaching the American market comes 

 from British Guiana. That which reaches Cliicago sells for fifty-seven 

 au'l a half cents :i square foot. Those who wish to indulge their 



artistic tunU- in a snukewooil jiicture frame diould not grumble if they 

 are nskej n pretty steep price for it. 



I'icture frame nmnufacturers of I'hicngo consume about ono thou- 

 sand feet of cocuswood n year, according to figures collecti'd by Mr. 

 8inimons for his report to tho Forest Service. This has Imh-h caUed 

 "the cold wood," liecause it possesses some pro|K'rty which proiluces 

 the same sensation to the touch as when tho hand is laid nn oilcloth. 

 It is doubtlesM due to the wood's high ]iower of conducting heat. The 

 surface must Ih> finely polished before it will cause the x-nKition of 

 coldness. 



Tho wood has so many nnnu'S, and doubtless there ari: so many 

 kinds of the genuine cocuswoud that when a person tries to bo exact 

 in identification he is apt to end in bewilderment. It is a Hort of 

 locust tree, and comes principally from Jamaica, though it occurs 

 elsewhere in tropical America. Many people mi^take it for gri-en 

 ebony, but it is heavier even than .\fricnn ebony. If it is not the 

 hardest wood in the world, it is surely in the front rank. It is jiot 

 highly figured, but the color is very rich, usually brown. 

 Cost ok Pictukk Frame Woons 



Xo very cheap wood has a jilace in picture frames uuiuilfuctured 

 in Chicago. The cheapest woods are those which serve as the backs 

 of mirrors and pictures. They are usually pine, cut in thin lumljcr or 

 thick veneer. The cheapest of the twenty-five in the foregoing table 

 was white pine. The average price paid for .'l.C:! 1,000 feet, delivered 

 at the factory, was $19.l!l. Tho next in cheapness wn» r.-d gum at 

 nearly five dollars above white pine. 



An examination of the table of woods will at once make it clear 

 that i>icture frame nmkers pay pretty well for the rough himber they 

 use. That is because most of the grades are good. Knots, shakes 

 and warped stock cannot be used to advantage. As already stated, 

 some of the woods are unusually expensive. Four of them cost ♦•'100 

 or upward per thousand feet. The average high cost, however, is due 

 to the large quantities of oak and basswood. Tho average of all woods 

 is $3:i.22, and the total amount paid for a year's supply is -111, 286,9")". 



gx:/j!iy.o:v>V/:c&:,.vitv:;i</kvV)\!>ai^.vuitt)tmgvw;<^^ 



;^.^ios;a yt).'ro ro giti>:t>Mi; *v!ae» oiigii 7 



Type Views in Western Wisconsin |^^ 



Sununarizing the condition of trade in western Wisconsin gleaned 

 from the following news letter received from a staff representative of 

 ILVKDWOOD Hecord, busiiiess has taken on a healthy change during 

 the past four weeks and the lumbermen as a whole feel very opti- 

 mistic over the promising outlook for a fair fall business. The 

 June sales have been much better than those for May, and in most 

 cases a shade better than those for the corresponding period last 

 year. Several mills have finished their hardwood cut, which was 

 unusually largo on account of the large tracts of hardwood timber 

 found in woods operations. Two mills have been compelled to let 

 their hardwood cut wait, due to a strong demand for their hemlock 

 and pine. However, they expect to have their hardwood in shipping 

 condition when the fall season opens up. 



The furniture trade, while quiet and waiting for the key from 

 the July sales now going on, feels that business will lie good. The 

 yeneer manufacturers are encouraged with the nund)er of small 

 increased orders at fair prices. 



The machinery people are running full time and report a recent 

 increase of orders. Several operations will close during July for 

 overhauling, repairs and additional equipment. 

 Hardwood Reoohd. Chicago, 111. 



Gentlemen : I feel verj- much encouraged over the lmpi"vi>d condi- 

 tions in the trade in this locallt.v. If the crop condition has no seri- 

 ous sothack, a splendid fall business will surely mnlorliillzc. There has 

 been consldcrahie rain during the past three weeks and one very severe 

 wind storm, but the damage has not been such an to prevent a bumper 

 crop. If warm weather sets in now, the farmers will have an opportunity 

 to get in their hay and also cultivntc their corn. The fields have been 

 too wet to get at the weeds but it is not too late yet to cheek (heir 

 growth. 



New RiciiMONn: The Willow River Lumber Company has secured the 

 mill at llnywnrd. Wis., nnil will not r.biiild at ISiiliniond. While no 



definite conclusion has been reached, It Is contemplnllnv k-iplne the old 

 location as a retail yard, using the 4,000,000 teet of lunibiT now In its 

 y.ard as a nucleus. At the present lime Ihe company Is aceeptinL' orders for 

 the dry stock it has In pile at New Richmond. 



E.tu Ci.aibk: The Mndermnn Ilox and Veneer Company which was 

 organized In 1893 cuts about 14.000.001) feet of lumber annually. It 

 manufactures pine box shooks and cuts them to speclticallona on con- 

 tract. The oQlcers of this company arc: T. J. Wilcox, president; O. U. 

 Moon, vice-president and general manager ; Geo. II. Chapman, secretary : 

 S. G. Moon, treasurer. The company has no complaint to offer for busi- 

 ness conditions, stating that It Is getting Its full share of bnsineiw. 



The Steven & Jarvis Lumber Company, manufacturer and wholesaler 

 of hardwood lumber, reports a fair amount of business with brighter 

 prospects. 



Mr. Ke.sslcr of the New Dells Lumber Company says business is good. 

 The company has bad splendid sales In Nos. 1, '2. and 3 bircb, also flrsts 

 and seconds clear. It has on hand some very choice mnple. rock elm, and 

 a limited amount of 1", I'l", IVj" and 2" clear birch. I couldn't help 

 but observe upon going through its plant the fine stock of flooring and 

 Interior flnish It Is turning out. 



I spent a pleasant two hours Inspecling the operations ond product of 

 the .Tobn 11. Kaiser Lumber Compony. Mr. Miller, the superintendent, 

 accompanied me on my tour of inspection. The many practical mechan- 

 ical Improvements originated by Mr. Miller were a revelation to me. I 

 did not have my camera with me and therefore must keep part of my 

 story until I can secure a picture of his lumber sorter and "FerriB wheel" 

 trimmer. Inventions of his which deserve cxpioitalion. 



.Mr. Ott of this company Informed me that business was reaiiy fine and 

 ihat the company had to hold up its hardwood cut In order to fill its 

 local orders for hemlock and other Items. This company has worked up 

 a local business among retail lumbermen within a radius of seventy-five 

 miles of Eau Claire, and easily disposes of three-fourths of lis entire cut 

 in this territory. The wisdom of this policy Is plainly discernible as 

 shown by the profit sheet. Furthermore, the customer is at all times in 

 close touch with his source of supply. 



Having seen the new McDonongh universal factory horizontal band re- 

 yaw In opr-rntlon at Kaiser's. I called on Mr. Hubbard, secret 



