HARDWOOD RECORD 



41 



tion performed wiU be gone into and the proper methods of operation 

 will be arrived at. In the lumber yard the cause of accidents 

 will be analyzed, and the yard man, who piles his lumber carefully 

 and in such a way as to minimize the risk, will be given a credit in 

 his rate. The organization of a large field force to apply the schedule 

 will also require some time, as well as much money. This force will 

 be called upon to do not merely mechanical work in the application 

 of the schedule, but to co-operate with employers in assisting them 

 to bring their plants to the highest possible point of eflSeiency. The 

 plant which has a clean record as to accidents is undoubtedly more 

 efficient than one where accidents to men are numerous, since every 

 accident requires a shift in the working staff, a break in the routine, 

 and the lessening of the interest of men in their work. 



One of the leading insurance journals, commenting upon plans for 

 the new system, said in a recent editorial: 



' ' The idea that some system of schedule rating will straighten out 

 the perplexing situation in the liability and workmen's compensation 

 business is a feasible one. If customers can be shown how a risk may 

 be improved by installing certain safety devices and perfecting appli- 



ances for the proper protection of the workers, it certainly seems as 

 if the policy-holder would make the changes. The plan has worked 

 very successfully in fire insurance, and it seems hard to contemplate 

 the time when such a system was not in existence. In a great many 

 ways the liability business is similar, to the fire business as regards 

 the possibility of periodical inspections and the installation of pro- 

 tective devices. Why, then, should it not be possible for the liability 

 companies to devise some safe and sane plan for giving the careful 

 policy-holder the benefit of lower rates?" 



It should be noted that the cost of making inspections, which will 

 be an expensive item, will be paid by the policy-holders, since the 

 premium receipts necessarily must pay the cost of handling the 

 business. This , is not a serious objection, however, and lumber 

 manufacturers will probably be just as willing to see the larger part 

 of their liability premiums go for inspections and similar work, just 

 as they are willing that most of the money they pay for boiler 

 insurance should go for this purpose and to remove the possibility of 

 an explosion and the consequent necessity for paying a loss. 



G. D. C. .Tr. 



! ^BIfla^MSTO:xv;g^:s:>5^:;a : Bw;y.s!^^ 



' Panel Practice in Furniture Trade m^ 



The increasing use of veneered goods in the furniture trade, wliicli 

 has been accompanied by the purchase of tops and panels by manu- 

 facturers from factories specializing in the manufacture of material 

 of this character, has been one of the interesting de%'elopments of 

 the past decade. There seems to be no question as to the superiority 

 of the built-up panels, and the results which can be secured in appear- 

 ance, durability, etc., justify the widening use of laminated woods. 



The manufacturer of panels usually has a pretty good argument, 

 too, as to why the furniture manufacturer should purchase his stock 

 from the outside, rather than equip a special department in his own 

 plant. It is argued that if the furniture man can use his capital to 

 better advantage by increasing the volume of his business than by 

 making an additional investment in costly equipment and adding to 

 his pay-roll, it would be more economical. The advantage of elimi- 

 nating manufacturing worries, and letting the other fellow shoulder 

 the somewhat bothersome problems of the glue-room has also been 

 dwelt upon at great length. 



There is no doubt a great deal of truth in the argument. In fact, 

 the panel manufacturers seem to justify their existence, inasmuch as 

 many of the leading furniture factories have come to rely upon them 

 for practically all of their built-up stock. In this as in other ques 

 tions, however, there is another side, and the manufacturer who is 

 found with equipment for laying panels and doing other glue-room 

 work is seldom at a loss to explain why he is pursuing that policy 

 rather than the other. 



There is a progressive furniture manufacturer in a middle western 

 city who has a considerable interest in a well-equipped panel plant. 

 not many miles from his own factory. Nevertheless he is making his 

 own glued-up stock, and this has occasionally caused those not 

 informed as to the reasons for this action to wonder. Not long ago 

 he explained why he does not order his goods from the company in 

 which he is a stockholder, and thus help both sides of the proposition. 



"I am willing to admit," he said, "that if I could eliminate my 

 investment in panel-making facilities and could use that capital 

 investment for increasing my output and enlarging my volume of 

 business it would be wise to do so. But one of the reasons why I 

 have not is that I am compelled to do some glue-room work. I can't 

 get panel men to make curved drawer-fronts for me ; they won 't take 

 kindly to an order for bed-stead material involving the use of curved 

 panels. I am not blaming them for this, since the work requires the 

 use of cauls and other equipment made especially for the purpose, 

 and, unless I were to agree to buy all my stock of that character from 

 the panel man, he might not find it advantageous to make up the 

 cauls and otherwise prepare for my work. But that, at all events, is 

 the situation. 



' ' Tliat means that I must liave a glue-room. I must have glue 

 converters or pots, spreaders and presses and expert employes to do 

 the work. I have to pay the men who handle this kind of work a lot 

 more than those whom I can employ to make straight flat panels, 

 which are the simplest kind of manufacture. Therefore, inasmuch as 

 I have one foot in the panel-making business, so to speak, why should 

 I not put the other in also? I have the equipment and the organiza- 

 tion, and all that is necessary is for me to get a few additional men 

 and lay the rest of my panels as well as those involving curved 

 fronts. 



" Tliere is another feature wliich must be considered, also. Some- 

 times I want only a few panels of a certain character. I may want 

 to put out a small quantity of a new number, with the idea of find- 

 ing out whether the trade wants to handle that style or not. Suppose 

 I send that order to my friends in the panel business. Will it get 

 prompt attention, and will I have my panels back in a week or two? 

 Maybe so; also, maybe not. The chances are that the panel man 

 may not want to make up such a small order, so he waits for some 

 other work of the same dimensions to come in, and then puts it all 

 through the presses at the same time. It's economical, from his 

 standpoint, but it's rough on the furniture man. 



"Again, my order may be behind a lot of others, so that I have to 

 wait for four or five or six weeks to get the goods. But if I happen 

 to be up against the proposition of having the furniture in the hands 

 of the trade in that time, it's not a question of figuring out whether 

 I can save a few dollars by placing the order outside; it's up to me 

 to make the goods, and I simply can't afford to wait. 



' ' I have had this experience, too : I have been served by a panel 

 manufacturer, who turns in a lot of fine goods. Either becau.=ie of a 

 defect at that end of the business or because the panels were not 

 properly finished, a few of them, say a dozen, cannot be used, [f I 

 return them to the panel man and ask for a hurry-up job in getting 

 them back to me, I will be shown that the expense of putting those 

 few panels through the plant will be much larger than if a full order 

 were ro be given. If I want them right away I will have to pay more 

 than the regular price. Or I may not be told anything of this, but 

 the panel man nevertheless waits until he can put those dozen panels 

 through without having to handle the job separately. All that time, 

 of course, I am twiddling my thumbs and wondering when I am 

 going to get the stock. 



"It's a big question, and I don't pretend to have discovered the 

 solution. For my own purposes, and in connection with my individual 

 business, I have found it .best to lay my own panels. If anybody can 

 show me a better way, in view of the points I have just made, I shall 

 be open to conviction on this score. ' ' 



