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Tales of the Trade 



FINE EXAMPLE BOOKBINDERS' ART 



Among Chicago's artistic element is Mrs. Alice Weeks Dering 

 of Steinway Hall, a manufacturer of splendid examples of fancy 

 bookbinding, which art she also teaches to a select class of stu- 

 dents. The book illustrated in this paragraph has three-eighths 

 inch covers of solid bird's-eye maple, supplemented with blind 

 tooled pigskin and solid carved gold clasps. 



The work done by Mrs. Dering, while different in kind, is in 

 every way as fine an example of magnificent bookbinding as any 



» 



GUEST UK WEDDING BOOK 



of the work done by Morris. In this binding Mrs. Ueriug employs 

 not only bird's-eye maple, but figured mahogany and black walnut 

 as well. 



THE BRASS BAND AT FONTAINA 



R. E. Wood and his brother, G. Leidy Wood of the Montvale 

 Lumber Company, Fontana, N. C, and of the E. E. Wood Lumber 

 Company, Baltimore, Md.. spend a good deal of time, thought 

 and money in keeping their employes amused and satisfied with 

 sawmill surroundings. Besides maintaining clubhouses at their 

 various plants, with reading rooms, card tables, etc., for indoor 

 amusement, G. Leidy Wood has organized at the company's plant 

 at Fontana, Swain county, N. C, a cornet band, which is herewith 

 pictured. 



Mr. Wood is a memlier of the band, and ia seen in the center 

 of the picture with a sliding trombone. It is said that the boys 

 of the Montvale Lumber Company put up some classy music, 

 which is borne back to them in echoing cadences from the cliffs 

 of the Little Tennessee river. 



TAKING PASSAGE WITH DYNAMITE 



Several northern lumbermen wore in the passenger list of a line 

 steamer that sailed from New York for the tropics one day last 

 winter. 



It happens sometimes that lumbermen are inquisitive. Thev 

 have had so much lumber worked off on them that is below grade 



—40— 



that they get into the habit of looking into everything. So it hap- 

 pened that one of them began to wonder as the time of sailing 

 approached whether the ship would start off on time. He- knew 

 that it would be useless to ask any of the officers or agents of 

 the steamer, as they would be sure to say that the sailing would 

 be on time, so he went down on the dock and asked some of the 

 freight handlers. One of -them, a very innocent fellow, replied 

 that they still had fifty tons of dynamite to load and if they 

 had no trouble with that, he thought there would be no delay! 



The lumberman 's hair rose a trifle, for he felt that the fellow 

 was not capable of making up such a story. The situation was 

 one where a person might better kiiow a little less about things, 

 but it was too late now. The dinner did not taste very good that 

 day and when the poor victim of overconfidence tried to shift the 

 burden by telling some of the other men on board he was cau- 

 tioned not to say anything that would come to the ears of the 

 ladies. 



On approaching the port of destination the ship 's captain was 

 visibly growing uneasy. The sun had not shone for a day or 

 two and he was unwary enough to declare that he was not going 

 to run down past a well known rocky coast at night. Reason, 

 of course, as certain well-posted but rather careless passengers 

 explained, that dynamite is mostly non-committal unless it runs 

 afoul of a fire or gets a shock, then » * » * 



The too-wise lumberman did not sleep very well that last night, 

 and when the steamer fetched up towards morning and lay to till 

 daylight, he was ready to walk about on his toes. He has not con- 

 fessed the fact, but it could be proven that his hat has seemed 

 very high up on his head lately, and he has not worn the heels of 

 his shoes oft' at al! since he took passage on the New York liner 

 bound for Pnnani:i. 



ISN'T IT TRUE? 



"Did it ever occur to you," asked a lumberman, in a retro- 

 spective moment, "in the midst of all this talk of the 'lumber 

 barons,' 'lumber trust,' etc., of the position of (he manufacturer, 

 wholesaler and retailer, compared with the ice-man, coal dealer, 

 Sjroeer, and, in fact, a large majority of purveyors of merchandise? 



"I would say off-hand that ninety to ninety-five per cent of 

 lumber that is sold for any purpose is measured or a count made 



.MONTV.\LE CORNET BAND, FONTANA, N. C. 



by the purchaser, to determine whether or not he is getting what 

 he buys. This does not in any way disturb or excite the seller. 

 He knows that it is a custom of the trade for customers to do 

 this. 



"When your coal dealer delivers his goods in your cellar you 

 have no means of definitely ascertaining whetlier you get full 

 weight. Ice is delivered in the same way and rarely does a house- 

 wife weigh or measure the supplies which she buys." 



While talking with a prominent consumer of lumber yesterday, 

 he stated that last winter he used thirteen tons of hard coal 



