HARDWOOD RECORD 



41 



and knew by a mark on liis bin the space that it occupied. 

 This year he put in fourteen tons and it apparently did not take 

 up as much space as the previous thirteen tons, but he threw up 

 his hands and said, "What could I do? I had no means of measur- 

 ing it and could not prove that it was not there." 



Consideration of all these facts, which every lumberman knows 

 are true, ought to convince the average man, who makes such a 

 howl about the "lumber robber" that the dealer in lumber gives 

 the customer more chance to ascertain whether or not he is get- 

 ting just what he buys than anyone else with whom he deals. 



BAND SAW EFFICIENCY 



On a recent trip to the South, H. C. Atkins, president of E. C. 

 Atkins & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., encountered a remarkable 

 demonstration of saw eflBeiency in the plant of the Boone Timber 

 Company at Clothier, W. Va. Mr. Atkins happened into the filing 

 room of the company's mill, which is presided over by C. L. Park, 

 where his attention was attracted to a pair of seven-inch Atkins' 

 silver-steel saws. 



"How do you happen to have seven-inch band saws in youi 

 filing room?" asked Mr. Atkins. 



' ' Those two bands were not always seven inches wide, ' ' replied 

 Mr. Park.. "They were purchased some time ago and have worn 

 down from ten to seven inches." 



"What kind of timber have you been cutting?'" was the next 

 <iuery. 



"That's the remarkable part of it," said Mr. Park. "Those 

 saws have been running in mixed hardwood, such as hickory, beech, 

 maple, oak, ash, gum and poplar, and another thing I will say, 

 those saws were on the wheels every day, making an average 

 run of four hours without change. It is my experience that a 

 saw that will hold a cutting edge for four hours in mixed hard- 

 wood such as we are cutting is a record-breaker." 



' ' Those saws are as good today as when they were delivered; 

 with the exception of three inches which is worn away. I have 

 not found a single crack, nor have I had the least trouble in 

 handling them." 



' ' What do you figure your average cut per day ? ' ' asked Mr. 

 Atkins. 



"Thirty-five thousand feet.'' 



"And you say these saws have run for five months?" 

 ' ' Yes. sir ; that 's what they have. ' ' 



' ' Let us figure this out and see for ourselves what a small item 

 the proper kind of saws are as compared with the total cost of 

 cutting lumber. 



' ' Figuring twenty-six days to the month and thirty-five thou- 

 sand feet per day, we have an average monthly cut of nine hun- 

 dred and ten thousand feet, which in five months aggregate four 

 million five hundred and fifty thousand feet of lumber, cut with 

 two ten-inch bands." 



"That is all right." said Mr. Park, "but those bands are good 

 for several million more feet. Let us wait until they are worn 

 out before we figure their cost. ' ' 



SOME FOOL RED GXTM STOKIES 

 "The attitude of consumers of lumber has undergone a won- 

 derful change in regard to the qualities of gum." said a manu- 

 facturer, while talking with several others in the smoking compart- 

 ment. "I handled this wood years before there was any demand 

 for it to amount to anything, and remember an incident the boys 

 used to tell of a darkey who. during the noon hour, went to sleep 

 on a wide gum board out in the sun. When the whistle blew 

 at one o'clock they had to cut him out. as the board had warped 

 entirely around him.'' 



"That reminds me," said number two, "of the time when my 

 yard was situated next to another hardwood yard in a southern 

 city with only a six-foot fence between; we used to have to brand 

 our gum, as every night it would warp over the fence and we 

 would have to claim it the next day." 



"I had a somewhat similar experience," said number three. 

 "Mv vard, being located at the top of the hill at the foot of 



which a small stream flowed, the gum in my yard would leave 

 the pile in the night and go down to the stream for a drink." 



Serioush- speaking, gum acquired a bad reputation in advance, 

 largely on account of its poor manufacture, and the inattention 

 given to proper piling. Since it has become a wood of commercial 

 value and increasing popularity, it is carefully manufactured, 

 well piled with plenty of sticks and is certainly one of the 

 coming woods. 



"I remember the time," remarked one of the speakers, "when 

 you could hardly sell a Cottonwood box board to a wagon manufac- 

 turer, it being claimed that the stock would warp terribly, but 

 those same factories have used cottonwood for years and there 

 is a ready sale for practically all that is put on the market." 



"Necessity has compelled the consuming factory to turn to 

 cheaper stocks, which has brought gum into notice and I think it 

 will never lose the place that it has acquired as there is certainly 

 no wood produced in the country that can be put on the market 

 more cheaply, considering the widths and grade. In other words, 

 gum has come to stay. ' ' 



LUMBER PHILOSOPHY 



One of the peculiar features which every lumberman has ex- 

 pressed at some time is the aptitude of lumber to vary in weight; 

 one car of oak weighing -1,000 pounds to the thousand feet and an- 

 other car loaded out of piles put up at the same time, weighing 

 5,500 pounds to the thousand feet. It is rumored that the weighing 

 departments of some of the railroads might account for this 

 difference, but this is generally discredited, as the weighing asso- 

 ciations have repeatedly stated a fair weight on oak being any- 

 where from 4,000 to 10,000 pounds to the thousand feet. It is 

 also a custom of the railroad companies, we believe, to verify 

 weights of lumber in cars by taking out a wagonload and carefully 

 weighing it at some intermediate or terminal point. This, of 

 course, is a matter of expense to the railroads but is practical, 

 on account of their great desire to be fair to the lumbermen in this 



matter. 



* * * 



Lumber is a commodity that can easily be cornered and manipu- 

 lated by a trust, as there are probably, in diiferent parts of the 

 country, not to exceed 30,000 sa^vmills cutting various competing 

 woods. It should be a very easy matter to secure concerted action 

 among such a small number of producers and "trustify" the prod- 

 uct which runs only into the billions of feet per year. 



* » * 



The marketing of lumber is easy on account of freedom from 

 competition, as it must not be supposed that over five hundred 

 to one thousand mills cover the same general territory and this, 

 no doubt, accounts for the "princely fortunes" accumulated by 

 numerous "lumber barons," especially in the last few years. 



* * » 



Before recommending your lumber as being better than that of 

 your neighbor, think twice before you speak, and when you speak 



— talk to vourself. 



* * * 



A genius in lumber affairs is just the same as in other lines of 

 endeavor, and is he who does the right thing without being told 



more than seven times. 



* * * 



In selling lumber there is a bit of sterling philosophy involved 

 in the injunction to inspire respect for yourself and confidence in 

 the goods vou are selling. 



Remember: A customer neglected is a customer lost. 



* * * 



Don't be afraid to blow your own horn. If you don't believe 

 iu yourself, how in the mischief can you expect others to believe 

 in you? ^ ^ ^ 



The man who doesn't get some comfort and some enthusiasm 

 out of his daily work is in a bad way. 



