HARDWOOD RECORD 



4.S 



"Well, what do you think of it?'' inquired the panel man after 

 his friend had finished perusing the communication. 



"I hardly know what to think," was the reply. "He cer- 

 tainly doesn't tell you much about it, does he?" 



"No, and that's just the point," remarked the glued-up stoelc 

 builder, as he shoved the letter back into his basket. "He wants 

 me to buy unsight, unseen, and to find out for myself whether 

 the glue will answer my purposes. I judge, from the price, that 

 it isn "t a very high-grade glue, and that he 's trying to get it 

 out solely on the basis of its being a bargain in price. How- 

 ever, it rnaj- be worth while, and if the glue man were to say 

 just what it will do, what its spreading qualities are, what its 

 tensile strength is, and in a definite way tell me what I may ' 

 expect of it, I might be .able to determine what the stuff will do. 



"If the salesman for that house comes around I expect he'll 

 tell me that this glue which his concern is offering is the best 

 on the market and will take twice its own volume of water 

 without any difficulty. He will probably give me a lot of hot air 

 about what a certain customer of his is doing with it and expect 

 me to buy just on his enthusiasm. But as I have a brand of 

 glue which is working well and as I can't afford to take any 

 chances of ruining high-price panels with cheap glue, I suppose 

 I'll have to pass up this tempting proposition, even though the 

 glue is the good old-fashioned variety." 



As a matter of fact, the average glue salesman isn 't very strong 



on the educational proposition. Instead of helping the user to 

 find out just what his requirements are, that is to say, just how 

 grc-at strength is required for the particular class of work he is 

 doing, and trying to fit the job with a special brand, he puts it 

 up entirely to the consumer and expects him to take a chance with 

 whatever lot he happens to be offering at that particular time. 

 He makes all sorts of general claims, as a rule, but has very little 

 specific information to offer which will enable the buyer to pur- 

 chase more wisely than if another were offering stock. 



Business men in nearly every line have learned that they can 

 hold trade most firmly when they sell something other than 

 material. If they prove that they can furnish something in addi- 

 tion to the goods and can offer a few idea^ with the particular 

 commodity they are dispensing, they know that they need not 

 worry about their price being a cent or two above the market 

 or about a bargain lot being offered to their customers. 



Ideas have a high market value, because they can be con- 

 verted into dollars and cents. If a glue salesman can give really 

 good advice to his customers about the quality of glue they need 

 for their particular line, he is in a position to get their confidence 

 and their esteem, and to land their orders with marked regularity. 

 It is simply a case of mutual assistance, or to use a vulgar but 

 expressive phrase, ' ' You scratch my back and I '11 scratch yours. ' ' 

 If you can perform a service for the other fellow, he will do 

 his part about returning the favor. G. D. C, Jr. 



' M:i roit;M i:fea^?t«ii'K*wi;i)Wi^^ 



Hardwood in Doors and Millwork 



Now is the time more notice than usual is given to what is 

 going on in the niillwork trade, as it is the season of activity on 

 the part of the planing mills. This year some special features may 

 be taken note of in connection with various reports on the wood 

 using industries in different states. 



Hardwood has been a factor of first importance in the door 

 and millwork trade for some time, but it is doubtful if even those 

 who have taken note of this fact are aware of the importance of 

 the millwork trade as a whole as compared to other wood using 

 industries, or how big a factor hardwood is in this work. 



The figures from Illinois show white oak as second in the quan- 

 tity of woods used, and sash, doors and millwork as second in the 

 list of the value of total wood used in a year, being exceeded by 

 car works in quantitj- and value of lumber used, and by boxes in 

 quantity, but not in the value of lumber used. 



In Hatch-Maxwell report on the wood using industries of Mis- 

 souri some interesting details are given that are worthy of special 

 study. The planing mills and sash and door factories head the 

 list in the value of lumber used, which is partly by virtue of the 

 fact that there is included flooring, ceiling and considerable stock 

 that is made with planers operating in conjunction with sawmills. 

 This fact should be kept in mind because it serves to add emphasis 

 to the importance of hardwood in the industry as shown by the 

 figures given in detail. 



From the table showing the different woods used in Missouri 

 for sash, doors, blinds and general millwork, there is taken the 

 following as properly belonging to hardwood: 



HARDWOODS USED IN MILLWORK IX MISSOIT.I. 



Feet. 



White oak 4,992,937 



Red oak 4,077,857 



Sweet birch 1,785.320 



Yellow poplar 1,297,537 



Red gum 1,176,107 



Sugar maple 390,267 



Mahogany 357,273 



Silver maple 306,639 



Beech 200,000 



Locust 200,000 



Basswood 198,412 



Chestnut 51,000 



Cottonwood 50,000 



White a.sh 35,137 



Black walnut 16,000 



Black cherry 15,900 



Sycamore, Vermillion, holly, butternut, satinwood, Circassian walnut and 

 hickory in quantities ranging from 300 to .ibove .3,000 feet. 



Here we have above fifteen million feet of hardwood used annu- 

 ally for the millwork trade in one state alone, where the total was 

 a little under seventy million feet, something less than a fourth 

 of the total. However, when we consider that a large part of that 

 total was made up of pine lumber dressed into flooring, ceiling 

 and finished at the sawmills, the ratio of hardwood used in mill- 

 work becomes larger. Then let us quote from the report accom- 

 panj'ing the figures for another point of interest: 



"Built-up construction has largely taken the place of the solid 

 work of former times. The inside is of one w^ood, and the visible 

 part is of something else. The outside material is veneer-oak, 

 birch, mahogany — glued upon the core. ' ' That is the thing that 

 adds wonderfully to the size of the hardwood figures in the mill- 

 work business — quite a lot of it is veneer, which makes a thousand 

 feet board measure spread out over a large territory. However, 

 our idea is not to convey the impression that it is only in the 

 form of veneer that hardwood is an important factor in millwork — 

 far from it. It is more to emphasize the magnitude or spread 

 the quantity listed. The use of hardwood veneered doors carries 

 with it an enlarged call for hardwood trim to match, so that while 

 the door makers are using more hardwood veneer, the planing mill 

 also finds a call for more hardwood casing, base and other trim. 

 Hardwood in millwork is not becoming a big factor — it already is 

 big, and growing bigger. J. C. T. 



Lumber Fire Losses 



The Lumbermen 's Underwriting Alliance in its last bulletin 

 states that, according to careful compilations from the various fire- 

 reporting mediums, lumber property losses in February, 1912, 

 amounted to $623,000 as against $481,000 for the corresponding 

 mouth of 1911. In March, 1912, the lumber plant losses ran some- 

 thing over $600,000, or practically the same as for February, but 

 in March, 1911, they reached the tremendous sum of $1,126,.'500. 



