46 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Douglas Mallocb of the American Lumberman 

 spoke on "The Lumberman's Reward." and the 

 Rev. .Tohn T. Thomas spoke on the topic "The 

 Nature of Things." Last on the program was 

 an eloquent talk on "Success" by the Hon. 

 Gerrlt .1. Diekema of Holland. 



Dancing was enjoyed by the members and 

 Sheir guests at the close. 



A Pittsburgh Failure 

 One June ."> the Commonwealth Trust Compauy 

 of Pittsburgh was appointed receiver for the F. 

 W. Crane Lumber Company of that city. The 

 receivership was the direct result of a bill in 

 ■ equity against the Crane company filed by a 

 Louisville house, and the receivership was agreed 

 to by the Crane company, which made the 

 move in order to protect the interests of its 

 creditors. The cause of the insolvenc.v was 

 generally supposed to be three heavy failures in 

 which the Crane company was recently caught. 

 This concern is a West Virginia corporation, and 

 the receivership will affect the wholesale lumber 

 business only. Pittsburgh offices have been 

 maintained in the House building for four years. 



Labor-Saving Device in Door Plant 



The use nf electrically operated machines in 

 wood-working plants has been the means of 

 effecting many economies in their operation, so 

 that it is not surprising to hear frequently of 

 some new application of an electric motor in 

 , this industry. 



The application illustrated and described here- 

 with has proved to be so much more efficient in 

 operation than the method it superseded that a 

 description of it may prove of interest. 



The apparatus consists of an automatic 

 hydraulically operated door veneering machini' 

 installed in the plant of the Commercial Sash. 

 Door and Blind Company. Beaver Falls. Pa. 



This plant is most completely equipp<-d 

 throughout with individual electric motor drive. 

 a total of twenty-four motors being used. Some 

 are mounted on the ceiling and others on the 

 floor In places most convenient for driving their 

 respective machines. Those mounted on the floor 

 are placed in enclosures to protect them from the 

 dust and dirt such as is usually prevab'nt in 

 plants of this kind. 



The veneer is placed on the door frames and 

 when a sufTicicnt number are ready, the.v an- 

 placed in the compress as indicated in the illus- 

 tration, which shows 110 1%-incli frames piled 

 In five i-ows. Two sets of I-beams are put in 

 place, one above and one below the frames, and 

 turn-buckle clamps, attached from one set to the 

 other, are tightened so as to hold the frames 

 Intact. After this has been done, the motor, 

 mounted on the ceiling Just about the compress. 

 Is started and the operator opens the valve 

 which allows the hydraulic pressure to act. 

 Gradually the carriage rises, compressing the 

 frames until the pressure, as Indicated by the 

 gauge at the side of the machine, has reached 

 the desired value. This value is usually from 

 1.300 to 1.000 pounds pi'r square Inch, depending 

 on the nature of the wood to be compressed. A 

 pneumatic safety valve automatically opens at 

 any predetermined value, thus preventing any 

 possibility of danger from excessive pressure. 



It will be noted, on referring to the illustra- 

 tion, that the bottom portion of the compress is 

 In the form of a truck. By means of this con- 

 struction the material may be loaded directly on 

 the truck, which is then rolled to the compress 

 on car tracks. When the desired pressure' has 

 been applied for a few minutes (about two. gen- 

 erally), the valve is opened; the pressure gradu- 

 ally ri'lieved, and the truck returns to the nor- 

 mal position and is then rolled away. 



As an example of the economy effected by this 

 veneering machine, it should be noted that the 

 lime required for compressing is only about two 

 minutes, while that required b.y the old band- 

 operated method w"as from four to five hours. 

 With this method, the frames can be removed 

 at once after they have been compressed. 



although it is generally customar.v to leave tbi- 

 clamps on for an hour or so. whereas in the 

 rildcr method it was necessary to have them on 

 for several hours. 



The plant is equipped throughout with West- 

 inghouse induction motors, taking current from 

 the central .station lines. 



Preservation of Mine Timbers 



Bulletin No. 107, compiled Ijy E. W. Peters, 

 engineer in wood preservation of the Forest 

 Service, was Issiied by the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture May 31. The bulletin 

 is profusel.v illustrated with photographs show- 

 ing defective timbers and their causes, and con- 

 tains numerous charts graphically illustrating 

 certain facts as demonstrated in its i>ages. The 

 book contains information on agencies destuc- 

 tive to mine timbers, practical methods of In- 

 creasing the durability of timber, results of ex- 

 perimental treatments, cost of treatment, dur- 

 ability of treated timber, economy in the use of 

 treated timber, avoidance of waste and analysis 

 of preservatives. Tables show the results of 

 representative open tank creosote treatment upon 

 various species, and representative creosote 

 pressure treatment of the various species. The 

 bulletin contains a great many new ideas of in- 

 terest to those in touch with the question of 

 timber preservation. 



AUTOMATIC HYDRAULICALLY OPF.RATEI > 



DOOR VENEIiRI.N'G MACHINE I.NSTALLED 



IN PLANT OF COM.MERCIAL SASH. DOOR 



& BLIND CtJMPANY, BEAVER 



F.VLLS, PA. 



A Useful Publication 



'l'b{! Hotel .Monthly of Chicago has recently 

 gotten out a publication of unusual merit and 

 usefulness, entitled the ,lohn Wiley Hotel Di- 

 rectory, which lists .about 13,000 of the leading 

 hotels of this country and Canada. The book is 

 well printed on durable paper, and is gotten up 

 in convenient size for packing. It is serviceabl.v 

 bound and a commendable publication in every 

 way. It can he had by writing to this concern, 

 rr-mitting the price of ?1.00. 



The Identification of Catalpa 

 In a paper contributed by Win. H. Laml) 

 before the Society of American I-^oresters of 

 Washington in April, the characteristics of the 

 two common species of catalp.a were analyzed in 

 such a way that one following the suggestions 

 outlined would have no difficulty in distinguish- 

 ing one from the other. The purpose of the 

 paper was to select a single character by means 

 of which those unfamiliar with the technique 



of botany could distinguish the hardy catalpa 

 (catalpa speciosa ) from the common catalpa 

 (catalpa catalpa). The paper points out that 

 it is impossible to distinguish the two from the 

 ordinary distinguishing characteristics. . such as 

 the leaves and flowers, and that the pods are 

 essential for positive identification. While the 

 pods vary extremely, they are usually larger in 

 the hardy than in the common catalpa. 



There is, however, one characteristic which 

 seems to he entirely dependalile for identifica- 

 tion, namely, the septun, a long partition in the 

 pod along which the seeds are arranged. This 

 septun may be flat or rounded in general out- 

 line, and this variation of shape furnishes the 

 valuable means of dlstingtiishing the hardy 

 catalpa. The septun of the hardy catalpa is 

 rounded, while that of the common catalpa only 

 bulges slightly in the middle. 



The Largest Sassafras Tree 

 American Forestry for April says that the 

 largest sassafras tree in existence is growing on 

 the farm of .T. M. Jenkins in Hardin county. 

 Kentucky. The circumference of this tree six 

 inches above the ground is fifteen feet, and at 

 eight feet above the ground it is fourteen feet. 

 The largest tree reported before this was lo- 

 cated in the city of Atlanta. Ga., it being fifty 

 feet high and with a spread of more than forty 

 feet. It had a circumference of eleven feet and 

 was more than one hundred years old. 



Machine Made Violins 



Until a few years ago violin box'-s in Ger- 

 many were made entirely by hand, and their 

 manufacture, with but few exceptions, was a 

 home industry. Since 1907 it has been possible 

 to manufacture bo.xes by machinery. A stock 

 company of several of the large exporters in 

 Germany was formed, which bought the machin- 

 ci-y patent and erected a large factory. The 

 original purpose of this concern was to furnish 

 the dealers with a violin body that would be as 

 cheap as that made in Bohemia with the addi- 

 tional advantage of being made of seasoned 

 \\<to(l. Under the machine methods, uniformity 

 of tile body is guaranteed. Iniprovemcnts in 

 in.'icbinery have rendered it possible to manu- 

 facture violins finished for the market. Attempts 

 li.ive been made to import the violin bodies Info 

 ilie United States, but because of the cheapness 

 o!' the German article, the dealers abroad were 

 able ti> undersell the United States. 



Meeting New Orleans Liunbernien 



Til'- Lumbermen's .Association of New Orleans 

 held Its regular monthly meeting at .\utolne's 

 Tuesday evening, ilay i.". Following the usual 

 excellent dinner, a brief business session was 

 held. 



Chairman W. P. Toung of the export commit- 

 tee reported that the expor-t branch of the asso- 

 ciation bad completed organization, adopted by- 

 laws and created several standing committees. 



Chairman Lucas E. Moore of the special com- 

 mittee on permanent quarters reported that s\iite 

 "03 Denegro building had been rented, furnished 

 and opened for the use of association members. 



President Haymann submitted communications 

 from the first vice-president. C, W. Roliinson. 

 who resigned his olfice and membership because 

 of a <'ontcmplated visit of several months abroad, 

 and from ex-Presldent W. E. Hoshall. who ten- 

 dered his resignation from the association on 

 account of his approaching removal from the 

 stale. On motion, Secretar.v Palmer was re- 

 quested to acknowledge receipt of both resigna- 

 tions and express the regret of the association. 



Chairman George E. Watson of the member- 

 ship conmilttee reported favorably on applica- 

 tions for membership from C. .1. Hay ami K. K. 

 O'Ronrke. and both were elected to membership. 



Treasurer Palmer's report, which showed the 

 association finances on a sound footini:. was 

 read and received. 



Chairman Bryan Black of the law and Insnr 

 ance committee read a letter from W. O. Hart. 



