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Utilization of Hardwoods 



ARTICLE FIFTY-EIGHT 

 CEDAR AND UTILITY CHESTS 



For a great many years, probably as far back as memory can go, 

 ■the cedar chest has been regarded as an adequate means of pro- 

 tecting clothing from the ravages of moths. Xo old home is com- 

 plete without its cedar chest, and it is a remarkable fact that 

 those boxes, some of them half a century old, still retain the 

 fragrance of the oil in the knots and to a lesser extent in the 

 wood itself. It is this projierty of cedar which has always ren- 

 dered it not only popular but necessary as a material for the 

 manufacture of chests for storing clothing. Our forefathers, how- 

 ever, made the mistake of failing to comprehend that a cedar 

 chest was of little value for this purpose unless it was made 

 absolutely air-tight; that moths could penetrate and thrive even 

 in the pungent air on the inside of the chest with the aid of a 

 very small circulation of fresh air. It has been only during the 

 last five or six years that anj- general attempt has been made 

 to combine a high class of work- 

 manship and ornamentalitj' with 

 the utility of the old cedar box, 

 and the Eoos Manufacturing Com- 

 pany of Chicago is probably the pio- 

 neer in the manufacture of orna- 

 mental cedar chests. This company 

 has manufactured cedar chests of a 

 high type of workmanship, of an ex- 

 tremely attractive appearance, for 

 the last six years, although the 

 transition from the old style of ordi- 

 nary cedar box with the loose fit 

 ting cover which was usually rele- 

 gated to the attic or the cellar has 

 been gradual. 



There are now a considerable 

 number of concerns throughout the 

 country who are manufacturing 

 high-grade chests, most of which 

 would be suitable articles of furni- 

 ture, and they probably consume in 

 •excess of 5,000,000 feet of red cedar 

 of the Tennessee variety annuallj'. 

 This stock sells for from $40 to $100 

 a thousand feet. In fact, the re- 

 markable increase in the production 

 of cedar chests, due to their more 

 attractive designs, has resulted in 

 the creation of a very considerable 

 industry. The chests are purchased 

 in all parts of the country within 



limitation of freight rates. This question has become a serious 

 one with the manufacturers, as the railroads have failed to 

 analyze this condition in the industry or to apply rates com- 

 mensurate with the importance and character of the shipments. 

 However, this is a question which will be worked out as the 

 business den(onstrates its importance. 



The jiurchase of cedar lumber is not at all along the lines of 

 ordinary lumber transactions. Cedar suitable for the manufac- 

 ture of chests comes entirely from Tennessee, and the supply 

 is rapidly being cut off. The early settlers in Tennessee built 

 their homes and cabins of cedar logs, which have resisted the 

 ravages of the elements without any apparent deterioration. 

 Formerly no well constructed southern home was complete with- 

 out cedar floors in the kitchen and the porches. So great 

 has the demand for this wood become of late that some of 

 these fine old buildings have been depleted of their cedar to 

 satisfy the demand, iluch of it has been shipped to Germany 



MODERN STYLES OF CHESTS 



and other foreign countries, and returned to us in the form of 

 lead pencils. Another considerable source of supply is the old 

 cedar rail fences which occur in that country in abundance. 

 Some farmers hold fortunes in such fences. There is an in- 

 stance on record of one farmer who disposed of his fence rails 

 for $15,000 after he had signified his readiness to sell his farm, 

 fence and all for $8,000. A recent census of the situation 

 revealed the fact that during the past year the American Pencil 

 Company paid farmers of the Murfreesboro section of Tennessee 

 $200,000 for old rails. 



The ordinary cedar chest is made of three-quarter-inch stock. 

 Of course it would be an impossibility to secure cedar lumber 

 of sufficient width to form a side, end or cover, so it is necessary 

 to glue up strips of from two to six inches in width and cut 

 them out to suit requirements. The contrast of the white sap 



with the red heart-wood gives the 

 box a somewhat gaudy appearance 

 if considerable care is not taken in 

 cutting to eliminate as much of this 

 white sap as possible. One prom- 

 inent company manufacturing cedar 

 chests makes a specialty of eliminat- 

 ing practically all of the sap from 

 the outside of the boxes. Its idea 

 is to leave in only enough to form 

 a suitable contrast to the beautiful 

 color of the heart without making 

 the sap at all conspicuous. As a 

 result there is a great deal of waste, 

 most of which is entirely unusable, 

 although quite a little of the small 

 stuff is utilized in making brackets 

 and ornaments for the more fanci- 

 fully designed chests. 



On account of the brittleness of 

 cedar it is impossible to resaw the 

 stock satisfactorily, and therefore 

 it becomes necessary to buy the 

 lumber in the thickness that is ulti- 

 mately intended to be used. 



The process of manufacture of the 

 cedar chest is a straight cabinet- 

 making proposition. ' As before 

 stated, the lumber is cut into the 

 desired lengths and is then glued 

 up in automatic clamping machines. 

 The panels are edged to the exact 

 dimensions and sanded before going to the cabinet maker. 

 All well-made cedar chests are tenoned so that the cabinet maker 

 only has to fit them accurately together and nail the various 

 sides in place. After passing through the cabinet maker's hands, 

 they are finished in some cases in the natural color, and some- 

 times mahoganized. It is only the cheaper grade of boxes 

 which is mahoganized, and the reason for their being stained in 

 this manner is that the concerns making them are not particular 

 in cutting out the white sap, and consequently have to stain 

 the whole box in order to cover up its conspieuousness. The 

 manufacture of these chests gives a considerable opportunity 

 for a variety of designs and workmanship. In fact it is an indus- 

 try which depends for its growth more upon new designs than 

 any other one factor. The Eoos company has probably turned 

 out more original designs than all the others together. 



While the majority of ordinary utility boxes, such as shirt- 

 waist boxes, skirt boxes, etc., are made of pine lumber, there 



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