28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



conditions which have been enumerated, these conditions are in 

 one sense reversed so that a record yield is obtained with unprece- 

 dented rapidity. Yet it is probable that no single particle of 

 wood is here carbonized at a speed greater than that which gave 

 older investigators their highest yield. It is easy to reconcile 

 these facts when we consider that all the particles in a retort are 

 now carbonizing simultaneously, so that no time is lost in the 

 delayed penetration of heat. 



The charcoal which remains in the retort after the completion 

 of this, the final step of the process, furnishes a study hardly less 

 interesting than those which have gone before. Owing to the 

 peculiarly beneficial action of the special form of press employed, 

 the original chips retain their cohesion to the last, and the product 

 is a charcoal, the like of which has never before been seen, car- 

 bonized with absolute accuracy, uniform as to size, with no 

 "bones" and no "fines" and of a greater burden-bearing capacity 

 than the' best grades of selected hardwood charcoal. 



Briefly stated, then, this process uses subdivided wood such as 

 sawdust, and which can be obtained in vast quantities at a frac- 

 tion of the cost of cordwood. This fine wood is literally put back 

 together again and is then in such a state of uniformity that it 

 is automatically handled to the retorts, which act at an unprece- 

 dented speed and give a yield of salable products from a given 

 unit of wood greatly in excess of any older practice. 



The perfection of temperature manipulation gives most surpris- 

 ing returns; for example, an average maple sawdust such as may 

 be had as a regular plant supply at any well selected point will 

 produce the following products per cord of 4,000 pounds: 

 13 gallons cmde wood alcohol. 

 3oO pounds aci^tate of lime. 

 .5.'> bushels charcoal. 



Without monopoly, the sale of these three products is controlled 

 by remarkably strong companies. This places the manufacturers 

 in the enviable position of having entire immunity from selling 

 trouble. The charcoal is consumed largety within a short distance 

 of the point of production, while the other products (acetate and 

 alcohol) have a world-wide market. 



They are among the standard heavj' chemicals and the demand 

 for them has increased year by year as new uses have been found. 

 They now go into a range of usefulness so wide that even tne 

 makers are not entirely familiar with their final diaposition. 



SUMMAEY 



Taking, as it does, a raw material now wasted, or at most having 

 only a small fuel value, this process makes products which could 

 be made formerly from billet wood only, which is each year grow- 

 ing scarcer and of higher cost. The yield of products so made is 

 in all cases fully equal to that of older methods, while the yield 

 of acetate is nearly or quite doubled. 



This surprising gain is made at the first step of the process and 

 at a speed from eight to twelve times greater than the best 

 former practice. This speed gives to a unit of retort capacity so 

 large an out-turn that the initial cost of the installation will act- 

 ually be less, while the running expense will never exceed the 

 existing methods. 



We may, then, safeh' say that this process forms the basis of 

 an industry of no mean proportions. 



At a demonstration plant in Chicago these problems have been 

 so thoroughly solved that the above results may be duplicated 

 indefinitely by a simple repetition of the original unit. The plant 

 and process are in control of the American Wood Reduction Com- 

 pany, Peoples Gas building, Chicago. 



.vgoggaiyAr>£<:;x>«::m^i;Wit:>i;yig!s;LB^ 





iflTnS 



Decadence of Quartered Oak? 





A large manufacturer of interior finish recently took up with 

 friends of his in the h.irdwood business the status of oak as a 

 material for that class of work. He asserted that oak, both plain 

 and quartered, is losing its grip in the interior finish trade, and 

 that unless producers of this commodity make an effort to regain 

 their lost business, the time will be gone when they can under- 

 take a campaign of that sort with any degree of success. 



"I am estimating on interior finish jobs all over the country," 

 he said, "and I am forced to say that the number in which oak 

 finish is specified is exceedingly small. Mahogany and its substi- 

 tutes, including birch and gum, are being given the preference in 

 the class of work where oak was formerly used, while in the 

 cheaper jobs pine has the call. It is my opinion that the oak 

 men are too confident of the stability of their position, and are 

 allowing their business to be undermined without realizing what 

 is going on. " 



This manufacturer, who seems to have a leaning toward oak, 

 and to desire to continue its use on as large a scale as possible, 

 suggested that the best way to meet the situation would be by 

 means of advertising. He said that the vogue of mahogany, gum 

 and other woods has been brought about by the proper sort of 

 exploitation and that similar plans should be arranged with ref 

 erence to oak. He had a rather indefinite impression as to what 

 kind of advertising to undertake, but believed that oak should be 

 advertised to the consumer like the other woods. 



The suggestion was discussed at a recent lumbermen 's meeting 

 which was attended by a number of manufacturers and whole- 

 salers who are interested in oak. It was a novel idea to most of 

 those present, who admitted that the}- were not prepared to say 

 whether the}' endorsed the views of the interior finish man or 

 not. They agreed, however, that there has been a loss of busi- 

 ness in the direction of interior finish, and that probably the chief 

 reason for this was the increasing use of mahogany and the 

 apparent trend of public taste in the direction of the mahogany 



finishes, which has resulted in other woods being stained to 

 resemble it when the available appropriation is not sufficient to 

 secure the real article. 



In view of the extreme shortage of plain oak, which is now 

 commanding a big premium in all of the leading markets, those 

 who produced this character of stock were not alarmed at the 

 state»ient that oak is not being used as much as it ought to be in 

 the interior finish business, and were inclined to feel that a let- 

 wellenough-alone attitude can profitably be adopted with regard 

 to their product. On the other hand, quartered oak men were 

 ready to give the suggestions more than casual attention. 



The fact that the furniture trade has been somewhat below 

 normal of late has prevented quartered oak from being used in as 

 large quantities as might have been counted on under more favor- 

 able conditions, and this led some of the oak men to take the 

 ground that the surplus oi their goods is only a temporary result 

 of the lull in the factory trade. On the other hand, others pointed 

 out that many office equipment factories, which formerly were 

 devoted to the construction of wooden goods exclusively and 

 were extensive consumers of quartered oak, are now going into the 

 steel goods line as well, and almost necessarily are reducing their 

 purchases of oak. Without attempting to debate the permanence 

 of this type of furniture, it was conceded that steel cabinets and 

 cases of all kinds are being made, and that they are being used 

 in place of wooden equipment to a considerable extent. 



Railways are also using less fine oak finishes than formerly, 

 partly because they are using more steel in the construction of 

 their passenger cars, and partly because mahogany is being con- 

 sumed in place of the oak which was once foremost in the field. 

 The quartered oak men concluded by agreeing that on the one 

 hand quartered oak is meeting competition with a substitute ma- 

 terial, steel, and on the other is having to fight for business with 

 another wood, mahogany, which seems to have been victorious in 

 the contest for a lion 's share of the patronage thus far. 



