26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Seven years ago a branch office was opened in the Monadnock 

 block, Chicago, where the Williamson-Kiiny Mill & Liuiiber Com- 

 pany is represented by the Hardwood Mills Lumber Company. This 

 latter company has been successful from its inception. 



Of late years the Williamson-Kuny Mill & Lumber Company has 

 confined itself largely to the manufacture of oak and ash, which, 

 with a comparatively small amount of miscellaneous southern hard- 

 woods, makes up an annual total of eight million feet of logs, be- 

 sides timber for the veneer mills. The veneer saws are supplied 

 mainly by rail from Tennessee and Kentucky forests, while the 

 saw timber comes by river barges, largely from along the Missis- 

 _sippi, between Cairo, 111., and the St. Francis basin. 



Returning to Mr. Kuny, personally. He is still an unmarried 

 man, and in his Mound City home is affiliated with various enter- 

 prises, both public and private. He is president of the Commercial 

 Club, and is well known as a great booster of Mound City and 

 vicinity. He is a member of the Hoo-Hoo, and the Modern Wood- 

 man of America. His partner, A. W. Williamson, is also heavily 

 interested in Mound City affairs, being vice-president of one of 

 the banks, (whose presidency was lately offered him,) and presi- 

 dent of the Building and Loan Association, in which both he and 

 Mr. Kuny are interested. 



Mr. Kuny's two hobbies and recreation are children and books, 

 of which latter he has quite a library. In his home town he knows 

 probably more children, and more children know him, than any 

 other one citizen. He is interested in them, their education, plays 

 and comforts, and, of course, among them he has special pets, upon 

 whom he expends quite lavishly for their entertainments, com- 

 forts, etc., besides teaching them and encouraging them in the 

 habits of saving and thrift. 



Every few years Mr. Kuny takes a trip to Europe, where, in 



his old Black Forest home, his mother is living among a happy 

 family, or rather families, of her children and grand-children, and 

 where Mr. Kuny greatly enjoys himself. 



The Williamson-Kuny Mill & Lumber Company started out with 

 a capital of $-50,000 in 1903, paid in by two incorporators, Mr. 

 Williamson and Mr. Kuny. This capital stock has never been 

 raised. However, the original stock, with most of the surplus and 

 undivided profits now in the business, show after eight years of 

 business a net aggregate investment of over two hundred thou- 

 sand dollars, after liberal amounts having been charged off yearly 

 for depreciation. 



The officers of the company are: A. W. Williamson, president, 

 T. M. Ford, vice-president, F. J. Kuny, secretary and treasurer. 



The policy upon which the remarkable success of this concern 

 has been founded is for one thing, a strict interpretation of in- 

 spection rules, and a thorough system in all its departments, where 

 its aim is constantly to increase efficiency and decrease waste. Aa 

 far as the company has gone, it has put into successful practice the 

 utilization at its highest market value of every part of the log. 

 The company is well known for giving a high grade of stock, and 

 as a consequence, its shipments meet with universal approval. The- 

 partners believe in giving a full grade and charging for it, rather 

 than selling for an off price and shading the quality of the stock. 

 The growth of the business certainly indicates the fact that this 

 policy is commercially sound. 



Outside of the Chicago representation, the Williamson-Kuny Mill 

 & Lumber Company does not have any representation on the road. 



It might be added that the strict policy is pursued as far as- 

 possible in buying its log supply, and the company takes up only 

 such stock as it is satisfied will cut into a high grade of lumber. 



There are about the same number of essential factors to be con- 

 sidered by the man who would succeed in the dimension stock 

 business as in any other special line of wood-working. To suc- 

 ceed best he should show due regard for all of them. It is not 

 the purpose of this paper to go into details relative to all of these 

 features but there are a few things that may be overlooked be- 

 cause they do not appear to be essentials, and it is hoped to draw 

 the dimension man's attention to such points. 



A prime essential in the dimension business is smooth work 

 with the machines to'the end that the stock may present the ap- 

 pearance of quality. If the stock is cut roughly, thick in some 

 spots, thin in others, and with corners out of square, it will not 

 appeal to the buyer even though it be cut from the best of timber. 

 This means that the very appearance of the stock through care- 

 less manufacture may detract enough from its value to spoil the 

 chances for profit in the business. 



It is an undeniable fact that appearance counts for a great deal 

 even in lumber, and the more lumber is cut into special sizes the 

 more opportunities there are to make or marr good appearances. 

 Rip saws should be as carefully filed and set as for doing cabi- 

 net work, so that instead of ugly saw marks that must be planed 

 out, there will be a clean surface that a very light cut with a 

 planer will make smooth. Saws kept in excellent condition will 

 do enough more work to pay for the extra pains taken with them. 



The band rip saw is a good machine to use in a dimension plant. 

 Usually more pains are taken to keep it in order — it just naturally 

 begets a higher order of mechanical skill — and besides it takes 

 out less in kerf. It might appear that this does not amount to 

 much in ripping up lumber and flitches, but by just a little figur- 

 ing the dimension man will find that there is as much saving of 

 kerf timber with thin saws in dimension work as there is in saw- 

 milling. He should talk with the band saw people; they will give 

 him the figures and the argument on this point. And then, whether 



he is using band or circular rip saws, he should see that thej' cut 

 smoothly. It will pay, and it may mean the turning of the bal- 

 ance for or against success. 



Another thing; when an order for dimension stock is received 

 it should be filled exactly according to specifications. While this 

 injunction is being given there comes to mind a pertinent instance. 

 A millman had an order for chair-rung stock of a certain size and 

 length. He cut it to size, but concluded that any multiple of the 

 length would be satisfactory. So some was exact length, some 

 double, some even four lengths. When the purchaser received it 

 he deducted from the invoice so much per thousand for cross- 

 cutting those of multiple lengths, and also some for trimming to- 

 exact length part of the stock that was cut single with too much 

 spare length left on the ends for the stock to work in his lathes 

 without equalizing. 



The millman put in a complaint but the purchaser said that he 

 would rather have paid the straight invoice and had the stock 

 according to specifications. There is no need to dwell on the fact 

 that it cost that millman more in prestige than was involved in 

 dollars and cents in this one deal. Dimension stock is a different 

 product from lumber, a product in which specifications must be 

 followed carefully in detail if one would succeed in its manufac- 

 ture. It is a business of details. The dimension manufacturer 

 exists because he will take over and work out details which the 

 user would otherwise have to work out for himself. If he fails 

 to work them out correctly the consumer naturally fails to see 

 why he should continue to buy stock from that particular dimen- 

 sion mill. The man who will make a pronounced success at dimen- 

 sion stock manufacture is he who glories in the working out of 

 details and in seeing that his machines do the finest kind of work, 

 for these are among the important items of the business though 

 they may be overlooked in a general consideration of essential 

 factors. 



