54 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Mahogany was made in styles antedating Chippendale's "Direct- 

 ory" published in 1752. The origin of the name mahogany is 

 obscure, although possibly it is a corruption of an Indian name. 

 As now spelled it was probably first seen in Byron 's ' ' Beppo ' ' in 

 which he refers to the Turk of the color of mahogany. 



SOME RAILWAY RITUALISM 



"If you want something to write about," said a well-known 

 veneer manufacturer who modestly requests that his name be with- 

 held, "here is an example of arbitrariness in railroads, that should 

 be interesting." Reaching up over his desk he took down an 

 expense bill that he had had framed as a curio, and displayed it. 

 The expense bill was for one cent and had been receipted. That 

 part of it looked all right except that it seemed to be grinding 

 down to government fineness to get a balance to the books, but 

 that was not all for there is a story with it. 



This man had shipped a carload of veneer to a customer and 

 prepaid the freight. The original expense bill was $63.41, which 

 was paid and duly receipted for by the receiving road. This 

 road had to divide the haul and the receipts with a forwarding 

 road, and evidently the division was intended to be equal, but the 

 last odd cent could not be divided in actual money, so the original 

 road took $31.71 cents and forwarded $31.70 to the next road. 

 When this road came to strike a balance it found itself out half 

 a cent, and as it couldn't get half a cent in money it presented 

 an expense bill for one cent. 



The most significant part of the story is the indication that the 

 railroads themselves know that they are difficult to colle(;t claims 

 from. Hence this road, instead of making a claim on the original 

 road for the cent, made the bill and claim to the receiver of the 

 veneer, and it was forwarded by him to the shipper, who now has 

 it hanging in a frame over his desk. 



APHORISMS OF THE TRADE 



Birch interior trim in stock patterns is getting to be quite a 

 feature in the stock of lumber retailers located quite a distance 

 south of where this stock originates. 



Not only the hickory stock, but all kinds of wagon wood is scarce 

 and in demand. 



Sweetening a grade ma.y not be quite so bad as salting it, but 

 any departure from a uniform system of grading is disorganizing 

 and to be regretted. 



One of the unanswered questions of the day is why the trade is 

 calling for thick mahogany more than for veneer on the one hand, 

 and for quartered oak in thin or in veneer form more than in 

 standard thickness of lumber on the other. And, just to mix it a 

 little more, there has been a pretty good call for three-inch quar- 

 tered oak. 



A good dry-kiln and a few special machines might help the saw- 

 mill in the woods make more money out of its hardwood. 



The furniture trade ought to be ripe for heavy stock buying this 

 fall, for trade looks good, and stocks in hand are small. 



Double-shift running of the hardwood sawmill is not the most 

 desirable thing by any means, but there has been a fair share of 

 night running lately, and perhaps it is better to make two shifts 

 of it than to rush logs through recklessly. 



There is an abundance of presidential timber, but the offerings 

 for the season are not likely to help the lumber business 'till after 

 a certain Tuesda}- in November. 



Take a tap-line railroad, a bone of contention, a lawsuit and a 

 case before the Interstate Commerce Commission and guess the 

 result. 



The really up-to-date woodworking institution is generally the 

 one built by a man who has made enough money with an old patch- 

 work plant to humor his notions a little in building a new one. 



Too much hickory is going into the export trade for the satisfac- 

 tion of the domestic consumers. But, if the export trade pays the 

 best price for it, what are you. going to do about it? 



The automobile spoke man is leading the hickory handle man a 

 merry chase in the woods these days, in consequence of which the 

 price of hickory is growing faster than the trees. 



To cut only ten thousand feet a day on a twenty thousand 

 capacity hardwood sawmill may seem like going slow, but it is 

 really good sense, for it reduces the butchering and waste. 



There are many people to whom the tall and uncut looks mighty 

 good these days, and they are going to it wherever it can be 

 found. 



By getting funny with both their grades and their prices, the 

 cypress people have lost their grip on a lot of siding trade that 

 they had captured from the poplar folks — and th(\y '11 find it hard 

 to get back. 



' TOagaiBS Bstaim^JiTOi^imi^itait:^ 



Veneer Flitches 



"I don't see why,'' said a veneer manufacturer, "the average 

 miUman would not rather cut his good oak logs into flitches, make 

 a quick turn of his money and get more out of them than he can 

 by cutting them all into lumber and bill stuff." This remark was 

 part of a discussion about veneer and the supply of quartered oak 

 flitches, and was evidently brought out by the fact that the 

 veneer man was experiencing some trouble in getting enough 

 flitches to supply his needs. Some millmen who could have got- 

 ten a fair percentage of flitches by taking a little trouble and 

 pains had not taken to the idea as readily as he thought they 

 might. And it is more than likely that they were overlooking a 

 chance to get more out of their timber. 



There has been an excellent demand for quartered oak veneer 

 this year, and meantime there has also been more call than suppl.v 

 of oak lumber, with the result that many veneer men who were 

 offered more flitches than they could use last year, have been go- 

 ing hungry for them this year. Meantime the millmen have had 

 a lively enough call for lumber from other sources so that they 

 have not hearkened as readily as they might to the call for veneer 

 flitches. And, to further complicate matters, there is a good call 

 also for thick quartered oak lumber. 



The veneer manufacturer discussing the subject said that the 

 only answer he could find for the millmen 's lack of attention 



to the opportunities in veneer flitches is that a man being accus- 

 tomed to see a certain quantity of timber going through his mill 

 each day hates to see the daily mill capacity reduced by the more 

 tedious work of quartering. He might also have added that the 

 men running the mill like to slab, roll and work in regular rythm, 

 and as a rule dislike to take the pains and detail necessary to 

 quarter and flitch the best logs as they come along. 



There is no question but that veneer flitches are good things for 

 the millman cutting oak to give attention to these days. There 

 is a ready market for them at good prices. The price of good 

 flitches put a value to good oak logs converted into them that the 

 millman will not likely be able to realize any other way, and cer- 

 tainly not without quartering. To make flitches is as easy as mak- 

 ing thick quartered lumber. Moreover, while the millman generally 

 has to take time to dry his lumber before marketing, he ships the 

 veneer flitches green and thus gets a quicker return than he can get 

 for anything else except special orders for timbers. 



Just how long the market for oak veneer flitches may hold as 

 good as it is now, no man can tell. It will take some time to 

 well stock all the veneer mills, and meantime there is a lively 

 call for oak veneer. The millman has an excellent opportunity 

 at the present time for cutting oak to get more out of his timber 

 by converting logs that are good enough into veneer flitches. 



