The Electric Power Game 



There are a great iiianv people counet'ted with the hardwood 

 industry who can afford to consider the question of electric power 

 iin a commercial basis, and it is possible that but few lumbprmeu 

 are in this business because the idea has not received general con- 

 sideration. The possibilities lie especially with those miljmon in 

 the country who might furnish both light and jjower in their com- 

 munities, and thus use up their waste pile in making steam — and 

 money — instead of running a waste burner, at some expense, to keep 

 it out of the way. The electric power game is a good subject for 

 anyone to give some thought to, whether he is' a hardwood millmau 

 in the country or a furniture manufacturer or other user of hard- 

 wood in some city or town, for the electric habit is spreading and is 

 now encompassing more things than have been dreamed of by the 

 layman. 



The electric po\\cr people in the cities have been making strong 

 bids for the privilege of driving wood-working plants, and many sucii 

 plants are using electric power today, even thotigh they may have 

 waste enough to make their own steam. If the power requirements 

 arc light, the saving in night watchmen, insurance and power plant 

 maintenance amounts to more than the advantages of utilizing waste 

 for fuel, and, besides, the waste can generally be disposed of to 

 some advantage. The electric people are turning to steam turbines 

 to help out, too, and they have reached a point in efficiency that 

 enables tJiem at times to actually figure below a man's own power 

 production with waste for fuel. 



One element that is playing strongly into the hands of the power 

 companies in larger cities is the tenement factory building idea — i. e., 

 the building of big structures in the heart of towns to be occupied 

 by a number of manufacturers. These structures are of fireproof 

 construction and are equipped with heat, light and power appliances. 

 "With this advantage the power companies get the support of the 

 smaller power users without much effort, and they are actually 

 securing the business of established plants running as high as oOD 

 horse power. The smaller the power requirement, the better are 

 the chances for the electric man to supply it to the advantage of 

 both, and 500 horse power is about the maximum of power require- 

 ment that the writer has found in eases of wood-working institutions 

 discontinuing their own in favor of outside "juice." Some who 

 have their own power and use electric transmission also have outside 

 connection and arrangements to buy power now and then when they 

 are called on, from any cause, to shut down their own power plants. 



This epens up the possibility of the millman turning power pro- 

 ducer himself. Recently a hardwood millman was talking about the 

 work of one of his plants in a small country town, and mentioned 

 incidentally that it lighted the town. He was asked if it made a 



profit from this lighting end of tlie business, and after considering 

 for a while he replied that it did when the mill was run steadily and 

 had plenty of waste for fuel, but that when it had to sluit down for 

 a whde and then had to rustle for fuel it just about came out even. 



The first idea suggesting itself at that statement was that the 

 man had figured unnecessarily low in bidding for the lighting eon- 

 tract. It would seem that any other concern undertaking the same 

 work— an independent power company — would have to rustle for fuel, 

 and that the millman should have figured from a basis that includeil 

 a charge for fuel equivalent to what some other concern would have 

 to pay for it. This logic, though, is not complete, for the man put- 

 ting in an electric power plant would likely have figm-ed ou and 

 secured enough greater efliciency than the millman, to wipe out this 

 advantage in fuel. In other words, the average sawmill power plant 

 cannot compare with the commercial power plant when it comes to higli 

 efficiency, and the millman who would take up the production of power 

 for those about him should first look to his power plant, studying 

 the design of commercial plants, and add to his own every practical 

 point that pron\ises to help. With a more efficient plant he can have 

 more power for the same fuel, and often get a profit, where with the 

 average sawmill equipment he would only be breaking even. This 

 would put him in line to compete successfully against any independent 

 power proposition that involved buying fuel. 



Lighting the town is only the beginning of even the domestic 

 requirements for electricity now. Electric power is becoming a great 

 factor in the home in the country town; it has no gas competition 

 for heating irons and for cooking, and it should be more satisfactory 

 than the gasoline engine for running the pumps so widely used for 

 the individual water system. In fact, the application of electric 

 power is everywhere spreading out into new fields. The big power 

 companies in the cities are encouraging the use of electric trucks as 

 well as autos, and are getting people into the habit of charging them 

 at home and buying current for this just as they do for lights and 

 other home needs. If this works out as they hope it will in the 

 larger cities, it is only a matter of time until it will find its way 

 into the country towns; and the more active the country spirit is, 

 the shorter will be that time. 



This is the place where the millman may often take a hand to 

 advantage; he may get into the electric power business and make 

 something out of it as well as out of his lumber. It will help him 

 out in his o^vn business in many ways. It is an idea worth thinking 

 about and looking into, not in a slipshod or haphazard way, but 

 deeply and thoroughly, bearing in mind the methods of the big 

 power concerns as examples. J. C. T. 



H: «cg^:>5ii>s<:>io;i;;\sao^;iViix\!/^:;5ti^ity:ty.i^^ 



Spring and Summer Wood 



The terms spring wood and summer wood have been used more 

 by wood technologists than by lumbermen and the consumers of 

 lumber; yet all persons familiar with the appearance and character 

 of wood know the difference between the two. They may not know 

 the names, but they are acquainted with the two kinds of wood. 



As the names imply, the spring wood is the growth in the first 

 part of the season, the summer wood is the later seasoned growth. 

 The trunk of a tree is made up of rings which are usually so 

 distinct that they can be seen at a glance. Take white oak as 

 a familiar example. Few species show the rings more clearly 

 Their boundaries are distinct. One ring ends sharply where 

 another begins. 



The ring as a whole represents the growth of one year. That 

 fact is well understood by all persons in any way familiar with 

 trees or lumber. The ring is produced by the growth of about 

 six months, in the climate of the United States. The growing 



season is a little longer in the extreme South and a little shorter 

 in the North; but in all parts of this country there is a definite 

 growing season and a season of rest. 



In April or May, in the principal hardwood regions of the 

 United States, the tree begins to grow. A thin layer of wood, very 

 soft and colorless at first, forms under the bark. The increase 

 is quite rapid during the first weeks of warm weather, but as the 

 season advances, the growth becomes slower, and in August or 

 September it ceases. The tree's yearly ring is completed in si.x 

 months, a little more or less. 



Take the sample of oak referred to and examine the ring care- 

 fully. The unaided eye can at onee detect a difference in the 

 appearance of the first part and the second part — the inner and 

 outer halves — of the ring; but a magnifying glass, such as can 

 be carried in the pocket, will greatly assist in the examination. 

 The ring is made up of wood of two colors. The inner part. 



