HARDWOOD RECORD 



JS 



afternoon. The special topic before this meeting was the prevention 

 of accidents in industrial plants. The main suggestion was looking 

 toward a uniform standard of protection" methods for the benefit of 

 workers in these lines, and uiso an efficient form of factory instruc 

 tions which will be standard throughout the country. Appropriations 

 to secure the services of competent men to carry out these policies 

 ivere urged. 



The chief speaker at the Thursday- morning session was Major 

 A. C. Griggs of Tacoma, Wash., whose subject was ' ' The Lumber- 

 man 's Viewpoint." In touching upon the forest reserve policy of 

 the Forest Service, Major Griggs said that in view of the worthless 

 timber tracts, scrip liad been issued to modify settlements or original 

 grantees for which some of the choice timber of the country had 

 already been exchanged. He gave his views on the interests which 

 have attacked the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, and 

 maintained that the most important principles of conservation have 

 always occupied an important part in discussions at the various meet- 

 ings of his association. The fact that so much standing timber is 

 represented in his association membership resulted in the original 

 development in forest conservation and in forest fire protection 

 measures. 



Major Griggs deplored the inability of the sawmill man to market 

 the entire output of his mill, but stated that such a move would be 



impossible until the conservation of the lower grades and waste had 

 become a paying proposition. He stated that the western operators 

 had recently made an attempt to induce the consuming trade to 

 utilize odd lengths and widths in order to prevent a certain amount 

 of waste at the planing mills, but that their efforts had been 

 unavailing. 



Mr. Griggs further touched upon the subject of the workmen's 

 compensation law, reciting the successful operation of the Wash- 

 ington state laws on this question, and strongly urging it as a 

 national policy. 



Governor Wilson of New Jersey and Governor Hadley of Mis- 

 souri were the principal speakers of the Thursday afternoon session in 

 the Coliseum at the fair grounds. 



Among the speakers at the session on Friday morning were A. B. 

 Farquhar of York, Pa., who talked on "The Conservation of Human 

 Life"; Dr. Livingston Farrand of New York, on "The Problem 

 of Tuberculosis"; Dr. W. C. Mendenhall of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, who spoke on "Water As a Natural Resource," and 

 R. M. Easley of the National Civic Federation of New York, who 

 talked on ' ' Conservation Civics. ' ' 



The addresses on Friday afternoon were devoted principally to 

 agriculture, W. I. Moore, chief of the United States Weather Bureau, 

 being the presiding officer. 



'C'go»:ac>s;:;5tai^:o^XKaiWi'wsty^^ i.^w^jsw iyisty' 



The Y.M.C. A.— A New Industrial Asset 



The old hard-fisted. man-luiniliiii>; "driver.'' the type not very 

 long ago considered pre-eminently qualified as a handler of work- 

 men in any line of industry, is being rapidly supplanted by younger 

 men who have not necessarily won their positions through sheer 

 force of brawn but have exhibited a certain amount of superior in- 

 telligence and personality and have been able to hold and work 

 their men because of these traits. This evolution has not been so 

 much the result of any conscious movement in this direction as of 

 a general awakening to the importance of the human element in 

 business and industry. In keeping with this new thought is a more 

 direct effort looking toward a general co-operation between em- 

 ployer and employe and toward a raising of the moral, mental and 

 physical standard of the working body of the countr}-. The In- 

 dustrial Department of the Young Men's Christian Association has 

 been doing great work in installing branches in connection with in- 

 dustrial enterprises of various sorts, and one of the latest fields 

 it has entered is the sawmill and logging camp. 



The success of these individual branches is absolutely assured at 

 the offset. The association has a highly efficient organization backed 

 in this particular department by some of the industrial leaders of 

 the country. Trained salaried secretaries are provided in each case 

 and the failure of a branch after it is once established is prac- 

 tically an impossibility. 



Granting this, the success of the movement as a whole depends 

 upon the general recognition by those in charge of industrial opera- 

 tions of the benefits resulting from such a movement as a business 

 asset. While theoretically the ethical advantages might be claimed 

 as sufficient justification of its general support, practically speaking 

 the business man must be appi-oaehed as upon any other business 

 proposition. Will his support of the plan return to him a cash 

 dividend? 



The best answer to this question, regarding the lumber business 

 at least, is the statement that the Yellow Pine Manufacturers' 

 Association and the Pacific Coast Logging Congress in their re- 

 cent meetings both gave serious and definite indorsement of the 

 movement and further, that some of the biggest sawmills repre- 

 senting every department of logging and lumbering in this coun- 

 try have already installed branches, erected buildings and hired 

 secretaries at their own expense. In every case there have followed 

 noticeably increased co-operation and sympathy between employer 

 and employe, and a higher level of morality and mental and phy- 

 sical development. The direct result has been increased efficiency 



from which follow naturally greater production per capita, less 

 cost per unit of production and finally the sought-after increased 

 dividend. 



In lumber manufacture labor represents two-thirds of the cost 

 of production. An efficient, well kept machine will turn out more 

 work than a slovenly one. So wUl an efficient, contented crew 

 turn out more per man than a dissatisfied, ignorant and poorly 

 trained one. To be contented a laborer must first have sufficient 

 mental development to appreciate favorable conditions. He must 

 then be considered as a normal human being and provided with 

 normal recreations which will fill his spare time, keep him from 

 idling, and .away from the "gin mill," and thus give him the oppor- 

 tunity and incentive for further .improvement. As he improves as a 

 man he acquires more ambition ; he saves money instead of ' ' blow- 

 ing" it and he is constantly striving for advancement. This na- 

 turally results in less transient labor so that the employer not 

 only realizes from the increased efficiency of the individual but of 

 the men as a working unit because, with an unchanging personnel 

 the unit will be more highly trained. 



Thus it would seem that improving the minds, the morals and 

 the bodies of the laboring man returns a financial dividend. The 

 Industrial Y. M. C. A. has shown that it can accomplish this im- 

 provement. Therefore it should be considered a business asset 

 by the business man. In addition by instilling coutentment it will 

 serve as a shield against the alarming development of the Social- 

 istic movement that has caused so much uneasiness to woods and 

 mill superintendents of late. 



A Mirror in a Sawmill 



Coming across a big cheval glass in a sawmiU is rather a startling 

 experience, but such a mirror was encountered by a Hakdwood 

 Record representative at the double band mill of E. J. Darnell, 

 Inc., at Memphis, Tenn., a few days ago, and the innovation is said 

 to have been transplanted from an Arkansas sawmill. 



This mirror is located at the tail-end of the log-deck, and nearly 

 opposite the rear of the carriage, and is so placed that the sawyer 

 can catch the reflection of the rear end of a log on the carriage. 

 This device enables him to turn his log to the best advantage, as 

 he has the opportunity of seeing both ends of the log at the same 

 time. Apparently it is a particularly valuable frill in mills where 

 liigh-class logs are being sawed. 



