HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



LEAF AND FRUIT OF PIGNUT. 



trees' in the Eastern States. It is to be 

 hoped that the popular name will be aban- 

 doned and the more suitable one 'smooth 

 hickory' substituted. This is the literal 

 translation of its scientific name." 



The photograph of pignut, from whi<;h the 

 halftone accompanying this article was made, 

 is from the collection of AVilliam H. Free- 

 man, secretary of the Indiana State Board 

 of Forestry. 



'Builders of Lumber History. 



NUMBER XLIII. 



Walter Dickson Young. 

 (See Portrait Supplement.) 



Walter Dickson Young was born in Al- 

 bany, N. Y., Sept. 25, 1855. His father 

 was George Young, of Stewarton, Scotland; 

 his mother was a resident of Albany. The 

 boy attended the academy there until the 

 family's removal to Bay City, more than 

 thirty years ago, and he received his entire 

 business training in the latter city. 



His first employment was as clerk in the 

 Bay City Bank. He next entered the coal 

 and ice business as a member of the firm of 

 Young Brothers; and in 18S7 organized and 

 managed the Michigan Log Towing Com- 

 pany, which was engaged in towing logs 

 from Georgian Bay to the Saginaw river. 

 Mr. Young acted in this capacity for five 

 years. 



In 1892 he entered the hardwood lumber 

 and maple flooring business, establishing 

 the house of W. D. Young & Co., of which 

 he is the sole owner at the present time, 

 and it is to the affairs of this concern that 

 he devotes most of his energy and atten- 

 tion, although largely interested in several 

 other important enterprises. Among these 

 is the Young Brothers ' Building Company, 

 of which he is secretary; the Colonial 

 Building Company, of Bay City, w-hieh he 

 serves in like capacity; he is a director of 

 the Bay City Bank and of the Colonial 

 Trust & Savings Bank of Chicago; and is 

 vice president of the German-American 

 Sugar Company of Bay City, one of the 

 largest producers of beet sugar in the state 

 of Michigan. 



Mr. Young has a double band saw mill 

 and an immense flooring plant at West Bay 

 City. He does a general hardwood manu- 

 facturing and wholesale business, but makes 

 a decided specialty of maple flooring, and 

 is recognized as one of the most important 



factors in the maple flooring trade of the 

 United States, as well as in the foreign 

 markets; his company exports a large 

 quantity each year. Only recently the plant 

 was improved and made up-to-date in every 

 particular; it is equipped with the latest 

 and best machinery to be had. The Young 

 factory has long been noted for the excel- 

 lence of its product, and it is one of Mr. 

 Young's characteristics that he never does 

 anything by halves. 



Mr. Young has been twice married — the 

 first time to Miss Florence Blanchett, of 

 Detroit, who died in 1887; the second to 

 Miss Elizabeth Ambrose, daughter of 

 George H. Ambrose, one of Chicago 's 

 pioneer lumbermen. He has four children, 

 Fanny May, Walter Dickson, Jr., Florence 

 Ambrose and Francis Little. 



Although exceedingly domestic in his 

 tastes, and caring little for politics, Mr. 

 Young is very popular in a social way — as 

 he is also with business associates. He is 

 a member of the Bay City Club and of the 

 Union League Club qf Chicago. 



It is a pleasure for the Hakdwood Eecoed 

 to add the portrait of Mr. Young to its gal- 

 lery of Builders of Lumber History, to 

 which his enterprise, sagacity and success 

 in lumber operations in Michigan fairly 

 entith,' him. 



Record Mail Bag. 



fin this department it is proposed to reply 

 to such inquiries as reach this oflQce from the 

 IIaudwood Kecobo clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to warrant publication. Every 

 patron of the paper is invited to use this de- 

 partment to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made tu answer queries pertaining to all 

 matters of interest to the hardwood trade, in 

 a succinct and intelligent manner] 



interested me. Was pleased to note the refer- 

 ence you made to the coffee tree in one of our 

 Boston parks, known as the Fens, Enclosed you 

 will find a leaf of this tree, and also one from 

 a red maple and balm of Gilead. My life has 

 been spent in association with the trees. For 

 years I have been trying to form a collection 

 of the leaves of forest trees, but have difficulty 

 in preserving them any length of time. Would 

 be pleased to have you advise me of some for- 

 mula to preserve them. 



Am sending you under separate cover a rem- 

 nant of a tree that is very hard, and would like 

 to have you classify it. This tree was located 

 in north latitude 45 degrees, west longitude 53 

 degrees, on an ocean mountain known as the 

 Grand Bank. It is not known how many trees 

 there are to the acre in this ocean forest, as no 

 cruiser has ever returned to make his report, 

 but it has stood a mute witness to the dying 

 wail of many a whole ship's crew. In walking 

 through this forest one would find the whitened 

 bones of thousands of men who went down to 

 the sea in ships. When I first came into pos- 

 session of this tree, some dozen years ago, it 

 was about two feet high, but continual knocking 

 around has broken off its trunk and branches so 

 that today it would not break any records in 

 using a Doyle scale. C. B. Rogers. 



I am unable to identify the little piece of 

 wood or coral that the writer sends. Ee- 

 f erring to the subject of the preservation of 

 leaves in their natural form, I have never 

 been able to accomplish this result satisfac- 

 torily. My method of preserving an accurate 

 record of leaf forms is to put freshly plucked 

 leaves in an ordinary photographic printing 

 frame between a piece of plain glass, to 

 hold them flat and firm, and a sheet of 

 sensitized paper — thus employing the leaf as 

 a negative. This process will make an ab- 

 solutely accurate leaf print, which can then 

 be toned in the usual way, making a more 

 permanent and satisfactory record than any 

 other I know of. — Editor. 



Thanks The Record. 

 ASBUBY I'ABK, N. J., April 0, — Editor Haed- 

 wooD Record : We want to thank you very 

 much for the help you have given us concerning 

 the short pieces of hickory. In view of the in- 

 formation we have gained we think we can cut 

 our wood to much better advantage in the 

 future, — Yours very truly, Caxx & Taylor, 



■Wants Market for Hickory. 

 Bcr-al Hall, N. C, April 13. — Editor Haed- 

 wooD Record : We notice an article on page 20 

 of the March issue of the Record, containing a 

 question you have been asked before, but the 

 same interests us. We expect to be in the 

 hickory business and want to get a market for 

 dimension stock, short lengths, second growth 

 hickory. You will please give this place in the 

 next issue of your paper and oblige. We enclose 

 $2 check for the Record. Company. 



The above letter is self-explanatory and 

 persons interested in securing this stock may 

 have the address of the writer on application 

 to this ofiice. — Editor. 



Asks for Information. 

 Chelsea, Mass., April 13. — Editor Hardwood 

 Record ; The subject of "American Forest 

 Trees" as published in the Record has greatly 



Wants Second-Haiid. Kails. 



Derm.a, Miss.^ April 17. — Editor Hardwood 

 Kecoed : Will you please give me the name of 

 parties who handle second-hand rails for tram 

 roads? I want to buy or lease one and a half 

 miles for immediate use. & Co. 



Anyone interested in this inquiry can have 

 the writer's address by applying to this of- 

 fice. — Editor. 



