30 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Susceptibility of Wood to Moisture. 



It is a well-known fact that water will soften 

 wood, only in less degree, as it does a piece of 

 paper, clotli or sponge. Tims it is tbat by dif- 

 ferent methods of seasoning two pieces of lumber 

 from the same log may be given varying degrees 

 of strength and durability. Wood, when green, 

 contains molstnrc in all its pores, as li honey- 

 comb contains honey ; it is also found in the 

 very substance of the cell walls. Seasoning or 

 drying lessens the weight of the wood by the 

 evaporation of the moisture, but does not affect 

 its strength. In fact, it is not until the mois- 

 ture in the substance of the cell walls is drawn 

 upon that the strength of the wood begins to 

 increase. Scientitically, this point is known as 

 the •'flber-saturation point." From this condi- 

 tion fo that cf absolute dryness the gain in the 

 strength of wood is remarkable. In spruce it is 

 multiplied fcnir times. Even after the reabsorp- 

 tion of moisture, when the wood is again ex- 

 posed to the air, the strength of the sticks is 

 still from fifty to one hundred and fifty per cent 

 greater than when green. When the fiber- 

 saturation point is passed, the strength of wood 

 increases as drying progresses, according to a 

 definite law. 



Builders, engineers and manufacturers n-aut 

 to know not only the strength but the weakness 

 of the materials they employ and so are quite 

 as much interested in knowing how timbers are 

 affected by moisture as in knowing how they 

 are weakened by knots, checks, cross-grain ami 

 other defects. Experts, while showing that 

 small pieces gain greatly in strength, do not 

 count on proportionate results with large tim- 

 bers, owing to the fact that they usually have 

 defects which counterbalance the gain from 

 drying. 



The Forest Service has just issued a publica- 

 tion called "Strength of Wood as Infiueuced by 

 Moisture." in which is shown the strength of 

 representative woods in all degrees of moisture, 

 from the green slate to absolute dryness, which 

 will be sent free on application, and which 

 should prove a very interesting analysis. 



New Incorporations and Business Changes. 



Prcscott, Ark.— Prescott Table and Furni- 

 ture Company, capital $10,000. 



Chicago. 111.— Nelson Wheel Company, cap- 

 ital $200,000. 



Indianapolis, Ind.— Indianapolis File and 

 Cabinet Company, capital $15,000. 



Burlington, N. J.— Burlington Chair Com- 

 pany, capital $25,000. 



I'omeroy, Ohio. — American Pipe Organ Com- 

 pany. 



Nashville. Tenn. — Wilson Lumber and Land 

 Company, capital $250,000. 



Rock-wood, Tenn. — Roan Mountain Coal and 

 Lumber Company, capital $50,000. 



Spokane, Wash.— Sanitary Furniture and 

 Car Seat Company, capital $100,000. 



Decatur, Ala. — Bixby Lumber Company, 

 capital $40,000. 



Dardanelle. Ark. — Dardanelle Hardwood 

 Lumber Company. 



Halstead. Ark.— Rock Creek Lumber Com- 

 pany, capital $20,000. 



Kingston, Ark.— Kingston Spoke Manufac- 

 turing Company, capital $15,000. 



Chicago, 111.— Chicago Bank Office Fixture 

 Company, capital $10,000. 



Chicago, 111. — Merkle Timber and Land 

 Company, capital $100,000. 



Laporte, Ind. — Indiana Moulding and Frame 

 Company, capital $25,000. 



New Albany, Ind. — New Albany Veneering 

 Company, capital $100,000. 



Newcastle, Ind. — ^Indiana Fibre Box Com- 

 pany, capital $10,000. 



Union City, Ind. — Union City Hoop and 

 Lumber Company, capital 412,000. 



Avawam, Ky. — Smith Sizemore Lumber 

 Company, capital $30,000. 



Jabez. Ky. — Jabez Lumber Company, capi- 

 tal $25,000. 



Pellston, Mich.— Pellston Turning and Man- 

 ufacturing Company, capital $10,000. 



Toledo. O. — Standard Cabinet Company, 

 capital $10,000. 



Flat Gap. Va. — Williams-Adams Lumber 

 Company, capital $20,000. 



Tazewell, Vn. — Hall Lumber Company, cap- 

 ital $41,500. ■ 



Jenningston, W. Va.— Parley & Crockett 

 I^umber Company, capital $225,000. 



Cambria, Va. — The Averill & Mitchell Cor- 

 poration has increased its capital stock to 

 $100,000. 



Lenoir, N. C. — The Coffee & Kent Manu- 

 facturing Company has recently commenced 

 the manufacture of veneers. 



Pine Bluff, Ark. — A stockholder of the 

 Bluff City Lumber Company recently started 

 suit asking for the appointment of a re- 

 ceiver. 



Miscellaneous Notes. 

 A. W. T. Bottomley, receiver of the Puna 

 Sugar Company. Ltd.. of Hilo. Hawaii, has 

 contracted with the Hawaiian Mahogany 

 Lumber Company. Ltd.. to allow the latter 

 to lumber the .sugar company's forest lands 

 in Puna. The property of the company is 

 under a mortgage of $1,000,000. The land 

 to be lumbered includes about 5,0U0 acres. 

 The Hawaiian Mahogany Lumber Company. 

 Ltd.. will undoubtedly construct a branch line 

 of railroad in Puna to cany the stock to the 

 seacoast. 



There is an opening for a lead pencil fac- 

 tory in British India, as the field is said to 

 be entirely clear and the demand for pencils 

 is large, while labor is cheap. 



The approximate quantity of milling timber 

 on the crown lands of New Zealand is IS.- 

 666,300.081 superficial feet, and on private 

 and native lands 17,119,573.386 feet. A review 

 of the position reveals the fact that if the 

 destruction of native forests of the north 

 continues at the present rate it will cause 

 a cessation of tlie sawmill industry there 

 within about fifteen years. In the southern 

 district it is estimated that in four years' 

 time there will be few if any mills working. 

 In fact, the timber supplies of New Zealand 

 are rapidly diminishing both in quantity and 

 quality. Reforestry is being taken up, how- 

 ever, and about 30,000,000 trees are growing 

 in government nurseries. 



The building of the Grand Trunk Pacific rail- 

 road through Alberta, Canada, and westward is 

 likely to be greatly hampered by the diffl- 

 culty of securing ties. The road is to run 

 througli an open country almost free of 

 timber of any kind, and agents are offering 

 forty cents per" tie for all they can get de- 

 livered on cars near Grand Forks. While it 

 has been generally supposed that the rail- 

 roads are doing comparatively little new con- 

 struction work this year, it is said that the 

 demand for material so far this year is 



much greater than for the first nine months 

 of 1906 or previous years. 



The Wisconsin Cabinet Company has com- 

 menced operations at Fond du Lac, Wis., with 

 about forty employees. A score or more ipf 

 men will be added to the force soon. 



Harley W. Goss of Hillsboro, N. B., has foi- 

 the past few months been superinten(}ing the 

 erection of a new mill for his company, the 

 Hillsboro Hardwood Flooring Company, and 

 announces that operations will commence 

 within two weeks. 



F. i;. lOberhart, .Tr.. and It. G. Page, mem- 

 bers of the R. G. Page Lumber. Company of 

 Ashland, Ky.. together ■n'ith Nathan Good- 

 man of Ironton, Ohio, former general man- 

 ager of the Ironton Lumber Company, have 

 bought the entire stock of the Licking River 

 Lumber Company of Ashland, Ky., and will 

 manage the latter entirely separate from the 

 H. G. Page Lumber Company, continuing it 

 under the same name, with general and sales 

 office at Ashland and mills at Farmers. Ky. 

 I'". <;. Kberhart. .Tr.. is president. N. Goodman 

 vice president, and R. G. Page secretary and 

 treasurer. 



The riaudy Schoil IJi'sk ('onip-.iny has been in- 

 corporated at Zanesvillo. Ohio, with a capital 

 stock of $7.". 011(1 and is now erciling buildings and 

 iastalling machinery. 



The Uoherts Chair I'urnilure Cianpany, Colum- 

 hus. Ohio, has been incorporated with a capital 

 stock of .$10.0(111 for the manufacture of leather 

 diairs and upholstered furniture. The company 

 is now preparing plans for its factory, which will 

 be e(iuipped with modern macliinery. 



A charter has been granted to the Parkersburg 

 lumber compiiny, with offices in Fairmont. W. 

 Va., and chief works in Sampson county. North 

 Carolina. The capital stock is .112.").000, and incor- 

 porators are Messrs. DiiUerson, Barnes, Ritchie 

 and Hartley, all of Fairmont. 



The Saw Mill Company of Cleveland has been 

 incorporated with a capital stock of .$25,000. The 

 olflcers are W. P. Porter, president : II. H. Sher 

 man. vice-president ; C. II. Foote, treasurer : A. 

 M. Foote. secretary. The company was organ 

 ized to buy standing timber and manufacture lum- 

 lier. 



The schooner II. D. Moore, bound from Harbor 

 Springs, Mich., to Port Washington, with a cargo 

 of hardwood lumlier. went ashore on South Mani- 

 tou island in a storm Sept. )'-'. The crew was 

 rescued by life savers, but the vessel will probably 

 he a total loss. The schooner S. B. Paige, bound 

 from Chicago to (ireen Hay with a cargo of posts 

 and ties, was driven ashore during a storm re 

 cently and wrecked. The crew was saved. 



The fifty furniture factories and woodworking 

 plants of High Point. X. C, ship an average of 

 sixty solid carloads of furniture a day during an 

 average season, or l.odn a month of twenty-six 

 working days. 



A. O. Sullivan, representing F. R. Pollard, of 

 Marshfield, Wis., who bought the Spirit Lake saw 

 mill, is contracting with fanners in that section 

 for hemlock and hardwiwd timber, pine and cedar 

 shingle bolts. The mill will be overhauled and 

 put in good shape. 



Hardwood NeWs. 



(.By HARDWOOD RECORD Special Corraspondents.) 



Chicago. 



On the ITth of this month the G. W. Jones 

 Lumber Company shipped from Appleton. Wis., 

 twenty-five carloads of straight and mixed lum- 

 ber. 



G. G. Roberts, representing D. G. Courtney of 

 Charleston. S. C, spent a couple of days in the 

 city last week. Mr. Roberts is certainly one man 

 who has no kick to make regarding Chicago trade. 



for witlun the last thirty days he disposed of a 

 million and a half feet of poplar and oak in this. 

 market. 



J. B. Wall of the Buffalo Hardwood Lumber 

 Company, Buffalo, N. Y., was in Chicago last 

 week in attendance at the convention of prison 

 wardens. 



E. Bartholomew, representing John B. Ransom 

 & Co. of Nashville, was a caller at the Rkcoiu). 

 office Sept. 19. 



