28 



HARD WOOD RECORD 



tical to cut this 3x4, 3i/4x4%» 4x5 and such 

 squares 4 ft. to 4 ft. 8 in. out of the regular 

 run of logs he was milling. His oak was 

 what is called common oak, running rather 

 small in size, but sound. Still, almost any 

 of the trees even among the smallest would 

 furnish a practically clear and extremely 

 tough butt cut for one length of bolster 

 and some of them for two. 



To do work of this kind with the mill and 

 its full crew was a problem, especially if the 

 slock were to be handled haphazard just as 

 it came along. The question resolved itself 

 into either piling the short blocks back and 

 waiting until there was enough for a day's 

 run, or providing some independent means 

 of working them up. He finally compro- 

 mised by piling the blocks aside, not neces- 

 sarily for a day's run, but perhaps an 

 hour's run, or enough to save too much 

 shifting of the head blocks of the carriage. 

 All that was done with those blocks on the 

 sawmill was to split in the middle all of 

 moderate size, and to quarter the largest 

 ones. Then he added to his sawmill equip- 

 ment a form of small rip saw, commonly 

 Ijnown as a bolter saw, and after the blocks 

 were split they were turned over to one man 

 who did the balance of the work of convert- 

 ing them into bolsters on this saw. It is 

 not necessary to go into the details of the 

 plan, as they would vary under different 

 condition's, but the idea was to have only 

 one man, or one man and a boy, do the work 

 of sawing out the bolsters, and it was found 

 that as much work was done under this 

 plan as could have been done with the mill 

 proper and done better. 



The success of this undertaking inspired 

 further undertakings on the part of this 

 alert operator. He found that small pieces 

 accumulated in making bolsters that might 

 be worked into something else, and then he 

 began to see in every scrap of timber about 

 the yard a chance to make something in the 

 form of small dimension stock. This took 

 him back to the wagon factory, where he 

 gathered up specifications for wagon bed 

 cross bars, slide bars, stakes, double-trees 

 and other dimensions. From time to time 

 he added a new line of manufacture until 

 he got a sort of craze for collecting specifi- 

 cations for small dimension stock from all 

 sources, furniture, argicultural implement, 

 wood novelty manufacturers, and from any 

 and all users of hardwoods in small dimensions. 

 It was not long before he had a most compli- 

 cated line of manufacture; but keeping track 

 of the different sizes was too trying for the 

 average mind, and the man at the bolter 

 saw spent more time studying specifications 

 than he did sawing, and the more he stud- 

 ied and the more he worked, the more con- 

 fused he became. 



Finally they came to the conclusion that 

 enough of a thing is enough and it is pos- 

 sible to get too much, even though it may 

 be a good thing. Matters were simplified 

 by selecting a few sizes at a time that 

 would work fairly well together. All other 



sizes were simply ignored until the orders 

 for these few sizes were completed. 



Now, there are several points to be gath- 

 ered from the foregoing statements and the 

 last is by no means tlie least. Many a 

 man is cutting oak today and putting stock 

 into ear timber, ties and into other "sound 

 and merchantable ' ' sizes which might by a 

 little care (that is, clear stock on the butts 

 of the trees) be worked into material that 

 would bring considerably more money, and 

 at the same time not impair the general 

 quality of the regular "common and mer- 

 chantable" stock. There are different ways 

 to convert the best part of the tree into a 



high-class product, and there is a variety 

 of products into which it can be made, all 

 of which requires study and harmonizing 

 with local conditions and the requirements 

 of the accessible markets. There are two 

 things that should not be lost sight of: 

 First, that this class of material is worth 

 more primarily than common stock and it 

 costs more to manufacture, so that it should 

 bring a good price; second, that in the cut- 

 ting of small dimensions, while it is well 

 enough to get acquainted with the require- 

 ments of a large range of trade in this 

 line, it is not desirable to give too many dif- 

 ferent sizes and kinds at once to be cut by 

 one man on one saw. 



NeWs Miscellany. 



Program of Memphis Convention. 



KoIIowing is ttie proposed program of the ninth 

 nnnual convention of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association to be held at the Gayoso 

 Hotel, Memphi.s, Tenn., May 3 and -1 : 



Thursday, Max 3. 

 y :30 a. m. Reception of members and guests in 

 Convention Hall. 



10 :30 a. m. Opening session. 



11 :00 a. m. Reports of officers. 

 Address by the president, Earl Talmerl 

 Report of secretary, F. I<\ Fish. 

 Report of treasurer, O. E. Yeager. 

 Intermission for luncheon. 



2 :00 p. m. Report of standing committees. In- 

 spection, W. W. Knight, chairman. Rules, 

 Theo. Fathauer, chairman. Forestry. M. M. 

 Wall, chairman. 



Friday, SLiy i. 



*J \'.W a. m. Members will reassemble. 



10 :00 a. m. Meeting called to order. 



Consideration of reports of officers and commit 

 tees. 



Introduction of new business. 



Intermission for luncheon, 



2 :00 p. m. Members will reassemble in execu- 



tive session. 



3 :30 p. m. Election of offlceis and five directors 



to serve three years. 

 5 :00 p. m. Adjournment. 

 5 :30 p. m. Meeting of board of managers. 



A banquet will be tendered the members of 

 the convention by the Memphis Lumbermen's 

 Club at 7 :30 p. m. Friday evening at the Gayoso 

 hotel. 



As an impression that Memphis hotels will not 

 be able to accommodate the delegates to the 

 annual meeting seems to exist, the Lumbermen's 

 Club of Memphis has issued an announcement 

 stating that it will take pleasure in securing 

 reservations of rooms for all who will send their 

 requests to the hotel committee, consisting of 

 John W. McClure and E. E. Taenzer. Requests 

 can be forwarded to either member of the com- 

 mittee and will receive prompt attention. 



The Hardwood Record acknowledges receipt of 

 a very handsome engraved invitation to attend 

 the convention, issued through Earl Palmer, 

 president, and F. F. Fish, secretary. 



Charles A. 'Warcl. 



At 5 :30 o'clock on Easter morning, at his 

 home in Evanston, 111., occurred the death of 

 Charles Albert Ward, president of the Ward 

 Lumber Company of Chicago, and widely known 

 in lumber circles the country over. Mr. Ward 

 was taken with pleuro-pneumonia but a few 

 days before his death, which was thus a severe 

 shock to his friends and family. 



Charles A. Ward was born in Battle Creek, 

 Mich., Oct. 11, 1849. His father was Joseph 

 M. Ward, pioneer miller, merchant and banker, 

 to whose memory the son had just completed 

 a magnificent monument in the form of the new 



Ward building at Battle Creek. After attend- 

 ing the public schools Mr. Ward entered the 

 Racine, Wis., College, later joining his father in 

 the conduct of an extensive grain purchasing 

 and milling business in southern Michigan, 

 with offices in their home town. In 1877 he re- 

 moved to Port Huron, where he engaged in the 

 grain business extensively. He founded the 

 Commercial Bank of that city, of which he 

 was president for twenty years, and a director 

 at the time of his death. In addition to these 

 iuterests Mr. Ward was secretary and treasurer 

 of the Port Huron Elevator Company, treasurer 

 of the Port Huron & Gratiot Electric railway, 

 and vice president of the Port Huron & North- 

 w-estern railway. In 1894 he removed to Chi- 



THE LATE -CHARLES A. WARD. 



cago and broadened his commercial affairs in 

 many ways. At the time of his death he was 

 president of the Ward Lumber Company of 

 <;hicago, vice president of the American Lumber 

 Company of Albuquerque, N. Mex., and a di- 

 rector in the Bankers' National Bank of Chi- 

 cago. In accordance with the wishes of Mr. 

 Ward and others interested, the business of the 

 Chicago concern will be continued along the 

 same lines as heretofore, under the general man- 

 agement of Mr. P. Ford, who has for several 

 years been associated with its president in a 

 confidential capacity. 



Although preferring the quiet of home to so- 

 cial life and publicity, Mr. Ward was a valued 

 member of several clubs — the Athelstan of Bat- 

 tle Creek, the Evanston and Country Clubs of 

 Evanston, 111. In 1875 he was married to Miss 

 Belle Hinman of Battle Creek, who, with one 



