42 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Ihirris. 11. E. Wood. William Stepliens. K. I- 

 Wincliester. G. X. Ilutton and otliers. and the 

 henefits to be dei'ived from organization by lum- 

 ber manufacturers of the Aslieville disti'icl dis- 

 < ussed. 



A report of the work done at the Uristol 

 meeting of the Lumber Exchange of Eastern 

 Tennessee and Soutli western Virginia was made 

 by G. Leidy Wood, after which a committee of 

 three, consisting of K. E. Wood. J. M. Burns 

 and Lewis Doster. was appointed to draw up a 

 plan of organization. The meeting then ad- 

 journed fur luncheon, which was tendered at the 

 club rooms by Asheville lumbermen. The session 

 reconvened immediately afterward, and a reso- 

 lution nf sympathy was extended Albeit K. 

 Hall, who was unable to be present, owing to a 

 severe accident. Mr. Hall is vice president and 

 general manager of the W. T. Mason Lumber 

 Company and a partner in the firm of Coumbe 

 & Hall, and has been particularly vigilant in 

 attempting to secure a large attendance for this 

 meeting. 



The committee on organization then i>resented 

 the following report : 



"Be it resolved that the Asheville Lumber 

 Exchange be organized for the purpose of secur- 

 ing a full understanding (if the conditions sur- 

 rounding the lumber market in the territory 

 covered by the exchange ; the establishment of 

 uniform grades for the inspection of lumber as 

 the only legitimate hdsis for uniform prices; the 

 establishment of uniform customs and usage 

 among the lumber fraternity : to prepare and 

 furnish members such information as will 

 tend to protect them against unbusinesslike 

 methods of those with whom they deal, and 

 help to further the interests of the manufac- 



turing industry in uplifting the value of the 

 product to be prepared for the market ; to pro- 

 vide a committee of three to prepare a consti- 

 tution, such committee be composed of W. T. 

 Mason. C. .T. Harris and A. H. Winchester." 



G. G. Thompson of the Southern Railway 

 then spoke to the meeting, explaining the car 

 situation, rates of different commodities to the 

 consuming markets and other important matters. 

 He stated that he would be willing to meet 

 a committee to take up all questions vital to 

 the members of this exchange. 



Immediately thereafter the fi)llowing commit- 

 tee was appointed to meet with Mr. Thompson 

 for the discussion of (piesdons as he proposed: 

 C. A. Schenck;. W. A. Kexford and W. H. Wood- 

 bury ( W. T. Mason, alternate i . 



This ctmimittee was instructed to make a re- 

 port at the next meeting of the exchange re- 

 garding its deliberations. 



A resolution was also adopted to place before 

 the executive board of the Hardwood Manufac- 

 turers* Association and its board of directors 

 the desirability of having the next annual meet- 

 ing of that association held at Asheville, owing 

 to. its advantages in the way of climate in the 

 winter .season. 



A unanimous vote of thanks was extended to 

 Mr. McCluskey and the Swannanoa Country Club 

 for the use of their club house. 



A hearty vote of thanks was aiso tendered 

 to the Asheville lumbermen for their hospitality ; 

 to the visiting lumbermen for their assistance in 

 developing the organization, and to tlie chair for 

 his work in connection with the meeting. 



Whereupon the meeting adjourned, to convene 

 again at the same place, Saturday, May 2G. 



Suggestions to Small SaW mill JM en. 



SIXTH 



The niaiu point of a recent article in this 

 series, in which a leaf was taken from the 

 experience of a certain mill "man, was that 

 from the ordinary run of oak timber, even 

 though it maj- not be what is classed as 

 fine virgin growth, may be cut a short 

 length or two of good stock from the butt 

 of most logs that can be profitably worked 

 into wagon and agricultural implement 

 stock. Bearing this point in mind it ap- 

 pears worth while to turn fur a moment to 

 the present prospects and tendencies in the 

 wagon manufacturing trade. 



Spokes were among the articles men- 

 tioned incidentally in the paper referred 

 to above. Going back into the history of 

 the spoke industry, it will be found that in 

 tlie early days it was very seldom that the 

 idea of sawing out a spoke billet was en- 

 tertained. The idea prevailed that there 

 was only one way to get a straight-grained 

 spoke, and that was to split it out. There 

 was, however, more than one way to split 

 them, but only one right way — to split them 

 -quartering, as shown in diagram 1 in the ae- 

 compan3ring illustration. This plan of quar- 

 tering is still adhered to in the making of 

 spokes, no matter whether they are split 

 bolts or sawed billets. 



Through new men bringing new ideas 

 into the industry and the growing scarcity 

 and increasing cost of timber, the thought 

 has gradually taken form that blanks for 

 spokes can be sawed as well as split. A 

 skillful man at the bolting saw can take a 



FAFEB 



siMikc length block of timber and follow 

 the grain with the saw closely enough for 

 all practical purposes, and produce a smooth- 

 er blank from less timber than is possible 

 by splitting. It has taken time and the 

 overcoming of prejudice, but today there 

 is an extensive business in sawed spoke bil- 

 liets, which, besides wagon bolsters and 

 other stock of that class, is made from the 

 butt ends of oak timber that is ordinarily 

 considered good enough only for ties, car 

 timber and other similar stock. In fact, 

 the smaller oak timber, especially where it 

 is of rapid growth so that it may come 

 within the class of second growth, demands 

 the highest price when made into spoke 

 )>olts. Of course, there are no great lengths 

 from any tree, but the object here is to 

 point out that a short cut or two can be 

 taken from the butt of most trees and 

 made into spoke billets at a profit. Where 

 the trees are small enough, so that the man 

 at the bolting saw can handle the block 

 whole it can go direct to the bolting saw. 

 Where they are larger, they may be piled 

 up and held until there are enough to make 

 a little run in the mill and then put through 

 the main saw of the mill and split into 

 halves or quarters, as their size may sug- 

 gest, for convenience in handling at the 

 bolter saw. 



By way of instructions for flitehing and 

 working stock of this kind into spoke bolts 

 perhaps the best plan would be to quote 

 from the specifications and instructions at- 



tached to a recent order. The sizes men- 

 tioned are as'follows: 



1V4 in. X 1% In. x 30 in. 



1% in. X 1% in. x ,30 in. 



1% In. X 2 in. x 30 in. 



1% in. X 2H in. x 30 in. 



2% In. X 21/, in. x 30 in. 



214 in. X 2% in. x 30 in. 



■2V, in. X 3 in. X 30 in. 



2'/- in. X 3 '4 in. x 30 in. 



2 VL> in. X 3 Vs in. x 30 in. 

 This order was for second growth white 

 oak, free from all defects, and the follow- 

 ing caution in the way of specifications 

 was attached thereto: 



"In reference to the above small sizes, 

 the first three. 1"4 in. ] "i in. and 2 in. 



Xnte. — rignre 1 *'f tlif aliMvt' illustiiition demon- 

 strates the eurrect way to split a quarter block into 

 sjxtke bolts The left-hand ri-oss section of Figure 2 

 shows the results attained. The right-hand cross sec- 

 tion of Figure 2 shows spoke bolts split incorrectly. 

 Figure 3 shows the method of sawing bolts into halves. 

 I'igure 4 illustrates method of sawing halves into 

 luarters. Figure .", shows the correct way the quarters 

 should he ditched. It will be seen that the block 

 should be reversed for each cut. The flitches are then 

 sawed on a table to get proper widths. B.v this 

 method sawn flitches can be i»roduced which will 

 make almost every spoke straight-grained. .\11 flitches 

 should be cut one-eighth inch full to allow for shrink- 

 age. 



billets, we want to caution and advise that 

 these must l^e cut from the very choicest 

 stock. They must be in first class especial- 

 ly, clear of sap, and sawed with the grain. 

 The small spokes must always be better 

 than the large ones. Make a very careful 

 selection of stock cut into the remaining 

 sizes. All to be sawed full to allow for 

 shrinkage." 



Accompanying these instructions was a 

 diagram showing how all Ijlocks, which 

 should first be cut to 30 inches in length, 

 should in the process of flitehing be split 

 in half, the halves into quarters and the 



