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HARDWOOD RECORD 



of using the mails for fraudulent purposes, 

 and was sentenced to Auburn prison for 

 eighteen months. He was indicted for grand 

 larceny in Elmira during the same year. 

 Frequent jail sentences do not seem to faze 

 liim as he immediately follows the same 

 tactics as before. It is alleged that he does 

 Tiot pretend to pay for anything lie gets, 

 and apparently there is no question as to his 

 unreliability. He is so wise in concealing 

 liis ill-gotten gains that commercial agencies 

 report as uneollectable all claims presented 

 against him. 



Further comment is deemed unnecessary. 

 McMahon of Syracuse. 



■John O. AleMahuic, attorney and counselor 

 at law, 32 Eversou building, Syracuse, N. 

 Y.. and more latterly with oflfice at 112 West 

 One Hundred and Twenty-eighth street, New 

 York City, is still sending out half printed 

 half written letter's, asking for consignments 

 .of all sorts and varieties of lumber. He 



seems desperately anxious to break into the 

 lumber business, although in a letter recently 

 printed in the Hardwood Record he con- 

 fesses that he knows nothing of the subject. 



There is no evidence thus far to show that 

 McMahon is a crook, but there is a lot of 

 it which indicates that he is either a crank 

 or a fool. One of his recent stock argu- 

 ments is the following: "I buy and sell 

 lumber products both between wholesaler 

 and dealer, and between retailer and 

 builder. Wholesale prices will not be 

 divulged to dealers ; therefore state whether 

 your prices are for dealers or builders. ' ' 

 He further advertises that he is putting to- 

 gether a combination of manufacturers with 

 mills located witliin cheap transportation of 

 a distributing yard to be located in New' 

 York City. 



It will not be necessary to suggest to 

 Record readers that they had better say 

 " twentv-tliree " to ilc.Mahon. 



Hardwood Record Mciit 'Bag. 



[In this department it is proposed to reply 

 to such inquiries as reach this office from the 

 Habdwood Record clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to warrant publication. Every 

 patron of the paper 's invited to use this de- 

 partment to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made to answer queries pertaining to all 

 matters of interest to the hardwood trade, iu 

 a succinct and intelligent manner.] 



Criticizes the Forest Service. 

 The following letter from John P. Brown, 

 editor of Arboriculture, Connersville, Ind., 

 contains several suggestions of essential value 

 to lumbermen on the subject of forest and 

 mill economy and the planting of timber for 

 future supply. Mr. Brown is a confirmed 

 advocate of the 'planting of Catalpa speciosa, 

 which he regards as the ideal tree for quick 

 growth for a future supply of posts, poles, 

 ties, etc. His observations concerning the 

 real timber conditions existing in eastern 

 Tennessee and western North Carolina are 

 verified by the facts. It is with much satis- 

 faction that the Record prints this letter 

 from Mr. Brown, and it is hoped that lie 

 will contribute much more information on 

 reforestry and kindred topics, with which he 

 is so familiar. — Editor. 



On Train en route South, .Tune .j. — Editor 

 Hauuwood Recokd : I shall be very glad to give 

 you, from time to time, some suggestions iu re- 

 gard to forest polic.v. I am perfectly independ- 

 ent, do not fear to attack any policy which 

 seems viciou.s or unwise, and having no aspira- 

 tions politically shall not hesitate to criticize the 

 government or state policies. I consider the 

 governmental forest policy as extremely danger- 

 ous and tending to tlie speedy destruction of 

 American forests. 



Two things are highly essential : First, to 

 warn manufacturers, lumbermen and timber own- 

 ers of the near approach to exhaustion of our 

 timber supply and the necesslt.v of economy in its 

 use. Second, the planting of immense forests to 

 provide a quick supply of timber. The area 

 destroyed each year is very far beyond what any 

 man has yet told. The government authorities 

 seem tc; wish to create the impression that we 

 have a never ending supply. 



In the eight years of Mr. riuchofs administra- 

 tion of the Forestry Bureau he has only spent 

 $2,74t.2."> in planting trees, the total number of 



whicli is l.liT.j.oOO trees in eight years, out of an 

 appropriation of nearly a million dollars yearly. 

 I have myself in this same time spent .$50,000, 

 and planted, or caused to be planted, 20,000,000 

 trees, through the society which I represent. 

 -My l)Ook on Practical Aboriculture will tell you 

 why I am "possibly a Catulpu sprciosa crank," 

 as the Record states. If any man can point to 

 any tree which has so many valuable <]ualities 

 as the catalpa — one wliich will grow in a brief 

 Iieriod into lumber, and a tree which is so cos- 

 mopolitan iu character, growing everywhere — I 

 shall be glad to learn of it. 



I am impressed more and more in my observa- 

 tions in the North Carolina mountains with the 

 fact that little timber of real value exists. Here 

 are hundreds of square miles of mountain land, 

 all covered with what looks to he forest. The 

 general impression upon tlie average traveler is 

 that inexhaustible forests of heavy timber cover 

 these mountains. Hut let a practical lumber- 

 man go into the woods seeking trees for lumber, 

 and the real situation will be learned. Most of 

 the alleged forest consists of brush which will 

 require a hundred years to mature ; all of pres- 

 ent value has been culled and removed. Hem- 

 lock, birch, sycamore, chestnut, black locust and 

 oak thickly cover the land, but the very density 

 of the stuff prevents growth. Vet the forestry 

 experts at Washington include all these thou- 

 sands of acres of scrub brush in their valua- 

 ble ( '.') estimates of forests of which the United 

 .States is the proud possessor. 



There are positively no estimates made by any 

 individual of the tinantity of commercial timber 

 existing which have any value whatever. I 

 question if any man living has had better op- 

 portunities for observation than I, or has trav- 

 eled over more territory, or been mtire observ- 

 ant, and I would not pretend to even guess at 

 the number of feet board measure existing. But 

 I do know" that it is only a fraction of the quan- 

 tity generally supposed. And I also know that 

 men sitting in their offices in "Washington talk 

 and write very unintelligently about the vast- 

 ness of our timber possessions. The rapidity 

 with which lumber has advanced in price, the 

 difficulty in obtaining supplies of good lumber, 

 the great number of very inferior logs being 

 sawed — all demonstrate the nearness of the end. 



We cannot depend upon the natural forest 

 growth longer than to the end of the first quar- 

 ter of this century, and I can see no other solu- 

 tion of the problem than the planting of vast 

 areas to trees, ileantime greater economy than 



has ever been thought neces.sary among owners 

 of timber lands w'ill be necessary to make our 

 supply last even as long as I have predicted. 



When timber land owners come to see the 

 lumber prospects as they really exist, and learn 

 that forest planting is so simple and of so little 

 cost, its returns coming in so short a time, 

 then I trust they will rise to the emergency and 

 their privilege and plant new forests on their 

 cut-over lands. Joiix P. Browx. 



Wants 



Walnut, Hickory and Persimmon 

 Dimension Stock. 



Lo.N'Dox. EXGI.AXD, Juue 9. — Editor IlAUDWomi 

 Record : I am iu the market for walnut shorts 

 and should like to be put into communication 

 with reliable shippers tliat 3*ou can recommend 

 to me. I also want second growth hickory 

 squares, only in the best wood, for golf shafts, 

 and also persimmon blanks for golf heads. The 

 blanks for heads are cut to pattern 2x3 — G and >? 

 inches long. They should be free from black 

 stain and bark. Am also in the market for a 

 variety of sizes in hickory squares, to be cut 

 from firm hard wood. Company. 



The Hardwood Record will be pleased to 

 place anyone desiring to market the com- 

 modities named in communication with this 

 inquirer, which is a reliable London house. — 

 Editor. 



In Market for Built-Up Table Legs. 



jEFFERSuxviLLE, Ixo., .Tuue 11. — Editor IIaro 

 WOOD Record : Will you kindly give us tlu' 

 names and addresses of firms engaged in tlu' 

 manufacture of built-up table legs'; We will 

 appreciate any information you can give us on 



tllis SUb,1ect. MAXUFACTfRIXG Co. 



If makers of this kind of furniture material 

 will kindly supply their addresses they will 

 be forwarded the name of a prospective eus 

 tomer. — Editor. 



Wants Thick Eock Elm. 

 Clxcixx.VTi, O., June 21. — Editor IIardwoipd 

 Record : Can you assist us in locating a car- 

 load of 2V2-inch mill run rock elm for which wi' 

 are in the market? Comcanv. 



If any reader of the Record can supply 

 this want, will he kindly conimunieate the 

 information to this ofiiee? — Editor. 



New Kentucky Flooring Plant. 



The Intern.'itinnal HaixlWLM»d Company i- 

 the name of a new institution at Catletts- 

 burg. Ky., which has recenti.v placed in com.- 

 mission a modern plant for the production of 

 plain and quartered oak flooring. W. A. 

 Smith, formerly president of the Keno\'a 

 Poplar Manufacturing Company, is president; 

 F. R. Van .Antwerp is secretary and treas- 

 urer, and L. Merrill is vice president. The 

 company produces a high-class, kiln-dried, 

 correctly manufactured flooring, and is now 

 making about 15.000 feet per day. The ma- 

 chinery is (if the famous type manufactured 

 by the Berlin Machine Works of Beloit, W'is. 



The oak in the Ashland district of Ken- 

 tucky, near w'hich this plant is situated, is of 

 a very superior ciuality for tlooring purposes, 

 and the product of the International Hardwood 

 Company is such that is has immediately 

 gained favor among consumers. A particular 

 feature of the business of the company is 

 the fact that it has already developed a large 

 demand for its product in nearljy cities, which 

 consun^e a large proportion of its entire out- 

 put. Catlettsburg is very favorably situat'd 

 for tlie delivery of flooring in the many pros- 

 perous towns of Ohio, West Virginia and Ken- 

 tucky. The surplus product of the plant is 

 being shipped to tlie large commercial centers 

 of the East, West and North. 



