28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



struction of a dry kiln containing the one great 

 essential principle of the successful kiln drying 

 of lumber. Upon the completion of the kiln 

 test after test was made, each more exhaustive 

 than its predecessor. Lumber directly from the 

 kiln came out perfectly and scientifically dried 

 in from one-third to one-half the time ordinarily 

 required. It was further demonstrated that so 

 uniformly was the lumber dried that all waste 

 was practically eliminated, such as waste from 

 checked, warped and twisted lumber, knot splits, 

 etc. 



In its own business the Grand Rapids Veneer 

 Works uses principally plain and quarter-sawed 

 oak. This stock goes into the kiln directly from 

 the tree and is dried in from ten days' to two 

 weeks' time, and every stick that goes into the 

 kiln comes out undamaged. 



Twelve months of rigid tests have proven that 

 the scientific principle upon which the system 

 depends is eflicient, and the company is now in- 

 stalling the system in other plants. And here 

 enters one of the surprising and best features of 

 the invention — the system can be quickly and 

 easily introduced in any dry kiln. Moreover the 

 expense is not great. 



The Grand Kapids Veneer Works, in order to 

 preserve its secret, will install this system at 

 a reasonable expense, under a guarantee that 

 the kiln will do all that is claimed for it. In 

 other words, the company agrees to install a 

 system in present kilns at but little expense, 

 which can be easily operated, wliich will dry 

 lumber more perfectly, with less labor and ex- 

 pense than any other system. 



Pianos in Culja, 



A correspondent at Cienfuegos writes that 

 there is only one piano dealer in that city. He 

 sells about twelve instruments each year, and 

 at the present time has in stock seven new pianos 

 and twenty others which he rents. The sales 

 bring from !f2iM'_i to $400 apiece and payment 

 may be made on the installment plan at the rate 

 nf about $10 a month. This dealer handles only 

 one American make of piano, but four of Euro- 

 pean manufacture. Those which sell best are 

 made in France and are small and plain. The 

 finest ones have solid mahogany and cedar cases, 

 rather than veneered, as the latter are not last- 

 ing in tropical climates, owing to the attacks of 

 a certain kind of worm. The strings are plated 

 or gilded, and the pegs and all other metal 

 pieces nickel-plated, to prevent rust. The' market 

 calls for a seven-octavo three-pedal instrument. 

 Cubans are exceedingly fond of music, and it is 

 passing strange that a dealer in a city of 30,00o 

 inhabitants cannot sell more than a dozen pianos 

 a year. 



Lumbering in Missouri. 



statistics show that the forest industries of 

 Missouri are increasing, due to the fact that 

 railroad building is opening up new sections pre- 

 viously inaccessible, with the result that the 

 timber growing therein is being cut and placed 

 on the market. The shipments of forest products 

 made during 1905 represent a value of $26,319,- 

 348, or an increase of about $0,000,000 over the 

 preceding year. The following summary is given 

 iu the report of Labor Commissioner Anderson : 



Hardwood lumber, feet 246,987,982 



Soft lumber, feet 221,555,668 



Logs, feet 119,256,295 



Walnut logs, feet 3,721,087 



Railroad ties (ties) 3,545,571 



Piling, feet 3,311,134 



Fence and mine posts 1,065,247 



Cordwood, cords 201,895 



Telegraph poles 46,016 



Cooperage, cars 18,798 



Walnut lumber, feet 11,302 



Paper wood, cords 14,148 



Apple wood, feet 9,000 



Tar, barrels 5.084 



Charcoal, cars 382 



Excelsior and sawdust, cars 186 



Pencil wood, cars 46 



Where Quality Is First. 



At Grand Rapids, Mich., is located the plant 

 of the Gillette Roller Bearing Company, manu- 

 facturer of improved roller bearing axles, wagons, 

 Jumber carts, dry kiln trucks and boxes for 

 shafting. This is a factory where quality is 

 paramount — where only good material is pounded 

 and sawed and planed and drilled into useful- 

 ness by skilled workmen — where the policy is to 

 do everything as well as it can be done, and the 

 wisdom of this policy is plain, for its adoption 

 has given first place to Gillette vehicles and has 

 made the Gillette trade mark a 

 synonym for best. 



The Gillette roller bearing axle. , 

 the heart of all Gillette vehicles, is I 

 an excellent example of the worth ' 

 of this concern's product. A re- 

 cent demonstration at the compa- 

 ny's factory showed one of these axles carrying 

 a heavy cart wheel raised free from the floor. 

 The wheel was set spinning, and when it "ran 

 down," it swung back and forth as a bicycle 

 wheel does, until it finally stopped with the 

 heavy side of the wheel down, evidence, first, of 

 absence of friction, and second, that the cart 

 bearing was made right. Men. bent on economy 

 in lumber handling, have purchased upwards of 

 ^'."i.ooo worth of these vehicles for a single mill 

 plant, believing in investing money in rather 

 than wasting money on equipment. 



Tbrougbout every department of this great 

 institution, whether in the regular lines manu- 

 factured, such as dry kiln and factory trucks, or 

 in special types of trucks and cars, there is 

 present that evidence of care and painstaking 

 which makes for economy and efficiency. 



The accompanying cut shows the construction 

 of the Gillette axle. The axle arm F is perfectly 

 straight throughout its length. Around it are 

 chambered solid steel rollers CC uniform iu 

 diameter and length. Every roller contacts its 

 neighbor slightly, the result being that each roller 

 helps to keep every other in place, and that all 

 the rollers are held in perfect alignment. Clumsy 

 "cages" are dispensed with. The rollers CC are 

 separated from the axle nut A by a loose collar 

 or retaining ring B and from the axle collar by 

 the inwardly projecting flange EE. The retain- 

 ing ring B moves with the rollers at the slightest 

 touch. The inwardly projecting flange EE moves 

 with the wheel and rollers. A "live" or "mov- 

 able" contact is thus presented to the rollers at 

 both ends. The "end thrust" is fully provided 

 for. All danger of the rollers sticking fast or 

 twisting across the axle Is avoided. The bearing 

 is encased in the boxing DD within which it re- 

 volves freely with a minimum of friction. After 

 six years of trying service it is today in use 

 under hose wagons, piano wagons, furniture vans, 

 logging trucks, lumber wagons, farm wagons, 

 carts, trucks, and in fact under almost all types 

 of vehicles of which axles form a part. And the 

 "repeat" orders which are being received for it 

 are the best evidence of the satisfaction it is 

 giving. 



A visit to the factory at Grand Rapids gives 

 truth to the claim that Gillette vehicles are "the 

 lightest running, longest lasting" ones on the 

 market. 



Cuban Befiigerator Trade. 



An authority recommends that some firm 

 put in a good line of refrigerators at Santiago 

 de Cuba, displaying them attractively and ad- 

 vertising convincingly. He says that consid- 

 erable ice is consumed, but in very small 

 quantities, and that the people are not posted 

 on the economical and desirable results to be 

 obtained by the use of these devices. The 

 hardware stores usually keep a few inferior 

 ones in stock but ask high prices for them, 

 and tlie good ones — what few are ussd — are 

 usually bought direct from the manufacturer 

 in the L'nited States or through an agent. 



Mexican Timber Purchase. 



W. T. Thornton has sold the Cerro Gordo 

 timber tract in the provinces of Jalisco and 

 Ciilima, Mexico, to the Colima Lumber Company 

 of New York. The price paid was $235,000. 

 The land comprises about 55,000 acres and rep- 

 iesents about 250,000,000 feet of oak, 100,000.- 

 000 of cypress, cedar and pine, and railroad ties 

 lo the number of 5,000,000. The concern pur- 

 chasing the tract was recently organized for 

 rhat purpose and to cut and market the timber. 

 A railroad will be built from Colima to the 

 mountains on which most of the timber grows, 

 and most of the oak will be marketed in Cali- 

 fornia cities, 



Bitter Lumber Company's Purchase. 



The W. M. Ititter Lumber Company 

 of Columbus, u.. recently consummated 

 a deal with James Strong & Co. of Phil- 

 adelphia, I*a., whereby the large double 

 band sawmill of the latter concern, lo- 

 cated at South Bristol, Pa., passed into 

 the hands of the Ritter company. The 

 mill was erected in 1901 at a cost of 

 .•iilOO.OOO. It will be dismantled and 

 taken to West Virginia, near Panther, 

 in McDowell county. 



The W. M. Ritter Lumber Company 

 will bnlld a standard gauge road through 

 its recently purchased timber lands in 

 Wyoming and Raleigh counties. West 

 Virginia, This purchase includes about 

 300,000 acres of the finest timber and 

 coal lands In the state, and the purchase 

 price was something over $500,000. The 

 tract will be reached through a tunnel 

 which will be cut from the headwaters of Milan's 

 fork to the head of Slab fork, and will cost 

 about $55,000. T'his new road was a necessity 

 in the development of the Ritter ijroperty, and 

 will be of incalculable aid to that entire section 

 of country. 



Modern Logging Cars and Equipment. 



Witli the growth of the lumber industry the 

 demand for heavier logging car equipment has 

 ileveloped. Twenty years ago a twenty thousand 

 pound capacity car amply met the requirements 

 nf most operators. Today many of the larger 

 ones find it necessary to employ cars of fifty 

 and sixty thousand pounds capacity built to 

 specifications and equipped with air brakes and 

 automatic couplers. In the same length of time 

 the field in which such equipment is required 

 has broadened until it stretches from the Great 

 Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from one ocean 

 to the other, bringing into the market immense 

 tracts of timber that were formerly regarded as 

 worthless because of their distance from driving 

 streams. 



The Russel Wheel & Foundry Company of 

 lietroit, Mich., manufacturer of logging machin- 

 ery, logging cars, light railway and cars for in- 

 dustrial purposes, has just issued a handsome 

 catalogue particularly descriptive of its logging 

 lars. 'The book is profusely illustrated with ex- 

 cellent half-tone engravings illustrating the great 

 variety of goods manufactured by this concern 

 and with facsimile testimonial letters showing 

 with what satisfaction and success its equip- 

 ment is used. The new catalogue will be cheer- 

 fully furnished on application to the company's 

 t.iice at Detroit. 



