34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Wood Tvtming 



Few people, even among those connected with 

 the woodworking industries, realize the infinite 

 variety of small turned articles in common use 

 among wood-using manufacturers. Chair spin- 

 dles, drawer stops and pulls, fancy ornaments 

 for furniture, tops and liuobs. go-cart push han- 

 dles, baby cab fittings and reed chair stretchers 

 and legs, beaded mouldings, cane and flagsticks. 

 dowel pins and dowel rods, are just a few of 

 these much used specialties. Almost everything 

 made of wood has some turned work about it, 

 and we have become so used to seeing artistic 

 mouldings, handles and knobs about us that we 

 have come to take them all as a matter of 

 course. However, the production of these arti- 

 cles is an important line of manufacture and one 

 that consumes large quantities of hardwood an- 

 nually, in spite of the fact that most of the 

 things made are very small. 



One of the largest manufacturers of this line 

 of goods in the country is the Stephenson Manu- 

 facturing Company, located at South Bend, Ind., 

 where it has a large, modern plant, fitted with 

 a complete line of equipment for turned work. 

 The company was established in 1879 and is 

 composed of C. B. Stephenson, president ; P. A. 

 Stephenson, vice-president ; B. C. Stephenson, 

 secretary, and A. I-I. Stephenson, treasurer. It 

 recently completed two large additions to its 

 plant at South Bend, so that very prompt and 

 efficient service is now accorded customers. 



One of the most popular specialties turned 

 out by this company is its pointed and spiral 

 grooved dowel pins. Tlicse are made of tlior- 

 oughly kiln-dried hardwood and have a holding 

 power similar to that of a screw, the glrs hard- 

 ening in the spiral groove and eftectit \ very 

 secure fastening. Pins turned are ol jiiform 

 diameter and not crooked, so that there is no 

 danger of them splitting stock when driven Into 

 place, as is the case with punched dowels. 



The Stephenson Manufacturing Company man- 

 ufactures every conceivable variety of wood 

 turned goods, a partial list of its products in- 

 cluding automatic wood lathe turnings, beaded 

 and twisted chair spindles, bent and turned seat 

 sticks, turned and twist mouldings, steam pump 

 and shipping plugs, washing-machine turnings, 

 card rack washers, turned drawer pulls, orna- 

 ments and buttons ; baby cab, screen door, reed 

 chair and novelty turnings, screw hole plugs, 

 crank handles, kitchen cabinet legs, extension 

 table pins, splasher rods, gun rods, cane and 

 flag sticks, plain and beaded dowels, and even 

 more. In the manufacture of these articles the 

 company uses white maple, beech and birch, 

 and it always carries a large stock of these 

 w'oods so that any of its specialties can be sup- 

 plied in carload lots on sliort notice. 



The company will send out on application its 

 Catalogue D, wliich contains actual size drawings 

 of its products. This is a most interesting book 

 of some sixty pages of outline drawings, and 

 gives a very good idea of -the vast number and 

 variety of turned articles made by these spe- 

 cialists in wood turning. 



Furniture Imports in British Guiana 



Consul Artluir .1. Clare of Georgetown re- 

 sponds as follows to inquiry concerning furni- 

 ture imports into British Guiana : 



During the fiscal year ended March 31, 1008, 

 cabinet ware and upholstery to thi? value of 

 ?24,957 was imported into British Guiana. The 

 United Kingdom furnished ¥19.600 ; United 

 States, $3,3G0, and Canada, $1.30,S. Furniture 

 manufactured from the native woods of British 

 Guiana is very popular, owing to its immunity 

 from the attacks of the wood ants and other 

 Insects, which are destructive to some imported 

 articles of furniture. The principal furniture 

 manufacturer in Georgetown has for some yeavi 

 discontinued manufacturing articles from any o • 

 the imported woods, such as oak, ash, walnut, 

 maple, etc., and is using the native woods exclu- 

 Blvely. Under the circumstances it Is not likely 



ibat the imports of furniture will increase to 

 any great extent, except perhaps in the line of 

 modern office furniture, which is not manufac- 

 tured here, and for which there will continue to 

 be a limited market. 



Furniture intended for British Guiana need 

 not be packed to stand overland wagon hauls, 

 as the tran.sportation after arrival here is mostly 

 by steamship or rail. 



Slack Cooperage Stock Purchased in 1908 



A bulletin recently issued by the Forest Serv- 

 ice gives statistics of slack cooperage stock pro- 

 duction during the year 1908, these being col- 

 lected from 1,151 establishments as against 950 

 for the preceding year. The statistics on this 

 industry show general increases in quantity and 

 value of these products over previous years, de- 

 spite the fact that industrial conditions obtain- 

 ing were unfavorable. An interesting fact dis- 

 closed by statistics the last few years is the 

 increasing uumber of establishments that turn 

 out staves and heading as by-products in the 

 manufacture of lumber. 



During 1908 a total of 1,557,614 staves were 

 produced as against 1,175,977 in 1907. 



One hundred and twenty-three thousand eight 

 hundred .and forty-nine thousand sets of heading 

 were produced in 1908 against 100.074 thousand 

 sets in 1907. Of hoops the total in 1908 was 

 3,';6,484 thousands against 490,570 thousands in 

 1007. The total value of staves produced in 

 1908 was $8,912,957; of heading, $5,661,713. 

 and of hoops, $2,325,981. 



The five kinds ol wood which had a produc- 

 tion of more than 97,000,000 staves each in 

 both 1908 and 1907 ranked as follows in the 

 two years : Red gum, pine, elm, beech and 

 maple. 



In the manufacture of heading five principal 

 woods were used. Though the same woods are 

 generally used for both purposes, in heading pine 

 ranked first, red gum second, beech third, maple 

 fourth and basswood fifth. The production from 

 these woods was seventy-seven per cent of the 

 total. 



In the production of hoops only ten kinds of 

 wood were reported in sufficient quantities to 

 warrant a separate presentation for 1908. Of 

 tliese, red gum, ash and beech showed increases 

 in 1908, as compared with 1907. In elm alone 

 there was a decrease of nearly ninety-three per 

 cent. 



Wood Distillation for 1908 



The Forest Service recently issued a bulletin 

 covering wood distillation for 1908, giving a 

 uumber of tables showing statistics of the 

 various woods used, values, quantity utilized, 

 etc. 



Although, generally speaking, wood distilla- 

 tion is rather unimportant compared with the 

 other industries utilizing forest products, yet 

 in certain sections it is a very important busi- 

 ness. In general the industry consists of the 

 manufacture of such products as result from 

 the heating of wood so as to produce volatile 

 distillates and forest residue. Two distinct 

 processes are in common use, the destructive and 

 the steam processes. The basic principle of the 

 former consists in heating the wood to such a 

 temperature that the fiber is destroyed and new 

 products are formed. In the steam process 

 volatile substances which are present in the 

 wood are removed without destroying the fiber 

 itself. Besides these two definite processes there 

 are several others which cannot be definitely 

 classed under either of these two heads. 



The wood distillation industry is divided into 

 two branches according to the woods used. The 

 Forest Service in Its bulletin uses the two head- 

 ings, "Hardwood Distillation'* and "Soft Wood 

 Distillation." The principal woods used in hard- 

 wood distillation are beech, birch and maple, 

 with small quantities of oak and elm. In this 

 I'.rocess of distillation the destructive method is 

 generally employed. 



In 1908 hardwoods to total value of $2,710,- 

 745 were used for hardwood distillation by the 

 101 establishments reporting. This wood was 

 used in the production of charcoal, crude alco- 

 hol, gray acetate, brown acetate, iron acetate 

 and oils ; the combined value of these products 

 being $5,408,265. This amount was a con- 

 siderable decrease in the figures for the preced- 

 ing year which were $7,661,379, due to the gen- 

 eral business depression. 



Of the various states containing wood dis- 

 tillation plants, Pennsylvania leads with 53, 

 which turned out in 1908 $1,070,012 worth of 

 these products. New York state is second with 

 24 plants and Michigan third with 11. 



In hardwood distillation in 1908 there was no 

 sawdust reported, although over 25,000 cords 

 of mill waste and stumps were used, of which 

 Michigan reported over three-fourths. 



In soft wood distillation 30 plants reported 

 in 1908, and the total value of their products 

 was $491,161, slightly less than the total tor 

 the preceding year. Dry body wood of pine still 

 forms the greater part of this material, though 

 in 1908 Douglas fir was reported for the first 

 time, and quite a large amount of this wood 

 was utilized. The southern states are the 

 principal fields for soft wood distillation. 



Practically the only product of wood distilla- 

 tion exported is wood alcohol. During 1908 

 1,958,630 gallons of this product were exported; 

 this product had a total value of $819,753. 



American Refrigerators in France 

 .\n American consul located at Havre. France, 

 slates that there Is a good opportunity for 

 American manufacturers of refrigerators to build 

 up a profitable business in some parts of France. 

 He cites the case of one manufacturer who ex- 

 perimented with the market in the vicinity of 

 Havre, where the .American product comes into 

 competition not only with continental stock but 

 with a local refrigerator as well. This manufac- 

 turer sent a salesman into the territory who 

 made a house-to-house canvass with miniature 

 sample refrigerators, speaking the language of 

 the country. He reported that his sales were 

 heavy. Of course no one salesman could cover 

 the field, no matter how ingenious his methods, 

 and much territory remains uncovered. Almost 

 no solicitation has been tried among the hotels, 

 stores and other large buyers of refrigerators. 

 Solicitation of this sort would undoubtedly bring 

 to American concerns a reasonable amount of 

 trade, but correspondence and the sending of 

 catalogues in the English language will never get 

 any business in competition with French goods. 

 The advantage of Havre as a shipping point 

 tor American goods is pretty generally recog- 

 nized. It is an excellent point not only for Im- 

 portation but for distribution through resident 

 agencies. The average retail price of domestic 

 refrigerators is $19. 



The Casket Industry of St. Louis 



The real live city of St. Louis has one large 

 and thriving industry wliich seems quite out 

 of keeping with its reputation. It is the larg- 

 est and most important market for the pro- 

 duction, sale and distribution of caskets and 

 coffins in the United States, and according to 

 some authorities there are more caskets manu- 

 factured and shipped from St. Louis than from 

 any city in the world. The city Is unique in 

 this line of manufacture, for no other place 

 in the country is a close competitor in this 

 business, and no other center has kept pace 

 with St. Louis in the introduction of new 

 styles and improvements which Its manufac- 

 turers have added frequently to their product 

 until today St. Louis is known far and wide 

 for the excellence of this line. 



A combined capital of over $2,000,000 Is In- 

 vested in the casket industry by St. Louis 

 firms, and there are six large concerns in the 

 business. These are: The St. Louis CoflBn 

 Company. The Mound Coffin Company. Kregel 



