HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



Casket Company, Riddle Casket Company, 

 Jennings-Amos Casket Company and the Mis- 

 souri Casket Company. 



During the past ten years the trade of St. 

 Louis in this line has increased about two 

 hundred per cent, and there has been the 

 enormous increase o£ over five hundred per 

 cent during the past twenty-flve years. The 

 factories at present employ over fifteen hun- 

 dred men and 'vromen, and each establishment 

 has a number of traveling salesmen on the 

 road as well. 



Forgetting the gruesome purpose for which 

 this product is used the casket making indus- 

 try is an interesting one: The materials used 

 are many and varied; the woods embrace some 

 of the rarest and finest hardwoods of this 

 countrj- and the world. Oak, rosewood, wal- 

 nut, chestnut, cedar, mahogany, pine, ebony 

 and cherry, as well as other varieties, enter 

 into the make-up of high-class burial caskets, 

 many of which are left without any covering 

 of cloth or velvet. The metals used include 

 solid bronze, copper, zinc, steel and cast iron. 



One of the most popular of the recent im- 

 provements made In burial equipment is the 

 ali'tight copper case made to fit inside the 

 casket. This case fills all the requirements of 

 the solid metal casket and does away with its 

 great weight. This metal case was a St. 

 Louis discovery, and its introduction has to a 

 great extent replaced the old metallic caskets. 



St. Louis factories are all up-to-date mod- 

 ern establishments; they have the best of 

 equipment for this line of manufacture, and 

 employ the most expert cabinet workers 

 obtainable. A great many of these workmen 

 are artists of no little ability, as may be 

 judged by the fine hand carving on some of 

 the best types of caskets. 



What the Dodge Plant Accomplishes 



Laying claim to the largest plant in the world 

 for the manufacture of machinery for the 

 mechanical transmission of power is no idle 

 boast with the Dodge Manufacturing Company, 

 Mishawaka, Ind., whose buildings cover nearly 

 forty acres in a sixty-acre location on the Lake 

 Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. 



The consumption of raw materials, the pro- 

 duction of finished goods, and the capacities 

 of the power and mechanical equipment, are 

 Evidence of the extensiveness of the factory. 



There is annually consumed 20,000 tons of 

 pig iron. 7.000.000 feet of himbor, 000 tons of 



steel and structural iron, 6,200 tons of steel 

 shafting and 9,000 tons of coal. 



There are annually produced 250,000 "Inde- 

 pendence" wood split pulleys, 100,000 "Dodge 

 Standard" iron split pulleys, 90,000 solid iron 

 pulleys, 95,000 hangers, 150,000 bearings of all 

 types, 4.000 friction clutches and more than 

 2,000,000 pounds of bearing metal. 



The steam boilers have a capacity of 1,000 

 horse power and the steam engines 1,500 horse 

 power with electric generators of 250 kilowatts. 



The steel shop in which the Eureka water 

 softener and purifier is made has a capacity of 

 52 fully equipped machines per annum. 



Quebracho for Tanning Purposes 



The Plata River region in South America is 

 the source of supply of a large amount of 

 ciuebracho wood which is extensively used for 

 tanning purposes. There are two species found 

 growing in Uruguay, the Chaco country of 

 Paraguay and northern Argentina, the red being 

 the one containing tannin used in the manu- 

 facture of the extract so valuable in the tan- 

 ning of hides. It is said that the industry in 

 Uruguay will probably never reach great com- 

 mercial importance, as the supply of trees is 

 limited, but in Paraguay and Argentina it is a 

 large item of national wealth, land bearing 

 these trees bringing high prices. 



Large consignments of quebracho logs are an- 

 nually sent to Europe, but this will probably be 

 stopped, as there is a strenuous effort being 

 made by A^gentina people of influence to have 

 a heavy export duty imposed so as to prohibit 

 the exportation of these logs. Very durable 

 railroad ties are made from quebracho. 



The extract of quebracho is prepared by dis- 

 integrating the logs in a manner similar to that 

 employed in making wood paper pulp, then 

 macerating and cooking the product with cer- 

 tain chemicals. 



During the year 190S the United States im- 

 ported quebracho wood to a value of $612,971 

 from Argentina. Imports of quebracho extract 

 for the same period were valued at $2,260,364, 

 nearly all coming from Argentina. 



1908 Statistics on Tight Cooperage Stock 



In a bulletin just issued by the Department 

 of .\griculture in cooperation with the United 

 States Forest Service, statistics covering the 

 production of tight cooperage stock tor 190S as 

 compared with those of 1907 are given. The 



^•^- 





output of tight cooperage stock in common with 

 that of most forest industries showed a falling 

 off in both quantity and value in 190S as com- 

 pared with the previous year. The reported 

 production for the year 1908, however, exceeds 

 that of 1906. 



In 1908 staves to a total value of $10,009,295 

 were manufactured, as against $12,942,885 in 

 the previous year. 



Heading to a total value of $4,397,148 was 

 manufactured in lOOS, the figures for 1907 be- 

 ing $6,864,485. 



Of the total quantity of sawed staves, 55.5 

 per cent were oil and tierce, and staves of this 

 class were made principally of white and red 

 oak. Spirit and wine staves formed 12.8 per 

 cent of the sawed staves and Bourbon staves 

 4.8 per cent. Bourbon staves were exclusively 

 of white oak, and 98.7 per cent of the spirit and 

 wine staves were of this kind of wood. Over 

 22 per cent of the cut-offs were of red oak, and 

 nearly 33 per cent of the pork staves were ash. 



White oak timber supplied material for ap- 

 proximately seven-tenths of all the sawed head- 

 ing reported in 1908, of which oil and tierce 

 heading formed 54.9 per cent ; Bourbon, 16.1 

 per cent ; and spirit and wme, 15.8 per cent. 

 Of the red oak heading reported, about three- 

 fourths was oil and tierce. Gum was to a con- 

 siderable extent employed in the production of 

 half barrel and keg, and oil and tierce heading. 

 Though ash heading was reported in limited 

 quantity, forming less than one-fortieth of the 

 total quantity of heading produced, this wood 

 was used in the manufacture of every kind of 

 heading except Bourbon. Pork heading com- 

 prised about three-eighths of the total amount 

 of sawed heading produced from this wood. 

 Other woods utilized in heading manufacture in 

 1908 were cypress, spruce, Douglas fir, pine, 

 dogwood, basswood, etc. 



Exports of tight cooperage stock from the 

 United States for 1908 amounted to $6,016,690 

 as against $5,127,522 for 1907. Both the quan- 

 tity and value of staves exported during the 

 nscal year ended June 30, 1908, were greater 

 than during the previous year. The average 

 value of the exported staves was nearly $3 less 

 in 1908 than in 1907, for which year the high- 

 est average value yet shown was reported. 



A Growing Concern 



The Rice Veneer & Lumber Company of Grand 

 Rapids, Mich., has leased larger quarters to care 

 tor its growing business. The company has been 

 located in the Gunn building on South Ionia 

 street for several years, but after January 1 

 will remove to the new Vinkemulder building, 

 Campau street and the railroad tracks, occupy- 

 ing the west half of the five-story building from 

 the second to the fifth floors. Attractive offices 

 will be fitted upon the second floor. The change 

 will give the concern double its present ware- 

 b.ouse capacity and its facilities for shipping and 

 business will be largely increased. The company 

 recently increased its capital stock from $10,000 

 to $40,000. 



THE IMMENSE PLANT OF THE DODGE MANUFACTURING CO. AT MISHAWAKA, IXD. 



Miscellaneous Notes 



The James J. Copellar Tie & Timber Company, 

 formerly of Grappes Bluff, La., has just moved 

 its headquarters to 518 First National Bank 

 building, Shreveport, La. This concern has mills 

 in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. 



Another change in location is that of the 

 Delphi Lumber Company, manufacturers of hard- 

 wood lumber, which has moved its oflices from 

 Delphi, W. Va., to Cowen, W. Va. 



The Onega Lumber Company has been organ- 

 ized at Charleston, W. Va., with a capital stock 

 of $10,000. The incorporators are J. R. LeSage, 

 Azel McCurdy, F. A. Johnson, C. H. Wyatt and 

 J. C. LeSage of Huntington. 



Fire recently destroyed the main building of 

 the Standard Bo^ & Lumber Company of Ports- 



