HARDWOOD RECORD 



Progress Made in Adoption of the Code of 

 Ethics 



A circular issued by A. B. Wastell, secretary 

 of the American Lumber Trades' Congress, Port- 

 land, Ore., covers the progress made thus far in 

 the adoption by the various lumber associations 

 of the country of the code of ethics as revised 

 at the Chicago meeting of the Congress on June 

 8 last. Consideration has subsequently been 

 given to the code by many associations, and 

 adoption has been reported by a number of the 

 prominent organizations of the country. 



Secretary Wastell urges that the code be 

 brought up by the secretaries of the various 

 lumber organizations at their next annual meet- 

 ing, and that attention be drawn to the merits 

 of the regulations embodied in the code, with the 

 understanding that any suggestions for revision 

 will be duly considered by the congress at the 

 next session, but that in the meantime the code 

 as it stands represents the best compendium of 

 lumber trade custom and regulations extant. 

 Naturally there have been many criticisms of 

 the code, as well as commendatory remarks, in 

 association circulars and trade paper articles. 

 Herewith are given a number of the revisions, 

 with comment, which have been suggested to 

 tSecretary Wastell, who would be glad to receive 

 further comments on them : 



"Provisions for a time limit for the registering 

 of complaints after arrival of car." 



It is usual for seller to cover this limit in 

 terms of sale, but as terms of sale were not 

 definitely covered, it would be well to incorporate 

 a corresponding clause in Article 14. 



"Relative responsibility of shipper or con- 

 signee for damage to product during transporta- 

 tion, and what constitutes point of delivery 

 and when title to lumber passes." 



This matter was quite fully discussed at Chi- 

 cago and it proved impossible to get any unanim- 

 ity of opinion, on account of the wide field of 

 operation, and it was considered inadvisable to 

 incorporate anything in the code on this score. 

 Inclusion of special clauses in terms of sale 

 to cover these questions is entirely possible be- 

 tween buyer and seller, and, according to Article 

 of the code, terms of sale should be considered 

 as part of the contract and be lived up to. 



In Article i:> the clause should bo added "The 

 buyer must credit shipper with the amount above 

 grade determined by inspection." Exception has 

 been taken to the fact that while shipper must 

 credit buyer with the amount of degi-ade, no cor- 

 responding premium is paid shipper for the 

 amount of above grade found in the consign- 

 ment. 



The same question was raised at Chicago and 

 quite a controversy resulted and created more of 

 a contention than any other feature, but it was 

 finally determined that although in some in- 

 stances the buyer might be able to utilize to 

 advantage stock running above grade, in the 

 majority of cases the above-grade stock would 

 be sold as of grade ordered, without distinction 

 and shipper was clearly at fault in sending bet- 

 ter than ordered, and buyer should not suffer 

 for this reason. 



"To the duty of president of the congress add 

 the duty of an arbitrator to consider complaints 

 as to flagrant violations of the code of ethics 

 which he in turn would bring to the attention 

 of those about whom complaint has been made, 

 for the moral effect that such action would have! 

 with the complete understanding that specific 

 rtetails would not be gone into" on individual 

 cases that should be handled, as prescribed by 

 the code, by a regular board of arbitration, but 

 in a general way, particularly between associa- 

 tions to consider and advise in relation to viola- 

 tion of the provisions of the code." 



Mr. Wastell includes in this circular a state- 

 ment of the receipts and expenditures of the 

 American Lumber Trades' Congress since the last 

 meeting. This shows a splendid participation by 

 the larger associations of the country, and also 

 shows that the several Pacific coast organizations 

 have given very gratifying help to the organi- 

 zation, although they were not .accorded accred- 

 ited representation. They evidently appreciated 



I be purpose of the organization and wanted to 

 help, whicli may be a good suggestion to other 

 associations. Voluntary contributions will be 

 greatly appreciated, and if enough are received 

 no further assessment durin,g tbo current jeav 

 will be necessary. 



It is hoped that various association secretaries 

 whose organizations will meet shortly will not 

 fail to bring up this important matter for con- 

 sideration and to communicate with Mr. Was- 

 tell's otBce direct as to the action taken. 



November Meeting St. Louis Lumbermen's 



Club 



The November meeting of the Lumbermen's 

 Club at St. Louis, held at the Mercantile Club 

 on the evening of November 9, was one of the 

 banner meetings of the year. 



After a most delightful dinner. President .lulius 

 Seidel called for reports, and Frank Goepel, 

 chairman of the Committee on Public Affairs, 

 reported that in the proposal to incorporate the 

 club, which his committee had in hand, it had 

 been decided to lay the matter on the table for 

 the present. The committee, he said, could see 

 no advantage in incorporating, the only contracts 

 being made by the Entertainment Committee, and 

 the club holding no property. Besides this, there 

 would be considerable cost attached to incor- 

 porating. The report of the committee was 

 adopted. 



J. L. Beuas. chairman of the Tratlic Couimit- 

 tee, reported that a number of important mat- 

 ters had been handled by this committee, one of 

 which was a request to investigate the advance 

 in the rate of one cent from St. Louis to Minne- 

 sota transfer points. The committee on investi- 

 gation reported that the advance was justified. 

 as it equalized the locals from the South to 

 those points with the through rate. 



Another very important matter considered was 

 switching charges in St. Louis. After consider- 

 able correspondence and many visits to the rail- 

 road ofRces, the committee, Mr. Benas reported, 

 had been able to obtain a complete tariff to date 

 from a road that handles the bulk of the lumber 

 coming into St. Louis — the Missouri Pacific and 

 Iron Mountain railroad. 



The committee stated that it had not been able 

 to get any satisfaction as to any changes that 

 might benefit the industries of St. Louis, but 

 were informed that the railroads operating in 

 St. Louis and East St. Louis territory are ar- 

 ranging a new and uniform tariff which will 

 be complete and show the switching charges on 

 cars entering St. Louis and East St. Louis 

 territory. The committee recommended that ac 

 lion in regard to St. Louis switching charges 

 l)p deferred until the new uniform switching 

 tariff of all the roads and also the absorption 

 tariff of individual roads have been issued. The 

 committee also reported that the matter of space 

 for unloading lumber from boats and barges on 

 the wharf between Clinton and North Market 

 streets has been satisfactorily arranged at the 

 Harbor and Wharf Commission. 



The Membership Committee presented the 

 names of the following men for membership and 

 they were unanimously elected : B. L. Van 

 Cleave of the Van Cleave Lumber Company, Lee 

 Caruthers of the Kirby Lumber Company, and 

 T. C. Skeen of the Consolidated Sawmills Com- 

 pany. 



As the election of officers will take place at 

 the December meeting, the president named the 

 following for a nominating committee : J. A. 

 Freeman, E. C. Eobinson, and J. L. Sheve. As 

 the constitution also specifies that three mem- 

 bers from the floor be named, thus putting two 

 tickets in the field, the following gentlemen were 

 chosen from the floor • W. A. Bonsack, II. W. 

 Ballman, and C. M. Jennings. 



A letter from W. B. Morgan was then read in 



regard to having a delegation from the St. Louis 

 Lumbermen's Club in attendance at the meeting 

 of the Western Classification Committee, to be 

 held in San Antonio, Texas, in January next. 

 At this meeting an effort will be made to obtain 

 an equable adjustment of rates on goods shipped 

 in wooden boxes as compared with that con- 

 tained in strawboard and fiber boxes ; the rate 

 at present is the same, and it is contended that 

 this is unjust and that goods shipped in inferior 

 packages are not entitled to the same freight 

 rates as when shipped in the more durable 

 wooden box. Most of the lumber and box manu- 

 facturers" associations in the country will have 

 delegates at this meeting, and it is hoped that 

 much good will be accomplished in this direc- 

 tion, which is a matter of considerable import- 

 ance to lumbermen, as a victory of this sort will 

 lielp the low-grade problem considerably. 



Following the business meeting a toast was 

 sung by the members to J. B. White of pansas 

 City. Mo., a prominent southern operator, who 

 was the speaker of the evening. This toast was 

 written by P. F. Cook of the St. Louis Lumber- 

 man, and m.ade a great hit. Mr. White very 

 feelingly thanked both Mr. Cook and the mem- 

 bers for this demonstration, after which he 

 addressed the club in a most entertaining man- 

 ner on the subject, "Forest Conservation and the 

 Merchandising of Lumber." Mr. White's speech 

 was one of the ablest ever given on this subject, 

 and 10.000 copies of it were ordered printed for 

 distribution. 



The meeting then adjourned. 



Charcoal in Japan 



United States consul located at Kobe, Japan, 

 gives some interesting facts regarding the pro- 

 duction of charcoal in Japan. The white is 

 made from hardwoods mostly Quercus myrsince- 

 folia. and the black from soft woods other than 

 pine. Trees from twenty to thirty years old 

 are used and are cut into lengths of three feet 

 by two feet in circumference. 



There are two styles of kilns used, stone tor 

 making white charcoal and earthen for making 

 black. Kilns burn from 800 to 4,000 pounds 

 of green wood, which process takes about thirty 

 hours, and requires the services of three men. 

 The charcoal obtained amounts to from eighteen 

 to twenty-three per cent. A new kiln has been 

 patented which will burn from 24,000 to 80,000 

 pounds of wood, but no details in regard to it 

 were furnished by the consul. 



The charcoal consumed in Japan in 1907 was 

 valued at $7,934,700. The retail price of hard 

 charcoal is 60 cents per bale of 32 pounds and 

 of black charcoal 30 cents. 



A Prominent Chicago Hardwood Flooring 

 House 



The hardwood industry has its perceptive 

 minds quite as much as any other industry. The 

 prevalent notion that the men who know and 

 .see and act are principally among those who 

 have to do with matters of great commercial and 

 governmental importance is erroneous. Institu- 

 tions that are rarely heard by the public and that 

 figure little in shaping policies are to the field 

 in which they work directing a destiny. The 

 hardwood industry is no exception. 



An allied member of this industry, though not 

 so large as some, but which is wielding a timely 

 influence, is the North Branch Flooring Com- 

 pany, located at 2415 Barry avenue, Chicago. 

 This institution is the outgrowth of the old 

 North Branch Lumber Company established 

 eighteen years ago on the same site. 



Men long in the trade remember the North 

 Branch Lumber Company. At the time of its 

 founding the thought uppermost in the minds of 

 its promoters was to do a general lumber busi- 



