HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



official inspector thus at our Eastern office, we have been able to 

 demonstrate clearly and ert'ectively the justice and impartiality of 

 our grading rules. This being the fact, every member of our asso- 

 ciation should invariably specify the official inspection rules of the 

 Hardwood ^Manufacturers' Association to govern when making a sale. 

 The result of tlie work accomplished through that office warrants the 

 feeling that a study and an impartial test of our inpection rules 

 almost invariably produces a user of the same and frequently a 

 hearty exponent thereof. 



Membership 



In our last annual report we siibdivided the membership into the 

 different States, showing a total membership at that time of 352. 

 Up to then we were not aware that more than two of our members 

 went out of business on account of the hard times which began late 

 in 1907, and continued practically through 1908, but during the 

 past year there has been brought about the retirement of a number 

 of the smaller mill men who have been heretofore, and still are, 

 loyal to the association in their support. Such failures have had the 

 result of decreasing the number of our members, but the membership 

 has been increasing with the larger operators coming into the asso- 

 ciation, as the result of which our timber area is increased, and 

 together with the interests of the wholesale and yardmen and the 

 consumer coming into our association, as they have been the latter 

 part of 1909, our income is increasing in better proportion. 



We feel that the membership from now ou will inci'ease always in 

 numbers, in view of the era of prosperity which is again in evidence, 

 and it is hoped our timber area will also continue to increase from an 

 organization standpoint. 



Association Meetings Attended, 1909 

 It has been my pleasure to attend a number of meetings of different 

 associations during the past year, at practically all of which T 

 have been honored by being placed upon the program to represent 

 our interests. These dilferent associations and their meeting dates 

 are as follows: 

 .June 20th. — ileeting of Gum Manufacturers at Memphis, Tenn., 



Non -Association. 

 .Jul}' 7th and Sth. — American Lumber Trades Congress,- Chicago, 111. 

 August 12th. — Scmi-aniuial Jleeting of the National Association of 



Box ilanufacturers. at New York City. 

 August 25th. — Annual Meeting of the American Manufacturers of 



Coil Elm Hooks, Toledo, Ohio. 

 October 2Gth. — Central Bureau of Extension Table Manufacturers, 



Chicago, 111. 

 October 28th. — Meeting of the Michigan Hardwood ^Manufacturers' 



Association, Detroit, Mich. 

 November 2d. — Chicago Furniture Manufacturers' Association, at 



Chicago, III. 

 November 10th. — Annual Meeting of the Wheel Club, at Cincinnati. 

 January 13. — Annual fleeting of the Indiana Hardwood Lumber- 

 men's Association, Indianapolis, Ind. 

 I should also state that shortly after the last annual meeting, I 

 made a trip to Washington, in connection with the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association, during the tariff hearings, and at that 

 time appeared Ijetore Mr. Pinehot and explained the conditions as 

 existing in the hardwood sections as represented in our association. 



Organizations Invited to Our Annual 



It was decided that the association would this year especially 

 invite organizations of consumers to have representatives present 

 to discuss with the Executive Grading Commission, who met yes- 

 terday, the matter of uniform inspection. The organizations, which 

 have been so invited to send representatives tor the purpose of thus 

 discussing the important question of inspection with our Grading 

 Commission, full detailed report of which conference will he sub- 

 mitted to the association at a later time during this convention, 

 are as follows: 



National Association of Furniture jManufacturers, Grand Rapids, 

 Mich. 



Central Bureau of Extension Table Manufacturers, Chicago, 111. 



Manufacturers' Association of Jamestown, N. Y. 



St. Louis Furniture Board of Trade, St. Louis, Mo. 



Queen City Furniture Club, Cincinnati. 



Cincinnati Furniture Exchange, Cincinnati. 



Furniture ilanufacturers' Association of Evansville, Ind. 



Western Chair Association, Chicago, 111. 



Chicago Furniture ^lanufacturers' Association. 



National Association of Box Manufacturers, Chicago, 111. 



National Wagon Manufacturers' Association, Chicago, 111. 



North Carolina Case Works Association, High Point, N. C. 



Oak Flooring Manufacturers' Association. Detroit, Mich. 



National Association of Agricultural Implement & Vehicle Manu- 

 facturers. Chicago. 



National Hickorv Association, Detroit, Mich. 



The Wheel Club. Muncie, Ind. 



Vehicle Wood Stock Co., Chicago, 111. 



In addition to these, the unorganized trade has been invited. 

 having the desire to have everyone connected with the hardwood 



industry, who might be in any way interested in the deliberations 

 of this body; we sent out about 15,000 invitations, and these were 

 sent to a long list of each department of the industry: 

 To Automobile Manufacturers. 

 To Wholesale Hardwood Lumber Dealers. 

 To Manufacturers of Washing JIachines. 

 To Manufacturers of Mantels. 

 To Car Builders. 



To every manufacturer of hardwood lumber anywhere whose 

 name and address we could obtain, and we hope that everyone who 

 has honored us by the acceptance of such invitation will participate 

 as far as possible in the deliberations of this body and be bene- 

 fitted thereby. 



Bureau of Grades 

 Inspection Dei'.xrtmknt 



The Inspection Department of our Bureau of Grades is one 

 branch of our association work which receives most careful atten- 

 tion. We have a corps of inspectors who are traveling through the 

 different sections of the countrj', and wdiich is composed of men 

 of the highest calibre, both as to knowledge of our Grading Rules, 

 ability to interpret the same, absolute integrity and men of good 

 j udgment. 



We have divided tlieir work up into territories — one man or a 

 set of men, as the occasion may require, taking care of the differ- 

 ent territories as follows: 



The Central or Main Office District, traveling out of Cincinnati 

 as headquarters to the surrounding territory, going as far east as 

 Pittsburg and ButTalo, and to Ohio in the west. 



The Eastern District, traveling out of New York City as head- 

 quarters, and covering the territory contiguous to Boston, New 

 York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and west^ it necessary,' 

 through Pennsylvania and New York. 



The Chicago District, traveling out of that hardwood center 

 through Wisconsin, Michigan, parts of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, etc. 



The St. Louis District, mainly occupied with local St. Louis work, 

 but at the same time, as occasion may require, traveling over the 

 territory immediately contiguous to that hardwood center. 



In comparing the amount of work taken care of by this depart- 

 ment in 1908 with that of 1909, we find a total of 097 cars, 8,304,000 

 feet in all districts for 190S, as against 792 cars, 9,404,000 feet 

 in all districts for 1909. It should of course be remembered that 

 these amounts represent only disputed shipments at destination 

 on which no basis of settlement could be arrived at without such 

 reinspection. But the fact that our membership handled so much 

 more lumber during 1909 in comparison with 1908 shows that the 

 ratio of complaints did not appear in the same proportion with 

 the amount of lumber shipped. This is a natural condition in the 

 lumber business; the movement of lumber became freer in 1909, 

 which always has the effect of reducing complaints; also, the mem- 

 liership are studying the methods of the consumer more, grading 

 their lumber more carefully in accordance with our rules and thus 

 avoiding the opportunity of having such complaints. 



It has been our custom in the past year, as in former years, 

 to send our inspectors to the mills of our members for the pur- 

 pose of checking up the work of their inspectors to see that they 

 are in line with the proper interpretation of our Inspection Rules, 

 to show them where they are weak, and to avoid their going from 

 one extreme to another. It often happens when an inspector finds 

 that his work has been of too high a grade, that he will endeavor 

 to correct the same, be inclined to go to the other extreme, and 

 put in too large a percentage of the lower end boards. We endeavor 

 to correct this by such visits. 



These inspectors who visit the mills are the same men who travel 

 through the consuming territories, who reinspect any disputed 

 shipments of our members, and who are able to demonstrate to 

 the management the causes which have resulted in the reduction 

 of grade where .such has occurred, which helps to remove the cause 

 for future disputes, carrying out our idea of uniform grading. We 

 have sometimes been requested to have our inspectors load cars for 

 shipment, but unless the destination of such stock is to some 

 foreign, or to a west coast point, we have not been able to accede 

 to their requests under our rules and regulations, finding it more 

 satisfactory from practically every point of view to have our in- 

 spectors only go through the stock at destination when complaint 

 has been made, or to act as arbitrators between the buyer and seller 

 when any differences occur. 



We publish in our Grading Rule Books the regulations covering 

 reinspection charges for reinspection work, in all cases when it 

 was the intention to ship the stock in accordance with the Official 

 Grading Rules of this association. The information that we desire 

 in such cases is the name of the original shipper, a copy of the 

 original invoice from them, and the present holder of the stock; 

 the invoice, of course, showing the car initial and number and 

 complete contents — we acting as arbitrators between the parties 

 interested. If the original shipper has not received settlement in 

 full for the car, it is evidently his right to receive information 

 from this office as to the results of inspection of our Official 

 Inspector, if he has not received such through other sources. It 



