HARDWOOD RECORD 



25 



vention shortly after were well received, and 

 large orders were placed, for just half the 

 price which had originally been charged. 

 From then on till this day large orders have 

 been sold every year. 



There are firms on the market who are man- 

 ufacturing bill posters' handles from gum 

 and representing it to be hickory, and there 

 are likewise a number of bill posters who 

 can not tell the difference at first sight, though 

 it is not long before the fact is revealed after 

 the handles have been put in use. In using 

 hickory the size of the handles can be greutly 

 reduced on account of its superior elasticity, 

 and in this way a very light, strong article can 

 be turned out. 



These handles can be made at any handle 

 factory, vidth the proper facilities, at an aver- 

 age price of about 10 cents apiece, so it is 

 very evident that the original price was an 

 outrage, yet there are a number of bill posters 

 who- are still , submitting to it. There are 

 over three thousand bill posters in this coun- 

 try, and as the average handle will last a 

 year, it is plainly to be seen that it does not 

 take an unusually large number to satisfy the 

 demand. But if one firm could control the 

 output it would net a very fair profit, and the 

 bill posters themselves would benefit by this 

 condition as they would be sure of handles 

 uniform in size and quality. The traveling 

 circuses are among the largest consumers of 

 this article, though they do not use as many 



as the local trade. 



* # * 



The lithograph stick was the outcome of 

 the diflSculty which circus people ahvays ex- 

 perienced in properly pasting their big litho- 

 graphs in show windows. The common way 

 of accomplishing this was to obtain a couple 

 of ordinary lath from a planing mill and 

 using one to hold the lithograph in place, rub 

 the sticker fast with the other. It was a fre- 

 quent ' occurrance for one of these laths to 

 break, leaving a sharp, jagged edge which 

 usually poked a hole through the sheet, thus 

 spoiling it. When all the posting was finished 

 in one town, the hangers usually threw away 

 their stick, counting on being able to procure 

 new ones at the next town at which they 

 stopped. 



A circus man was recently talking the mat- 

 ter over with a handle manufacturer, and it 

 was not long before a stick had been planned 

 which would answer the purpose and at the' 

 same time save expense in posting, and yet 

 not be an expensive article itself. The stick 

 planned would be of sufiicient value, how- 

 ever, to insure against its being thrown away. 

 A lot of five feet poplar rods were turned out, 

 and after filling and varnishing were capped 

 at the end with aluminum tubing two inches 

 long. When polished up this afforded an ex- 

 cellent smooth edge, and one which would be 

 sure of holding the sheet properly without 

 tearing it, and also having a perfectly square 

 edge would rub the sticker into place with one 

 stroke. The rods were cut six feet long, and 

 would reach the top of any ordinary window. 

 Several of the large circuses gave them a 



trial last year and expressed themselves as 

 being very well pleased. They say that their 

 hanging now costs less money and is done in 

 better style than ever before. 



# * w 



The average handle manufacturer could ac- 

 complish more and make larger profits if he 

 would limit himself to the production of one 

 or two types of handles. Most manufacturers 

 do not follow this plan, and consequently the 

 article turned out is often far below what it 

 should be. The advantages of working along 

 one line are the possibility of reducing every- 

 thing to a definite system and keeping costs 

 down to a minimum. This idea is not at all 

 new and is applicable to almost any branch of 

 industry. 



The operator who attempts to turn out 

 special types of handles and rods and is con- 

 stantly changing his orders loses an immense 

 amount of time in tearing down and setting 

 up his lathe, and as in every other business, 

 time is money and should not be wasted. 



Broom manufacturers as a general rule 

 should not attempt to turn out ash or hickory 

 handles, or in fact anything but broom han- 

 dles, and vice versa. There is a line of spe- 

 cialties, such as curtain poles, chair turnings, 

 shade rollers, carpet sweeper handles and 

 numerous other articles of this same general 

 type, which can conveniently be grouped to- 

 gether, and should not be manufactured in 

 connection with handles or rods of any other 

 sort, as they are not of a nature which will 

 admit of being worked out of the waste from 

 the ordinary run of handle factories. 



Rare Woods Found in the Forests of Bahia 



Consul I'ioiic Paul Demers, of Bahia, submitis 

 the following report on the timber resources of 

 the Brazilian state of Bahia and the facilities 

 for lumbering operations: 



The state is wonderfully rich in rare timbers, 

 such as rosewood, mahogany and cedar. I have 

 spent six weelis exploring the forests to the 

 south of Bahia. and estimate that the zone lying 

 between that port and the boundary of the 

 neighboring state of Espiritu Santo, or that 

 stretch of territory between the thirteenth and 

 nineteenth degrees of south latitude and the At- 

 lantic ocean and the fourth degree of longitude, 

 contains 12,000.000 acres of choice timber lands, 

 which will yield an average of 10,000 feet board 

 measure of cabinet wood per acre, or a total of 

 120.000.000,000 feet. A Canadian lumber ex- 

 pert recentty sent to this zone classified the 

 woods according to the different families to which 

 they most nearly correspond or are better known 

 on "the American and English markets, and his 

 estimates, which are extremely conservative, are 

 as follows ; Rosewood and better-class cabinet, 

 1 per cent ; jacaranda cabiuna, of equal value. 

 5 per cent ; mahogany, 10 per cent ; oali, highly 

 durable, 13 per cent ; hickory, 20 per cent ; buch, 

 birch, maple, elm and ash of fine interior and 

 exterior finishing qualities and of good cabinet 

 values, 40 per cent ; Spanish cedar, 9 per cent. 



These classes embrace a fine range of high- 

 class cabinet woods and a varied line of floor- 

 ing and other timbers well adapted for interior 

 and exterior finish. 



This particular zone has a coast line of 300 

 miles, along which are located many ports, of 

 which the most important are Camamu or 

 Marahu, Barra de Rio de Contas, Ilheos, Can- 

 navleiras, Santa Cruz, Porto Seguro, Prado, Al- 

 eobaca. Caravellas and Porto Alegre. Of these, 

 Camamu. Santa Cruz and Caravellas are deep- 

 harbor ports. Not less than 19 rivers, many 



of which are navigable for scores of miles, tra- 

 verse these woodlands in an easterly direction, 

 rendering the exploitation of the timber prac- 

 ticable, as a good part of the logs may be driven 

 down the rivers to the ocean. The district 

 adapts itself admirably to railroad construction 

 wherever the rivers do not afford an adequate 

 and expedient means of transportation. 



The cost of cutting, hauling and transporting 

 to foreign markets the timbers of the zone re- 

 ferred to, including the present export duties of 

 25 per cent ad valorem, would not exceed $40 

 per 1.000 feet. They would bring between $60 

 and .$.500 per 1,000 feet, according to quality. 

 The export duty of 25 per cent ad valorem on 

 Bahian timbers ,is levied on a value fixed by 

 government appraisers twice per month. The 

 official value in Bahia of the most valuable tim- 

 ber, namely, jacaranda, or rosewood, is $13.50 

 in United States currency per metric ton, there- 

 by making the export duties levied $3.38 per 

 ton. 



Another large timber zone is found in the ex- 

 treme west of Bahia, between the state of Goyaz 

 and the river of Sao Francisco, which is the 

 greatest commercial artery of Bahia, being navig- 

 able for approximately 1,500 miles. The writer 

 has not visited that zone, but it is estimated 

 that 20,000,000 acres of timber lands are found 

 there which will give on an average 8,000 feet 

 (]f lumber to the acre, or a total of 160,000,000.- 

 000 feet b. m. of more or less the same quality 

 and botanical families as that in the former 

 zone. The latter territory, however, is much 

 more difficult of exploitation than the former on 

 account of its great distance from the ocean. 

 To bring these timbers to foreign markets would 

 mean transportation by river or land to the 

 river Sao Francisco ; thence on that river many 

 hundred miles to .loazeiro, the terminus of navi- 

 gation, and finally from there on the Bahia-Sao 

 Francisco Railroad to Bahia, a distance of about 

 360 miles. 



That rajlroad is owned by the Brazilian gov- 

 ernment, but is leased to a Brazilian for a 

 period of years, and the freight rates are gen- 

 erally quite heavy. The Sao Francisco river is 

 not navigable to the ocean on account of the 

 Paulo Alfonso falls, which are said to be almost 

 as large as the Niagara falls. There are no rail- 

 roads tapping the timber zone last mentioned, 

 and with the present available means of trans- 

 portation the export of timbers therefrom is 

 almost out of the question. 



The larger part of the timber lands in Bahia 

 is owned by the government and can be ex- 

 ploited only under government concessions and 

 supervision, but large individual tracts, some 

 of which contain as many as 1.000.000 acres, 

 are found that can be purchased at $1 to $3 per 

 acre, according to locality. 



As a rule these timber lands are extremely 

 fertile, and will produce abundantly all tropical 

 products, such as coffee, cacao, rubber, bananas, 

 cotton, sugar cane, rice, mandioc, corn, etc. In 

 the littoral zone first mentioned IS per cent of 

 the world's production of cacao is grown, be- 

 sides great quantities of coffee, corn and man- 

 dioc. 



Ko modern lumber plants are operated Id 

 Bahia. but lately a good many American and 

 Canadian lumbermen have been investigating the 

 field, and one American company has lately been 

 organized to operate on a 75.000-acre tract on 

 the river Jucurucu, which has been conceded to 

 it by the Bahian government. 



Ordinary building lumber is sold in the city 

 of Bahia for as much as 9 and 10 cents per foot 

 board measure. 



Fire recently completely destroyed the plant 

 of the C. E. Thames "Veneer Company at 

 Choctaw Point, Ala. Origin of the fire is un- 

 known. The loss is estimated at $6,000, with 

 $1.'.000 insurance. 



