46 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



sawed into lumbci', is also the cause o£ consid- 

 erable trouble among the census takers. 



While it is not claimed by the department 

 that the figures recently compiled are complete, 

 they at least give an indication of the prevailing 

 conditions. All lines of manufacture requiring 

 a strong, tough material are regiiiar and large 

 users of hickory stock. Under this heading can 

 be quoted the manufacturers of vehicles of all 

 sorts, and of handles and similar articles. The 

 figures compiled by the department state that the 

 estimated amount of hickory used by these estab- 

 lishments in the manufacture of their special 

 products is annually about 1.31,600,000 board 

 feet. 



In addition there are about 200,000,000 feet 

 sawed into hickory lumber each year, and it can 

 be said that most of this stock is remanufac- 

 tured. The total amount, therefore, consumed 

 annually in the United States is about 330,000,- 

 000 board feet. According to the Census Bureau 

 reports, hickory lumber sells at an average fig- 

 ure, at the mills, of $30 per thousand, while 

 selected stock, used in the special industries, is 

 worth a minimum of $50 a thousand. The hick- 

 ory industry, therefore, is annually productive 

 of about $12,000,000. 



While hickory is one of the most useful 

 woods of the North American forests. It con- 

 stitutes only from two to five per cent of the 

 total stand. As was the case with various other 

 hardwoods of quality, the favorite source of 

 production, and the locality in which the best 

 and most abundant stock was found, was for- 

 merly Indiana and Ohio. The supply in these 

 states, however, has been very materially re- 

 duced, so that, while the tree is found generally 

 throughout the eastern hardwood forests, the 

 state of Arkansas at present furnishes by far 

 the largest yearly shipments of hickory. Next 

 In order of Importance can be named Tennessee, 

 Indiana. Kentucky and Ohio. 



European Railroad Mileage 



Recently compiled statistics show the railroad 

 mileage of fourteen leading European countries 

 to be a little less than 150,000 miles, which 

 does not quite reach the total mileage in the 

 United States. The year 1007 showed the 

 greatest increase in railroad construction, 4.55 

 per cent. Germany, Austria and Hungary show 

 an increase of about 1,000 miles each during 

 this period, and Russia about 7,000 miles. Most 

 of the mileage of foreign roads is owned by the 

 government or subject to its control. This is 

 especially so in Switzerland, where more than 

 half of the total length of railroads is either 

 owned or operated by the government. 



Properties of Quarter-Sawed Gum 



Whatever tendency there is in wood to swell 

 and shrink is practically all in the direction of 

 the rings of growth, says Veneers, and conse- 

 quently when a wood is made into veneers for 

 lumber by quarter cutting the tendency to dis- 

 tortion is minimized, the inclination being to- 

 wards the thickness. It is obvious from this 

 that the correct way to cut veneer for fine face 

 work is to quarter it, this being entirely aside 

 from the added value of the figure thus ob- 

 tained. 



The paper further states that this fact is 

 merely In connection with an inquiry as to 

 what is being done toward promoting quartered 

 gum fn face veneer. This wood has always been 

 a more or less important item In the export and 

 domestic trades, but it seems that there might 

 be opportunity for building up a very desirable 

 business along these lines. 



Postal Savings Bank 



Now that the recommendation of President 

 Taft, relative to the establishment of the postal 

 savings bank system, has become an actuality, it 

 is interesting to surmise to just what extent 

 the new department will Influence the various 

 sections of the country. There has been a long- 

 felt need among the remote lumber producing 



sections for some steadying influence which 

 would enable the lumber companies employing 

 labor to be reasonably sure of holding their help 

 from one season to another, or indeed from one 

 month to another. It has long been the custom 

 among the lumber jacks to pull up stakes after 

 working for a month or so and move to some 

 other locality. It has been suggested that the 

 new postal savings bank system will accelerate 

 the uncertainty of rural life and industry, and 

 will tend to further demoralize social conditions 

 in those sections, the reason given being that 

 the sums deposited in the local postofBces will 

 be diverted to outside sources instead of being 

 invested locally. The same authority claims 

 that the farmers' money has heretofore been In- 

 invested by the local bank in local enterprises, 

 and thus aided in the development of the coun- 

 try. It seems more probable, however, and more 

 reasonable to suppose that the new institutlou 

 will result in a great industrial development in 

 that it W'ili work against the hoarding of money, 

 thus withdrawing it from usefulness. The money 

 will always be accessible and it merely means 

 that the small rural depositor will be enabled to 

 accumulate enough money to make investments 

 profitably. This most strikingly applies in con- 

 nection with lumber camps, where the only pos- 

 sible way of saving without hoarding is through 

 the postoflices. The new legislation should be 

 welcomed by mill owners in that it will tend to 

 cause their employes to deposit their wages 

 where they cannot be squandered, and by so 

 starting a bank account the employes will be 

 more or less bound to the locality, and will be- 

 come steadier and more proficient and valuable. 

 At the same time, by acquiring even a small ac- 

 count of their own, they will acquire with it a 

 greater di^ree of self-respect. 



Prominent Lumberman Dead 



William E. Kelley, president of the William E. 

 Kelley Lumber Company, son of one of Chicago's 

 pioneer families, died on May 2S at his summer 

 home in Wisconsin, following an illness of more 

 than a year. The business of the Kelley Lumber 

 Company will be taken care of by his two sons, 

 who liave for some time been in active charge of 

 the affairs in Idaho. 



Mr. Kelley was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Asa P. 

 Kelley. He was born August 27, 1850. His 

 early education was obtained in Chicago, and 

 from there he entered Yale University. Upon 

 graduation from Yale Mr. Kelley returned to 

 Chicago and engaged in the lumber business with 

 his father, acquiring extensive timber lands in 

 Wisconsin and Idaho. Mr. Kelley was a mem- 

 ber of the Union League Club and of the Horti- 

 cultural Society. 



Radical Changes in Bail Bill 



It has been a difiicult matter for the last 

 couple of weeks to form any delinitc idea of the 

 progress and probable outcome of the pending 

 railway regulation bill in Congress. The meas- 

 ure has been a source of constant wrangle and 

 debate in both houses, the regulars in both the 

 Senate and House having to combat the com- 

 bined forces of democrats and insurgents on a 

 good many points. As the bill stands now, and 

 as it is very likely to be passed, it shows some 

 radical departures from the original bill mapped 

 out by the President, but contains points which 

 will be of unusual interest to the manufacturing 

 trades and of great value in securing a square 

 deal from the railroads for the shippers and con- 

 sumers. 



The commerce court feature of the bill seems 

 to have come through about as originally sug- 

 gested by President Taft. The object of this 

 court will be to enforce th ■ orders and decisions 

 of the Interstate Commerce Commission. It 

 will be composed of five judi;es, designated by 

 the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and 

 from it appeals may be taken to the 

 Supreme Court of the United States. In all 

 cases coming before this new tribunal, the at- 



torney-general will control the interests of the 

 government, but the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission and any concerned parties may appear 

 on behalf of the contesting sides. 



As it now stands, the long and short haul 

 clause will become a fixed feature, and provides 

 that no roads shall charge any greater com- 

 pensation for a shorter than for a longer haul, 

 except in cases where such action is authorized 

 by investigation of the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission. 



Just and reasonable individual or joint rates 

 as the maximum to be charged are to be deter- 

 mined and prescribed by the commission upon 

 receipt of complaint from any shipper. The 

 commission may suspend the operation of any 

 new rates, classification, regulation, or practice 

 for a period not exceeding 120 days. If at the 

 end of that time no opinion has been arrived at 

 the period can be extended for another six 

 months, after which time a new rate, etc., will 

 become effective, unless the commission rules to 

 the contrary. This paragraph was the source of 

 heated debate, and the final amendment, the 

 Jones amendment to the Cummins amendment, 

 was strongly endorsed by lumbermen throughout 

 the country and by special representatives who 

 appeared in Washington in behalf of the lumber 

 trade. 



The trade will be particularly interested in 

 the new legislation governing routing, in which 

 the shipper is given the right to designate one of 

 many through routes by which his merchandise 

 can be transported. All waybills on Interstate 

 shipments where increased rates apply must show 

 the date, charge and other details. This pro- 

 vision was added in the event of the increased 

 rate being found uni-easonable, when the carrier 

 is compelled to refund to the shippers the differ- 

 ence Iietween the two tariffs 



New Dennis Concern 



Articles of incorporation have been filed by the 

 Dennis Lumber Company, Inc., with headquarters 

 at Grand Rapids, Mich. The company is capi- 

 talized at $10,000, and is headed by Elmer E. 

 Dennis, who is well known to the hardwood 

 trade of the country in his former positions as 

 president of the Kelsey-Dennis Lumber Company 

 of North Tonawanda, N. Y'., secretary of the 

 Dennis Brothers Salt & Lumber Company of 

 Grand Rapids, and a member of the firm of 

 Dennis Brothers. The other officers in the con- 

 cern are : K. M. Dennis, treasurer ; K. E. Den- 

 nis, vice-president, and E. A. Llddle, secretary. 

 The company will manufacture and sell at whole- 

 sale. Its line will include hardwood lumber, 

 lath, shingles and maple fiooring. 



Wooden Boxes Score 



A communication from R. S. Kellogg, secretary 

 of the Northern Hemlock and Hardwood Manu- 

 facturers' Association, states that he recently re 

 ceived a letter from Leonard Bronson, manager f 

 the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, 

 in which Mr. Bronson observed that a large cereal 

 concern recently instructed its salesmen to offei 

 its product in either wooden or fiber containers 

 at the option of the customer. This concern, up 

 to a short time ago, had used fiber boxes ex- 

 clusively. The change of attitude should ma- 

 terially encourage the box-manufacturing trade, 

 especially as the matter has been presented 

 through such an infiuential source. Mr. Bronson 

 suggests that the secretaries of the various as 

 sociations communicate with all members run- 

 ning commissaries in connection with their op- 

 erations, suggesting that they demand that wood- 

 en boxes be used entirely for shipments con 

 signed to them, and when ordering goods of any 

 character to make specific notation on the order, 

 in a conspicuous manner, that goods will not be 

 received unless packed in a wooden container. 



Under the same cover Mr. Kellogg mailed a 

 tabulated list of the responses received from 

 communications he addressed on May 15 to the 

 various members of his association, requesting 



