HARDWOOD RECORD 



49 



to our customers the howl that went up was al- 

 most deafening. After much argument and per- 

 suasion they were pacified to some extent. The 

 next year n"e added another piece or two of gum 

 veneer, in the place of poplar, to the package, 

 and we found that the objection to the u.se of it 

 was not near so great as it was the year before, 

 our customers having learned from experience 

 that a package made of gnm was not such a bad 

 article after all, and it was not long before they 

 were willing to accept an all gum package. 



From the time we cut the first gum log into 

 veneer, we studied the wood from every stand- 

 point and experimented in every direction to 

 learn the best way to prepare it for the peelers, 

 the most satisfactory manner in which to operate 

 the machines to secure the best results, then the 

 ideal way to handle the stock from the veneer 

 mill through the drying process and into the cus- 

 tomers' hands, so they would be satisfied with 

 the goods. We have devoted a great deal of time 

 and expense to endeavoring to solve the almost 

 uusolvable problems all experienced manufac- 

 turers of gum veneers have had to confront, and 

 I am glad to say we have reached a point where 

 we are proud of the results. 



Before the idea of working gum into veneers 

 was first thought of, vast forests of virgin timber 

 could have been bought for a song — in fact, many 

 large land owners would have been delighted to 

 have given their gum timber to any one who 

 would pay the taxes on the lands on which the 

 timber stood, but on account of its unsalableness 

 for any purpose, no such arrangements could be 

 effected. 



Only about ten or a dozen years ago we were 

 purchasing the best gum logs to be had — nothing 

 smaller than eighteen inches — for $4.50 a thou- 

 sand feet, delivered to our mill, and every log 

 that was not strictly good was rejected. 



To no one or two or three things can be at- 

 tributed the cause of the marvelous advance in 

 the value of gum stumpage during the last ten 

 years, but I believe the principal reason is, gum 

 Is now being recognized and accepted at its true 

 worth. There was a time, and only a short time 

 ago, when a man would have been chased out of 

 a manufacturer's oflice who had the nerve to 

 even suggest that gum drawer bottoms were good 

 drawer bottoms, that gum could be made into as 

 good panels as could any of the scarce, higher- 

 price woods, and that the handsomest doors and 

 panels manufactured could be made of this de- 

 spised wood, but this is being told every day now 

 and the users of veneers, from experience, have 

 found it is all truth. The demand for gum ve- 

 neers has advanced from nothing a few years 

 ago until very large quantities are used by all 

 furniture manufacturers, door factories, panel 

 and specialty manufacturers, not to speak of the 

 great packing box, egg ca.se. fruit package and 

 kindred trades. Immense forests of gum already 

 have been exhausted and most of the timber that 

 a few years ago was standing w'ithin a reasonable 

 distance of the railroads has either been cut and 

 marketed or is being held as a reserve. Every 

 year it is necessary to go farther away for the 

 timber supply, thereby adding to the cost of haul- 

 ing. The freight is greater on account of the 

 farther distances to be transported and, as the 

 foreign buyers of timber are constantly increas- 

 ing, the inevitable supply and demand feature 

 constantly is becoming more important. The 

 owners of timbered land are not content In sim- 

 ply securing one bid on their timber, as was the 

 case a few years ago, but always obtain the high- 

 est price to be had, and often prices are advanced 

 abnormally high because the timber buyer is short 

 of logs, has time orders to fill, and must have 

 the logs almost regardless of the price. My ex- 

 perience is that it is an easy matter to raise the 

 price on timber in a given locality, but next to 

 impossible to get it down again. 



Mr. Jarrell 's speech was followed by a dis- 

 cussion on advances in timber cost, during 

 which it was brought out that the results from 

 logs secured today at higher prices are not 

 as good as were obtained from cheaper logs a 

 short time ago. As a comparison of gum 

 values, for instance, one -manufacturer stated 

 that he could buy certain classes of stock two 

 years ago at $4, which at the present time 

 cost $7. He also said that the results per 

 thousand feet of logs were not as satisfactory 

 on the $7 stock as they were on the $4 mate- 

 rial. A comparison of oak values was also 

 made. As a result of the discussion it was 

 suggested that, as veneer manufacturers are 

 quite busy and orders plentiful, further ad- 

 vances over the prices prevailing since the 

 first of the year are due. It seemed to be the 

 consensus of opinion among those present, 

 both from northern and southern veneer pro- 

 ducing sections, that a closer comparison of 

 costs and the securing of better values for 

 the manufactured product are the most im- 

 portant matters confronting the trade and 



should claim the immediate attention of the 

 association. 



At this point the convention adjourned for 

 a buffet luncheon, and the delegates enjoyed 

 a social time for about an hour. 



On reconvening Burdis Auderson of Munis- 

 ing, Mich., was called upon to give the views 

 of the Executive Committee as to the n'^eds 

 of the association. Mr. Anderson made a 

 strong plea for greater loyalty to the associa- 

 tion, and said that more members and more 

 activity among members were what the asso- 

 ciation needed above all tilings to make it of 

 the greatest benetit to the veneer industry. 

 He also called attention to the change in the 

 time of holding the club meetings. Hereto- 

 fore they have been held in advance of the 

 main meeting, but as now planned there will 

 be a two days' session of conventions, the 

 morning of the first day to be devoted to the 

 general meeting, the afternoon of the first 

 day and morning of the second day to be 

 given over to the work of the clubs, and the 

 afternoon of the second day to the closing 

 session of the convention proper. This will 

 handle the work in more logical order and vrill 

 have the added value of holding the attend- 

 ance until the close of the sessions. 



On motion the action taken at the last meet- 

 ing to raise the annual dues to $2.5 and such 

 assessments as might be called for was unani- 

 mously adopted. The Executive Committee 

 was changed from three to five members and 

 a quorum from three to four members. The 

 .\uditing Committee reported Treasurer Defe- 

 baugh 's accounts to be in good condition. 



A few slight changes were made in the in- 

 spection rules. Under rules for rotary cut 

 veneer on page 4 of the Grading Rules Book, 

 Flitch Stock was changed to read: "Stock 

 of any thickness, of random widths and 

 lengths, 10 inches and wider, the sheets to be 

 kept in consecutive order as they are cut 

 from the flitch. The stock is to be at least 

 two-thirds No. 1 faces." 



The second paragraph under Log Run Stock 

 on page 4 was cut out, and on page 5 under 

 Notes the second paragraph in regard to the 

 term cutting as used in the rules, meaning 

 a piece of veneer equal to No. 1 face stock, 

 was also stricken out. 



Deceptions by the Buyer 



Alex. Lendrum of Kansas City gave the fol- 

 lowing interesting speech on this subject: 



This is a .subject which may be construed from 

 many angles, but It is not my intention to make 

 an attack on any bxiyer personallj' or reflect on 

 the buyers of veneers generally. I regret that 

 there are some buyers in the country who are 

 attempting to. and in some cases are. taking ad- 

 vantage of the manufacturer of veneers, and my 

 remarks are confined exclusively to this class of 

 buyers. I would divide the deceptive buyer into 

 two classes : First, the buyer who attempts to de- 

 ceive the manufacturer by misrepresenting quo- 

 tations or prices which be may and may not 

 have received : second, the buyer who attempts 

 so to manipulate his specifications as to force 

 the manufacturer to quote on, or furnish a pro- 

 portion of sizes which It is impossible for even 

 the best grade of logs to produce or to consume 

 the product of the log. 



As to the buyer who misrepresents quotations 

 and prices he had received, it might well be ar- 

 gued that this Is a proposition which must be 

 met by the individual salesman or the sales de- 

 partment, and until such time as the manufac- 

 turers of veneer realize that they are being 

 worked by this class of buyers this condition will 

 continue.' We all know how often when we make 

 quotations on a specification of veneers that if 

 our quotation is ,$10 a thousand feet the buyer 

 will advise that it is probably the highest quota- 

 tion he has received, and he is offered from many 

 sources the same stock by reliable concerns at .$8. 

 I regret that there are some manufacturers that 

 as soon as this occurs figure to themselves that 

 If Jones can produce this bill of veneer profitably 

 at .$8 they can do likewise, and immediately 

 rush in to "secure the business. This practically 

 permits the buyer to make the price upon the 

 manufacturer's product, and as long as the buyer 

 is permitted to make this price, the manufacturer 

 can not receive a profitable figure for his stock. 



As to the second class of buyers, who through 

 manipulation of their specifications try to secure 

 stock in greater proportion than the logs will pro- 



duce, this is a condition which the manufacturev 

 is actually responsible for. I refer particularly 

 to the buyers of 14-inch door stock. We are all 

 fully aware that, regardless of how good the 

 qxia'lity of logs may be in birch, ash, gum or oak, 

 only a certain amount of stiles and panel stock 

 can be secured from the logs and that the amount 

 of small stock in rails and panels from the log 

 must necessarily be taken care of, or it willin 

 a short time result in the manufacturer having 

 his warehouse piled full of little stock. For in- 

 stance, we divide door specifications into classes ; 

 that is, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 panel doors, and from 

 the average run of logs which are available (and 

 this I think applies to almost every locality) the 

 product of the log will Just alxjut be consumed 

 on a 5- and 6-panel door. If we quote the buyer 

 on a .5-paDel door complete, that is. four stiles, 

 ten cross rails, ten panels and two bottom rails 

 at a given price, and 2-panel doors, consisting of 

 four stiles, four cross rails, four panels and two 

 bottom rails, at a proportionately higher price, 

 then we must secure this exact proportion to 

 take care of the product of our log. Jind the price 

 on the 2-panel door must be proportionately 

 higher to take care of the waste of cutting over 

 the 5-panel door. 



Further, where buyers wish to secure stiles or 

 panels in excess of proportions required in these 

 respective doors, the manufacturer must then se- 

 cure a price that will permit him to produce the 

 stock. For the last few months a great many 

 specifications have been sent broadcast over the 

 country for door stock in which would be com- 

 bined a certain percentage of o- and 6-panel and 

 a percentage of 1- aiid 2-panel doors, and unless 

 the manufacturer will carefully figure out these 

 specifications and figure the proper proportion of 

 stiles that would be admitted in each size, like- 

 wise the panels, it is a very difficult proposition 

 upon which to make an intelligent quotation, and 

 evidently from some of the quotations which have 

 been sent out by the manufacturers this careful 

 analysis of the specifications has been overlooked. 

 We "received recently an inquiry with specifica- 

 tions for approximately 400,000 feet of %-inch 

 door stock which purported to be several differ- 

 ent sizes of 5-panel doors. By a careful check- 

 ing up of the proportions of the sizes in this 

 specification we discovered that there was an 

 excess of stiles of almost 60,000 feet, so that this 

 particular buyer bad attempted to secure from 

 the manufacturer this great excess of stiles in 

 the price of a 5-panel door ; this, probably for 

 the reason that he was able to buy from some 

 other manufacturer a large amount of accumu- 

 lated small sizes at a very low price, and then 

 hoped to work in his next regular specificationa 

 a sufficient excess of stiles to work with the 

 small cheap stock. I do not attach any blame to 

 the bu.ver for attempting to buy this stock in 

 this manner, but I do attach blame to the manu- 

 facturer who is willing to have such a deal put 

 over on him. 



I have referred in this matter almost exclu- 

 sively to the subject of door stock, because that 

 is oiir principal business and the only one with 

 which we are fully familiar, and I have no doubt 

 but what it applies equally to all other woods 

 and other specifications. I have overlooked, but 

 by no means forgotten, the buyer who after he 

 secures your stock makes all sorts of claims and 

 complaints as to grade, shortage of feet, etc. This 

 really is the worst condition with which the 

 manufacturer has to deal. Iwcause after you have 

 shipped vour stock and it is in the possession of 

 the other fellow he makes such a complaint that 

 it is an exceedingly difficult matter to handle. 

 Fortunately for the veneer manufacturer these 

 buyers are" few, and they will become fewer by 

 clo"se afllliation of the manufacturers in giving 

 their experiences as to the methods of various 

 buyers. I want to say right here that I believe 

 firinlv that one of the greatest benefits which 

 this association has accomplished is the splendid 

 work which Mr. Young is carrying on. of ob- 

 taining information of all the buyers of veneers 

 from various manufacturers and distributing this 

 information to the various members of this asso- 

 ciation. If this present policy is carried on. and 

 I am sure that the members of this association 

 appreciate it enough to see that it is continued, 

 this class of buyers will soon be unable to carry 

 on their nefarious practices. 



I have in mind still another buyer who puts 

 before the manufacturer his specifications for ve- 

 neer and asks for quotation on sample shipment, 

 and would lead the manufacturer to believe that 

 he is a very large bu.ver of veneer, which he 

 specifies. F'requentlv he may be a small con 

 sumer. requiring only 10.000, 20.000 or 30.000 

 feet for his season's consumption, yet he will 

 state that if the quality, etc.. is satisfactory it 

 will lead to large future business. On receipt of 

 your quotation, based on prices f. 0. b. plant or 

 ifreight allowed in carload lots, he will then at- 

 tempt to get the manufacturer to deliver this 

 sample shipment in less than carload, that he 

 may see the quality, etc. A great many manu- 

 fac"turers have made this concession, which in 

 many cases is a very large one. and then found 

 that six months or 'perhaps a year would pass 

 before the buyer would again be in the market. 

 All of these points are. no doubt, old ones to 

 the old manufacturers and to the people who 

 have been producing veneers for many years, but 



