32 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



In the Southern HardWood Countrt; 



Fine Mississippi Oak 



In the valleys in northern MissisKip]ji is 

 to be found some of the finest oak tliat 

 grows in this country. The D. H. Hall Lum- 

 ber Company, whose headquarters are lo- 

 cated at New Albany, Miss., has a mill at 

 Pontotoc, within convenient reach of some 

 of the 'jest timber treasures of that dis- 

 trict. Some of this timber is really remark- 

 able for clear growth, and the Hall people, 

 drawing their raw material from such wood. 



grade timber and accurate manufacture the 

 Hall prO'hu't stands high among the trade. 

 Of Such Are the Crews of the Sawmills 

 There are certain southern darkeys who, 

 by heredity and en^-ironment, are sawmill 

 laborers. These "niggers" were not only 

 born in the shadow of a sawmill plant, but 

 spent the playtime of their lives on lumber 

 piles and tracks in a mill yard. They know 

 nothing else, and almost without exception 

 devote their entire lives to a work into 



LUG I ; I.N I j 



WITH OXEN AT D. II. II.\LL LUMBEli COMr.\.\YS 

 ()rEI!.\TIONS. NEW ALBANY. MISS 



put on the market a product that has 

 iichieved a reputation for uniformly excel- 

 lent qualitj-. 



The progress of one of these fine oak 

 trees through its operations is shown in the 

 accompanying illustrations. From the clear 

 open woods to the skidway are shown the 

 steps by which a big white oak is trans- 

 formed from a monarch in the forest to fine 

 specimens of quartered oak lumber. The 

 Hall company has plenty of this sort of 

 timber to enable it to continue to turn out 

 unusually excellent stock for s(Jme time to 

 come. For a small mill the company is man- 

 ufacturing splendid lumber. With high- 



whieh they were born and which was the 

 occupation of their fathers before them. It 

 is not an unusual sight to see old men wh<i 

 have been in the service of the same con- 

 cern for many years engaged in practically 

 the same work the entire time. The.y are 

 as much a part of the yard system of the 

 mill to which they "belong" as is the lum- 

 ber that goes in the piles. 



The two old cronies on the wagons shown 

 in one of the aecompan3-ing illustrations 

 have attained a stage of progressiveness, or 

 rather retirement from the arduous duties 

 of sawmill life, which is quite unusual. 

 These two old veterans, having accumulated 



a small sum during years of hard labor, 

 have started in business for themselves. 

 With the horse and wagon, humble as they 

 are, they manage to eke out a living by sell- 

 ing stove wood, into which all the offal of 

 Memphis sawmills is cut. 



Logs Piled to Resist High Water 



There ;.re times when the usually placid 

 water in Wolf river at Memphis becomes 

 turbulent and angry, and then anything in 

 reach of the water that is not securely fas- 

 tened on the bank is drawn out into the 

 stream and frequently lost. It is often im- 

 [iiissible to save timber when it is rafted 

 without heavy expense, but when stock is 

 piled on the river bank as shown in the 

 illustration the weight of the pile holds it 

 against any flood. These logs are the prop- 

 erty of the Bennett Hardwood Lumber Coni- 

 [lany. The concern manifests wisdom in 

 having its timber in this shape, as it is then 

 more accessible to the mill and is more con- 

 venient to get at when stacked in small 

 space than when floating about in the river. ■ 

 Wolf river has many pretty spots along its 

 banks, but nowhere is it more interesting 

 than in the vicinity of the mil! section of 

 Memphis. 



Concrete Steam Compartments 



Oak to be used in the manufacture of 

 flooring must be dry, not merely shipping 

 dry but absolutely and thoroughly dry all 

 the way through. The Memphis Hardwood 

 Flooring Company, which makes a higli 

 grade of oak flooring, has .conveniences at 

 its Memphis plant which are wonderful aids 

 in getting out its product. Just in front of 

 the kilns is a series of steam compartments 

 of concrete into which partly dried stock 

 from the yards is placed and given a thor- 

 ough saiuration with live steam, soaking 

 the jiores of the wood and opening them 



THE Kl.Mi nl' 



WHITE OAK TI.MBEU THE 

 COMrA.NY CITS 



I). II. HAl.I. LI'MUEl; 



II. IIAI.LS sri.ENIiIl" WHITE OAK BOARDS 



