84 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



manufacture, and it is seldom that a flaw 

 escapes the supervisor's experienced eye. 



One of the largest and most modern bat 

 factories in the United States is located at 

 729 .South Preston street, Louisville, Ky., at 

 the plant of J. F. Hillerieh. This factory has 

 an especial claim to fame, since it manufac- 

 tures the Louisville Slugger bat, which is 

 used by practically every leading professional 

 player in the country. This bat is a fine 

 example of the bat manufacturer's trade, be- 

 ing about 2% inches in diameter at its larger 

 extremity, and from 32 to 42 inches in length. 



It is made of the highest grade of ash, thor- 

 oughly seasoned and with the trade-mark nf 

 the Hillerieh establishment, with the words 

 ' ' Louisville Slugger ' ' burned into its sur- 

 face. The Slugger wholesales at a price rang- 

 ing from $i to $5 per dozen, and is one of 

 the staples in the bat market of the United 

 States. The Hillerieh plant is visited annu- 

 ally by the leading ball players of the coun- 

 try, who come to pay their respects to Mr. 

 Hillerieh, and to select some choice bats for 

 the season's use. 



A special room in the Hillerieh plant is 



called the "tested stock" room, and in this 

 compartment there are more than one thou- 

 sand models of bats which have been designed 

 by famous players as being best suited to 

 their particular batting temperaments. The 

 bats are kept at the factory and the player 

 has only to send in his order for a given 

 number of his particular weapons, a sample 

 of which is kept in the tested stock room. 



When the writer was visiting the plant, 

 an order was being shipped to Honus Wag- 

 ner, the premier of them all, who wished a 

 certain ' ' Wagner ' ' style of bat that is cher- 

 ished among the models of the Hillerieh es- 

 tablishment. Nap Lajoie, Ty Cobb, Sherwood 

 Magee and practically every one of the pres- 

 ent-day stars has his pet model at the Hil- 

 lerieh plant, and the Louisville Slugger jour- 

 neys country-wide from the little Preston 

 street establishment to the big ball parks of 

 the major leagues, there to crack out many 

 a winning hit and to give many a pitcher 

 cause for wishing he had never forsaken the 

 ' ' bush league ' ' for company where the Louis- 

 ville Slugger is in evidence. 



Some Phases of Handle Production 



A SIDE 



LINE FOR 

 MANUFACTURERS 



The writer lias often referred in this de- 

 partment to the so-called demand for hard 

 maple dimension stock, which seems so con- 

 stantly before the attention of handle manu- 

 facturers. While it seems a perfectly feas- 

 ible method of marketing what is otherwise a 

 waste product, still it is an exception when 

 prices can be realized which will justify work- 

 ing up the stock. There are numerous firms 

 which could use dimension cut in sizes which 

 could be readily worked out of waste from 

 broom handle production. Prices as low as 

 $20 per thousand for clear stock, cut and 

 ripped to size and delivered, never secured an 

 order, the invariable answer being that the 

 same thing can be secured much cheaper else- 

 where. Just to try out these requests, one firm 

 was quoted on a small lot at the rate of $12 

 and the same reply was received. It is hard 

 to see the reason for the attitude of these 

 people. The conservation question is strong 

 before the public mind and will be increas- 

 ingly so in the future, and this certainly 

 seems a most feasible way of cutting down 

 waste in one large line of production. Yet, 

 as in so many other lines of manufacture, the 

 conservation question is merely a business 

 proposition, and at the prices realized, it isf 

 cheaper to let the waste rot, than to bother 

 with cutting it up. The handling of the 

 material is expensive in the first place, and 

 then again it interferes with the regular rou- 

 tine of the shop. If, in figuring the cost of 

 getting out this class of dimensions, the orig- 

 inal cost of the material is considered, it is 

 impossible to turn it out at anything less 

 than an actual loss. But, of course, the 

 proper method of counting, in this particular 



By H. B. ALEXANDER 



BROOM HANDLE case, is to figure profit only on the regular 



line of stock and consider the waste for what- 

 ever can be gotten out of it, regarding the 

 extra cost of material involved. 



To come back to the heading, why wouldn't 

 it be possible for each manufacturer to turn 

 out some side line, which would use up all 

 this waste, and force the dimension buyer to 

 go into the market and buy good lumber? 

 Most of this dimension is made into cheap 

 furniture, and there is certainly enough waste 

 lumber culls and turned stock lying round 

 the average broom handle factory to turn 

 out a good line of chairs, for instance. This 

 would mean that a cheaper article could be 

 placed at the disposal of the consumer, as the 

 original cost of the material is eliminated. 

 There is a good market for this class of 

 article, and a high enough price is realized 

 to show a fair profit, considering the cost of 

 material as nil. Cull squares and handles can 

 be readily utilized for spindles and rounds, 

 and the short cutting from boards which do 

 not come out in correct handle length can be 

 easily worked into seats and backs. 



The additional cost for machinery and 

 equipment would not be materially greater 

 than the usual line in the handle factory, and 

 there is ordinarily enough surplus power to 

 run a much broader line than actually is run. 

 Of course it would be necessary to secure an 

 experienced superintendent. The machines 

 are mostly automatic, and with the supervi- 

 sion of a good foreman a cheap grade of 

 labor can be employed. In addition to the 

 manufacture of furniture, there are many 

 small articles which can be made from the 

 waste of a handle factory. Taken as a whole 

 the idea seems entirely feasible, and if the 

 new departure were instituted the side lines 



would in the course of time very likely equal 



in importance the main business, the produc- 

 tion of broom handles. 



SCARCITY OF SKILLED LABOR IN 

 HANDLE MANUFACTURE 



For sometime past it has been a difficult 

 proposition to secure high-class men for the 

 manufacture of handles, a condition which is 

 likely to prevail for some time in the future. 

 Probably the one point most responsible for 

 this condition is the fact that handle operators 

 work at an extremely low wage rate. In fact, 

 there is no similar line of woodworking in 

 which the rate of pay is on such an unsatis- 

 factory basis. In addition the handle manu- 

 facturing industry offers practically no op- 

 portunity for advancement, and thus there 

 is no incentive for a really good man to take 

 up this line of trade. Contrary to the general 

 idea, it requires as much, or in some positions 

 greater, skill to properly operate a handle 

 making machine as in many other trades. 

 Take, for instance, the cut-oif man; anybody 

 who has had any experience in the manage- 

 ment of a woodworking plant will realize 

 that by putting a green, low-priced man on 

 the cut-off saw he will in a very short time 

 lose far more in profits than the difference in 

 wages could possibly have produced. This is 

 an especially pertinent fact in a handle fac- 

 tory. The same can be said of the rip-saw 

 man; his place in the handle factory is not 

 only dangerous and disagreeable, but it re- 

 quires, unlike a similar position in the ordi- 

 nary woodworking plant, a continuous appli- 

 cation and a steady feed of short stock at a 

 high rate of speed. The same condition pre- 

 vails all through the shop. At present the 

 lathe men receive the highest wage, which 

 is justly so, as theirs is a position of more 

 responsibility, though not of as heavy work 

 as most of the others. 



There is, however, a still broader expla- 

 nation for present labor conditions. A large 

 percentage of the broom handle plants are 

 owned by one or few individuals, who in 

 most instances are not sufficiently advanced 

 in business to warrant their merely taking 

 care of the office work, and consequently they 

 fill the more responsible mechanical positions 

 themselves. It is very often the case that a 

 number of relatives are employed as the 

 other helpers, and consequently it is almost 

 impossible for an outsider to get an oppor- 

 tunity to master the intricacies of the trade. 

 It foUows that the beginner must employ 

 inexperienced help and be put to the trouble 

 and the loss of time and money of breaking 

 them in himself. The handle business at pres- 

 ent offers no glowing inducements to the 

 investor, and with the growing scarcity of 

 maple and the increasing use of bamboo, 



the trade will appear even less attractive. 

 * * it 



When buying a machine it is well not to 



be guided too much by the price. Some 



men are tempted to purchase tools because 



they are cheaper than certain ones with 



which they are familiar. If an operator has 



a machine that he likes and that fills his 



requirements, he can do no better than to 



