34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



A hub turned green, especially one having 

 considerable sap, has a rough surface, in 

 which case the turning knives cut easily, but 

 'lo not cut smoothly; therefore, after they 

 sire dry and before using, it is necessary to 

 put the hubs into a quick acting lathe and 

 with wood rasps and sand paper, smooth 

 them down — another operation and another 

 expense. 



With the compound hub, all this trouble and 

 expense is avoided and checking is out of 

 the question. 



To illustrate: segments for a hub can be 

 made from any thickness of lumber. One- 

 inch oak can be used and in that ease a stand- 

 ard hub for a 3% wagon would require 

 some twenty-eight pieces, each piece pre- 

 senting a one-inch face on the outside of 

 the hub. Admitting for a moment the pos- 

 sibility of a check, it could only be one that 

 ■would open on the edge of an inch piece and 

 would be so slight as not to break open the 

 paint and varnish. If the piece was inclined 

 to check, it could not be aided by the adjoin- 

 ing pieces, for these same adjoining pieces 

 would counteract the checking, as the grain 

 would not be the same. 



Hubs made from trees are finished green 

 and shipped green. The wagon manufacturer 

 stores them in sheds for at least two years, 

 when they are taken out and put into the 

 dry kilns. A certain per cent have by this 

 time developed checks and other defects and 

 these go into the wood pile. The dry kiln 

 develops still another percentage of defects 

 and the spoke hammer still another, so that 

 the total is considerable, estimated by dif- 

 ferent manufacturers from 10 to 20 per cent, 

 according to the quality of the hubs. 



There is no salvage on a defective hub, 

 except its sale or use for fuel. They are all 

 paid for when delivered. To the original 

 price of the hubs must be added the loss by 

 defects and at least two years ' interest on 

 the inoney invested, not forgetting that the 

 hub that goes into the wood pile draws the 

 same rate of interest as the one that goes 

 into the wagon. In addition to this expense 

 there are the yardage, taxes, insurance and 

 risk, all of which must be added to the origi- 

 nal cost. 



There is no doubt but that there would be 

 a substantial saving in the cost of a com- 

 pound hub over the cost of other hubs when 

 ready for use. 



A summing up of the proposition is a sav- 

 ing in price, storage room, interest, taxes, 

 insurance, dry-kiln expense, loss by defects, 

 mortising expense, fitting hub bands, sand- 

 papering, puttying, checking and breaking 

 down under the hammer. 



The Compound Wood Company has per- 

 fected the necessary special machinery for 

 the manufacture of these hubs and is fully 

 protected both in design and construction, and 

 also in the use of the cement, which is a 

 vital feature, and has made application for 

 patents covering its process of manufacture 

 and special machinery. 



Hubs made by this process have been sub- 

 jected to the most exhaustive tests and the 

 results have proven conclusively that they are 

 much superior to the old style hub. 



The Compound Wood Company plans to 

 engage in the manufacture of these hubs on 

 a large scale and will be pleased to hear from 

 anyone interested. Address all correspondence 

 to the Compound Wood Company, Batavia, IH. 



The Conservation Congress 



The much-heralded annual meeting of the 

 National Conservation Congress was held at 

 St. Paul during the early part of this week. 

 The features that dominated the entire 

 affair were the addresses of President Taft 

 on Monday, and that of ex-President Roose- 

 velt on Tuesday. These two addresses fol- 

 low largely on parallel Unes, but for the 

 jmrpose of comparison the gist of the two 

 speeches is herewith appended. 



President Taft's Speech 

 In these days there is a disposition to lool< 

 too much to the federal government for every- 

 thing. I am liberal in the construction of the 

 Constitution with reference to federal power; 

 but I am firmly convinced that the only safe 

 course for us to pursue is to hold fast to the 

 limitations of the Constitution and to regard 

 as sacred the powers of the states. 

 * * * 

 It needed some one to bring home the crying 

 need for a remedy of this evil so as to impress 

 itself on the public mind and lead to the for- 

 mation of public opinion and action by the 

 representatives of the people. Theodore Roose- 

 velt took up his task In the last two years of 

 his second administration, and well did he 

 perform it. As President of the United States 

 I have, as it were, Inherited this policy, and 

 I rejoice in my heritage. I prize my high 

 opportunity to do all that an executive can do 



to help a great people realize a great national 

 ambition. 



« « * 



Real conservation involves wise, nonwaste- 

 ful use in the present generation, with every 

 possible means of preservation for succeeding 

 generations; and though the problem to secure 

 this end may be difficult, the burden is on the 

 present generation promptly to solve and not 

 to run away from it as cowards, lest in the 

 attempt to meet it we make some mistake. 



* * * 



I beg you, therefore, when men come for- 

 ward to suggest evils that the promotion of 

 conservation Is to remedy, that you invite 

 them to point out the specific evils and the 

 specific remedies; that you invite them to 

 come down to details, in order that their dis- 

 cussions may flow into channels that shall be 

 useful rather than Into periods that shall be 

 eloquent and entertaining without shedding 

 real light on the subject. 



* * * 



We must steer away from this idea of con- 

 serving for future generations only. We must 

 take care of the present as well. 



* * * 



I think It of the utmost Importance that 

 after the public attention has been roused to 

 the necessity of a change in our general 

 policy to prevent waste and a selfish appro- 

 priation to private and corporate purposes of 

 what should be controlled for the public bene- 

 fit, those who urge conservation shall feel the 



necessity of making clear how conservation 

 can be practically carried out, and shall pro- 

 pose specific methods and legal provisions and 

 regulations to remedy actual adverse condi- 

 tions. 



* * * 



I am bound to say that the time has come 

 for a halt in general rhapsodies over conserva- 

 tion, making the word mean every known good 

 in the world; for, after the public attention 

 has been roused, such appeals are of doubtful 

 utility and do not direct the public to the 

 specific course that the people should take, or 

 have their legislators take, in order to pro- 

 mote the cause of conservation. The rousing 

 of emotions on a subject like this, which has 

 only dim outlines in the minds of the people 

 affected, after a while ceases to be useful, and 

 the whole movement will, if promoted on these 

 lines, die for want of practical directions and 

 of demonstration to the people that practical 

 reforms are intended. 



Ex-President Koosevelt's Speech 

 There is apparent to the judicious observer a 

 distinct tendency on the part of our opponents 

 to cloud the issue by raising the question of 

 state as against federal jurisdiction. We are 

 ready to meet that issue if it is forced upon 

 us. But there is no hope for the plain people 

 in such conflicts of jurisdiction. 



^ -r * 



Much that I have to say on the subject of 

 conservation will be but a repetition of what 

 was so admirably said from this platform 

 yesterday. All friends of conservation should 

 be in heartiest agreement with the policy 

 which the Presiden,. laid down in connection 

 with the coal, oil and phosphate lands; and I 

 am glad to be able to say that at its last 

 session Congress finally completed the work 

 of separating the surface title to the land 

 from the mineral beneath it. 



* * * 



Henceforth we must seek national efficiency 

 by a new and better way, by way of the 

 orderly development and use, coupled with the 

 preservation of our national resources, by 

 making the most of what we have for the 

 benefit of all of us, instead of leaving the 

 sources of material prosperity open to indis- 

 criminate exploitation. These are some of the 

 reasons why it is wise that we should abandon 

 the old point of view and why conservation 

 has become a patriotic duty. 



:;: * * 



Some have come to this congress, ostensibly 

 as disinterested citizens, but actually as the 

 paid agents of the special interests. 



* * * 



The idea is widely circulated that conserva- 

 tion means locking up the national resources 

 for the exclusive use of future generations. 

 Our purpose is to make full use of these re- 

 sources, but to consider our sons and daugh- 

 ters as well. 



- * * 



Open opposition we can overcome, but I 

 warn you especially against the men who 

 come to congresses such as this, ostensibly as 

 disinterested citizens, but actually as the paid 

 agents of the special interests. I heartily ap- 

 prove of the attitude of any corporation Inter- 

 ested in the deliberations of a meeting such 

 as this, which comes hither to advocate, by 

 its openly accredited agents, views which it 

 believes the meeting should have In mind. 

 But I condemn with equal readiness the ap- 

 pearance of a corporate agent before any con- 

 vention who does not declare himself frankly 



as such. 



* * * 



What this country needs is what every free 

 country must set before it as the great goal 

 toward which it works — an equal opportunity 

 for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness 

 for every one of its citizens. To achieve this 

 end we must put a stop to the Improper polit- 



