THE STATE REVIEW. 



MANY USES OF VENEER. 



Process by Which It Is Prepared for the Cab- 

 inetmakers. 



Hardwood trees, such as the oak, the walnut, 

 and the ash have been made more valuable in 

 modern days by the invention of veneering ma- 

 chines, which slice up the logs into a unifonr, 

 thickness of less than One-twentieth of an inch 

 Veneering is not a new art, but in early days it 

 was all hand work, and the process was so slow 

 and laborious that the cost was great. 



Some of the old furniture of colonial days 

 r-slrows how patiently and accurately the first 

 American cabinet makers worked; but as a rule 

 solid wood furniture was preferred and man- 

 ufactured. The veneer of today, says the Chris- 

 ttian Endeavor World, instead of cheapening fur- 

 niture, really makes it in many respects superior 

 ito the solid hardwood articles. 



The several layers of veneer are glued to the 

 surface with the grain running in opposite di- 

 rections. This gives a firm, substantial finish, 

 which will rarely warp in hot or cold weather, 

 or swell or crack. Heavy mahogany or oak- 

 doors are inconvenient to handle, but by making 

 the doors of light wood and veneering them on 

 the outside we have handsome doors that are easy 

 to handle, and which never warp and sag. Alto- 

 gether, the veneer is considered one of the great- 

 est improvements in the wood working industry 

 of the clay. 



Without veneering machinery it would, of 

 course, be impossible to place fine cabinet articles 

 within the reach of the multitude. 



Parlor and ornamental furniture and cabinet 

 pieces, with handsome veneered surfaces, appear 

 in nearly all of our homes. The very best of the 

 oak, the walnut and the ash trees are selected for 

 veneering. Only the poor, coarse and knotty- 

 logs are turned over to tlie manufacturers of 

 the cheaper articles. A large walnut tree, with 

 a perfect grain, is worth a good deal of money, 

 for it can be made into hundreds of feet of veneer. 

 The veneering machines are of two kinds- 

 sawing and slicing. The former was at one time 

 considered the best and people demanded only 

 sawed vereer for the choice furniture, but it re- 

 quires an expert today to distinguish the differ- 

 ence. 



Expert woodsmen are traveling through the 

 great woods all the time in the irf rests of the 

 veneering companies, and v. hen they 

 find a handsome hardwood tree they 

 buy it. Sometimes it is found in the 

 heart of the woods and again on some lonely 

 farm or in the dooryard of a small country home. 

 If it is large, straight and perfect in grain, ten 

 tirms as much will be offered for it as it would be 

 worth for ordinary lumbering purposes. 



These perfect specimens of hardwood trees are 

 then cut and trimmed, sawed into convenient 

 lengths, peeled and even split. The logs are 

 shipped to the factory in this rough condition, 

 sometimes thirteen to twenty feet in length. The 

 first process is to cook them. This is done by 

 plunging them into a vat of hot water or steam, 

 where they are left until they become soft and 

 pliable. 



When properly cooked they go to the veneer- 

 ing machines. These either slice or saw the logs 

 into slabs from one-tenth to one-thirtieth of an 

 inch in thickness. So perfect are the slicing or 

 cutting machines that the veneer does not vary 

 a hair breadth throughout its whole length. 



The usual veneer is one-twentieth of an incl 

 in thickness, which is so thin that it seems as ii 

 it must be broken when handled ; but in its soft. 

 pliable condition it rarely cracks or breaks. 



Next it is hardened or seasoned by steaming, 

 which takes from one to two days. When it has 

 been properly seasoned the moisture is nil --v- 

 tracted from it, and it is strong, tough an<: 

 clastic. 



The veneer is then ready for the cabinetmaker 

 He cuU it into different lengths to suit: Ms pur- 

 pose, utilising every small piece that might oth- 

 erwise prove waste. Nearly every square inch ol 

 the log is used by the cabinetmakers, so that the 

 amount of waste in a tree is insignificant. 

 Nearly everything is veneered today, from our 



)ianos and sideboards to cars and the interior of 

 ferryboats. Car manufacturers are among the 

 argest consumers of veneers, and one may study 

 iomethirfg of the art any time during a journev 

 n cars or boats. 



The art of the cabinet workers is skilful and 

 cunning. They lay the veneers on so that no 

 oints are visible, and by running the grain of 

 one layer opposite to that of the next they 

 toughen and harden the surface so that it rarely 

 warps or shrinks. 



The grain of the veneers comes out better thai" 

 solid wood, and the surface will take much higher 

 x>lish, while the strength and durability are re- 

 narkable, considering the built up character of 

 the wood. 



THE OLD-TIME SHILLING. 



So far as concerns the minted money the 

 United States have never coined shillings. But 

 n the broader sense the shilling was for the bet- 

 ter part of the last century the common unit of 

 reckoning, a domestic holdover from the former 

 Colonial currency. The several colonies issued 

 Dills of credit, never taken at sterling par and sub- 

 ject to varying degrees of depreciation at differ- 

 ent times and in different places. When the Fed- 

 eral government recast its financial arrangements 

 upon the decimal system of the dollar the shilling 

 remained as a designation for several sums which 

 were fixed for the several states by the last gen- 

 eral quotations of the paper of the precedent 

 colonies. The cheapest shilling of all was the 

 York shilling, in use in New York, North Caro- 

 lina, Ohio and Michigan, computed at ]'2 l / 2 cents, 

 or eight to the dollar, the Colonial bill of credit 

 being worth only $2.50 to the pound sterling. The 

 Pennsylvania shilling was 13 l / 2 cents, and such 

 was the reckoning in New Jersey, Delaware and 

 Maryland. The New England shilling ran six to 

 the dollar, or 16% cents, and this value held in 

 Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, 

 Missouri, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama. In 

 Georgia and South Carolina the shilling was' com- 

 puted at 21 3-7 cents, or 4 shillings 8 pence to the 

 dollar. The shilling remained the customary unit 

 of domestic marketing here in New York until 

 long after the civil war and is still met with. An 

 interesting survival is its use in the notation of 

 commissions on the Stock Exchange, where of all 

 places one would think that real money would 

 be preferred to the funds of memory. 



RECORD RUNS IN 1905. 



Although the United States does not lead the 

 world in the matter of rapid railway travel, it 

 can hustle good and hard upon occasion. Here- 

 are nine speed records made during 1905. They 

 include both regular and special trains : 



Daily New York Central Twentieth Century 

 Limited, New York to Chicago, 984 miles; aver- 

 age, 53.55. 



May 14 Seashore Flyer, Atlantic City to 

 Camden, 55^ miles; average, vS.26. 



j une 8 Eighteen Hour Flyer on Pennsyl- 

 vania, East Tolleston to Donaldson, 50 miles; 

 average, 79. 



June 13 Twentieth Century Limited on Lake 

 Shore, Chicago to Buffalo, 525 miles; average, 

 69.53. 



July 9 Death Valley, Scott's special, Los An- 

 geles to Chicago, 2,246 miles; average, 50. 



October 23 Harriman special, Oakland to Jer- 

 sey City, 3,239 miles; average, 44.30. 



October 24 Eighteen Hour Flyer on Pennsyl- 

 vania lines, Crestline to Fort Wayne, 13 miles; 

 average, 77.81. 



October 24 Same train, Crestline, Ohio, to 

 Clark Junction, 257 miles; average, 74.55. 



November 3 Pennsylvania's Eighteen Hour 

 Chicago Flyer, Harrisburg to Chicago, 717 miles ; 

 average, 56. 



ALASKAN FORESTS. 



We have at length a fairly elear idea of the 

 extent and value of the forest resources of Alaska. 

 The favored southeast coast region, as we have 

 long known, has the moderate temperature and 

 the enormous precipitation that favor tree growth, 



so that the coast from Dixon Entrance to the 

 northern end of Lynn Canal, about 360 miles 

 north and south, is densely timbered with spruce 

 and hemlock, red and yellow cedar and some other 

 species. From the seaboard the export timber of 

 Alaska will be derived. There are enormous 

 quantities of it, and the dissipation of our forest 

 wealth nearer home is a warning that we should 

 utilize this great resource in such a manner as to 

 assure its permanency. 



The timber limit near the northern edge of this 

 vast forest of soft woods is 3,000 feet above sea 

 level, while at Dixon Entrance it is 4,000 feet, 

 showing the effect of the more northern position. 

 Beyond it is the vast space, partly timberless. the 

 value of whose forest resources even for local 

 purposes has been a debated question. 



North and east of the region of the coast moun- 

 tains are the great basins of the Yukon and the 

 Kuskokwim rivers, with much timber along the 

 streams, most of it small, though the Tanana has 

 long been known for its large growth of spruce. 

 The wide plateau lands between the rivers are 

 only sparsely timbered. The chief varieties in 

 these river basins are spruce, white birch, poplar 

 and aspen. The sweeping generalizations by some 

 writers regarding the important timber resources 

 of this region are not borne out by later observa- 

 tions. Mr. Brooks and others who have traveled 

 extensively in the Yukon and Kuskokwim basins 

 say that in the valley lowlands are many clumps 

 of trees measuring two to two and a half feet in 

 diameter near the ground, but most trees are only 

 from five to twelve inches. With proper protec- 

 tion the timber will be ample for local use, but 

 has no value for export. The Indians in this 

 region are responsible for the forest fires which 

 annually kill the trees over wide areas, and this 

 evil must be abated or the supply will become 

 insufficient for local needs. 



The coast regions north of the Aleutian chain 

 and nearly all of the interior between the Yukon 

 and the Arctic Ocean are in the great timberless 

 belt, where no woods of any kind are seen except- 

 ing in the lower valleys, which contain thick 

 growths of willow. 



We may thus broadly classify Alaska, in regard 

 to its forest resources, into three provinces : the 

 heavily timbered district of the southeast, which 

 will afford much lumber for export ; the thinly 

 timbered regions of the interior plateau, and the 

 fairly well wooded valleys of the Kuskokwim, 

 the Yukon and its southern tributaries and the 

 Sushitna and Copper rivers, which will provide 

 timber for local use, but not for export : and the 

 timberless tract which extends north from the 

 Aleutian Islands on the coast, from the Arctic 

 Circle in the interior, and also embraces many 

 areas all over the territory that are elevated above 

 the timber line. 



BANK FOR WOMEN. 



The Night and Day Bank of New York on 

 Oct. 1 will add to its business a distinctively wo- 

 men's bank, separate in every detail, except that 

 it will be under the present management ana 

 directorship. Since the opening of the Night 

 and Day Bank a clever woman has been in its 

 employ, assisting the women patrons. She kept 

 careful note of all she saw and submitted her re- 

 port. It decided the directors to establish a sep- 

 arate Ivink for women. 



On the advice of the woman who made the 

 report the hard teakwood floors are to be covered 

 with thick rugs of subdued colors, with an occa- 

 sional splash of red. The walls are to be covered 

 with tapestry, and the furniture will be of rich 

 mahogany. 



Adjoining a general banking room is to be a 

 sitting room, with all the magazines and news- 

 papers. Then there is to be a dressing room 

 and in this a long French plate looking glass. 

 Besides, there will be a boudoir in the safety de- 

 posit vaults where women can get their jewels 

 before going out in the evening and leave them 

 on their way home. 



But the teller is to be a man. The directors 

 were willing to go to the extent of placing a 

 woman in that position. The clever woman ta- 

 booed that, though. A man would convince wo- 

 men by his figuring, she said. 



