38 WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



VEHICLES. 



Vehicles of all kinds are included in this industry, from the finest 

 finished carriage and phseton down to the dump-cart and the logging 

 truck. Table 13 does not represent the full amount of material con- 

 sumed in the manufacture of vehicles in North Carolina, though it com- 

 prises a very large percentage. In every village, town, and city of the 

 State there are wagon makers who turn out a few vehicles in the course 

 of the year, but whose chief work is repairing. A large quantity of 

 wood is used. An effort was made to include all, but lack of informa- 

 tion as to the exact locations of many, and the indifference of others to 

 the work, and their ignoring requests for information, made the col- 

 lecting of this data more difficult than for any other industry. The con- 

 venience of being near the source of supply has attracted to North Caro- 

 lina large manufacturers of vehicles. See Plate Y, A and B. 



A number of the manufacturers of vehicles in this State merely as- 

 semble the component parts and put on the finishing touches. Infor- 

 mation from this class, as stated before, was not solicited. The data 

 furnished by the manufacturers of hubs, rims, spokes, bodies, axles, etc., 

 together with the amount of raw material used by those industries which 

 make the vehicle in all its parts, are shown in Table 13. Eight woods 

 are listed, and hickory leads the list in quantity, being 60 per cent of 

 all the hickory reported in the State. Forty-four per cent of the vehicle 

 wood grew outside the State, no other industry reporting so large a per- 

 centage of its material. Tough, strong woods are essential, and this 

 accounts for the fact that average prices paid by vehicle makers for 

 their woods were above those in any other industry. High grades of 

 lumber were demanded. In this connection it is worthy of note that 88 

 per cent of the manufacturers listed under this industry purchased their 

 material in established grades, which was above the percentage of any 

 other industry. 



