

THE SOUTHERN LUMBERMAN 



45 



VEHICLES AND VEHICLE PARTS. 

 Table 6. 



Average 

 cost per 

 1,000 ft. 



$23.94 

 26.19 

 31.33 

 25.15 

 18.12 

 20.05 

 43.07 

 20.52 

 18.00 



200.00 

 31.09 

 28.00 



175.00 



Total 



cost f. o. b. 



factory 



$ 473,112 



275,097 



24,345 



18,059 



11,739 



9,762 



20,715 



1,580 



360 



1,600 



171 



140 



175 



$24.99 



$ 836,855 



Grown in 



Tennessee 



feet B. M. 



18,479,200 



9,084,800 



452,000 



164,000 



427,000 



'321,600 



2,000 



20,000 



5,500 

 5,000 



28,960,500 



Grown 



out of 



Tennessee 



feet B. M. 



1,281,000 



1,420,000 



325,000 



554,000 



221,000 



487,000 



160,000 



75,000 



8,000 



1,000 



4,532,000 



Less than 1-100 of 1 per cent. 



Tennessee's nine woods aggregate 14,164,918 feet 

 at an average cost of $19.41 a thousand. Illinois 

 is the leading state in this country in car manufac- 

 ture, and the comparison with Tennessee may be 

 of interest. Car makers in Tennessee pay little 

 more than half as much per thousand as is paid in 

 Illinois; but the important difference should be rec- 

 ognized, that in Illinois a number of expensive for- 

 eign woods are used in large amounts, while Ten- 

 nessee builders used no foreign material. The pro- 

 portion of high-grade work, such as sleeping and 

 dining cars, is higher in Illinois than in Tennessee, 

 where mining cars constitute a leading item. Cars 

 of that kind operate underground to bring coal 

 to the surface, -or on switches and top lines In 

 bringing coal and ore to the standard railroads. 



Seventy-seven per cent of all the wood entering 

 the car shops in Tennessee is longleaf and short- 

 leaf pine, and the proportion of these two species 

 in Illinois is 62 per cent. Longleaf pine in the latter 

 state costs $29.28, and shortleaf $27.52. while in 

 Tennessee they cost, respectively, $21.32 and $18. 

 In matter of cost the advantage is with Tennessee. 

 Yellow poplar costs Illinois manufacturers $51.59, 

 and Tennessee $42.12. This is a valuable ma- 

 terial and is one of the best for interior car finish, 

 and Tennessee has the advantage over Illinois. 

 Other comparisons might be made, and in almost 

 every instance concerning the cost of wood the 

 advantage is with Tennessee. Nevertheless, con- 

 clusions should not be drawn from that showing 

 alone, for the grades used may not be the same. 

 It is none the less evident that Tennessee possesses 

 the resources and occupies the geographical posi 

 tion to warrant a trial at making it one of the 

 greatest car building centers of the country. The 

 industry is not yet developed to compare with 

 Illinois, but the field is ready for development. It 

 has the wood, coal, iron and the water power. The 

 latter has not yet been much thought of, but its 

 development is destined to become one of the sur- 

 prises which the future has in store. The water 

 power is in the mountains of the east where the 

 rivers pour down steep channels. It will last for- 

 ever if the forests are protected against fire so that 

 stream flow may be regular and not subject to 

 alternate destructive floods and withering drought. 

 Car manufacture is only one of many industries 

 which may become great in years to come if re- 

 sources are wisely husbanded. Five oaks appear 

 in the list of material in Table 7. That many more 

 might be included, for they are obtainable. 



cies as in parts of the same tree. Some buyers, 

 with special purposes in view, buy the butts of 

 medium-sized trees and use only the white sap- 

 wood. The tops, which by some are considered 

 more brash, and the red heartwood of the butts are 

 disposed of to >.'her buyers. As much of this dis- 

 crimination may be based on sentiment and tradi- 

 tion as on characteristics of the wood. The red 

 heartwood is more used now than formerly. Much 

 of it goes into pick handles, which demand strength 

 more than resiliency. 



tshed work these holes are not usually visible. 

 Sometimes casket manufacturers use wormy ma- 

 hogany in the same way. The holes in the ma- 

 hogany are made by teredoes while the logs are 

 floating in brackish water; but the perforating of 

 the chestnut is done on land. In Tennessee the 

 cost of the chestnut reported in this industry was 

 low, there being only two beneath it in the list of 

 twelve woods. The average cost of all the woods 

 may be compared with similar figures in certain 

 other states, as follows: 



North Carolina $17.09 



Missouri 19.99 



Wisconsin 24.42 



Illinois 26.60 



Kentucky 40.19 



The Kentucky average is greatly raised above 

 what it otherwise would have been because con- 

 siderable quantity of very high-priced black walnut 

 was used and a larger quantity of white pine. The 

 Kentucky coffin makers paid $50 for yellow poplar, 

 the Tennessee makers paid only $22.63; chestnut 

 in Kentucky cost $20, in Tennessee $13.94; red 

 cedar $40 in Kentucky, and $45 in Tennessee; oak 

 $44.07 in Kentucky, and $18 in Tennessee; white 

 pine $24 in Kentucky, and $16.01 in Tennessee. 

 The striking differences in most of these prices, 

 with only a state line separating the two regions, 

 should be attributed to grades more than to any- 



HANDLF.S. 

 Table 8. 



Kinds of wood 



Hickory 



White oak 



Red gum 



White ash 



Quantity used annually 



feet B. M. per cent 



8,623,776 88.69 



650,000 6.68 



350.000 3.60 



100,000 1.03 



Totals 



9,723,776 



100.00 



Average 

 cost per 

 1,000 ft. 



$22.80 

 29.23 

 10.00 

 10.00 



$22.63 



Total 

 cost f. o. b. 

 factory 

 $ 196,586 

 19,000 

 3,500 

 1,000 



$ 220,086 



Grown In 



Tennessee 



feet B. M. 



7,361,276 



650.000 



350,000 



100,000 



8,461,276 



Grown 



out of 



Tennessee 



feetB. M. 



1,262,500 



1,262,500 



Though hickory far surpasses all other woods in 

 Table 8, it is not the only one. A small quantity 

 of white oak competes with hickory for handles. 

 Some assert that by boiling the oak handle in oil 

 it is rendered much tougher than when in its nat- 

 ural state; but further experiments and additional 



thing else. It is impossible that so much difference 

 can be due to freight rates. Some manufacturers 

 specialize on high-class commodities and buy ex- 

 pensive wood; others cater to a different trade, and 

 their raw material costs less. The rough shipping 

 boxes are included as one of the commodities of 



CASKETS AND COFFINS. 

 Table 9. 



Total 



cost f. o. b. 



factory 



$ 24,716 



20,750 



35,043 



22,668 



16,186 



13,125 



10,576 



3,600 



3,600 



1,800 



4,012 



900 



Totals 



9,494,085 



100.00 



$16.53 



$ 156,976 



Grown in 



Tennessee 



feet B. M. 



725,000 



1,250,000 



1,060.000 



5.000 



......... 



795.000 



350,000 



......... 



200,000 



100,000 



95,493 



20,000 



4,600,493 



Grown 



out of 



Tennessee 



feet B. M. 



1,047,730 



350,000 



488,685 



1,509,800 



1,014,339 



25,000 



158,038 



300,000 



4,893,592 



reports seem necessary to establish that claim. 

 The ash listed in the table represents handles for 

 hoes, rakes, shovels and pitchforks. Strength and 

 stiffness fit that wood for the place it occupies as 

 the most important handle material for agricultural 

 tools. Red gum occurs in this table. It is made 

 into certain tool handles and into a class known as 



CAR CONSTRUCTION. 

 Table 7. 



Kinds of wood 



Quantity used annually 

 feet B. M. per cent 



Longleaf pine 5,755,096 



Shortleaf pine 5,163.925 



White oak 



Red oak 



Texan oak . . . 

 Chestnut oak 



Bur oak 



Yellow poplar 

 Cottonwood 



2,402.662 

 400.000 

 211.056 

 200,000 

 16,132 

 11,300 

 4,747 



Totals ............... 14,164,918 



40.63 

 36.46 

 16.96 

 2.82 

 1.49 

 1.41 

 .12 

 .08 

 .03 



100.00 



$19.41 



Total 

 cost f. o. b. 

 factory 

 $ 122,708 

 92,952 

 44,814 

 6,500 

 3,903 

 3,200 

 3'23 

 476 

 98 



$ 274,974 



Grown in 

 Tennessee 

 feet B. M. 



2,360,662 



250,000 



......... 



200,000 

 16.132 

 11,300 



2.838,094 



Grown 

 out of 

 Tennessee 

 feet B. M. 

 5,755,096 

 5,163,925 

 42,000 

 150,000 

 211,056 



4,747 



11,320.824 



Handles. 



Almost 90 per cent of the handles made in Ten- 

 nessee are of hickory, several species being in- 

 cluded under that name and not distinguished in 

 trade, though they may be when trees yet stand 

 in the forest. This is the best known material 

 in the world for two important classes of wares 

 light vehicles and handles. It has been said with 

 much truth that the hickory handles sell American 

 hammers the world over. Substitutes for hickory 

 have been sought in all markets of civilized coun- 

 tries; and the little known forests of barbarous 

 islands and remote mountains have been ransacked 

 in the search, but no satisfactory substitute has 

 yet come to light. There is a rare toughness and 

 elasticity in hickory which nature has denied to all 

 other known woods. 'Some are stronger, many are 

 harder, but the rare quality is lacking in all of 

 them, and the fact has come to be generally rec- 

 ognized, so that the handle sells the hammer. 



Hammers are not the only tools with handles. 

 Axes are almost as important, but the handle if 

 more frequently sold separately than in the case 

 of hammers. There is a recognized difference in 

 value between hickories, not so much between spe- 



D-handles, because the shape suggests that letter. 

 Such handles are equipped with a wire for fasten- 

 ing them to such packages as tailors, milliners and 

 other trades people deliver to their customers. The 

 very low cost of the gum and ash in this industry 

 indicates that purchases were made in log form. 



Caskets and Coffins. 



The average cost of material used for coffins and 

 caskets in Tennessee is low. The cost of the wood 

 employed varies greatly in different parts of the 

 country, and customs vary as to the kinds of wood 

 used. In Louisiana more mahogany is reported than 

 any other wood, while in Tennessee no mahogany 

 is listed. In most regions in the eastern half of 

 the United States chestnut is prominent as a ma- 

 terial for caskets, coffins and burial boxes. The 

 latter are the rough boxes enclosing the caskets. 

 Manufacturers assign no special reason why chest- 

 nut should hold so prominent a place, except that 

 custom demands it, and the demand is met. In 

 most instances the grade of chestnut known to the 

 trade as "sound wormy" is unobjectionable. Such 

 wood has been perforated by small boring insects 

 whose galleries are about the size of large pin 

 holes, but otherwise the wood is sound. In the fin- 



the casket and coffin industry, and most of the cheap 

 lumber is used in their manufacture. In Tennessee 

 some of the red cedar, which is next to the highest 

 priced wood in the industry list, is made into outer 

 boxes because it is a long-lasting wood. Another 

 reason for the use of cedar for burial boxes is that 

 custom so long demanded them when the wood was 

 abundant and cheap that the demand continues 

 though red celar is now scarce. With pencil makers 

 paying $7.50 per ton for cedar logs, the casket 

 makers must pay a correspondingly high price to 

 procure this wood for burial boxes. 



Chairs. 



The reason for treating the manufacture of chairs 

 separate from furniture is that the makers of chairs 

 frequently confine their operations to that branch 

 of the furniture business. Wood for chair making 

 is usually cheaper than that demanded by manu- 

 facturers of other furniture. The same kinds of 

 wood are used by both, but chair material is in 

 smaller pieces, permitting of a closer utilization of 

 waste through the workng up of scraps. In some 

 localities there are mills which saw nothing but 

 chair material. Small and crooked logs are accept- 

 able, and can be used for dimension stock down to 

 one inch square and a foot or more in length. A 

 general furniture factory could make small use of 

 such material. There are standard sizes for chair 

 stock, such as rounds, backs, seats, legs, but o.ther 

 kinds of furniture are made in such various pat- 

 terns, and the fashions and styles change so often, 

 that standards in sawed stock are not often prac- 

 ticable. Red oak is the principal chair wood in Ten- 

 nessee as shown in Table 10. This wood, as was 

 explained in a preceding paragraph of this report, 

 is not a single species, but includes several oaks 

 under one name. The chair stock mill makes a 

 pretty clean sweep of the various oaks on a tract 

 of land where it is operating, and after culling out 

 some of the white oaks, the rest goes in as red 

 oak. 



The white oak nray not be culled out, but all may 

 go to the chair factory. Table 10 shows a remark- 

 ably even run of average costs of the different kinds 

 of wood. The highest is $15.53, the lowest $10, and 

 the average $15.01. The quantity of sawdust and 

 shavings in a chair factory is large because much 



