THE ST. LOUIS LUMBERMAN. 



73 



lion, oak, and yellow poplar, are made into finish, 

 panels, pedestals, wainscoting, mantels, chair- 

 boards, railing, brackets, spindles, newels, stairs, 

 trim and articles of similar kinds. 



omy in substituting yellow poplar for cherry, 

 as far as the cost is concerned, for it is 

 cheaper than the poplar; but the latter may be had 

 in larger pieces, and will make entire panels with- 



SASH, DOCKS, BLINDS AND GENERAL MILLWORK. 

 TABLE IV. 



Car Construction. 



The construction and repair of cars in Missouri 

 consumes annually over 50 million feet of lumber 

 of different kinds and dimensions, from the heavy 

 beams and timbers in the frames of freight cars 

 to the costly cabinet woods demanded in small 

 amounts in the finish of passenger coaches. A por- 

 tion of the material listed in Table V is used in 

 building cabs for locomotives, but the amount 

 devoted to that purpose is comparatively small. 

 Wood demanded for certain other parts of railroad 

 equipment is likewise included. Thus sign boards 

 and whistling posts, cattle guards, engine pilots 

 and dump cars are included. The only reported 

 use for post oak in this industry was for sign 

 posts; but white and red oak were employed in 

 large amounts for many parts of car construction. 

 The most important wood in the industry, judged 

 by the amount used, is short-leaf pine, which sup- 

 plied half of all the wood demanded by car build- 

 ers in Missouri. It goes largely into siding, roofing 

 and flooring, but much of the framing is also of 

 this species. It is the cheapest of the twenty-two 

 woods in the table, and it is a matter of surprise 

 that practically all of it is brought into Missouri 

 from other States, largely from Arkansas. No 

 reason has been given for going out of the State 

 for a wood so abundant within. 



Nearly three times as much Douglas fir as long- 

 leaf pine is used, though the two woods are rated 

 much the same in stiffness and strength, and the fir 

 must be brought two thousand miles and the pine 

 only a few hundred. The fir is nine dollars higher 

 in cost than the long-leaf pine, with which it 

 comes in competition in the car shop. White ash 

 fills an important place. It is strong and stiff for 

 frames, and handsome for finish. The high cost 

 indicates that the best grades are demanded. The 

 cottonwood listed in this industry is likewise high 

 class, as shown by the average price paid for it. 



The leading wood for interior finish of passen- 

 ger cars is yellow poplar of which four and a quar- 

 ter million feet are used annually. This wood 

 shows to best advantage in wide panels, finished 

 and stained to imitate dark-colored woods such 

 as mahogany, cherry and birch. There is no econ- 



out a joint or splice where birch and cherry will 

 not, because too small. For that reason yellow 

 poplar panels are highly esteemed, in spite of cost. 

 It may be polished so smoothly and stained so per- 

 fectly that it will pass under close inspection for 

 some of the finest woods on the market. Some 

 of the Douglas fir listed in the table was made 

 into broad car panels. The other cabinet woods 

 employed for that purpose and for other interior 

 car finish were black cherry, black walnut, ma- 

 hogany, sweet birch, and vermilion or padouk. 

 Much of the white and red oak listed was employed 

 iu the same way. 



Vehicles and Vehicle Parts. 



The commodities included in Table VI cover a 

 wide range, not including hand wagons and sleds, 

 or steam end electric cars, but vehicles of nearly 

 all kinds between. The principal types are business 



and pleasure wagons and carriages for horses, 

 and motor vehicles. Sleds and sleighs are in- 

 cluded when reported, but the manufacture of that 

 class of vehicles in Missouri is unimportant. Horse 

 vehicles hold chief place. Some are made in large 

 factories operated under modern methods; but many 

 are turned out of small shops where most of the 

 work is done by hand, and the methods followed 

 do not much differ from those practiced generations 

 ago. A good many blacksmiths have a corner of 

 the shop fitted with wood-working tools, and they 

 make a few wagons during the year, not for the 

 general market but for special customers who want 

 hand-made vehicles. The total number of vehicles 

 yearly turned out thus falls far short of those 

 made in factories; but the home-made product 

 should not be ignored in presenting statistics of 

 vehicle manufacture in Missouri, and all avail- 

 able figures are given in this report. 



There are different kinds of vehicle factories. 

 Some do all the work from the arrival of the 

 rough stock to the ironing and painting of the 

 finished vehicle; but others pursue other methods. 

 One mill or factory may rough-turn the spokes, cut 

 out the felloes, turn, mortise, and bore the hubs, 

 cut the pieces for the poles and shafts, and send 

 them to other factories to be finished. Or, wheels 

 may be finished, except the ironing and painting, 

 and in that form they go to a factory that finishes 

 them. One mill may make shafts and poles only; 

 another may turn out axles, hands, bolsters and 

 reaches. It is thus apparent that all vehicle manu- 

 facturers do not work in the same way. Often the 

 finished product of one becomes the raw material 

 for another they follow the work step by step, 

 one beginning where another leaves off, until the 

 vehicle is finally completed and put on the market. 

 The various methods pursued by the manufactur- 

 ers in this industry make the collection of statis- 

 tics difficult. Constant inquiring and care are nec- 

 essary to guard against counting the same material 

 twice, when it is found in different factories as it 

 passes from stage to stage in the process of manu- 

 facture, and there is likewise danger of missing it 

 altogether, for many of the shops and mills are 

 very small and diffcult to locate. In the whole 

 range of wood-using industries, no other pre- 

 sents such difficulties to the statistician who under- 

 takes to compile a trustworthy report of the kind 

 and amount of wood demanded, and its cost. 



The industry includes both vehicles and vehicle 

 parts. The term "parts" is employed advisedly, 

 for in many instances the parts are put on the 

 general market for sale. Hubs made in Missouri 

 may be sold in Iowa; shafts may find their mar- 

 ket in Illinois; wheels ready for the irons may 

 find their way to Indiana. Trade in such com- 

 modities is large. In most instances the "parts" 

 when so listed are of hickory or of oak. Wheels 

 for small vehicles are generally of hickory. Large 



VEHICLES AND VEHICLE PARTS. 

 TABLE VI. 



CAR CONSTRUCTION. 



TABLE V. 



Kinds 

 Shortleaf pine 



White oak 



Yellow poplar 

 Red oak .... 

 Douglas : 

 White ash 

 Longleaf pine 

 Cottonwood 

 Mahogany 

 Chestnut . 

 Black cherry 

 Sugar maple 

 Sweet birch 



Silver maple 



Turpelo 



Cypress 



Northern v. 

 White elm 

 Hickory ... 

 Vermilion 

 Black wall 

 Basswood ... 



hubs, and entire large wheels are often oak. Shafts 

 of hickory are usual, and the same applies to small 

 poles, though ash has considerable use for that 

 purpose. Two-thirds of ail the wood reported for 

 vehicles in Missouri is white oak and hickory. 

 Most of the hickory comes from the southeastern 

 quarter of the State. 



The manufacture of automobiles is included in 

 Table VI, and several of the high-priced woods go 

 into that cla^S of vehicles. The spokes are of hick- 

 ory, while beech, sugar maple, ash and the oaks 

 appear in the frames. The bodies of some motor 

 vehicles are of metal; but others are largely of 

 wood. The panels and curved parts of the bodies 

 demand wood of good quality, and the best where 

 smoothness of finish is the chief consideration is 

 yellow poplar. That holds also for panels and 

 portions of bodies of carriages and fine business 

 vehicles, such as delivery wagons. Tupelo fre- 

 quently takes the place of yellow poplar in that 

 work. It bends well and takes a satisfactory pol- 

 isa. Mahogany and sweet birch find place as auto- 

 mobile trim, and probably most of the birch is 

 finished in imitation of mahogany. Cottonwood 



