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TECHNICAL^SUPPLY DEPARTMENT
William BrsAdWhiteJeeAnfail Editor
Growing Scarcity of Lumber a Fact and
Not Based on the Claims of Alarmists
Grades of Lumber Required by the Piano Industry Steadily Increasing in Price With Growing
Difficulty in Securing Quality That Is Necessary—The Question of Substitutes—Need
for Action to Be Taken Despite the Stand of the Lumber Industry at Present
IANO men, whoever they may be, have an
interest, and a vital interest too, in what-
ever pertains to the supply of raw materials
for their industry. It has long been known
that this question has been going from bad to
worse, especially in regard to all kinds of wood
used in piano and player construction. I think
it not wrong to say that every piano manufac-
turer and every piano factory superintendent is
painfully aware of the facts. The curve of
price has gone steadily upward, while that of
quality and quantity has turned downward more
gradually. It is a well-known fact that sound
board spruce is being imported by a piano
manufacturer whose reputation is world-wide,
while the general opinion among tuners appears
to be that the maple now going into wrest
planks does not have the qualities which once
were universally conceded to the best product of
this complex piece of plywood construction.
I am well aware that every attempt to open
any inquiry into the facts of lumber supply has
in some quarters been translated into an ex-
pression of hostility to lumber. It has been said
that those who believe as I do are agitators for
the industries which make substitutes for wood
like steel, concrete, or synthetic products. But
it should hardly be necessary for me to say that
my interest is merely that of the piano indus-
try, of that industry which from its beginning
has been the constant patron of the lumber
manufacturers and unfailing in its demand for
the best in maples, spruces, pines and all the
fancy hardwoods. As a sort of mouthpiece for
this industry I am concerned at the fact that its
supply of suitable wood is apparently threat-
ened and that the cost of all kinds of wood use-
ful for the purposes of piano construction is
steadily rising, while the figures of cut show, in
some of the most conspicuous cases, serious
declines.
What the Forest Service Thinks
At the meeting of the Wood Industries Divi-
sion of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers held the other day in Chicago, a film
was shown which had been loaned for the oc-
casion by the Forestry Service of the United
States, which is itself a branch of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture. This film, entitled "A
Forest Axiom," is devoted to showing the ap-
palling consequences of too rapid cutting meth-
ods when combined with preventable waste by
users in factories and shops. If the figures
shown on the film are to be trusted, then the
Department of Agriculture believes that within
ten years one-third of the present stand of mer-
chantable timber remaining in the country will
have been exhausted, supposing that only the
present rate of cutting out continues without in-
crease. At anything like this rate, of course, the
end of our lumber supplies is already in sight.
I know that it has been said that similar
prophecies have been made in the past and have
P
Punchings
Washers
Bridle Straps
581437th Ave.
been falsified. On the other hand, it is only
necessary to travel over the country to know
that those Eastern and Middle Western States
which once were covered with virgin timber
are now no longer regarded as furnishing tim-
ber tracts. Soft and hard woods alike are now
mainly drawn from Southern and Pacific Coast
Northwestern tracts, and it is with these and
the date of their probable exhaustion that we
must deal. To say this, let me observe, is not
to merit the accusation of attacking the lumber
interests. We of the piano industry are buyers
of lumber. Even if it could be shown that there
are trees enough by actual count to last fifty
years at present rates of cutting, the question
would still remain, "how much of this is mer-
chantable, and especially how much of it rep-
resents wood that we can use?"
Our Special Needs
The needs of the piano industry are large
and peculiar. In mere bulk the building trades
use much more, of course, and so does the fur-
niture industry, but it is a question of species.
Thus, we must have spruce of certain definite
physical qualities for our sound boards, failing
the discovery of a better material which is not
now in sight. We need straight-grained white
pine for our piano keys, or else something
equally good, that is to say, something with
equivalent physical qualities. We need the best
of what is still called "rock maple" for the ply-
wood construction of our wrest planks and for
some of our grand rim work. And so on. If
we have trouble with the present supply of the
accepted species mentioned, then evidently we
are in for difficulties, whether the timber stand
of the country, taken as a whole, is likely to
last twenty-five, fifty or a hundred years.
Now my point is simply that we, as piano
men, are vitally interested in this question of
supply. If we could make satisfactory sound
boards of steel, doubtless we should do so, and
very likely save ourselves a lot of trouble into
the bargain. Until we can find non-wooden
substitutes, however, we must continue with
wood and it is hardly fair to suggest, as has
been stated^ that our interest is dictated either
by ignorance or by an evil desire to hurt the
lumberman. We must first look after our-
THIS EXPENSE
CAN BE ELIMINATED
losses heretofore sustained
*• through mark-downs caused by scar-
red finishes can easily be eliminated. A
valuable booklet, "How to Repair Dam-
age to Varnished Surfaces" tells all.
A copy will be sent to you free—upon
request. Why not write for your copy
now?
The M. L. Campbell Co.
1OO8 W. 8th St.
Kansas City, Mo.
George W. Braunsdorfi, Inc.
Direct Manufacturers of
TUNERS' TRADE SOLICITED
Also—Felts and
Cloths, Furnished
in Any Quantity
Woodside, L. I., N. Y.
35
selves, and to us the situation does not appear
very reassuring. We find that the prices of
every kind of lumber are steadily rising, and
that we are paying to-day from four to ten
times the prices we paid fifty years ago for
corresponding species. We are assured by
authorities, who certainly are not to be • dis-
missed as mere ignorant busybodies, that a sit-
uation of great gravity is impending, when our
supplies of the sort of timber we need in our
business will have become almost hopelessly
scarce and high-priced. And we wonder what
(Continued on page 36)
Remember Us
Our large stock U Yery leldom
depleted, and your order, .whether
large or small, will receire imme-
diate attention. In addition, you
get the Tery best of
Felts— Cloths— Hammers —
Purtchings — Music Wire —
Tuning Pins—Player P a r t s -
Hinges, etc.
W« have in stock a full line of
Materials lor Pianos and Organs.
The American Piano Supply Co.,
William Braid White
Associate, American Society of Mechanical
Engineers; Chairman, Wood Industries
Division, A. S. M. E.; Member, American
Physical Society; Member, National Piano
Technicians' Association.
Consulting Engineer to
the Piano Industry
Tonally and Mechanically Correct Scales
Tonal and Technical Surveys of Product
Tonal Betterment Work, in Factories
References
to manufacturers of unquestioned
position In industry
For particulars,
address
209 South State Street, CHICAGO
Piano Technicians School
Courses in Piano Tuning, Regulating and Repairing.
(Upright, Grand, Player and Reproducing Pianos.)
Professional Tuners have taken our courses to
broaden the scope of their work. Write for Catalog R.
Tat T. M. C. A. »f Philadelphia, 1431 Arch Street