The Central California Lumbermen's Club

By Mr. J. U. Gartin, Modesto, President

In reviewing the work of The Central California Lumbermen's Club for the past year, I recall many very interesting discussions which have proved exceedingly helpful to many of our members. The work of the Club for the latter part of. 1925 was devoted to the study of such subiects as the Lien law, collections and creditsj contracts and bonds and business ethics, all of rvhich are vital subjects and should be thoroughly understood by every lumber dealer. The writer is thoroughly convinced that much constructive work has been accomplished by these discussions.

When the new organization was effected for 1926 the following_officers were elected: J. U. ,Gartin, Modesto, President; O. V. Wi.lson, Stockton, Vice-President; Leste,r Elliott, Lodi, Secretary. At the first meeting of the execu- was the program throughly enjoyed, but the genuine hospitality of the Sacramento club was very much appreciated. Their spirit of co-o'peration and good feeling was very noticeable.

The April meeting was devoted to the subject of Advertising. Studying this subject from a standpoint of a lumberman proved very interesting and helpful. While many theoretical points were emphasized, yet the practical thoughts- expressed by many lumbermen were veiy much worth while.

The May meeting of the club was an outing trip fo,r the entire club members, their wives and friendJto the Calaveras Big Trees. This trip was planned in minutest detail and carried through with unusual preciseness. Many historic places were visited, such as the quaint old town Columbia, Mark Twain's cabin, and other places in the Mother Lode. A report of this trip was detaiied in the last issue of The California Lumber Merchant.

It is the opinion of the writer that more real constructive and permanent work has been done within the last vear than in many yea,rs previous. Business ethics has been"emphasized- Co operation has been encouraged. Good fellowship.and a friendly-feeling have been Jstablished among the lu,mbermen. The entire lumber inclustry in Centra'i California has been placed on a higher plane'ancl a more substantial and modern btrsiness baiis.

Presldent J. U. Gotln

Secretarg ltstn Ellictt tive com.mittee it was decided that in order to give every member an eoual chance to take an active part in the cluL it would be advisable to divide the .rnemberdhip into groups and assign the entire program for one meetin! t" ; ?r;;;. A.s.we.have 9n-ll.ten regular meetings during"the y.i", *" orvrded the club tnto ten groups with a chairman for each grou.p whose business it iJ to preside at his meeting. ft. particular g,roup in charge seiects the subject for-discus_ sron, arranges. the prograg.qld the luncheon. In this way many interesting and -profitable subjects have been brought i?_iig discussed, which created quite a contest "*ong ih. groups_ as each one tries to put on a program that *ilt b. more. interesting and profitable than the prececline ore. lothlng elaborate or spectacular has been ittempted, btrt each.prograrh has been exceedingly beneficial "r,l ;a;;- tional.

As a result of the above plan, at our January meeeting we lrad a debate on the subjict of Unif5rm Ci"J"- l,f"iFirs. This subject was discussld by six chosen men_three on each side. Then the subject was thrown open for ;;.;i discussion- The informaiion gotten from ttti, a"u"'t"-""-,i general discussions prepared -our club members for the February -.:t-ilg in Saciamento- tt;; invitation from the )acramento Valley Lu,mbermen's club our club attended their meetilS.a.t the Sehator Hotel ai which tn. ."1i..t. oJ Grade.Marking, Trade Marking and Certific"i;.r-i""i" tnoroughly dlscussed by^some of the most prominent lum_ Dermen .on tne Hacrhc Coast. This meeting was an eve_ o)ener to. many lumbermen from the smalier towns wht had not grven these subjects much consideration. Not only formation desired and those wanting such data should address the sccretary, who,sc office is maintained at 900 Matson Building, San Francisco, Cal. This committcc consistE of such representative men as engineers in charge of thc various engineering departments of the railroads and oil companies, chcmists and biologists of local universities, repreaentatives of the U. S. Forest Scrvicc and cnginecrs of thc Army and Navy departments and harbor boards on the Pacific Coast. Onc of thc methods of protection that has been improved upon by the working of this cbm- fication for the treatment of the piling and timber which meets rrith the approval of practically all industrial and governmental engineering bodies on the Pacific Coast.

I , [n submibtipB bhis pleasinq nome fJlan or moderntzecl English design Foryour con.rideration yotr cannoL help bul admire [he many pracbical Features included in bo[h the exterior a Floor plan arranqements and in addibion thir.e is suFFicient space in attic For two or more r00ms.

The creosote treatment of piling is approximately as follov:s: The piles are placed in a large retort, a tw€nty to twenty-four inch vacuum is then drawn and while the timber is under this vacuum, which voids the cells in the timber of air, the creosote oil is admitted to the chamber, the oil is then boiled through heat applied by steam coils and the vacuum is maintained so that the rnoisture in the timber is evaporated and when the condensation in the hot well of the vacuum pump has reached one-tenth of a pound of water per cubic foot of timber in the charge per hour the timber is considered thoroughly seasoned. This system of artificial seasoning has been very satisfactorily carried out for years and results in a minimum loss of strength to the timber. All valves arc then closed and creosote oil pumped into the cylinder under a hydrostatic Dressurc and temperature until the desired amount of oil has becn injected into the wood. The oil is then allowed to cool grddually and drained from the cylinder, a final vacuum is produced to recover drip and surplus oil and the timber is takcn from the treating cylinder. In this manner the timber is preservcd for an indcfinitely long pcriod.

Thc harbor boards of the Pacific Coast havc adopted a method of creosoting the piles that is known as the l2-pound trcatment, which represents 12 pounds of oil per cubic foot of timber treated. The sway braces, caps, stringcrs and dccking are also generally creosoted but with a 6-pound treatment, which is for the purpose of preserving them from dry rot and fungi, but generaily all timber that is cxposed to salt water and the salt water lifc is given at least 12 pounds of oil pcr cubic foot. The creosotc mittec is thc creosoting of the pilcs bcfore driving. Crcosoting plantr on the Pacific Coast have been treating pilcs for ycars .-. and havc been obtaining very favorable results, however, the San Francisco Bay Marine Piling Committee has devcloped a speci- oil that is used on the Pacific Coast, is the highest srade obtainablc of coal tar creosote and is brought in from Germany and England" During the war it was impossible to get foreign oil and some of the timber and piles now in service were treated with domeatic oils, but since the Pacific Coast plants have again been securing their creosote oil from Europe.

Fig. 8 shows typical damagc to untreated piling structures in thc upper San Francisco Bay, whcre the action of the marine borer was nbt anticipated. l.-Onc of thc first docks which failed. Oleum, Cal., Octobcr 8, 1919. Several loaded freight cars werc plwrgcd into the bay. 2.-Fcrry slip at South Vallejo, failed Novcmbcr 4, 1920. 3.-Municipal wharf and house, Benicia, Cal., collapsed October 7, lm0.

There have bccn numerous substancc8 developed as timber preservativcs in an endeavor to replace creosotc, however, of all substanccs that havc been cmployed as preservative mediums all exccpt cr€osote suffercd undcr cxtrcmc disability that it was at least to somc extent solublc in watcr. This failing constituteg thc scrious objcction to their cmployment for thc Durpose of imprcgnating timber that is to be uscd in exposed positions.

The rnost widely uscd and thc most uniformly successful material that has bcen employed as a preservative agcnt during modcrn times is undoubtedly crcosotc, and a trcmendous quantity is used annually both in this country and in other parts of the world.

Creosotc has been experimcnted with for nearly 200 -ears and it has becn in usc as a timber prcscrvativc for thc best oart of a ccntury, thc earlicst rccords of its adoption on a serious scalc dating back to thc year 1E36, when it was first employed for imprcgnating timbcr by Franz Moll; hia rnethod of injection, howcvcr, did not attain thc succcss that \pas expectcd" and little noticc was taken of it at the time. Two years later, the forcrunner of. the modern proccss was invented by Mr. John Bethcll, whose Ftcnt, No. 7731 (British) was taken out in 1E3E, and this has bccn followcd with various modifications cvcr since. The o('ginal substancc was callcd "Krcosot", and consistcd of thc heavy oils distilled from coal tar, similar to those in use at thc prcscnt. Truc crcosotc is obainablc by thc destructivc distillation of wood, and thc tcrm, as applicd to thc distillatc frorn coal tar, is

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M.dera Su*r, Pin.

Nothing could be better for pattern atock and planing mill lumbcr for all purposes, than our widc, thick, soft textured lumbcr. It comeg from California Sugar Pine treee, which are famous for their exceptional size and quality.

By W. B.