TYPICAL SCENES AT BIG KIRBY HARDWOOD PLANT

How Kirby Hardwood Is Piled

Kirby Lumber Piled On Solid Foundation

(Continued from Page 38) takes charge, .putting the covering boards and sticks into racks whiiir-the oraie later returns to the stacking platform. The shipping drock has a capacity of ten freight cars u,nder roof and has ample space for storing lumber found above or below gradd.

Railrcad Serves Entire Yard

The yard has streets thirty-five feet wide with a standard gatige track laid with sixty pound rail, extending dowrl the ienter -of each street. While it may detract from the svrnrnetry'ot ttt. yard, it has been found advisable to place siacks with their -r'tails" toward the street. Alleywayd ten feet wide separate the stack at the rear, allowing plenty of air space. The streets and alleys are North and South, with'the stacks placed East and West, giving the prevailins South winds free access betwe,en the layers. The stack boltoms are so built that there is also an abundance of free air space under the stacks.

The gen,eral plan and construction of the yard is- of particular interest, and all who have seen it have voiced the opinion that it is the last word in the care of hardwood himber. There will be no loose sticks or loose lumber at any time about the yard, and-at no.time will there be more thin four rnen at work on the yard, and 'these men conL sist of t,he locomotive crane cnew.

The fouridations are all of concrete, and the stringers are steel raild cut to sixteen foo-t lengths and embedded in the concrete base. Each pair of foundations measures ten feet in width, accommodating two four foot stacks with two feet of air space between. The outside blocks of each foundation are single, twelve ,by fifteen inch totps, while the inside on€s are double, fifteen by thirty-six inch tops, and car,rv the two ortside rails of the two stacks. Four feet of sbace is allowed between each set of foundationb. The rear block is sixteerr inches above the ground and the front block thirty-two inches high, conforming to the standard pitch of one inch to the foot. furing the time this yard waq building many -operators both pin6 and hardwoodf who visited the plant, voiced some doubi as to'the abilitv of the crane crew of four men to stack the product of iuoh a large mill, and send in sufficient quanlity of stock to the loatling platform, but it has been demonsirated by actual experience that the plan is a feasible one, and it works admirably in every particular.

To the buyer of hardwood lum'ber the arrangernent and construction- of the Voth yardr is perhaps the most important thing about the plant. Plenty of ail .space and nar' iow piles and complete elimination of rotting stock bottoms means a well cared for stock. With the assurance that the lurnber will have every oplportun'ity to dry thoroughly and flat, guarantees a product {rom. this yard that cannot be excelled. Expe,rim,ents already conducted to ascertain the drying properties of the yard and yard arrangements have proven beyond a doubt that the plans of those designing the yard have not miscarried.

M,oore,Dry Kilns Are Used

The dry kiln equipment consists of four units of Moore Moist Air Dry Kilns with a total drying capacity of two hundred thousand feet, or daily output of twenty-five thousand feet. T,trese kilns will 'be used exclusively for the drying of sap gum and magnolia direct from the saw bringing it down to the weight of air dried stock that has been yarded for four or five months, and turning it out'bright and flat. In order to insure the flat drying of the top layers of each stack, short steel rails are placed every two feet on top of the stack. No attqmpt has been made to atrtain the low moist content required for'factory use as the full capacity of the kilns is required for handling the gneen stock.

The storage warehouse for this kiln dried stock extends from the rear of the dry kilns to the loadring track. This affords ample storage ,room for the surplus kiln dried stock and also perrdits 'the kiln trucks to be rolled down to the shipping tracks where the lumber can be loaded into c,ars without rehandling.

In connection with the sawm,ill a fully equipped planing mill is in operation. This mill can resaw, rip or d,ress in accordance with the demands of the mlarke't.

'Ihe mill site at Voth is particularly advantageous. It is served by two railroads-the{ Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific. It also has a deep water connection with t,he, P,ort of Beaumont. The Voth Company owns a fleet of barges and tttgs, so that any stock for export can be load'ed at the mill wharves and transported to ship side withou't any further rehandling, insuring export customers against damage in handling and shippjng.

Special Departmeurt for Sales

Hardwood sales will be handled by a special ha.rdwood department of the Kirby-Bonner Lumber Company which company is sales agent for all of the Kirby Comparnies, and as the hardwood production is increased the hardwood sales d'epa.rtmnnt will be augmented so as to place the sales of hardwood in the hand,s of experienced hardwood salesmen. With this complete segregation of hardwood operations and sales from pine ,operations and sales the KirbyBonner Lum,ber Company will be able to serve the hardwood buyer efliciently and completely.

It will be the endeavor of the h.ardwood department to build up fo'r its pr'oduct the same enviable reputationt that has been so long maintain,ed by the pine department, a,nd they' confidently expect that it will not be m,any years before the extpression, "Is It As Good As Kirby's?" will lbe as merited for the hardwood product as,it has been for the pine.