The Opelousas courier., 1896-08-15
BICYCLE TIMBER.
VAST AMOUNT USED FOR THE
WHEELS WOOD RIM.
How 1t is Selected-The Domestic
Supply Threateningly Low-The
Best Varieties-New Woods
for the Trade.
HE constant destruction OF

III buBIJI Va ib4DSA " SANA
purposes is increased, rather than dl'
minished, by the marvellous growth Of
the bicycle trade. Probably just us
many fine carriages are made to-day as
ever, and since the manufacturers o.
lightweight bicycles have adopted
the wood rim for the wheels, the de:
mand for good carriage timber mas
been doubled. The wood rim OF c
wheel does not seem to require q great
amount of timber, but when it IS re
membered that every piece must be
carefully selected, and that only the
finest specimens of certain varieties Of
trees can be used in high grade bicy
cles, the consumption OF timber be
comes apparent.
Forest ash and white wood possess
the best qualities for fine earrings
work, while hickory, elm and birch
are used generally for special parts Of
the vehicle. Our forests of ash, hick'
DRY and elm are comparatively small,
and they ere diminishing every year,
although white wood is still quite
plentiful. But the supply of this tim
Der for the carriage trade cannot be
measured by the acre, for in n tract
of woodland probably not more than q
dozen trees fit for this trade can be
found.
The forester who grows ash for the
carriage trade, or the lumberman who
harvests it. must necessarily be an ex.
pert at his business, and he goes
through forests and upland woods to
select individual trees as carefully as
a man would select a horse. Gener-
ally the best forest ash trees are not
found in the open glades nor in exten.
sive forests OF these trees. They are
found in the best condition in woods
where other varieties of trees abound,
scattered here and there where nature
planted them. The most important
test that the woodsman makes after he
takes in the whole tree with his eyes
is the so-called bark test. 1t is almost
impossible to explain this test, for it
is something that must be learned by
experience. By the general appear
ance of the outside bark, and many
little signs underneath it, the expert
decides whether the tree is still grow
ing, or whether it has reached matu-
rity, and is on the decline. The car
riage trade requires trees that are
thoroughly matured, healthy, and Wig
orous.
All the choice timber of the carriage
and bicycle trade has to be selected
when the trees are growing, for when
they are cut up into logs it is impossi-
BILE to determine the period of growth
at the time OF cutting. The sap dries
out in a month after being cut down,
and the trees may have been too young
for good carriage timber. In our
Northern States the experts generally
go into the woods in August, but in
the Southern States a few weeks later.
The trees selected are marked by chip
ping off the bark at certain places.
From November to January they hre
cut, the markers going into the wtaods
again to identity their marks.
Tharfast manufacturers of bicy Giles
seleG, their timber in the same way.
The wood rims of a bicycle require
just as much strength, residence and
toughness as the spoke and hubs of a
carriage. The best forest ash probably
makes the most satisfactory rims, and
a close-grsined hickory, properly
cured and bent, gives about equally
good results. The coarse-grained
hickory is heavier than the fine grained,
but when put to the test the lighter
wood sustains from ten to fifteen per
cent. greater weight without breaking.
Saving, seasoning and testing the
wood for bicycle rims and carriage
spokes, hubs and braces are all scien-
tiically pursued, but they all fail to
secure proper timber if in the begin
ming the trees are not properly Sc
lected.
Without any of the preconceived
notions of the carriage builders to
guide their experiments in o narrow
channel, the makers of high-grade BIZ
cycles have made wood rims of a great
variety of woods. They had no ex.
perience dating back a century to
teach them which varieties were the
best suited for their purpose. All they
could depend upon was scientific tests.
in respect to frmness, elasticity and
durability. When the wood rims first
came into use the best firms would not
guarantee them even for a year.
Many of them went to pieces inside of
three months, and the success of the
new experiment promised to be futile.
The final introduction of the wood
rims was made only after a series of
tests and Experiments which convinced
the manufacturers that they would
last. The life of a good wood rim is
just as long as of anyother part of the
wheel. There are rims, however,
made out OF cheap woods, poorly sea-
soned woods, and those that have
flaws in them, that will not last very
long, In addition to strength, firm
less of grain and elasticity, the manu-
tacturers Of bicycle rims require wood
that will resist the wearing effects of
metal. The steel spokes enlarge the
holes in the wood rims, and soon make
the machine rattle. Locust is one of
the beat woods to resist the wear of
metal. The old locust pins used in
farm wagons have lasted for half q
generation. These pins were en-
ployed to connect the shafts with the
frame of the wagon, and the strain on
them was as great as the wearing
effect. ANY old carriage-builder
knows that such well.seasoned locust
pin, cut QUITO the heart Of the tree,
will outlast an iron pin. Ash is nat.
urally a ~favorite wood for the bicycle