Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-20

When YOU think Of furniture you
think Of Grand Rapids, Mich, don
you"
OF course you do. Just as when you
think Of cotton goods. you think OF
Fail River. Mass
But isn't there a chance-just
bare chance-that you are being
fooled2 That massive. highly polished,
solid mahogany sideboard-can you
find the makers name anywhere OF
it2 Probably you can not, ana II not,
how do you know II came from the
Michigan city, just as likely as not
the piece was built right here IN At
lanta.
Atlanta haR several really large fur
n4ture concerns one Of them, the
Southern Furniture Company. out
Marietta street, devotes its efforts al
most exclusively TO high grade dining
room and bedroom sets About $50
men are employed the year around,
turning out dining room tables, writ
ing desks china closets, sideboards,
beds, dressers, chiffoniers, dressers
and washstands
Follow Colonial Models
For the most part these are faithful
copies Of old colonial pieces, and solid
mahogany and solid oak are the
woods most IN fhNoT.
The day Of veneers and Of fancy
carvings is gone, It seems. Dignity OF
line. sober finish, with the richness all
IN the material-this IS the policy to-
day.
Stacked in the factory yards are
mahogany and oak in the rough,
worth, in the aggregate. several hun
dred thousand dollars. Otto Schwab,
the vice president, points out a very
ordinary looking stack, about the col
or OF a cigar box There's 100000
worth Of Mexican mahogany" he re-
marks. 1T is worth from $3.50 to $500
per 1 900 feet Roughly. I should say
that mahogany Is worth three times
as much as oak"
When the lumber arrives in At
lanta Il must remain in the stacks a
year, to insure perfect seasoning.
Even after that, It goes to the dry
kiins.
From the dry k'lns Il goes to a man
who saws II into proper lengths.
Waste Manufacturers Bane.
Here is the man who can break
any furniture factory" said MT.
Schwab. "IIc has in his mind all the
different lengths useful in the plant
and Il Is his business to cut every
plank to the best advantage. II he
does not, there Is terrible waste, and
waste iS the bane OF every manufac-
turer's existence"
Sized and sorted as II comes from
the kiln. the lumber is ripped" into
proper widths. Then It IS loaded on
trucks and starts its path through the
wood working machines Everything
is in order. The sawdust and shaw
ingR are sucked up by great fans and
carried straight back to the furnace
fires. Loose blocks are not allowed 10
mess up the floors The lumber moves
from machine to machine on trucks
II never has 10 be rehandleG. Pieces
are stacked In departments as care
fully as good business house files its
letters. so that a workman need not
waste time in searching for any par
ticular thing he wants.
Ssndpaper on Belta
Every appliance is up to the minute
There are. for instance, sanding ma
chimes" where sandpaper betting
whizzes necessarily. In one machine
this sandpaper belt is so arranged a;
to sandpaper tho entire top OF z
dresser or sideboard OF table at one
operation. a skillful workman In
creasing or decreasing the pressure a
the exact points desired
Another sandpaper belt Kisses owe
= flexible pillow and by resting odd
shaped bits on this pillow. curved ia
BILE legs and the like are made smootl
and ready for the vanishing proc
esEes.
Four and five coats OF varniSh ar
necessary before the final coat 4
applied. Each coat must be Above,
to dry, then be sandpapered befor
the next is applied. This takes sew
eral weeks When all this is done
each piece stands from three to fou