Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-11-02

hecn working Tor SIX years. llglnt'T
of little-known branch of government, the forest
products laboratory, situated at Madison Wis.
Mr. Hallauer and his associates hope to teach this
country how to save two billions of dollars
nually
He is confident that II can be done: that is. that
the annual cut of wood. now valued ut two bill
lions can he made into articles of which ut
present prices would bring double that amount
II is a man-size job. but the confident engineer
points proudly tn unbelievaby vast economies al
ready effected in the wood trades through the
work of the forest products labOratOry's chemists
They In such terms that II would be hard to
tabulate the exact savings. hut there is little
doubt that they run over S1OOO0O0OO year.
Few persons outside the wood trades know of
the laboratory. the first of Its kind ever TO
tabshed. but which has been initiated in num-
Der of countries since il began operation. lis
annual appropriation is small for the work Ii
does; something less than 100000.
The laboratory is now looked upon to the
paper situation of the country and 1t cheerfully
tackles the job Only recently announcement was
made I'm Washington that the laboratory had dis
covered that good grades of paper be made
from a number of far Western woods and that
Wisconsin paper mills were already ordering
trainloads Of wood chips from the West for paper
pulp The cost of freight to Wisconsin is more
than offset by the cheapness of the chips, and the
paper thus made is expected to prove a consider
A visitor who leaves Mr.. Hallauer scarce
ly believe that there is anything which cannot be
made from wood
How about the cabled story that the Germans
have discovered food they make from wood
which they feeding To Russian prlsonersT
was the first question asked.
almost surely not true" he said. "The hui
man stomach cannot stand it. 1t is possible to
convert sawiust into cattle food and that was
probably the foundation for the story"
But Germany from her forests is obtaining such
great results that IT, English writer recently
suggested impractlcally. England were to destroy
Germany's forests, the would surely end
very soon. Artificial cotton Is one Of the things
which are being supplied from wood. Paper shirts
also being used, but then Japan is supplying
these to the Russian soldiers.
! Germany has been driven to extreme use Of her
! forests by necessity. but country with the ex-
ception Of Germany has made such systematic
effort at developing forest products as the United
States.
/ Charcoal for the manufacture Of black gun
powders Is being obtained from dogwOOd willow
and alder. Great quantities of alcohol and ether
are made from imported mOasses. but II we were
cut off from this raw material we could depend
upon the forests. Alcohol could also be made from
grain but In war times grain would he required
for food. 1t Is estimated that during the present
year 4O00O.OOO gallons of denatured alcohol will
be used Mt home, while huge quantities are being
exported
The use Of wood for gunstocks is generally ia
mar Our supply of seasoned black walnut. the
most suitable wood for the purpose has been en-
tirely exhausted by the heavy demands Of Europe
Heretofore the practice has been to let gunstOck
material air season for months before II would
be worked up. Time became so important that
artificial seasoning was resOrted to. but improper
methods destroyed too much Of the material.
The forest products laboratory has now per-
fected dry kilns which overcome the trouble. and
as further aid is perfecting methods Of using
other woods notably birch. for gun stock. Then
there is the near relative of the gun stock, the
wooden leg. making heavy demands for willow.
Millions of feet of lumber and heavy tmberS are
required in times for structural purposes.
such as the erection of docks. bridges, trenches
and temporary shelters.
DiSnfectants q necessity They can
be made from wood. Pure wood alcohol Is the
only substance that be converted into for
maldehyde. universally used for dsinfectOn
against such contagious diseases rs smallpox,
scarlet fever. diptheria and tuberculosis. 1t is
also used TO prevent crop diseases by dsinfectng
the seeds.
But the Importance of forest products for war
supplies in no way compares with their import
ance for industries The largest of these are the
lumber. pulp and paper naval stores and dis
tillatlon industries. They employ more than
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