Pueblo chieftain., 1921-01-10
MAKING WOOD Do MORE WORK

during the war experiments conducted
at the laboratory In making water re-
sistant Clues and in the use of ply
wood saved the War Department s.
100000. Investigations made at tho la
boratory during the past year in the
use OF cotton hull fiber and second
cut cotton linters for pulp have made
available 100000 tons OF material for
this purpose Plants for making paper
pulp out of this new material have
been established. with a total capacity
OF 800 tons day, and the annual sales
values Of their product is SIS. 900. 900.
Tho laboratory has made study OF
the methods OF taking turpentinc from
pine trees, with the result that me-
thods have come into use which yield
more turpentine and destroy less TIM
ber. The average annual saving re-
sulting from this work is $4,000. 900 per
year. In these and other ways the
laboratory claims to have increased
production and decreased waste to the
amount of at least S30.0o0,ooo n year.
What the laboratory asks is that a
small percentage OF the wealth which
1t has created be given back to it for
doing new constructive work. The
tasks that await 1t are far larger and
more important than those It has done.
Tho field in which IT works in the
first place is an enormous one. The
lumber and wood-using industries in
this country represent an Investment
of 81, 900 900. 600. they employ about
million people, they are first among
the nations industries in the number
of employees and second in the invested
capital and in the annual value of their
products. Our civilization is built of
wood as much az of steel, and there
Is no substitute for wood in most of
the ways 1t is used. We face a con-
stant dwindling of the source of sup
ply. The economical use of wood is
second in Importance among indus
| trial problems only to the establish
| ment OF a sound forest policy.
Waste Of Wood
And we waste wood from the time
| the tree is cut until tho finished pro-
| duct is put on the market. Logging
operations in the woods are enormously
wasteful. losses in the seasoning of
wood in this country are estimated at
$50. .0oO, COO. annually. The use of pre-
servative processes on ties, poles, posts.
| piling, mine timbers, shingles, lumber
and other wood exposed to the weather
would save the country about 75.OOO,-
| 900 q year. Tho annual loss from fire
| in this country is about 5000. .000. 900 a
| year. A large part of this is in wooden
structures. and a large part of 1t could
| DO avoided by the use of fre-retarding
| paints and compounds and fre-resis tin s
construction. With the county fac
| ing a paper shortage which is rapidly
putting books beyond the reach of all
but the well-to-do. 80 per cent of the
wood fed into the pulp digcsters is
now lost in tho waste sulphite liquors.
These are only some OF the problems
which the wood-using Industries face.
All OF these wastes are In some do
gree unavoidable. Tne ways of avoid
| ing most of them are already known
in theory, have been demonstrated ex-
perimentally. What is needed is fur
ther experiment to perfect and stan
dardize methods, and TO put them on
a. commercial basis. This is the real
constructive work of industry. 1t is
tho work which advances our indus
trial technology as a nation. 1t is the
work which enables us 10 compete
more effectively with other nations.
1t is the work which tends ultimately
to add to the wealth and leisure oi
every man by perfecting the control
| OF the human race over nature.
This work calls for endowed scien.