Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1922-01-12
iNvENTS LUMBER
DRYING PROCESS
Nv. III. MASON, NEPHEW. OF
| WALTER ALEXANDER,
WINS ATTENTION

management of the WauSau Southern
Lumber company of Laurel, Miss, has
taken another step in the improve
ment of that company's lumber by in
stalling plant, invented and devel-
oped by w. HI. Mason, now of Laurel,
which removes the pitch and dries the
lumber at the same time, raising the
grades and recovering byproducts of
rosint turpentine and pine oilv
With this paragraph the American
Lumberman begins description of
the pitch extracting process invented
recently By w. III. Mason, now of Lau-
rel, Miss, formerly of Wausau, a
nephew of Walter Alexander and a
son-in-law of Mrs. F. G. Dana, of this
city.
Mr. Mason, who has been expert
menting on and developing this pro-
cess for the last two years, has now
demonstrated the success of these ex-
periments in actual operation of the
plan. at Laurel, which has been treat
ing approximately 5000 feet daily for
the last two months, with entire sue
cess, the Lumberman continues.
An Engineer
Mr.. Mason is a mechanical engineer
who completed his work at Cornell
University in 1899. For many years
he was associated with Thos A. Edi-
son, at Orange, N. j., as his general
engineer Mr.. Mason's experience has
been varied and interesting, he hav-
ing constructed and operated many
plants for Mr.. Edison, some of them
being cement plants, synthetic phenol
plants, crushing operations, chemical
plants and plants for the extraction
of zenzol, tuluol, xylol, solvent naptha
and napthaline from the destructive
distillation of coal. During the war
Mr.. Mason was general superintendent
OF construction of the Merchants
Ship Building corporation at Bristol,
Pa, with 5000 men under his super
vision. The. Bristol yards, construct
ed by Mr.. Mason, were said to be
eighty per cent efficient in comparison
with some of the other yards which
We're estimated to be only thirty per
cent efficient. In addition, the Bris-
tol yards were reported to be the
cleanest piece of construction work
of any of the governments ship yards
This new process of Mr. Mason's
can be worked most econ omically with
the kiln process the American Lum-
.
now been in successful operation for
approximately a year and has proved
its value beyond a doubt in the better
drying of more lumber besides pro-
curing many thousands gallons of tur-
pentine and pine oil.
Long Leaf Cut
sit is estimated by observation in
several mills that five to seven per
cent of the long leaf cut should be
treated by Mr.. Mason's process either
for the purpose of raising the grade
of the pieces treated or for the re-
covery of the byproducts Unfortu-
nately, most of this lumber comes
from the butt log which is otherwise
good, clear lumber and which can
by the removal of the pitch be grad
ed into the top grades.
Mr.. Mason by his turpentine SOL
vent process, removes seventy to nine
ty per cent of the pitch, depending on
the nature Of the wood. Such pitch
as does remain, in most cases, cannot
be detected by observation, and this
lumber is under treatment for ap-
proximately twelve hours and when
removed from the treatment retort is
dry and ready for the planer. Not
withstanding this rapid drying, the
lumber on being removed, shows less
checking, warping, crupping, etc, than
the ordinary kiln dried stock and is
bright and free of pitch.
"In addition to the improvement in
the lumber an outstanding advantage
is the remarkable reduction in weight.
After repeated comparative tests on
duplicate boards, the results show that
the process decreases weight from
twenty to thirty per cent more than
kiln drying. Too much stress cannot
be put on the improvement of the
lumber as the distinct advantage in
this process over the ordinary dry
ing, so apparent that even a novice
cannot help but notice it."
Byproducts
Concerning the byproducts, the
Lumberman says: THE yield of by
products varies with the class of lum-
Der selected from the green chain, but
usually runs approximately 500
pounds to thousand board feet treat
ed. OF this about eighty per cent is
rosin and twenty per cent pine oil
and turpentine. In other words, the
usual recovery is about 400 pounds
of rosin and eight to twelve gallons
of turpentine and pine oil, per thous-
and board feet. With very fat lum-
ber yields of over thousand pounds
of rosin, and twenty-five gallons of
turpentine and pine oil. have been re-
covered.
"The very attractive returns from
one of these plants both in the inn
provement of the lumber and in the
recovery of the byproducts, make the
cost of installation merely nominal.
The cost of operation is extremely
small as the process requires only five
or six men to run plant"
The Lumberman emphasizes the
value of the byproducts realized from
Mr.. Mason's invention. "As a mat
ter of fact the uses are many and
varied Turpentine is used as thin
ner for paints, as an oxidizer for dry
ing oils in the manufacture of print
ing inks; in wood polishes and var
niShpg. in refining pptlOlpum. "a 2