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N the atmosphere of the modern trade

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association that has been conceived in righteousness and brought forth in the spirit of progress, the best instead of the worst that is in every man is called into action. Perhaps this is one reason why the fellowship that one finds in a real modern association does so much to smother suspicion, to inspire mutual confidence and to call into play the constructive talents of every man who mingles frankly with his fellows and thereby finds that his once hated competitor is of like clay with himself and is neither a brigand, a bandit nor a pirate.

FORREST CRISSEY

At the Banquet of Furniture Manufacturers.

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ONE SOURCE OF VARNISH GUMS

The Kauri Trees and the Kauri Mines of New Zealand---How Gum From Kauri Pine Trees is Gathered---The Extent of the Industry and Exports

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By W. D. HORNADAY

ROM the region of New Zealand, which was formerly covered with great prehistoric forests of kauri pine, is obtained a gum which has been a large source of profit to that country.. Kauri gum, as the product is called, is the resin of the kauri pine, a tree which is indigenous to the Aukland province. The tree is a giant in size, its height often being from 120 to 160 feet and its diameter from five to twelve feet. While most of the kauri gum is obtained by digging from the ground where it is found in fossilized form, there are still in existence large standing forests of the pine, which is a large source of timber supply for the Dominion.

Several thousand years ago the kauri pine flourished over a large part of the North Island, which is now a barren waste. These forests were destroyed by fire or volcanic disturbance, it is believed, and with the passing of time the fallen and scarred timbers were buried beneath the surface of the ground. The kauri pine contains an exceedingly large percentage of resinous matter, which oozes from the tree from even slight wounds. When scarred by the falling of another tree, the resin flows from the pine's wounds and collects in large quantities. With the destruction of the forests in ages past, the gum was formed and later most of it became fossilized. Practically all of the kauri gum produced in New Zealand is the fossil product, although a considerable quantity is obtained by tapping the live trees. They are of very slow growth. Scientists have calculated that a fully matured kauri pine takes from 400 to 500 years to reach its maximum size.

The first kauri gum was exported to the United States in 1846 by the captain of an American sailing vessel. Unable to obtain a cargo for his ship, the skipper filled the hold with the amber-colored substance, which he obtained from the native Maoris of New Zealand. He carried the strange product to Boston, where for two years he tried to dispose of the gum. Experiments made with the substance led to the discovery that it was suitable as an ingredient in the manufacture of high-grade varnishes. This discovery was the beginning of an important trade. Since 1853 there has been exported from New Zealand approximately $85,000,000 of the product.

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annual production amounts to about $2,500,000. were exported in 1912 8,014 tons, of which 3,964 tons went to the United States and the remainder to Europe. The price paid in Aukland, which is the exporting point and concentrating center for the gum, ranges from $25 per ton for the lowest grade of dark dusk to $1,800 per ton for the highest grade of bright scraped gum. The average value of the product is about $375 per ton.

Approximately 914,000 acres of the North Island are covered by the gum fields. The Dominion government owns 500,000 acres of this tract. The remainder of the lands are owned and controlled by private interests. The greater part of the gum produced in New Zealand is dug from the government-owned lands. For a nominal fee of $5 a perpetual permit may be obtained which gives the digger the right to produce and sell for his own benefit as much of the product as he can mine from the ground. The permit does not restrict the holder to any one locality, but he is free to work on any portion of the government lands and to move from place to place at will.

The work is hard, but the profits to the diggers usually run high. The average weekly return will probably range around $15, but expert diggers are often able to clear from $40 to $50 per week. Sometimes a digger may strike a large pocket of gum and he will be able to mine in a day more gum than he ordinarily gathers in a month's time. Notwithstanding the opportunity offered in the way of large profits, the average laborer of New Zealand is not attracted to the gum fields. They find the work too hard for their tastes, and the digging is carried on almost exclusively by Austrians. There are about 6,000 of them in New Zealand, and they form the only foreign element found here. For the reason that they confine themselves almost exclusively to the gum fields and therefore do not come in competition with the organized laborers, the unionist element, which is a very strong factor in government affairs, has made no attempt to exclude these Europeans. All other classes of foreigners immigrating into this country are viewed with extreme disfavor by the laboring element.

A peculiar feature of the gum producing industry is the fact that large capital has played no part in the devel

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of gum is found in swamp lands. Owing to the fact that it is necessary to drain off the water before digging, these parts of the fields have been but little exploited. There are also available the living trees, whose resin is more valuable than the fossilized product for the reason that it is free from foreign substances. The government has taken steps to conserve the standing kauri forests and has also established a system of reforestation.

It has been found that a large part of the worked over lands from which the gum has been dug is suitable for agriculture and dairying. The government is attempting to settle these lands, which have been divided into small tracts that may be homesteaded upon much the same plan that was used in settling up the Western plains of the United States. The Austrian diggers especially are being encouraged to settle upon the worked over tracts.

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Expense Saved by Bonus

BY M. A. OLIVER

TRAIGHT piece work makes inspection necessary. Rates are usually set with such judgment that the operator may do his task well and yet earn some increase over day wage. Laxity of inspection tends to make the quality of workmanship lower, while rigid inspection may offset the gain for increased production. In a large kitchen cabinet factory, for instance, a force of thirty cabinet-makers made it necessary to have two inspectors. Then the trouble and expense of trucking defective work amounted to a good expense item. The men knew that they had to repair, on their own time, any work rejected by the inspectors. This, however, did not tend to lessen the natural tendency of a man to take a big chance in the hope of increasing his earnings. A little sawdust and wax, or putty, covered the defect in the wood and the cabinet was sent on its way.

When the number of rejected cabinets reached around forty a day it was thought time to put in a reform. This led to the posting of a notice to the effect that the man who had the least number of "returns" for a month would receive a cash prize, and the man who had the largest total during the busy season would be the first one laid off when the slack season arrived.

At the end of two weeks after the posting of this notice the number of returned cabinets was reduced to two a day. The cabinet-maker who won the bonus the first two months had only three defective cabinets charged against him. The incentive of prize money caused the best workers to put forth their efforts towards high grade workmanship, while the poorest workmen were spurred by the fear of being laid off during the slack season. Since greater care was taken and more honest workmanship induced, it was soon found possible to dispense with one inspector and one truck laborer.

When the case was finished the man's number was written on the back and covered with a small paper sticker in order to prevent any discrimination or favoritism on the part of the cabinet inspector.

This bonus to the cabinet men worked so well that a notice was later posted in the trimming room to the effect that the company had decided to offer a premium each month to the trimmer who did the best work and had the least number of boxes returned to him by the inspector. This would include not only fitting the doors, but the way the trimmings were put on and the marring of cases, which was done frequently by letting the screwdriver slip off, driving screws crooked, and the sliding of doors and drawers across the tops and fronts of the cabinets. The same arrangements were made as to the laying off

of the man who had the most boxes returned. It was only a short time before the quality of the work was greatly increased without any decrease in the amount turned out. This is one instance where a bonus system was found vastly superior to any straight piece work plan that could be used.

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Sanitation and Safety

BY EMIL ANDERSON

FEW weeks ago I happened to be in the shops of a large company and heard a lecturer talk on "First Aid and Safety First." The company gave the hour from 11 to 12 o'clock to any workman who cared to hear him, and most of them took advantage of the opportunity. No doubt most of them got and appreciated a great deal of valuable information. He showed how to stop bleeding, how to deal with a fractured imb, and other things. But what impressed me as much as anything was his statement that carbolic acid and peroxide of hydrogen are now considered of little value, but that the most valuable medicament is iodine.

Being somewhat in doubt as to this statement, I made inquiries of a few reputable physicians and surgeons and learned that the lecturer spoke truthfully. It is the simple things in this world that confound the mighty. We are just beginning to fully appreciate the value of fresh air, and yet it is the same air that has surrounded the earth ever since time began. We have been thinking all these years that chemical impurities made bad air, and now we know that all there is to ventilation is motion, moisture and the temperature of the air.

So in the field of surgery ever since the time of Lister we have been trying to find some ideal antiseptic, something to make the field of operation germ free. Every known germicide or antiseptic has been used, and the laboratories have been trying to create some new, wonderful, non-toxic agent of universal application. Yet from slight accidents in factories and elsewhere we are ever having infection, stitch abcesses, lock jaw and other evidences of germ poisoning.

All of the time we have been passing by what has since proved to be in practice the ideal antiseptic-iodine. Now, although it is scarcely five years since it was first used, it is to be found in all first class operation rooms in the world.

Surgery is not a subject for a wood-working paper, but the cleansing of wounds is a very important subject and because it is possible for every workman to have a bottle of iodine on hand this subject is treated briefly here. The reader may be interested to know that iodine is found in sea weed and is made from kelp. It has found its way into the treatment of all kinds of first aid injuries. These include compound fractures, cuts, bruises and wounds of all kinds. It seems destined to drive out of the field of first aid use carbolic acid, peroxide, bi-chloride of mercury and all the others.

It has many things that commend it to common use. It has a distinctive color which prevents it from being used for anything else, and thus less mistakes are apt to occur. It is not poisonous and is cheap. It has proved to be the best antiseptic known to the present age and every workman, no matter how remote may be the danger of an accident, should have a bottle close at hand. Of course, in the case of a serious accident the victim must have other treatment, but often a small scratch will become infected and result in a case of blood poisoning. These may be eliminated from every factory in the country if the operator himself will put an application of iodine on the slight scratches he receives that seem nothing to him.

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