THE SEMt.WEEKLV TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE. NEBRASKA,
SEES TASK FOR UNITED STATES
Forest Products Labora
tory hopes to bring about
a saving of two billion dollars
a year it's a rather neat saving!
AID the CIiIciiko nork tmcker: "We
make our money by saving everything
l)iit tho BqucnI."
Says Frank J. Hiillnuor: "The WQod
Industries are going to go tho pork
packers one better; they are going to
save everything, Including the hark."
And It Ih to teach the wood IndUBtry
how to do this that Mr. Hallauer has
hcen working for six oars. Engineer
of n little-known branch of government, tho forest
products laboratory, situated at Madison, Wis.,
Mr. Ilnlluucr and his associates hope to teach this
country how to snvo two billions of dollars an
nually. Ilo Is confident that It can ho done; that Is, that
the nnnunl cut of wood, now valued at two bil
lions, can bo made Into articles of use which at
present prices would bring double that amount.
It Is n mnn-slzo Job, hut tho confident engineer
point proudly to unbelievably vast economies al
ready effected In tho wood trades through tho
work of the forest products laboratory's chemists.
They nre In such terms that It would bo hard to
tnbulnto the oxnet savings, hut there Is little
doubt that they run over 5100,000,000 a year.
Pew persons outsldo tho wood trades know of
tho laboratory, tho first of Its kind ever to bo es
tablished, but which has been Imltnted In a num
ber of countries slnco It began operation. Its
annual appropriation Is small for tho work It
does; something less than $200,000.
Tho laboratory Is now looked upon to savo tho
paper situation of tho country, nnd It cheerfully
tackles tho Job. Only recently announcement was
inndo In Washington that tho laboratory had dls
covered that good grndes of paper can bo mado
from a number of far Western woods and that
Wisconsin paper mills wero already ordering
tralnloads of wood chips from tho West for paper
pulp. Tho cost of freight to Wisconsin Is more
than offset by tho cheapness of tho chips, and tho
paper thus mado la expected to provo n consldor
nolo fnctor In relieving tho paper famine.
A visitor' who leaves Mr. Hallauer can scarce
ly believe that thero Is anything which cannot bo
mado from wood.
"How about tho cabled story that tho Germans
Imvo discovered a food they can make from wood
which they are feeding to Russian prisoners?"
was tho first question asked.
"Almost Biircly not true," ho said. "Tho Im
uran stomach cannot stand It. It Is posslblo to
convert sawdust Into cattlo food, and that was
probably tho foundation for tho story."
But Germany from her forests Is obtaining such
great results that If, as an English writer recently
suggested Imprnctlcally, Englnnd wero to destroy
Germany's forests, tho war would surely end
very soon. Artificial cotton Is ono of tho things
which ore being supplied from wood. Paper shirts
nro also being used, but then Japan Is supplying
theso to the Russian soldiers.
Germany has been driven to extreme uso of hor
forests by necessity, hut no country with tho ex
ception of Germany has mado such n systematic
effort nt dovcloplng forest products nn tho United
States.
i .Charcoal for tho mnnufacturo of black gun
powders Is being obtained from dogwood, willow
and aider. Great quantities of alcohol and ether
ro mado from Imported molasses, but If wo wero
cut off from this raw material wo could depend
upon tho forests. Alcohol could also bo made from
grain, hut In war times grain would bo required
tor food. It Is estimated that during tho present
year 40,000.000 gallons of denatured alcohol will
t)o used nt homo, while hugo quantities aro being
exported.
Tho use of wood for guustocks Is generally fa
miliar. Our supply of seasoned blnck wnlnut, tho
most sultnblo wood for the purpose, has teen en
tirely exhausted by the heavy demands of Europe.
Ileretoforo the practice has been to let gunstock
material nlr season for months beforo It would
lie worked up. Time became so Important that
Artificial seasoning was resorted to, but Improper
methods destroyed too much of tho material.
The forest products laboratory has now per
fected dry kilns which overcome tho trouble, and
us a further aid Is perfecting methods of using
othor woods, notably birch, for gun stock. Then
thero Is tho near relative of the gun stock, tho
wooden leg, making heavy demands for willow.
Millions of feet of lumber and heavy timbers aro
required In war times for structural purposes,
wucli ns tho erection of docks, bridges, trenches
and temporary shelters.
Disinfectants are now a necessity. They can
ho mado from wood. Pure wood alcohol Is tho
only substatico that can bo converted Into for
maldehyde, universally used for disinfection
against Mich contagious diseases as smallpox,
HCililct fever, dlptherlu nnd tuberculosis. It Is
also used to prevent crop discuses by disinfecting
tho seeds.
Hut tho Importnuco of forest products for war
supplies In no way compares with their Import
ance for Industries. Tho largest of theso are tho
lumber, pulp, and paper, naval Btores and dis
tillation Industries. They employ moro than
JSfiS?bV0rtJWO OF COLLECTflG
l.Ouu.tiun miners. Their products are val-
ued at $12,000,000,000 annually.
Tho most promising and novel developments In
tho lino of by-products from wood aro In the na
ture of chemical utilization. It might bo said that
the chemists of tho forest products laboratory
havo put tho prod to forest products. The lumber
Industry draws upon tho forests for many times
ns much material as do all the other Industries,
and only about one-third of tho tree cut for lum
ber Is actually put on tho market In thnt shape.
Itlght here Is moro than enough waste, although
not often In tho right form or readily nvallablo, to
supply raw material for all tho other Industries.
Tho problem now becomes ono of ndoptlng means
of utilization to suit the conditions. Yenrs ago
wood ashes wero leached for homo soap-making,
to furnish potash. Tho practlep disappeared. It
Is now being revived nB a source of potash to off
set tho shortage of fertilizer duo to tho war.
In the Red River vnlley of Texas the Indians
used to use Osago orango for dyeing, but that
wood never gained commercial recognition ns n
dyewood. Within the last year, however, we havo
succeeded In getting It Into tho market as a sub
stitute for fustic, which wo Import from Jamaica
and Tehuantcpec, and moro than $1,000,000 worth
of these dyes Is now being made by American
manufacturers.
Tho forest products laboratory has Just com
pleted an analysis of tho oils which can bo ob
tained from tho needles or leaves of all the conif
erous trees of tho country. From n number of
species tho oils obtained havo very attractive
odors; other oils can be used In greases nnd shoo
blackings. In Europe tho finer needle oils nre
used as perfumes In soaps; others aro used for
inhalations for lung diseases.
It has been working on tho production of nlco
hol from wood for five years. It has succeeded In
WOOD DUTLLATJON LABORATORY
lowering the cost of production and raised the
yield to such a point that the Introduction of this
alcohol as a motor fuel seems likely, particularly
with gasollno going up as It has been. As Mark
Twain said, "What chance has prohibition when
a mnn can take a ripsaw and got drunk on a fence
rail or drink the legs off the kitchen table?"
Western larch has an unusually high percent
age of galactan, which it Is believed can be con
verted Into a fermentable sugar for use In making
grain alcohol. This same galactan In oxidation
yields large quantities of muric acid, and murlc
acid can take tho plnce of tartaric acid In the
mnnufacturo of baking powder. A number of lum
bermen recently visited the laboratory nnd one of
the chemists made baking powder from wood, and
his wife mado biscuit with It. Another ndvunce is
the preparation of a line, sweet sirup from galac
tose, a sugar derived from galactan. So if the
people of Montana, tho home of tho Western larch,
get hard pressed they can make their flapjacks
with larch baking powder, bake them over a
stove heated with larch alcohol and sweeten them
with larch sirup.
Converting cellulose obtained from wood into a
gelatinous material known ns a viscose opens up
another Held for research and adds a new line of
products running all tho way from sausage cas
ings to tapestry. Five million dollars worth of
silk socks sold last year got their silk from wood,
as did many silk neckties and fancy braids. Prob
ably It won't ho long beforo the whims of tho silk
worm will have little control over silk market con
ditions. Kraft paper Is mado from sulphate pulp, nnd
tho method of making It came to this country
from Sweden ten years ago. Kraft Is much
stronger than other pnpers. It Is brown, like what
we usunlly think of as wrapping paper. Large
quantities of It nro used for that purpose and it
Is particularly suitable for large envelopes. Kraft
Is used for book covers, for imitation leather and
for enrdboard suitcases. An attempt Is being
made to produce a paper twine that will replace
tho binder twines now made from Imported
fibers. This question has become moro nctlve be
cause of tho recent shortage of theso other fibers
on account of tho conditions south of us. A suc
cessful paper substitute would provide for tho
utilization of a large amount of wood waste and
nt tho same time build up a homo Industry inde
pendent of foreign raw materials.
The problems put up to the laboratory to solve
are many and complex. Ono man In the frog busi
ness was suffering henvy losses from the death of
his tadpoles. Ho asked the laboratory to find out
If thero was anything In the wood which when
washed out poisoned the tadpoles.
Tho government chemists undertook to study
tho matter. They could not locnto the trouble, so
It wns put up to the section of timber tests. After
a few experiments It was found that the resonant
croaking of the largo frogs produced vibrations In
the boards of tho tanks. The vibrations wero
transmitted through tho water to the ganglia of
the tadpoles (they have no brains), causing a dls
caso somewhat ukln to infantile paralysis.
Tho remedy was simple. The man was advised
to Bcparnto his tadpoles from his largo frogs, thus
confining the vibrations to tho older generations.
This was dono nnd the mortality among tho tad
poles decreased wonderfully.
8PY ON FRENCH CHILDREN.
One of tho most Interesting examples of how
specialized spy work Is Is shown by tho way Ger
many has her secret servlco organized In the con
quered portions of Belgium nnd northern France.
German olllcers have found by experience that
tho men nnd women who nro left do llttln talking
outside of selected groups where they know every
ono enn ho trusted. Hut, often, tho Invaders
learned, theso citizens forgot themselves when
they are tnlklng beforo their children. So Ger
many sent experienced schoolteachers, men and
woiiien whb understood child psychology and who
could speak French, to tho occupied cities and
towns to open French schools. When It Is possi
ble tho teachers win the good will of tho children,
and through tho Innocent boys and girls learn
whnt the parents are thinking nnd talking about
Carl W. Ackermnn In the Snturday Evening
Post.
AIRPLANE COMPASSES.
Of the thousands of Inventions relating to tho
war which havo been filed In the patent ofllces of
tho United States and tl:o countries of tho entente
allies In the last threo years many hnvo been for
compasses for nlrplancs. Tho points aimed nt par
ticularly have been tho elimination of errors that
result from tilting nnd banking. The problems are
complex and have been studied for yean, as tho
troubles worried users of compasses long beforo
airplanes came Into tho world.
The military value of a perfect compass for an
alrplano would be great. With such an Invention
flights on cloudy night would bo comparatively
safo and nvlators could reach predetermined ob
jectives without much regard to land bearings. At
present, when ho ennnot seo land or anything else,
the ttlrmnn practically has to feel his way to a
largo extent.
Summer Discussion.
"Whut's dem summer clothes you nil Is wcarln'T"
Inquired Mr. Ernstus Plnkley.
"Dat's Palum Reach suit."
"Pallum beach I Mebho 'tis. Rut It looks mo
like Coney Island to me."
Making vhe Useless Useful.
Cholly Er, I say -diss Ethol, I or hem
Ethel Oh, do yon. Then I'll set you to work
hemming sheets for tho soldiers. Boston Even
lug Transcript.
His Wife's Little Shct.
"I'm glnd you're over tho draft aw
"Why."
"Think how humlltntcd I should bo to hnvo w.
admit that I was dependent on your sl'.ngy mlc-
every week for my living." Detroit Free Prvtt.-'
Suro Way.
"What In a good way to get rid of anglo worms
in n garden?"
"The host way I know Is to plnn n Ashing trip.
Thero won't bo a worm there whon you go to look
for them."
Lands of untold wenlth, with
more hidden and interesting secrets
than tho human mind ever dreamed
Into fictional exlstence.a-cmnln for the
enterprise of the expfurer, snys Sir
Ernest Shnckelton, who braved the
dangers of the southern pole. In one
of the most Interesting interviews of
the entire war period he outlines whnt
things remnln to be done after tho
war, nnd how fnr tho daring Investi
gator of tho future may hope to go.
Sir Ernest is confident that when
the war is over the spirit of daring
and adventure that has brought men
from all lands to seek excitement on
the bnttlefleld will lead them to strike
for now trails, and to look for new
thrills in tho field of exploration.
For tho United States, he cut out
a program thnt Is vast. Her task, he
says, must be the exploration nnd de
velopment of Mexico. The man who
nearly lost his life In the smitlm
snows asserts that Mexico Is endowed with moro wealth than any other land
In the world, and that It Is for America to go Into tho treasure house and
turn the light of civilization upon her dazzling store.
Marvelous rivers lu Russia that havo hl(lden secrets a thousand miles
from tho sea, dense fastnesses in Africa that hold wealth and interest, nnd
forests nnd mountains in South America all have tho most glorious deposits
that can only be drnwn by the man who has the hardihood to brave tho dan
gers of the pioneer.
FAMED AS SOLDIER TRAINER
Sarcastic,
"Georgo knowB human nature all right."
"Why?"
"Yesterday ho Bald to mo: 'Has your wlfo
planned your vacation ot.' "
New Readlno.
"Tho old proverb says uneasy lies tho head that
wears n cr lwn." ,
"Yes, because It can't find a good way to cover
the lies up."
Brig. Gen. James Parker, com
mander Southern department, wns
born In New Jersey February 20, 185-1,
and appointed to the milltnry academy
from thnt stnto In 1872. In 1876 he
was made a second lieutenant in tho
Fourth cavalry, and 1ms Continued In
that arm of tho service except during
the Spanish-American war, when ho
served In the infantry, with increased
rank.
General Parker Is looked upon na
possibly the best trainer of troops In
the United Stntes army. During his
many years of active service ho has
probably trained more now men than
any other ollicer in the service, nnd in
a slmllnr capacity he is expected to
accomplish grunt results from the new
National army. He Is a medal of honor
man.
Ilo hns been stationed on tho
Mexicnn border for a number of years
nud until recently served under Gen
eral Bell at El Pnso, and did excellent work In suppressing rebel bands
operating In his command, no is commander at the Southern post, with
headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, Snn Antonio, Tex.
SLATED FOR BRIGADE COMMAND
Brig. Gen. Francis J. Kcrnan, as
sistant chief of staff, was born in Fiori
da, October 19, 1850, and appointed to
the military academy In 1877. Upon
his graduation in 1881 ho wns made a
second lieutenant and assigned to the
Infantry, In which nrm of the servlco
he has served continuously. He served
on the genernl staff from 1005 to 1009
and was assigned to the Army War col
lego In 1914.
Genernl Kcrnan is one of tho "war
generals" recently promoted when con
gress authorized tho raising of the Na
tional army and when Mnj. Gen. Hugh
L. Scott, chief of the general staff, was
placed at the head of tho military
mission sent to Russln, General Kcr
nan wns brought to Washington and
detailed as assistant to the acting
chief of staff, Major General Bliss.
General Kernan first commanded
recognition when serving us chief of
staff under Gen. Arthur MucArthur lu
the Philippine Islands, nnd slnco his service thero has been recognized ns a
most efficient ofllcer, nnd It Is predicted thnt when relieved of his present
detnll ho will bo placed In command of me of the bVlgndes to, bo sent to tho
battlefields of France. In thnt event those who servo with him "may be suro of
having nn efficient commander.
UNCLE SAM'S CJilEF MUSICIAN
Lieut. John Philip Sousa of the
Naval Reserve Is one of tho most nc
tlve men In tho United Stntes Just nt
present. Tho government has com
mandeered his nb!llt7 for building
bands and Is using It In the creation of
military musical organizations which
will serve with Uio American forces.,
Tho hugo Naval Reserve band nt Great i
Lakes, near Chicago, was organized by
Lieutenant Sousa, and the eyes of tho.
accomplished band lender sparkle with
delight as he describes this wonderful
body of young men who nro making'
music for Undo Sara. Thero are 250.
members In the band. When they turn,
out In force, clad In their snow-whlto.'
uniforms, they nro every whero greeted1
with rousing applause.
During a recent tour In Canada at
the head of his own band Licutonnnt
Sousa found thnt a largo proportion of
his audience consisted of wounded Ca
nadian boys who hnd been sent homo
from Frnnce and wero convalescing. In Toronto ho played an entlro nu
dlenco of wounded soldiers, no noticed two boys, one of whom hnd lost a
right arm, while the other had lost u left arm, standing sldo by sldo during
the concert. When theso boys were particularly pleased with a number they
would demonstrate their appreciation by clapping hands, ono using tho right
and tho other thn left hand.
