"limes Destroy Chicago Railway Station
' ?? ^ V . .
I>earborn station in Chieago.'the terminal for the Santa Fe, Monon, Wabash and C. & E. I. roads, was destroyed by
flames the other night. This photograpl) was taken during the height <>f the conflagration.
Find 630 Uses
for Basswood
Tree That Pioneers Thought
Worthless Is Utilized -by
Many Manufacturers.
SCIENTISTS COKE TO RESCUE
Took Years of Investigation and Ex
periment ? Difficult to Overcome
Inherited Natural Prejudice
That Wood Was Worthless.
Washington. ? At least 80 per cent
of the American-born grandfathers
nnd grandmothers In the United States
are familiar with the slang meaning
of the word "basswood." That is be
cause such a percentage of these ven
v erable persons came from the section
of the country in which the basswood
tree is indigenous. The reason for
the use of such a slang term was that j
its colloquial meaning reflected the I
opinion of the value of the tree. When i
our grandparents wanted to describe i
i:n utterly worthless object or even a
person deemed to l>e worthless, such A
person or object was said to be "bass
wood." because of all the vast natural
wealtii which the pioneers found in
this country the basswood tree was
considered of least value.
In the early dayr? when the Ameri
can pioneer went into the wilderness
he had to depend on the things he |
found in that environment to fill his j
everyday needs. He must build his
houses of the native woods, he must j
weave his clothes of native fibers and
must raise his own food. Such a civ- |
llfzation caused these people to put j
definite values upon all the products j
of nature. Everything had a value, j
Hickory was good for ax handles and j
ash for wagon spokes. IMne and all
kinds of oak were excellent firewood, I
but basswood was discovered to be
good for nothing. .
Its fibers were too spongy and
stringy to work nto anything useful.
It was not strong to withstand pres
sure. It did not last long, and it would
I
not burn well. Almost any other kind
of waste wood at least would make a
good fire, but basswood when set
alight would sputter for a while and
go out, and what little burning it
wnuld do gave very little heat in com
parison with other fuels.
So it was not surprising that men
and women who musf put definite
values on materials and on people sur- i
rounding them should coin a jew word j
f<>.- their language and agr-^e that j
"basswood" should describe a useless
object or a worthless drone. In the |
spates from the Atlantic coast to the
pniiries and from Georgia and Mis
sissippi to the Canadian line the bass
wood tree grows In nearly -every coun
ty :ind in this section the slang term
b isswood can be heaiti a.iong old peo
ple to this day.
Science to the Rescue.
If rhis were a play, at this point the
words "Enter science in the form 'of
the Department of Agriculture" should
be written. To pursue the fantasy,
science would be a Prince Charming
come to alter the life of Hasswood, the8
Cinderella of the forest. It too? some
years of investigation and exper^men
ti Hon and the overcoming of tVe In
herited natural prejudice and belief
that basswood was worthless, but
science persisted and the other day
the Department of Agriculture issued
f r'?m its press a booklet devoted en
tirely to this useless wood. . *
The booklet lists 0?() practical uses
of basswood ! ?
The despised Cinderella of the for
, est, once the scorn of the pioneers,
now in prized for many uses and chief- i
Iv through the Investigative work and
experimentation of ? tb.s scientific
wo kshop of .Uncle Sam
The scientists of the department
consider al! the characteristics of* a !
commodity and select the good points.
Then they find the uses to which such
good points am he put. Bdsswood Is
a wood of peculiarly clea<Hp)peariwice.
Because of its spongy texfhre it does
not split and therefore can be used in
small pieces. Such characteristics, on
consideration, were found to be very
desirable in the manufacture of con
tainers for food. People want to have
food packed in clean containers which
will not readily fall apart.
Used in Pail Trades.
So the humble basswood came into
wide use in the manufacture of such
containers as lard pails, candy pails
and pails for a variety of other foods.
Its clean, white appearance was ap
preciated by housewives and manufac
turers are quick to discover what the
housewife, one of the best customers
in the world, wants. Woodenware was
the next development. Chopping bowls
and all sorts of wooden dishes were
made from the discarded bass wood
which would not burn and was no
good for construction. Soon another
household use was developed and bass
wood appeared in the form of chil
dren's toys. Here again its clean ap
pearance and its nonsplitting qualities
were valuable. Also, it is light in
weight, and a buss wood lion can be
thrown much farther across the nur
sery than one made of a material as
heavy as oak.
Pursuing the household uses, iron
ing boards, wringers and other tilings
used in the laundry, where clean,
white woodwork is at a premium, were
made from it.
Nearly every one has seen the clean,
white little wooden boxes in which
comb honey is sold, and, at least sub
consciously, thought how much more
appetizing the delicacy appeared be
cause of the appearance of the con
tainer. These -boxes, as well as many
other supplies of apiaries, are made of
basswood.
Used in Fine Manufactures.
Once the prejudice was removed If.
was discovered that lots of things
could he done with this wood if it were
properly sawed and dried. Parts- of 11
were used for furniture. It became #
favorite material for dowels, the little
cylindrical pieces of wood used to fit
'
SEATTLE'S FAIREST
-?ws
To Miss Maude pakln goes the 1922
title of queen of Seattle, and the honor
of being adjudged the fnirest daugh
ter of the northwestern metropolis.
Sh?* was -chosen as queen of fhiit city's
annual Dahlia exposition. Miss Dak in
is eighteen, blonde aud blue-eyed.
i
Flat Tire and Wooden Leg
Win Victory for Accused
Now York. ? A ^at tire and a
wooden leg won a victory In
Criminal court for C. G. Davis,
a carpenter, appealing a police
court sentence of five days In
the county jail and a $50 fine.
Patrolman Michael Carricato
testified tlint Davis was driving
ids automobile in a zig-zag man
ner and thut he staggered when
he left the car.
Davis said the staggering was
due to his wooden ieg, and the*
zlg-zagging of the car was due
to the flat tire.
pieces of wood together, such as ap
pear in the leaves of the dining-room
table. Nothing, it was found, would
add to the clean appearance of a 'trav
eling trunk an>* more than basswood,
and so It was used for the slder of
trays and partitions.
Picture frames and moldings, where
a nonsplitting material was necessary,
were found to be practical uses, and
finally the outcast basswood was put
into such fin? manufactures as musical
instruments.
One of its uses puts this material In
every one's hands. Millions of matches
which are struck every day all around
the world have basswood sticks. Here
was where the nonburning qualities of
the wood, which once made it despised,
were capitalized. Fires are set . by
matches thrown away because they
hold fire too long. But the poor burn
ing qualities of a hi. sswood stick would
minimize the dangerous afterglow and,
the fire would not last after it was I
needed.
So the progress continued. Kif^lien
cabinets, tobacco boxes, shoe lasts,
Pullman-car finishing, handles of aU
sorts, thread spools, shade and mnp
rollers, pulleys, and, finally, even cns
kets and coffins were made in part at
least of basswood. In all (WO practical
uses, and every year new uses are be
ing found. Even the stringy, ribbonv
excelsior which comes packed around
dishes nnd other fragile ' articles is
made from the once rejected bass
wood.
t
Production Runs High.
The total annuaf production Is 250,
000,000 board feet. The existing sup
ply standing in the shape of bass
wood trees in the United States Is es
timated at 9,000, 000, (JD0 board feet.
From the lowly position it occupied
in the estimation <^f our grandfathers
it has risen to such a value tlflt the
Department of Agriculture now Is ad
vising farmers who, have unused land
to plant basswood as a profitable for
est crop. It grows rapidly and Is in
digenous over a wide area of the conn
fry.
Mow industry, aided by investigative
science, has developed this commodity
's repeated ih scores of instances irf
Ponneytlon with many other commodi
ties and every such sfep forward adds
millions to the total wealth of the
American people.
Hogs Fatten on Nuts.
}Vhitesburg, Ky.? One of the best
nut tnroitt, consisting of acorns, beech
nuts and hickory nuts, is now on in
the eastern Kentucky and southwest
ern Virginia mountains, and hogs are
; fattening right along. Farmers of the
| mountains who have a surplus ol
I swine are lucky and will reap bounti
[ ful harvests. It is said the crop Is the
' largest in the history of the oldest In
I habitants. "V \
[ Big Hawk Does Stunts.
Junction' City,- Kan. ? A huge chick
en hawk shared honors with the mili
tary aviators ai the Fort Rifey fiylnp
circus recently, i The hawk made his
#pl>earance wjiile the stuqt flying was
in progress and singling out one ot
the most (taring of the flyers, proceed
ed to follow him through all Ids evo
lutions. .Finally the flyer turned the
nose of his machine upward, ascend
Hn? to a great height, and the hawk,
Still following him, was lost to sight.
That for You, Fanny
, "HOW/ MANM TIMES HAV/e I TolDVOU T*EPiE IS
|N EV?fc To &E ANM SMOKING >N TtJI'o ROOM f
&ESiDBb-e>0M?3(?Ry HIGHBROW
COMINCTo cau Thus afternoon
.c, t
out!
?TT
I
? Western Newspaper Union
l/.VAtl 2u.M
Ct
He Packs a Wicked Wallop
INFORMATION LACKING
Butcher ? WasJ it French chops your mother wanted little girl? ^
x Little Lil ? Mother didn't mention no particular nationality.
_ *
A STEADY WORKER AT MEALS.
Jasper ? Doan yo' say Ah doan wuk. : I'se swingin' ds pick all de day.
Wifi^Yai, so yo* is, so yo' is-r-wot time yo' ain't ?wingi/i' yo' jaw.
? -^rv . ? ? - ^
ALL ANSWERED AT ONCE
Frank ? I want to get married. Do 1
you think I will?
Maude ? Don't ask me.
SURE THING
"A dog la man's
devoted friend,"
"He ought to
be. If I had
somebody to pay
my taxes and
provide my
board and lodg
i n g, I'd feel
mJghty friendly
myself."
NATURAL QUESTION
"What kkrd of coal do you user*
"Egg."
"Where can I get ft fefnV