American Wood Preservers' Association Holdg Annual Meetingat Hougton

Fred W. Gottrcbsll Ebctod Proddont

The forty-sixth annual meeting of the American Wood I)rcscrvers' Association was held in the I{ice FIotel, Ilotrstorr, Texas, April 25-27. The convention was one of the largest in the history of the association, attende<l by n'rore than 500 officials of the wood preserving industry, lumbermen, engineers, and railroad and utility officers representing U. S. firms as rvell as several frtreign companies.

Neu'ly elected officers in the association are: Fred W. Gottschalk, technical director, American Lumber & Treating Co., president, succeeding J. S. Giddings, Santa Fe llailrvay, Topeka, Kansas; W. R. Yeager, inspection engineer, Western I'llectric Co., first vice-president; R' H. Bescher, manager, Technical l)epartnrent, Koppers Co., second vice president; and H. 1.. Dawson, secretarytreasurer. Members of the Executive Committee are I'. I). 13rentlinger, forester, Pennsylvania Railroad Co., G. Il. Campbell, Tie and Timlter Agent, Missouri I)acific Itailroacl Co., I). L. Lindsley, Wood Treating Chemicals Co., (i. lt. I\{cGough, su1>erintendent, llond ll:r-rs. Co., I. C. Nliller, vice president, T. J. I\foss Tie Co., J. F. ltenfro, vicc president, Taylor Colquitt Co., C. S. Sizemore, assistant manager, Forest ]'roducts Bureau, Illinois Central System, and J. S. Giddings, assistant manager, treating 1>lants, Santa Fe Railr'vay. The 1951 convention city will be Chicago, Illinois.

The fact that accepted standards of creosotes have widely varied chemical analyses has prompted a cooperative test b1' several members of the association to determine the effcct of these variations on the wood prcscrvation value of creosotc. It rvas ann<lunced to the association that tl-re tests; put on a continuing, klng-term llasis, are already runclcrrvay. The prograrn is under the general dierction of the Iiorest I'roclucts Laboratory for land installations and of the William Ii. Clapp Laboratorics for marine test installations. Cooperatirrg companies arc the Barrett Division of the Allicd Chernical & I)yc Corp., Rernuth Lembcke Co., Koppers Co., and the llell Telephone l-aboratories.

Pressure-treatrnent by standard rvoocl preservatives has no adverse effect on the durability of plywood bonds. This rvas the conclusion dravvn from a paper presented by J. C). Blerv ancl W. L. C)lson, technologists of the Forest Products I-aboratory. In fact, the six year laboratory study of pressure-treated plywood samples gave good indication that both oil preservatives and salt-type preservatives actually show a tenclency to increase the <lurability of thc plywood adhesives.

During the meeting, mernbers of the association revierved the preliminary statistics rep()rt on the total production of treated u'ood during 1949. This report, prepared by Henry B. Steer of the U. S. Division of Forest liconomics, noted a 4 per cent decrease in 1949 volume frorn 19.18. Oil prescrvatives declined only slightly but there was a 33/o drolt in the use of solid preservatives. Pentachlorophenol an<l chromated zinc chloride showed the sharpest decrease, dropping approximately 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 pounds respectivbly during 1949. The decline in railroad and public utility construction programs during the last year accounted for mnch of the decrease in treated volume.