Cork insulation; a complete illustrated textbook on cork insulation ...

EXTENT OF CORK INDUSTRY 39
27.—Effect of the World War.—While there was an ap-
parent shortage of corkwood for a brief time just prior to the
beginning of the World War, yet the demand for corkwood
by France, Germany. Austria and other belligerent countries
quickly dropped off to almost nothing, which left the United
States as virtually the only country requiring any appreciable
exports of corkwood or cork waste. The situation in the cork
producing countries became rapidly worse as the war continued
until the time soon came when it did not pay, in many
cases, to bring in the cork harvest.
FIG. 27.—CORKWOOD STOCKS ON HAND IN STORAGE YARD IN SPAIN.
. In Catalonia, for example, the situation become so acute
at one time that valuable cork oak trees were cut down and
burned as fuel and the cork workers threatened to burn all
cork manufacturing plants if enough employment was not
*given them to keep body and soul together. The situation
was quickly recognized as acute, and large owners moved
rapidly to provide enough relief to tide over the difficulties
occasioned by the World War. Sufficient capital was "invested
in stocks to provide the cork workers with just enough
wages to buy necessary food and drink, although it was not
known then by those owners and operators how long they
would have to continue the very unusual procedure before
the war would end and thus give them an opportunity of