New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-05-13
TEHuANTEpEc CORRESPONDENCE.

L I'LL
TEHUANTEPEc CORRESPONDENCE.
Increasing Trade Of the Atlmus--Matogany Busi-
ness-Statistics and General Features-Fufure
Pro.pects-Native SHk-Ks Peculiarities--Quan-
ftty and Quality-Sisal Grass--Munufacture into
var1ous Articies-A Look dhead.
MINATITLAN, May I'd, 1859.
Eds Crescent: The most important branch Of trade
at present connected with this Ithmus is the export
alton OF valuable timber 1t is impossible for one
alightly acquainted with the immense resources of
this country to make any very accurate writing of the
quantity and quality Of valuable trees that grow and
rot here every year. Two hundred and fifty years
ago these things were known to exist, but the exact
estimation is just far from entering into the minds
of men it when Cortez selected this place
for Spanish naval depot. 1t was from here that
most of the timber for the Notifications about Havana
was taken it was here that the old Spaniards came
for materials to repair their war ships and it will be
from here that we shall not only draw like necessaries
but wood for ornamental and universal service
The Knowledge of these things is entering into the
minds of men at present. and the ratio of its increase
s at the rate OF seventyfve per cent. It only re.
qnires little while, and little publicity, to drive
matters forward with celebrity that will astonish
the world how such wealth has rested for centuries on
the banks Of beautiful and accessible rivers only wait
ing to be used. Here is river penetrating the very
heart OF the mahogany forests, offering sure and
constant navigation to vessels Of eight and ten feet
bnrthen, to within hearing distance of the cutters
Az as he es and hews out his logs from trees that
have grown old and grey in expectation of the "com
ing lumberman."
A few figures, however, will do more to impress
you with the increasing importance of the mahogany
trade of this 1shmus than all the fine sentences that
could write from now till the Tehuantepec Railroad
is built. An examination of the custom-house books
shows the following difference between the exports of
mahogany in 1851 and those Of 1853:
Up to and including 1851, there were five cargoes
OF mahogany shipped from this port, amounting in
all to 100 tuns, which measured 40 cubic feet to the
tun making total of 400 cubic feet In 1858 there
were Ga cargoes exported, conveying 1866 tuns
5O2,640 cubic feet. These exports were shipped in
the following vessels:
" American, taking. 5I93tuns.
Germ German an and ld'g Swedish taking aSia
Spanish Sandman and Italian, taking "a "
a 1856 :.
The greater part Of this mahogany was shipped to
England, will be seen by the clearances:
= the hefi1aa u"ifed states assS SS TINS
To Germany. France and Spain. .......... l,Si0 :.
Total. ............................1 1a O66 :.
The value of the wood here varies according to the
soundness Of the timber and the dressing of the log
1t is very difficult task to apprehend the defects in
mahogany log, and good judges Of timber com.
mand excellent salaries all along this coast. The
best timber commands SIG per tun, while inferior
logs sell for SO and Sill As to the dressing, most
Of it is done with adze which leaves the log in
dented in many places, thus creating difference
generally between the measurement here and in the
United States of 25 per cent while in England it is
even more averaging there SO per cent. These DIFF
hciencies will only be supplied by the establishment
of saw-lnilis in the forests, which will not only put
the log into better dressing, but will saw them up
into more convenient shape than that now adopted
of sending it to market in such bulk as to render th
loading OF it very difficult job. 1t is supposed that
there are 500 persons employed in getting out ma
hogany in the various streams connected with this
port, and arrangements are making to have larger
force sent up from Chiapas.
The system adopted here is to hire natives and
have them indentured to work for their employer sc
long as he can keep them in debt. This contract is
legal, and be enforced before the courts of the
country. The employer then establishes a store in
the woods, where his can obtain such goods
and groceries he DESIRES on credit at remarkably
extraVagant prices. So long now as the Indian can
be kept in debt, he belongs to the employer and as
he is hired by the month, if sickness comes upon him
or he takes days rest, the employer can charge
him four times the amount. He pays him for every
day be is sick absent. Thus the mosco system is
an improvement on slavery, for the benefit Of the en-
poyer.
Another item of wealth just ready to be developed
on this lsthmus is the wild silk which grows in the
greatest abundance the hills and in the valleys
hereabouts This silk is the product OF bastard silk
worm, cross between the genuine silk worm and the
caterpillar. 1t is small and darkly Completed, but
unlike cur worm, it works in company, and spins a
sometimes two feet long The fabric is rath c1
coarse, but have no doubt if the worm was taken
care of and fed upon the mulberry leaf that the pro
duct would be improved to the finest texture. The
Indians about Tehuantcpec this silk in the manu-
facture of all manner of fancy articles such as belts
scarfs, head.dresses, etc. and with the rich dye
woods of this country, they make an article very
pleasant to look upon. 1t grows here upon the com
mon scrub oak bush, and in many places the tree
are matted together by innumerable cocoons two
and three feet long, neracing tine different bushes
so that it is difficult to pass. am told that the silk
WuSh ~ 10 iltSl tdHSu Is COpeleu Will kl0Q OF
tinous substance which affects the hand somewhat as
if it had come in contact with poison oak. gen
tleman, to whose attention submitted specimen
expressed his opinion that in its wild state this silk
was just what is demanded in New Orleans for sad
ders silk, and that it would readily command from
IS to Sc per pound. 1t could be gathered here in
quantities of from ten to twenty pounds per day.
gentleman by the name Of Evans of this city, has
invented machine with which he proposes to man
ufacture the Ssa grass, which grows in the greatest
abundance along the banks of the Coatzacoalcos
river, into thread adapted to every purpose, from
twisting cordage to weaving the finest grass cloth for
summer clothing The fiber of the ssaf grass very
long and very fine, and by pressing it SO that the
outer bark is broken off, the thread can be taken out
very rapidly and very cleanly. I have seen samples
of the grass worked out by Mr.. Evans machine, and
the fiber was not only strong, but it varied in quality
from the coarsest fax to the finest silk
But it is useless to write longer letter on such
subject. Nature has planted garden here from
which her children can draw everything they require
with the slightest amount of labor of any other por.