Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-07-03
From Golden Huur-.
Curious and OndeTfuI Trees.


Aunty, you said you would tell US
about shoe-trees," said Lizzie, : she and
Harry came bouncing into the room where
Aunt Mary was sewing and now this Is a
good time for Us to hear
The first tree which shall mention,
said Aunt Mary, you have probably
seen a small specimen Of, growing in a big
tub at the India-rubber store on Fourth
Street 1t is called
" THE CAoUICuoU,-IREE.
and furnishes a most useful and important
material for the shoes we wear in wet
weather
%, yes lndia-rubber, said Harry
q | know it is made from the sap of the
tree And how many things they make Of
it toys, jewelry. knite-handies-'
Scientific instruments, various kinds
Of tools, and even lile-boats added Aunt
Mary Indeed. | have seen furniture
that was made of it. It is put to an i'm
mense number of uses and were it not for
the multitude Of plants and trees that pro-
duce the gum. we should fear that the
forests in which they grow would soon be
destroyed 1t was used for comparatively
few purposes, until Mr.. Goodyear, coun-
tryman Of ours. discovered a way Of max.
ing it very hard Since then. it has been
used for a great many things. The
vulcanized rubber furniture | saw was
made for Mr. Goodyear. Very nice and
pretty 1t was too. Then there Is another
tree, very similar to the caOutchOuc, which
furnishes a gum not so elastic as the India
rubber, but which enters into a great
number of manufactures, called
1.-THE GUTTA-PERCHA TREE.
1t is found in the Malayan Peninsula,
Borneo, Singapore, and adjacent islands,
and attains a diameter from three to six
feet. The hardened juice is brought in
large quantities to our country and to
Europe, where it is used for various pur-
poses in the useful and fine arts That
picture-frame over the mantel-piece is
made Of gutta percha.'
Are there not poisonous trees p in
quired Harry, after little pause.
90 yes, many. l will tell you Of one,
the most terrible. 1t is called
- THE UPAs-TREE.
{" 1t grows in the East Indies, and is an
evergreen; but, although always green
itself, it stands in the midst of desolation.
No other green thing can live near it. 1t
furnishes most violent and deadly poison
with which the natives tip their arrows
when hunting wild animals, and also in
their warfare with men. They also kill
criminals by piercing them with poisoned
arrows or spears"
The savages - Harry exclaimed, in
dignantly.
Perhaps our method Of executing peo-
pie by hanging might seem to them quite
as barbarous," Aunt Mary said, sadly.
Yes; but which way is the quicker ,"
asked Harry.
The poison takes effect the instant it
touches the blood; and, although the suf-
fering appears to be great, in six minutes
the victim is dead; while hanging is some
times a slow and torturing process"
Il should think the men who get the
poison out of the tree would get poisoned
themselves" said Lizzie.
And so they would said Aunt Mary.
81 if they did not use the greatest caution.
They have to cover the face, hands, and
whole body very carefully, to protect them
from the poisonous emanations of the tree,
and from the drops which fall from it
well, then, don't see how they can
get it out without danger said Harry.