Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-08-17
Mahogany.

| Just little before the year 1000, and
not till nearly century later was II
brought into European use. The
first mention of il is that il was
used In the repair of some Of Sir
Walter Raleigh's ships, at Trinidad,
in 1897. Its finely variegated tints
were admired; but in that age the
dream of FL Dorado caused matters
Of more value TO be neglected. The
first that was brought to England
was about the beginning of the last
century, few planks having been
sent to DIR. Gibbons, of London, by a
brother who was a West Indian Cap
| tain. Tho Doctor was erecting a
house, and gave the planks TO the
workmen, who rejected them as be-
ing too hard. The Doctor then had
a candle-box made of the wood, his
cabinet-maker also complaining OF
the hardness Of the timber. But,
when finished, the box became an
object of general curiosity and adj
miration. lie had one bureau, and
Her Grace of Buckingham had an
other, made of this beautiful wood;
and the despised mahogany now be-
came prominent article OF luxury,
and at the same time raised the for
tunes CT the cabinet-maker (Wellas-
toni, by whom il had been at first so
little regarded. Since that time, ri
vaiing and almost displacing all 9TH
er ornamental woods, mahogany has
become everywhere Indispensable,
and is, all over the world, converted
into whatever of useful or beauti
ful may promote the convenience
and comfort, or delight the taste,
the caprice, or the religious senti-
ment, of civilized man.
The mahogany-trce is found in
Florida, and may thus be claimed rs
indigenous to the United States; and
there is no reason to doubt that 1t
may and hereafter will be planted
and cultivated to great advantage.
But hitherto IL has been cut chiefly
i'm the native forests Of the bahamas,
the West India Islands, Honduras,
and Yucatan.
Full grown il is one of the mon
archs of the forests of tropical Amer
lea. Its vast trunk and massive
arms, rising to very lofty height,
and spreading with graceful sweep
over immense spaces-coyered with
beautiful foliage, bright, glossy,
light, and airy, clinging SO long to
the spray as TO make il almost an
evergreen --present rare combina-
of loveliness and grandeur. The
leaves are very small, delicate, and
polished like those Of the laurel.
The flowers are small and white, or
greenish yellow. The fruit isa hard,
woody capsule, oval, not unlike the
egg OF turkey i'm size and shape,
and contains five cells, in each OF
which arc Enclosed about fifteen
seeds.
A few facts will furnish a tolerably
distinct idea of the size of this spien-
did tree. The mahogany lumber
men, having selected a tree, surround
il with platform about twelve feet
above the ground, and cut ii above
the platform. Some dozen or fifteen
feet OF the largest part OF the trunk
are thus lost. Yet a single log not
unfrequently weighs from six on
seven to fifteen tons, and sometimes
measures as much rs seventeen feet
in length, and four aud half to five
and half feet In diameter, one tree
furnishing two, three, or four such
logs. Some trees have yielded III
900 superficial feet, and at average
piece prices have sold for Sl5, 900
Messrs. Broadwood, London, piano
forte manufactures, paid c3,D00 fol
three logs, all cut from one. tree, and
each about fifteen feet long and more
than three feet square.
In low and damp soils its growth II
rapid; but the most valuable trees
grow slowly among rocks on sterile
soil, and seem to gather compactnes'
and beauty from the very struggle
which they make for an existence
In the Bahamas, In the most desc
late regions, once flourished that Gu
rious veincd and much esteemed va
riety once known In Europe rs "Ma
deria wood" but which has Ions
| since been exterminated. Jamaica
also, which used 10 be a fruitful
source of mahogany, and whence IN
1853 not less than 52l 900 feet wer'
shipped, Is now almost depleted
That which Is now furnished from
there is very inferior, pale, and pc
rons, and Is less esteemed than tina
Of Cuba, San Domingo, or Hon
duras.