The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-12-25
Coir and Ebony.

AhoA0to"es'AoA60 Stssso fSaSoSAh1A lllS
Boston Exhibition containing, first,
samples Of all kinds Of the color ropes
and yarns. "Coir," as all the world
knows, is the rough, strong, Hbrous
substance obtained frora tho outer husk
Of the cocoanut. Tl;ey people busy
themselves working L into ropes and
strong mattingsA and alongs with, the
fnanufaetugedartich iy.showa pile, of
the. loose fibre, Just $s It Il stripped
from the cocoanut.
Topping the coils Of rope are two
bright little bottles. which catch the
light so that they look as if they were
filed with. "the sun-allel rapture OF the
topaz" but they are ,'htS tnhehi ] with
clear yellow oil. Tho Cingalese are
great adopts in the art of expressing oil
obtaining them from substances the
most promising. Their open hillsides
are covered with the 1uxuriant growth
of the lemon grass, and from this they
express an oil Of great delicacy. 4
large use to which they put these oils
is that of amounting themselves, in order
to ward off and cure the Bites Of the
insect tribes indigenous to the climate;
but the oil of the cotRnut finds more
dignifed destiny, being valuable ar
ticle Of export. = y }
Indeed, the cocoanat palm is to the
natives there all in all. 1t furnishes
them with food, dishes, clothing, fans,
shelter, and an income generally.
The wealth Of an Individual is Judged
by his property in those trees. Ceylon
is the favorite home Of the cocoanut
palm, and it Is estimated that there
are twenty millions of them on the
island. But no one thas evertbeen able
to estimate The number Of monkeys
that are after the nuts. IS. .:
There is also shown large mass of
>pldnhag0. The ,plpmbago found in
Cey)on is, Of superior quality, ana is
oblained'in large quantities; and. for
remainder of the jungles, they have
sent little elephant foot or so in
length, carved out Of the plumbago-
very nicely carved, only the sculptor
forgot to add tusks SO that it looks like
one of the prehistoric animals. Then
there are sacks Of native Ccylon coffee,
cinnamon bark and lnutmegs. Nature
is very benevolent in Ceylon. She
makes wooden nutmegs for them. The
spicy nutmeg Of commerce grows on
little shrubs, and Is cultivated.
J But in the forests gre large trees
which bear nutmegs, which, externally
are the perfect article;-there Is lit
tie network Of mace surrounding
them, and everything complete; only
when you come to test the nut, there's
the rub-It is just a wooden nutmeg
and nothing else-no space at ali, II
is cheat on the part of nature. The
solid log Of ebony that is the crowninp
glory of the exhibit gives solid salts
faction.
That deep-inearthed, and hating light,
ieanesS tree, and barren Of all fruit,
with darkness feeds its boughs Of raven graln."
An expressive description, but not
quite exact, for the ebony does bea,
leaves despite its hopeless look.
Does every one know how the ebony
tree grows5 1t wouldn't be. enliyenlnp
to 60 picknicking in a grove of them, Dut
'twould be fine to see one cut down
The bark is of sooty blackness. like a
tree that has been charred. The in
ner wood is of perfect whiteness Till the
centre is reached, when it turns out tt
be perfectly Observation-Disclosures there
Is the ebony Of commerce. Notwith
standing that it is only the centre O
the tree that is used, they grow to su CT
an immense size, some of them beine
ten or fifteen, feet in circumference
that it Is easy to produce reduced log.
OF one to'three feet ip sdiameter. This
one at the fair is about q foot In diam
eter.
Di6ereHt Kinds OF Eyes.
I> l.