Morris tribune., 1885-08-12
Building Materials in Mexico.

United States Consul Winslow, of
Guerrero, writes that the amount OF tim
Der useful for manufacturing purposes
in northern and central Mexico is very
limited. The mesquite, the principal
native product, although it is very
hard wood, and capable of taking a
fine polish, is not suitable for general
manufacturing purposes. as the trunk
and branches are very crooked, and a
straight piece of over two yards long
seldom occurs. 1t is used, however, for
making doors, door-frames, for railroad
ties, and for the heavy beams placed
over the doors to support the stone
walls, and for number of other arti-
Giles for which long lumber is not re-
CURED Its hardness, color, suscepti-
bility of taking fine polish. recon-
mend it as useful for veneering, for
making clocks, sewing-machines, tool
handles, and some articles of furniture.
There is and will be a demand for
lumber, especially pine lumber, at those
points reached by the Mexican Central,
National mathematician railroads, as
new towns are being built along these
roads; and, besides, large quantities Of
lumber are used in the mines and in the
construction of bridges. All this lum-
Der must come from the United States,
but then the demand is not SO great as
may be supposed, as the manner in
which Mexican houses are built must be
taken into consideration. The houses,
with but few exceptions, are OF one
story, some twenty feet high and from
twelve to fifteen wide, with fiat roofs;
built of blocks of stone, with walls two
feet thick. The floors are made of a
concrete, consisting of lime, sand,
small stones, and water mixed together.
The ground having been leveled where
the floor is to be made, this composition
is spread evenly over the surface, is al
lowed to dry somewhat, and is then
beaten down by heavy wooden pestles,
and afterward, when nearly dry, is
smoothed down and polished by rubbing
it over with round blue limestone.
This requires considerable time and pa
tience. The floor when thus made is
smooth and glossy and hard, and will
last twenty years. Wood floors are not
suitable for this country, as they are
liable to be eaten by insects and afford
a hiding-place for vermin. The walls
are plastered inside and outside and
whitewashed. The roof is made by eX-
tending joists from one wall to another,
so that the joists show inside, and on
the principal joist is painted date Of
building and some religious or political
motto. Over the ioists is nailed floor
ing of boards, so that the flooring of a
Mexican house is really on the roof.
Over the roof is spread composition,
similar to that of the floor, which is
also beaten down, so that the house be-
comes perfectly watcrtight and fire.
proof, and will easily last hundred
years. For example, the house in which
the consul lives was built in 1878. The
roofing is of sabine and the doors of
mesquite, and they are still sound. The
houses consist generally of one room,
some ten or twelve yards long, with
sometimes another attached, as a kitch-
en-; but the kitchen is most frequent
ly made of adobe, and matched with
straw, and is in the back yard, retired
from the house. The houses of the
poorer class are made of adobe, or of
sticks stuck in the ground and plaster
ed with mud.
The kinds of lumber best to ship to
Mexico are joists, two by twelve inches
and sixteen and twenty feet long; pine
and cypress boarding, one inch thick
and twelve inches wide; scantling, two
inches thick and four inches wide; dou-
BILE doors, one and three-quarters of an
inch thick, six and half feet high, one
foot and half wide; Venetian blinds
for doors, shingles, oak, hickory, and
ash lumber, three to four inches thick
and ten to twelve feet long; materials
for making carts; cart and carriage