The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-14

nut tree, winch gives them more STRENGTH
obtainablc food As o'nei
Mahogany trees give each from two 70
nve logs ten TO eighteen feet long and from
twenty 70 forty-four inches in diameter
after being hewed
Inc trucking Is done in the dry season
anu the logs collected on the bank of the
laser ana made ready for the floods, which
occur on the longest rivers in June and
July and on all in October and Noyember
Inc logs are turned adrift loose and caught
peiow uear tide water by booms indians
and Caribs follow the logs down the river
In Jutpans to release those which are
caught by fallen trees or other obstacles in
!ne river. No little judgment and exper-
exact stage of the flood the logs should he
ietloose Should the water rise at what
they call "top-gallant Hood before the
,oes reach the boom, many of them would
pc carried over the banks and left high
and dry in canebrakes and thickets or
covered up by sand and rubbish. From
Inc Doom the logs are RATED to the en-
oarcddero and '.manufactured'' for shin
ping. snip
Inc manufacturing process consists in
saving Off the legends which have been
bruised and splintered by rocks in the tran
SIT down the river, and in refining and re-
nswing the logs by skillful workmen, who
The logs then are measured, rolled back
INTO the water mt the mouth of the river.
ana made into RATS to be taken to the YES
sci, which is anchored outside of the bar.
Ihis Is laborious and risky operation
often resulting in serious losses to the ship
pers or to the owners of the vessel accord
ing TO the conditions of the bills of lading.
irresponsible persons construct and con-
duct the RATS to the vessel, and it fire.
quently happens, especially in bad weather
and by gross careIessness, that logs break
away from the RATS and are carried away
out to sea to be deposited finally on the
shores of these islands or the mainland,
where they are eagerly appropriated blythe
natives and utilized for ship-building, fur
nlture, etc.
The building of sloops and small schoon-
ers for the coasting trade is an important
industry in this island. The frames of
such vessels are made Of mahogany, Santa
Maria and other native woods of we'll
tested durability and proof against the
ravages of worms, which abound in these
waters.
About the middle of December the ma
hoghany season ends, and the proprietor
return to Belize with his gang Of laborers,
the former to liquidate his accounts with
the house which advanced him the cash,
and the latter to squander their earnings
in dissipation during the holidays and to
get new advances for the next season.
The mahogany is sold in England for
account of the house in Belize, which
makes large proht on the cash and goods
furnished to the custer, who often hnds
himself in debt at the end of the season.
At present the only woods exported
from the country are mahogany and
| Spanish cedar, although the forests
| abound in other varieties, quite as useful
and ornamental which must eventually
become known in foreign markets and
nd
and trade.
| At the centennial exposition at New
| Orleans in 1885, some eighty varieties of
| useful and ornamental woods from the
! forests of Honduras were on exhibition,
and, if | am correctly informed, were
| afterwards presented to the National mus
| cum at Washington.
| The principal woods employed in ship
building on this island are Santa Maria,
| button-wood, mahogany, granadillo and
| chucko or dogwood. For cabinet and orna-
| mental work there are great variety of
| fine grained woods, many of which are I'M
| known to the outside world. The most
| beautiful set of furniture ever saw was
made by a Frenchman in the interior out
| of wood called by the natives ssrou-rou, /"
| which is very abundant. ] cannot give its
| botanical name. When polished it dis
| plays variegated colors of red, yellow and
| orange. The forests of Honduras also con-
i
zil-wood, lignum-vita, palms of many va
rieties, fustic, liquid amber, mangroye,
| (white, red and black,) camwood caray
| (tortoise-shelI wood,) ebony, lockwood,
ironwood, oak, pitchpine. button-wood
carbon (charcoal) granadilio, cocobello
wood. Many of the above named
woods, and others not men
| toned, are suitable for the finest cabi-
net work, and, when polished, display
| beautiful and variegated colors. Others
/ would furnish superior material for house
| and ship-building, wheelwrights, coopers.
and for all purposes where wood is en-
! ployed.
| Saw mills and furniture and eart-wheel
| factories are greatly needed in this coun-
| try. The duty on furniture and other
| manufactured woods is IS per hundred.
| All buildings in these islands and the fruit
| villages and settlements of the neighbor-
| ing mainland are made of lumber imported
| from the United States. Yellow pine lum-
| Der. undressed, which cost in New Orleans
| or Mobile from $40 to $l2 per 1000 feet,
| sells here for $35. 1t is free of duty. Hon
| duras, as the name signifies, is noun
famous country, and water-powers of al
most any capacity are abundant, especial
| ly in the woodlands of the interior.
Machinery of all kinds is admitted into
| this country free of duty, and the govern
ment of Honduras is disposed to make
| liberal concessions OF lana ana speclai ad-
vantages and privileges TO foreigners of
| enterprise and capital who may desire to
| establish new industries and help to de-
| veiop the resources of the republic.
A large amount of American capital has
| already been invested in the sold and
| silver mines of the interior, but III my
| opinion the most inviting and promising
| opportunities for the employment OF for
| eign capital will be found in the manu-
| facture and export of the useful and orna-
| mental woods which enrich the virgin for
ests of this district.
| 1t is a matter of surprise that no attempt
| has ever been made to utilize for foreign
| commerce the immense quantities of bam-
| boo which grow spontaneously on the mar
! gin of all rivers which flow into the bay OF
| Honduras. These beautiful trees, many
| of them sixty feet high, four to seven
| inches in diameter, and straight as arrows
| bend gracefully from either side of the
| stream, their brilliant foliage interlaced
| with towering creepers and vines, form
| ing archways under which man and beast
/ find grateful retreat from the sun. The
| Joints are used here by the gold and sarsa-
parilla diggers and the India rubber gath
| erers for buckets, kegs, troughs, and Tor
/ the construction of ranches, fences, etc.
/ In the East Indies the bamboo is an article
| of prime necessity. Its uses are almost III
| Vulnerable.