The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-04-03
MAHOoANE
The Treatment and Uses OF This Heaatifhl
Wood In This 0ity.

The Treatment and Uses OF THIS HeaathfoI
Wood In This Sity.
A sauatty little shop In busy downtown
thoroughfare carries across its eavcs q sign
bearing In enormous black letters the single
word "Mahogany." In this odd corner -four
ishes one Of those trades that link New York
with the tropics and this century with those
that have gone before Behind the little shop
is board yard. not OF tho ordinary kind FREE
auented by yellow dogs and homeless cats.
but snug little spot protected from the
weather and sheltering q precious freight
Mahogany is not left to the mercy OF sun and
rain. but is sheltered and cared for like any
other valuable thing.
The big black lettored sign, "Mahog any,"
really conveys to the knowing pnsserb by the
fact that all sorts OF precious woods arc for sale
within. Long. thick, unpublished plnnks Of
rusty. dark hue stand about tho yard: but tho
creator part OF the dealers stock in trade is
stored in the loft over the little shop. The
ground floor. which serves as the ofllce.is wains-
coted and celed In white-wood veneer. Up
beneath the ceiling hangs a long bit Of rich
polished dark mahogany. Leaning against
the wall near tho stairway that leads to
the loft Is plank Of polished white mnhoga-
NY. known to tho trade us "prma vera"
Above stairs arc piles of mahogany ebony
walnut. holly. and nearly oil the woods that
are used In costly furniture. whether solid or
vencerod. 1t lies in slabs and leaves and lay
ers. varying III thickness from an inch to the
flftieth part OF an inch. Dird's-eye maple. six
feet across. curls up into roll the size OF COM
mon stove pipe. while q thinner variety is so
tenuous that it must be packed with paper the
moment 1t is loosed from tho log.
Mahogany Is again In fashion. Down in
Delaware. and for that matter. out on Long
Island. where people do not change their fur
lions. solid mahogany is put to bnso uses, and
nobody thinks 1t out OF place. Unconsidered
old PIECES. damaged beyond the marvellous s
cobbler OF antiques would fetch a handsome
price In this town lust fer the sake ct the ray
enty- years old is called BY the dealers in
Of Witch n9a ns we1S usay d
but i no sSsy to rsprSdHss II
that has been seasoned BY the hearth iltss Of
three generations and polished with tho low
nE Is o k Of
eight feet long. and three feet wh1o Is not easy
to obtain now. though such are common
Of Mason and Dixon's line.
tensions sion atroad toachne mahosany se ono Is
hapstel; another. that larg. mahogany lpEss
mahogany is scarce In New York: fourth.
that while there is d. rage for antiques. there
true sI sa SE esw whd
Saps tic t rirIsst IN 'ss Color ana and rpSss
feet long and fifteen inches in diameter. The
Sna sr ayf sa ahS
carpenters admired the wood three hundred
years ago, but he rain has been nsiderable
for lASc han, fxt-.N httr. trnI
however. there is plenty Of large mahogany in
the interior Of San Domingo. and in time it
York " have several tmes BEEN Interested aim in
schemes to build railways into the interior Of
the island in order that the untouched forests
The Mexican and Central American mahog-
any forests are Yielding an enormous amount
Cuba Inc Cuban mahogany y' IS neariy equal u
to that Of San Domingo. while much OF the
Mexican mahogany is finely marked. The
,Agimpse of the mahogany docks at the foot
of East Seventh street will convince any ono
that ass o 9Es nss Ths ses ss
feet square is unusual. though within year =
and the Cuban often measure tHirty.fSs feet
to Ssw ik now an aad
wood Is put to Il greater variety Of uses than
at my time since it, beauty was fret discoy-
tets eassry watch the destrsctio tom 81 Old
and mantelpieces Of mahogany for new houses.
But tho gaudy barrooms now so popular de-
mand more new mahogany IN year than was
tables of our graudfnthers. The largest logs.
when not saved HN up into veneer. g e to make
brown richness Of the early, sideboards but
the prohbitSnists DON'T sue succeed in splitting
I'm hnra fnrn rnty
Mahogany q. the first grain and marking
is sawed up into veneer at half dozen saw
very pretty business. and a mahogany sawyer
is II well-paid man OF great SIX i'll and long expe-
rience. He must know whether a log Is suit
able for veneer or slabs: must be able to guess
whether its. heart runs straight or dips"
mus, sec, far enough into a log to decide
fore Icing sawed lengthwise and whether
it sh be ns CHI n or
should not be sawed thinner than twenty-six
to the inch Though occasionally S 1t j. saved
twenty-six to the inch is us nice one as can
well TO imagined. 1t is species OF surgery
that relnircs keen insttTlmen5, IN expert
worth SIPS in bulk may, lie sawed so that Il
shall sell for five times that sum or 30 that it
great vlrioty Of things. some fetches 50 little
10 s.n E S3 wh nt TETs + tbs Hs
Wood brings more than this. though now and
then unusually fine mahogany sells Mt 40
cents per square foot. a cargo Of 100000
square feet in squared LOGS may be worth
$4,000. The lest walnut. now unpopular.
fetch"s more than any but he finest mahogany.
4 peculiarly line eliet In mahoGany Is ob;
just above and Just below point where two
limbs shoot out on opposite sides When SUCH
IL piece j. properly cut mn into veneer. the
crotches show In beautiful pumo-liko mark
ings through the middle OF each sheet
Texas COroner's Verdict.