The Opelousas courier., 1894-02-10
OUT MAHOGANY.
A PROFITABLE, BUT HARD AND
DANGEROUS BUSINESS.
The Valuable logs Are Obtained
From the Tropical Forests of

nj raSua, Is stopping at the
Il. Il Hotel Royal, says the New
{ Orleans Picayune. The
gentleman is an extensive expor-
ter Of mahogany from the country
where he has resided for the past few
years, and where he has amassed a
competence in shipping that particu-
lar and valuable wood.
Mahogany is a very valuable wood,
but is hard to get out of the forests
where it grows he said to a reporter
last night. "However, it pays if one
goes at it right, and knows how to
manage the business. The way we go
about the work of getting out mahog-
any logs is, first, 70 get a concession
from the Nicaraguan Government.
Yor must stand in as they say in the
United States, if you get a concession,
but an enterprising citizen from our
country can g. there and establish
himself in the favor of the officials,
and if he has a good record at home
as a nan able to tend to business they
grant him q privilege But that is
only the beginning of the trouble one
has in cutting and exporting the wood.
You then proceed to make bargains
with>She natives to cut and haul logs
out Of the forests. IT you treat them
kindly they will work for you for a
time at the least. The best Indian
labor costs about fifty cents per day.
1t IL often hard, however, to get them
to work, as they live Gu fruits and
can sustain themselves without labor
of any trying kind. Half Of the year
is called the rainy season, and it rains
from May to October. 1t is then so
wet that one finds 1t impossible to
get out any timber, and no one will
work for you during the wet sea
son.. When the dry season opens we
commence operations, and if we can
get enough labor we succeed, but we
have to be careful with them, as they
become easily misled and often think
we afs taking some advantage of them.
When they become convinced that
something is wrong, whether they have
cause to believe that such is the case or
not, they get angry, and the feeling
spreads among all the tribes The
woods are so dense and the work so
trying on men brought there from
other countries that they cannot stand
it, and there is no profit in paying
them what they require to risk their
lives among the snakes and In the
swamps where the mahogany grows.
When the timber is cut we haul it, one
log at a time, on a two-wheeled oxcart
especially made for the purpose. It is
a very slow process, but it is the only
practicable way to get the timber out.
There are 400 and 500 logs to the acre,
and the price of the wood is SO high
partly because the timber is SO hard
+, obtain"
s..What is the price of mahogany"
'"The average price of a good ma
hogany log 1875. 1 sell very fewlogs
in the United States, and my principal
market is in France. There ! ehip
practically all my timber. The price
is better in France, and the money is
paid as soon rs the logs arrive in port.
There are not as many fortunes in ma
hogany as some people imagine, as the
wood is too difficult to draw from the
tangled forests of Nicaragua. When
q mar from the North goes to Nicara-
qua he stands the climate very well for
a year, and is very energetic, and won
ders at the spirit Of lnziness that pre-
walls among all the people. But after
awhile he is overcome by the climatic
conditions and gets lazy and is unable
to work three good hours a day-if he
doesn't die in the meantime. The ma
hogany business is very pretty to talk
about and very nice in theory, and
even in price, but a great deal Of the
fancy profit that apparently accrues.
on logs is lost in the time and expense
one is required TO undergo to get the
logs ont and carry them to the ships"