Omaha daily bee., 1896-11-09
WOODS FOR CABINET WORK.
Costly Lumber Used for the Dccorn.
don of AmcrIcnn Momcs.

| tion of American Homes.
Lying in some of the great lumber yards
of New York and only showing their value
to the experts and the initiated ones are
| heaps of rare and costly woods. some from
the countries of the equator, others cut
! from American forests. In one single lum-
| Der yard. says the New York Tribune, il is
no uncommon thing to see a stock that
is valued at $4,000 or mere. In one block
near the East river front there is often
Sl,OOO,OOO worth piled up in the open air
or under the cover OF rough sheds.
The veining and nothing of a log and
the veneers that are made from 1t fix its
value. While all these special woods OF
commerce are costly, prices three and four
times the average are paid for unusual pat
terms OF rosewood, mahogany and black wal
nut.
These are several hundred varieties of
fine woods brought each year into New
York, but of these only a few are known to
commerce to any extent. Mahogany French
burl rosewood curly ash, American quar-
tered oak, figured birch black walnut Cir
cassian walnut and satinwood are the fancy
timber varieties that sell the best, their
prices running from cents to 10 cents a
| foot for yeneers. These figures give no
| adequate conception OF values until they
are examined carefully. But the calcua-
tion is a simple one. 4 veneer Is a thin
strip cut from a board by shaving ma
chine, thirty veneers being allowed to each
board of an inch thickness. the boards of
these costly woods running about two feet
in width. As a rule these boards are eight
to ten feet long, and thus a single veneer
OF mahogany two feet wide and ten in length
is worth, by itself, from so cents to ST. A
double row of these veneers piled up five
feet high is worth easily $4,000.
In the log mahogany sells here at 81 to
Sl.oO foot board measurement. II comes
from Mexico and Cuba and, brought to
this city in logs, it is sold in veneers These
Veneers, stacked up In piles in sheds, are
so brittle that the only way of shipping
them to the furniture and piano manufac-
turers Is to pack them in cases. A case
usually holds 500 sheets, or from $500 to
$500 worth, and is so heavy that the
strength of from four to six men, with
rollers, is necessary to get 1t upon a truck.
case is known to the trade as "fitch ."
Even unvarnisked and unpublished as these
rare woods are in the rough the patterns
are easily visible. Nearly all these woods
are sold in veneers, for two reasons: First
they are too costly to use soldly: and sec
ond, they all have tendency to warp. Next
In popularity TO mahogany comes American
figured walnut from Kentucky, West Vir-
ginia, Tennessee and the western part of
North Carolina. The finest logs OF this
timber are to be found on the slopes of the
Blue Ridge and Cumberland mountains So
important Is II to get woods of fine pat
terms that the leading walnut dealers in
spect the trees themselves before they are
cut down. They employ experienced woods
men to search over the whole region where
the best walnut lies for months at a time
and then, the finest trees having been
marked, the dealers leave the city and
travel through the woods on horseback
themselves, selecting the most valuable
trees. afterward buying them from the
farmers or the owners Of the land
These precautions amply repay the trouble
for the reason that at times American wal
nut sells at 20 cents a foot in veneers. and
single log six feet long has been known to
yield as much as $525.
From Bahia comes the finest rosewood of
the world, its veneers selling at &c a foot,
1t is not bought here, however, in any great
quantity, as rosewood Is no longer the fash
ionablc material it was in the days of our
grandmothers. White mahogany from the
west coast of Mexico and satnwood from
San Domingo, Of a pale yellow tint and of
dainty pattern. the finest qualities of which
have sold for 60c in veneers. and the poor
est veneer less than 1Oc are still in great
demand.
One of the most curious of the rare woods
Is ambOy reddish brown, veined irregularly
and is used mainly in inlaying. 1t come from
Africa and Is sold at zoe a pound.
Two of the finest foreign woods are French
burl from Persia and the CirCassan wal
nut that Is cut around the shores of the
u.
and its grain Is a most curious thing 1t Is
really a walnut wood, the "burl" being a
wart or knot that forms on the side of the
tree while 1t is young, thus twisting the
course of the sap vessels and forming
strange patterns and odd combinations of
lines. At times these burls are extremely
valuable. single log has sold for as much
as 81 800 The features Of the Circassian
walnut are the high polish to which it can
be brought and its vivid stripes OF dark
brown and black.
Some other expensive native woods are
figured curly ash, curly North Carolina
BIRCH which has a reddish tinge: poplar
and American quartered oak, used mainly
for house work. All OF these fetch from &c
TO sc foot in Yeneers. Ebony sold at $40
a ton; coCohoo somewhat resembling rose
wood and granadlla, heavy and black.
are much in use for knife handles. San
Domingo lignum vitae is perhaps, the heav-
lest wood that is to be found. a stick
eighteen inches in diameter and three 10
four feet long, weighs from 500 to COO pounds
Spanish cedar and snakewood the latter so
called because It's grain is like the markings
OF some serpents. are used for many pur-
poses. Turkish boXwood comes here In
rather large quantities, and has long been
the popular material for wood engraving.
Amarillo Is one of the most artistic OF all
woods, with it's bright yellow surface.
That's the STUFF.
INT.