The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1896-11-21
CUTTING MAHOGANY.
The Work of Handling a Giant Tree Ii
the Tropical Jungle.

The Work of Handling a Giant Tree In
the Tropical Jungle.
While the camp is being made the
hunter is off exploring. The precious
Swietenia mahogani does not grow
In clumps and groves, like our pine
and walnut, but each monarch stands
alone in solitary state amid a dense
growth of other huge trees, its trunk
concealed by a wild tangle of wires,
orchids and underbrush, requiring
the closest attention of the expert
Onced woodsman to detect it. In q
tropical wilderness, where the trees
are so thick that one can hardly
force his way between them, the
whole hung with an impenetrable
mass of verdure as with a curtain,
their mingled tops a solid wall which
makes eternal twilight below, and
every trunk twined round and round
with creepers--it is not an easy
matter to distinguish species. The
hunter climbs the tallest trees that
he can find comparatively clear, and
from its top his practiced eye de-
tects the foliage of the coveted ma
hogaDy. He then counts the trees in
line, notes carefully the direction,
distance and every landmark, slides
down from his leafy observatory and
proceeds to cut and blaze a trail to
his find. This done. he marks the
trees with his machete and returns
to camp. Each man III a company is
assigned his particular work-some
to fell trees, other sto cut truck roads
through the jungle, others to collect
and haul the wood and water, etc.
/ The cutters turn out from camp as
o as it is light enough to SEQ
which in the tall, dense woods means
q much later hour than in the regions
where the sun has a better chance to
show itself, and generally by noon
tree cutting for the day is finished.
All work is done by the task system,
which is said to be the only way of
handling native laLor-that is, one
mans stint is to cut two trees,
from s to 10 feet in circumference.
Two men are given three large trees
to bring down, Dr. four mon are de-
tailed to lay low some forest giant,
perhaps 25 feet in circumference.
To the tenderfoot that seems u
task impossible of accomplishment.
Owing to its enormous %buttresses
the trunk cannot be cut near the
ground, so the axmen are obliged to
rig up a platform 10, Is, 20 or as
many feet high as the buttress ex-
tends. These platforms are called
"barbecues, though how that word
applies nobody but an Englishman
who prides himself on correct use of
the language can say. The "barbe.
cue' is made Of slim poles, one on
each side of the tree, on supports,
and two other poles laid across them;
also one on each side of the tree.
The axmen mount this platform,
with one foot on each pole, two men
to a tree, on opposite sides, and rap
idly fell the tree. 1t is a marvel how
men can stand on these slender poles
and chop down enormous trees, but
they dc it, and quickly too. In an
incredibly short time the stately
monarch of centuries totters and
falls, crashing its way through the
crowd of smaller trees. The trunks
and branches are then squared and
are ready for transportation.
In telling a valuable tree every
precaution is taken against breaking
or splitting it and thus spelling the
lumber. This manne of cutting on
O platform seems very wasteful, as
1t leaves in the stump an average of
AGO feet OF the best part of the tree,
so far as beauty CT grain is con-
cerned-to say nothing of the
gnarled and twisted roots, which
bear the same proportionate addi-
tional value that our walnut roots do
to the rest CT the tree, but no better
way has yet been devised. Three
hundred trees are considered a good
seasons work. for one camp, each
tree yielding 2, 0C0 feet of timber on
q modest estimate of the average.
When the mornings stint is COM
pleted, the men are free the rest of
the day to hunt, fish, sleep or gam
BILE, to search on their own account
for india rubber, sarsaparilla and
other marketable products Of the
woods, or to make canoes. paddles,
bowls, ETC., from the mahogany
stumps for their own use Or to sell
when they return to the haunts of
man. The logs are hauled to the
camp at night, SO as to avoid the in
tense heat of the day. Where the
place is not too remote, oxen do this
part of the work.-Honduras Letter.
Some Mosquito Facts.
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