The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-12-29
A LENGTHY TASK FINISHED
s:as~-ahH-cttx Men Constructs
Table from Thousands &c
Bits of Wood.

After l6 years CT labor, off and on,
'I2weiilu Cunningham, of 1874 Adams
street, Dorchester, has recently COM
p.eteH d table which stands unique as
:. specimen Of handiwork with carpen-
lr,r>' tools. When it is stated that in
tbs construction OF this piece OF fHrni-
ture the maker has utilized over 100000
separate pieces of wood, the reader viii
N..y" Il slight idea of the magnitude Of
t'te TASK. 1t is not alone in tnls, how
- T, that the interest in TIE table lies.
tug. Included in the immense number CT
pieces worked into its construction
gre are go different species Of wood,
j On I'll parts of the world, a. we'll as
relics from railroad disasters, floods.
bic fires. battlefelds and Old govern
.n,n, ships and other commemorative
OF important events.
Nj Cunningham began work on the
table in 1882, then having considerable
leisure at his disposal, ana tron that
time until the present he has worked
a few hours each day upon th" affair.
| ,,triug all these years he has kept strict
.r2cnuut of the hours Sc spent, and he
leckons them at 3,692 The result is
that in its completed ..tatt the able Is
not only ornamental. hut use tul rs we'll.
~ Mr.. Cunningham ingenuity, pa
ttclce and perseverance" le h"S worked
every piece together, loWtGt1 small,
into odd and striking designs. which are
i..,,id on the top, bottom and .cgs.
The central design in the :op is
thecker~ board, which contains the
largest pieces 10 b. found in he table
These are IL inches square. ! he finest
work. into which are worked the small
est pieces, figures about l2n or them TO
!. &c square inch. Of the various soft
woods Il very small piece Of each has
been utilized. OF the hard and rare
woods many pieces of the san.ckind
were used. These woods were obtained
at considerable expense and labor and
came from every stat, or territory in
the United States, as VII IL FROM Nova
GOTTA, New Brunswick, Prince Edward
island. Cape iireton- S&ia..,i, british Co
lum5i;a Quebec, MpD're'1!, Manitoba.
MEXICO. Chill, Peru NE Andes noun
tains, Bolivia. United States OF Colon
bia. Honduras. EcEc2csv'3t he Gu;anas.
Ecuador, Beaz'! Argentina, Rio de
Ianeiro, I'fial,..>d lsr.5sia, China
Japan, Siberia, Asia Minor, Turkey in
Asia, tonstantipopie, AUSTRIA, Hun
gary, Prussia, Poland. Sweden, lap
land. Italy. France. Spain, Portugal.
England, ireland. Scotland. Norway.
Greece, Cyprus, Sicily. Sardinia, Bor-
! neo. Sunlatra. Singapore, Arabia, Zan-
zihar, Africa, Cairo. Tasmania. Sand
yich islands, Society islands Samoa
Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Among the many important events
from WHICH relics are worked into its
construction are the railroad disaster
OF Ashtabuia, August 90, 1876; Spuyten
Duyvcl, January IS, 1882, and the
Quincy wreck. August 10, 1890; also the
F.! big fires of Portland, Me-, in 1850. Chi
| cago in 1871, St. John. \. B., in 1877,
| Boston in 1872. and Seattle, Wash, in
| 1899. and the floods of Mill river, 1874
and .'ohrstOwn. in 1880.
| Other interesting souvenirs are from
he old government ships Ohio and
Merrimac; piece of the Benedict Ar
mold house in New Haven Conn: a piece
| of the Judges cave and the old Yale
fence i'll the same city; piece of shrub
| near Ledyard monument on the hill OBJ
| positc New London; piece of the old
! Liberty elm, Boston, and the old WASH
ington elm, Cambridge; Il piece of a
wrecked car at the Pittsburgh riot in
| 1877; piece of the stock of a rifle shot
off at Gettysburg, July /. 1865, and a
| piece of the deck load of the barkentine
Herbeet Fuller when she lay in Halifax
| harbor.
! The maker of the table shows much
well-dcserved pride in displaying it to
interested persons; and has an enter
| tanning tale to tell Of nearly every pieo t
! Of wood use i IN is Observation-Disclosures
! ton Herald.