The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-07-05
HELP waNTED-MALE.
RICH IN WOOD.
Mahogany as Plentiful as Ordinary
Lumber in the Philippines.

From the Seattle Pcst-Intelligencer.
Uncle Sans new possessions, Cuba
and the Philippines, are destined 10
cut considerable figure in the lumber
trade as soon as American methods OF
push and enterprise are adopted. Cuba
possesses some Of the best mahogany
and Spanish cedar in the world and
the Philippine Islands are covered with
mahogany, ebony, camphor wood and
other valuable hard wood forests. j.
G. Hinkle, a member of the First reg1-
ment of Washington volunteers,a prac-
tical furniture maker, recently wrote
to Charles r. Sligh, of Spokane, from
Manila as follows:
There are half a dozen hard woods
here that take high polish. They
are somewhat lighter than mahogany
in appearance. / know the name OF
only one, camphor wood. l think the
others 90 not grow in other places.
The native names would not enlighten
you in regard to them. Ebony is also
abundant. 1t is of mahogany that
wish to speak. and on this point 1 beg
information. 1t is the bull pine, or
water elm, of this country, so to speak.
The meanest hovel as well as the plain
est partition work is of mahogany.
Notwithstanding it's abundance, lum-
Der is high here. The native works
almost for a song, but when 1t comes
to whipsawing 1000 feet of boards you
can understand why many people can't
stand much of this song.
There is one sawmill in the Islands.
The logs are cut up in the mountains
and hewed out square, then nosed so
that they will plow through reeds.
grass. etc, down the Pasig river. There
are great yards full of them, and with
American machinery and enterprise
this industry could be made Of great
profit A word as to the quality of the
lumber. We are at present quartered
in an old palace, once the residence of
the archbishop of the church. / have
been told by some of the oldest natives
that it has been here fifty-eight years.
In the main floor upstairs all the
boards are two feet wide and over,
none less. They are laid with screws
that have heads countersunk and COW
cred. There is not a single season
check or knot in the floor that have
found. There are old places in the al
tar work of the various churches that
only changes to the darker color with
this weight of years. I am not posted
on the different qualities of lumber,
but my judgment leads me to think
this is the best"
James A. Fitzhenry, Of Company B.
same regiment, writes a Ballard friend
as follows:
"They tell us that this is the great
est timber country in the world. There
are four kinds of timber-mahogany,
ebony, camphor wood and red wood.
There are some fine timber claims that
run right down to the edge of the river.
OF all the timber that is used here there
is only one sawmill on the island. That
is run by a Chinaman and he only saws
the logs into cants and the cants are
sold, and the man that buys them has
to whipsaw them and make his lumber.
These cants sell for 800 (MeXican) a
thousand Mahogany logs grew nearly
as large as the fir in the sHites. AS
| mahogany is the principal wood, you
| can see for yourself how much money
man could make if he owned a saw
mill here. Before this trouble with
the insurgents got so bad my captain
| told me that there were ten officers OF
different regiments forming a syndl-
cate and were going to send to the
states for backing to start q sawmill.
They say that there will be boom In
this country as soon as the trouble is
over. If so, this will be a good place to
make money. A man can start a small
business and hire native labor for so
cents a day, Mexican money; that is
| 25 cents in our money"