The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1899-06-15
THEIR RICH FORESTS.
PHILIPPINES PRODUCE MANY
VALUABLE WOODS.
Mahogany Is o Plentiful that 1t Il
Used as ordinary Lumber "a wmills
Will he Very Profitable When the
Country Is Ouieted.

NOuntry Is Vuleteu.
Uncle Sans new possessions. Cuba
and the Philippines, are destined to cut
considerable figure in the lumber trade
us soon as American methods of push
and enterprise are adopted. Cuba pos
sesses 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 hardwood forests. J. G..
Hinkle, a member of the First Regi-
ment of Washington Volunteers, n
practical furniture maker, recently
wrote to Charles II. Sigh. of Spokane,
from Manila as follows:
There are half a dozen hard woods
here that take a high polish. They are
somewhat lighter than mahogany In
appearance. know the name of only
one, camphor wood; think the others
do not grow in other places. The ma
tive names would not enlighten you in
regard to them. Ebony is also abun-
dant. 1t is of mahogany | wish to
speak, and on this point beg lnforma-
ton. 1t Is the bull pine, or water elm,
of this country, so to speak. The mean
est hovel, as well as the plainest par
tition work, is of mahogany. Notwith-
standing its abundance, lumber is high
here. The native works almost for a
song, but when 1t comes to whipsaw-
Ing 1000 feet of boards you can under
stand why many people can't stand
much of this song.
There is one sawmll 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 enter
prise this industry could be made Of
great profit. A word as to the quality
of the lumber. We are at present quar-
tered in an old palace, once the resi-
dence of the archbishop of the church
| have been told by some of the oldest
natives that ii 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 covered. There is not a single sea
son check or knot in the floor that |
have found. There are old places In
the altar work of the various churches
that have been built as far back as
lI43 that only changes to the darker
color with this weight of years. | am
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 Ballard friend
as follows: They tell US that this is
the greatest 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 Chinaman,
and he only saws the logs into cants.
and the cants are sold, and the man
that buys them has TO whipsaw th,m
and make his lumber. These cants sell
for 500 MeXicam thousand Ma
hogany logs grow nearly as large as
the fir in the States. As mahogany Is
the principal wood, you can see for
yourself how much money n man could
make If he owned a sawmill here Be
fore this trouble with the insurgents
got so bad my captain told me that
there were ten officers of different req
iments forming "A syndicate and were
going to send to the States for backing
to start n sawmill. They say that
there will be boom in this country as
soon as the trouble is over. If so. this
will be good place to make money.
A man can start a small business and
hire native labor for 30 cents a day.
Mexican money; that is p cents in our
money, Seattle POSt-Intelligencer.