The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-16
CUTTING THE MAHOGANY TREES.
Experienced Woodsmen Alone Can
Find Suitable Timber for Market.

Inc mahogany hunter is the most i'm
portant and best laid laborer in the ser
vice, for upon his skill and actiyi ySlarge-
ly depend the success of the season. Ma
hogany trees do not grow in clusters. but
ere scattered promiscuously through the
forests and hidden in a dense growth of
underbrush. vines and creepers, and II re
qnires an experienced and skfifftff wood
man TO find them. No progress can be
made In tropical forest without the aid
OF machete. for the way must be cut
step by step. The mahogany is one of the
largest and tauest of trees, and the hunt
er. sc king the highest ground climbs 10
the top of the tallest tree and surveys
the surrounding country. His p1>acticed
eye soon detects the mahogany by its pc
culiar foliage End he counts The trees
within the scope of his vision notes the
directions and distances and then desc nd
ing cuts narrow trail to each tree.
which he carefully blaZes and marks es-
pecially if there be rival hunter in the
vicinity. The axmen follow the hunter.
and after hem come the sawyers and
heWers,
To fell a large mahogany tree is one
days task for two men On account of
the wide ,spurs which project from the
trunk at its base scaffo'ds must be erect
ed and the tree cut off above the spurs,
which leaves a stump from ten to fifteen
feet in hi2ht-a sheer waste of the very
best part of tie tree and one which Amer
lean ingenuity would certainly devils
some means to prevent While the work
of telling and hewing is in progr IS other
gangs are busy making roads ard bridges
over which the logs may be hauled TO the
river. One wide truck pass" as il is call
ed, is made through the center of the dis
trict occupied by the works, and branc h
roads are opened from this main avenue
to each tree. The trucks employed are
clumsy and antiqua1ed affairs which no
American would think of using. The axles
and boxes are imported from England
while the other parts are made upon the
ground The wheels are Of solid wood
made by saving off the end of a log and
fitting iron boxes in the center, no spokes
or tires beng used. Now wheels are in
constant reouisition, and repairs cause
frequent and expensive delays.
Most of the trucking Is done at night
by torchlights CT pitch pine. The oxen are
( d on the ltavts and twigs Of the bread
nut tree, which gives them mere st ength
and rover Of endurance than any other
obtaiuable food. The truck ng being done
In the dry season. the logs are coecte 4
on the bank of the river and made r ally
/
begin in June and July and on Others in
October and November. The logs are
turned adrift and when they reach tide
water are caught by means of booms In
dian oggers-usualy Caribs-follow the
logs down the river in order to release
those which are caught by obstacles No
little judgment and experience is required
to determine at what exact stage Of the
flood the logs should be set adrift. Should
the water rise to what Is called "t1pgal-
liant food" before the logs reach the
boom many Of them would be carried over
tho banks and left nigh and dry in cane
breaks and thickets or covered up by
sand and rubbish. From the boom the logs
are RATED to the embarcadero and man
ufactured" for shipment.
Mahogany trees give from two to five
! logs each, measuring from ten TO eighteen
feet In length and from twenty 10 forty
| four inches In diameter after being hew-
cd The manufacturing" process consists
of saving off the log ends which have been
bruis and spl ntered In transit down the
river and In refining and relieving the
legs by skillful workmen. who give them
a smooth and even surface. The logs are
then measured, rolled back into the water
at the mouth Of The river and made IN {
ats to be tax n to the vessel anchore
outside the bar.