Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-03-31

legs OF chair, leaving little more than
the paint so that when you sit down
YOU ma the legs go 70 dust and your
self on the floor. They win eat cloth
ing and pasteboard cartridge wrap
pings. and u Is even said they some
times scratch iron. IL may be for this
reason that In buildings and furniture
the hardwoOds only are used here.
PINE IN THE PHILIPPINES.
have seen It often stated that there
Is no pine In the Philippines. Capt
Bachelor who has lately returned from
march OF about three hundred miles
through the Cagayan valley and the
mountains glong Il. tells me this Is not
so. The captain Is a North Carolina
man, and lie knows a pine when he sees
one. He says he marched for days
through pine forests, using pine knots
10 make torches for his men when they
campsd at night He tells me the trees
are large. and as full OF resin as the
turpeniine pine trees Of the south At
lantic coast.
There IL also a soft cedar wood here
like that we use for cigar boxes. II Is
cut from logs from thirty to forty feet
long and almost yard square. An
other wood Is called bullet wood, be-
cause II lSas hard as a bullet; II Is so
hard that II can be driven right through
ordinary wood. and for this reason Il
sometimes takes the place OF nails. 1t
Is largely employed in the making OF
boats at Manila and also In house
building. Then there are the Sapan
woods, which when cut into pieces
and boiled furnish a bright red dye;
the Acle wood. which Will resist FIRE
long time, and the Aranga. which fur
nishes logs two feet square and seven
ty-iive feet long This wood will with
stand the attacks OF the sea worms,
and Is therefore valuable for wharves,
piles and ship building.
In addition TO these there are many
other varieties OF timber which might
be sold ~ a profit In the tlluted States.
one OF the marked characteristics OF
the forests Is their many large trees
trees which furnish logs from fifty TO
seventy-fiye feet in length and from
two feet and upward in thickness. /
have seen mahogany tables six feet
wide and twelve feet In length. the tops
being made Of one board. and have
walked over great teak wood logs I'm
| have asked several people why
these forests have not been exploited
by the Spaniards. and have been told
that one reason was that the Spanish
government exacted a special permits
sion 10 cut timber and another was
the heavy taxes which were Imposed.
The question Of getting labor 10 cut
the trees and haul the logs out has
"a nj -
quires considerable capital The la
Dor used has been almost entirely
Filipino labor which is very uncer-
tain. The men will stop work on the
slightest pretext, and Il is only by get
ting them Into sort Of debt slavery
or peonage that steady work can be
secured There are but few roads
and no railroads. The only beasts OF
value are the water buffaloes which
are the freight cars and lumber
haulers OF the islands Much OF the
timber lies near the sea, and now that
Uncle Sam has the Islands measures
VIII probably be undertaken to get II
out. am told that the best OF the
forests are In the southern islands,
and that great part Of Mindanao Is
one vast woods made up Of valuable
virgin forest trees
GOLD IN THE PHILIPPINES.
There Is no doubt that gold exists all
over the Philippines, but whether II is
In paying quantities remains for the
prospector to settle. | have reports
every day OF the existence OF small
placer deposits and OF streams the
beds Of which when washed show color.
The most OF the stories are from the
troops who have been In the mountain
Gus Observation-Disclosures which are in
habited chiefly by savages and some
OF which have not been accessible TO
the ordinary prospector. The average
Filipino. it must be remembered, is not
traveller. He sticks TO his home and