Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-08-28
In a MAHOGANY FOREST.
Wasteful Methods of LAUNDERING This
Valuable Wood in Central America.

WastefuI Methods of laundering This
Valuable Wood in Central America.
George Hebard Paine in New York
Sun.-A mahogany forest is truly a
forest-but not of mahOganies There
will be many trees-hundreds of
square miles of them, of so close a
growth that the suns rays rarely
reach the ground,-but of these, few
will be the stately, high-arched Nell
acea. Widely scattered, they stand
regally alone and, usually, in difficult
situations. Conceive a perfect shaft.
prone upon the breast, of a steep hill,
squared with the ak, five feet on a
side at the butt, four feet on a side at
the top, and so feet long. 1t may be
| worth several thousand dollars in the
United States and the larger the
pieces in which it is shipped, the
more it is worth. Yet this must be cut
into short lengths because of the i'm
possibility Of moving it in it's present
form; and even if it could be moved,
it could never be foated down the
narrow, tortuous stream, or, even if
lilo "SiO pOSSlD16 IL COu1u uOI UG
loaded aboard ship for it's 2OOO-mile
journey to New York. This strikes
the impressionable beholder as almost
a tragedy.
And the waste Not more than
fourth of the useful parts of this ex-
quisite timber ever reach a market.
Splendid trees are girdled and for
gotten, or abandoned for some other
reason. The roots and four Cor more)
feet OF the stumps containing the
most beautiful of waving, curled We
neering material of great dimensions,
are utterly neglected because there
are no means provided for handling
them. There is a fortune in the
stumpage alone, in one of these for
ests, under intelligent and economical
management. Great limbs, too. aggre-
eating twice the amount of the stem
and OF equal utility as timber, are al
lowed to rot untouched where they
fall; and last, but not least, not a
sign Of replanting or of cultivation.
First destruction; then abandonment.
And in thinking of this, it must be
remembered that where mahogany
grows, there too grows cocobolo, the
wood which is as beautiful as rose
Wood, dark red. shaded and 1imned
with black, as heavy as lockwood and
so valuable that it is used only for the
most exclusive purposes. Rubber
trees also are common, wild and indip-
enous in a mahogany forest, and are
treated in the same thoughtless way
as is everything else.
The tools employed in numbering
are of the most primitive. An ak. of
a strange unwieldly form; a two-man
saw, some blocks and tackle, and
oxen or bulls for power. Not a der
rick, a steam boiler or sawmill
within a weeks journey; not even
rollers, except of the toughest. And !
yet individual trees are worth what /
it would cost to build an Industrial !
marrow gauge) railway to some /
large stream. And for fuel, the tops |
of the felled trees alone would fur
nish enough and to spare.
Here is a chance for Yankee push |
and engineering,
When felled, squared and cut into |
lengths, the sticks are hauled by |
cattle, inch by inch, to the nearest
stream which is large enough to float |
them during high water. This haul
ing must be in the rainy season in
order (save the markD that the
ground shall be slippery and furnish
It's own fabrication. The cattle are
3 sad lot; rather small, but well look
ing enough when they are first set to
work. but what a change in two
months! Worn to the skin and bone