The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-04
HINGES OF BLACK WALNUT.
N1e Good Old Times When Fine
 Wood Went Begging.

ZF1tCAKU lStIlle SHi q n lumb-rman's convention is never in lu3osion very many hours before some lD0dy begins to criticise our pioneer iore- 4athers for cutting up walnut trees into Hence rails; for walnut wood Is now so secarce that 1t brings & higher price in 4he market than mahogany, ana us use 4b confined to the making of gun stocks. kntfe handles panels and veneers oi' 'cheaper woods. The old haircloth cov- cred paffor suites of walnut. beloved by s0ut grandmothers find ready sale, for Aht framework can be worked into small articles.
 '. But alas. the pioneers needed corn, z1etds. and the cornfields had to be fenced {n from wild animals and tame stock. Then the hickory trees came down to build log houses and to mako ax handles ssnd wagon spokes; and what so good TOT 4hl first benches. tables, chests Of draw era and bedsteads as red cherry? So Hickory and red cherry are scarce, too. nov, and when building, decorating and 9urniture-making have become fine arts we must take the woods the pioneer has 1eft us and do the best we can with them # Heading the list of woods today m building Is pine-hard. soft. white. yellow "A big pine tree Is joy to the circular raw. log may be twelve feet in diam eter at the base and 150 feet long. It Uaws easily, planes to satln-like sur face glue holds 1t and nails do not split 1t The white pine of the North Is such a delight to the builder that it. too. is
  used as substitute. The hemlock serves 1or rough building. The yellow pine for eets of the South furnish much building material. and the inferior trees are cut slp into pa cking cases. Cypress masquer- ades as Georgia hard pine. and many a giant redwood tree must be astonished to find itself labeled cherry. although. in spite of its beautiful color. it must know 1t Is too soft to deceive anyone who kEows anything about wood. Red cedar has no imitators, for it's odor cannot be duplicated. It Is very aristocratic wood indeed, intimately associated with liter ature and commercial aecounts. for most of 1t goes into lead pencils. A cedar chest is always prized for the faithful ness with which 1t cares for furs and rugs and expensive garments Of wool. for the odor of cedar is something the wool moth cannot abide
 Hickory Is still reserved for wagon epokes and hubs and ak handles and other articles requiring toughness. Beech makes heavy, strong timbers. Pines, however, are used for ship masts and Telegraph poles. fence posts and shingles. The cabinet and furniture woods that are native to this country are oak. maple, birch, elm. cherry. sycamore, ash and basswood Quarter-sawed d. e., Quartered and sawed across the grain) is probably the favorite for stair-building, Interior finishing and solid furniture. It takes ev- cry color and finish. and is thus adapted % any scheme of decoration. while 1t
 
 durability. Curly birch and birds-eye ma ple are also made into beautiful finish fngs and furniture. Birch is often stained to the color to the color of mahogany. but the maple is a beautiful white wood with soft brown eyes" which some peo- ple think as handsome as white mahog- any.
 When your mother wants new floor For the kitchen she demands a hard maple in narrow, matched boards. It will cost as much as a parlor carpet. but 1t will take scrubbings for generation and come out white every time. Her Kitchen table will probably he white ash. as will the cheaper bed room furniture and chairs. The rolling pin in all prob ability will be maple, and the potato masher genuine cherry. l don't know why this is true, but many and many ss the modern house that has not a scrap of cherry wood in it except the potato masher; and sometimes that is beech wood. An. me. and our grandfathers used to make rail fences out of walnut trees and milk stools out of wild cherry.