Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-08-08
THAT CELEBRATED
COOS COUNTY


Portland, Ore, Aug. S.-Coos county
Just now, is forty-eight hours from
Portland just about as far as
Denver, though on a straight line
Denver is something like 1900
miles, while Coos is about $50 miles
away. But Coos is not worrying about
that; she is sure of one railroad
shortly. and perhaps two. zone is
coming down the coast" says the
Coos enthusiast. "and another is COM
ing across the mountains. Coos bay
has a fine harbor, and II Is gong to be
the Pacific terminus Of a ~transcontin-
entail line. Just paste this in your
Panama and remember 1t, and in less
than five years from now you will be
glad that you know this beforehand"
There are plenty of things In Coos
county, as proved by her showing at
the Portland fair. which entities her
10000 people to he enthusiastic. Two
Of these things are found nowhere
else on earth. namely, the Port Ok
ford white cedar and the myrtle tree.
Byron sang of the myrtle. but he
meant the vine. In Coos county, and
not elsewhere upon this mundane ball,
so far as human knowledge extends,
myrtle trees grow; and they grow big
and straight and tall; they grow to
enormous size. bearing leaves resem-
bling those of the bay tree. The wood
Of the myrtle is the cabinetmaker's
dream; 1t is a hardwood, almost like
ebony and the sawn surface of a
myrtle plank knots and gnarls that
give it a glorious grain when polished.
The color is indescrible. there are sew
eral tints, but the general effect is a
golden iightness; there is nothing
sombre about IL. and the wood takes a
wonderful polish. In the Coos county
building is a set of furniture-tables,
~dresseres, buffet and other pieces
the first ever made of myrtle wood.
This furniture was manufactured in
Coos county. Women who see 1t stop
to gaze and gasp in admiration.
Myrtle Is also used largely in the
wonderful panel work that makes the
entire interior of the Coos county
building a thing of beauty. The walls
Of the main exhibit room are paneled
from floor to ceiling. some of the pan
els being of inlaid work, in which
eleven kinds of Coos county wood are
used. These woods are myrtle, white
cedar, yew, alder. chittim, Cor cas-.
cara), spruce. white ash, maple, ma.
drone. red cedar and wild cherry. A
remarkable wood is the chittim, that
same chittim which we+ind mentioned
frequently in the Bible. II is a hard
wood, highly useful in cabinet and
panel work, and the bark of the tree
possesses valuable medicinal quail
ties. When men deep in the forests
of Coos county fall i'll, by boiling the
bark of the chittim they secure an ex.
tract which takes the place of a drug
store %ssperient.
The ceiling of the Coos county build
ing is of the beam or panel construc
tion, Douglas fir and white cedar be
ing used. The entire building is
weatherboarded with white cedar
This kind of white cedar, known t
the trade as the Port Oxford cedar
grows nowhere else in the world, ex
cepting in the upper edge of Curry
county, which adjoins Coos on the
south. There is a great forest o
white cedar in Coos county, the tree;
growing to enormous sizes. Trunks
ten feet In diameter are common
This cedar has marvellous qualities O.
self-preservation. A certain resin IL
its makeup gives out a pungent odor
very pleasant to the nostrils, and thi!
odor is retained by the wood for hun
dreds of years.