The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1909-03-09
VALUABLE rlMmtn rnDptrr
Nnhoean, l. Peer uf tlsr'iwnod@
spti fur Decorative Purposes.

tscd for Decorative Purposes.
Washington. March For re-.
fined expression In the manufacture
uf furniture aud all other forms Of
i interior decoration, mahogany Ia I'M
+ doubtedly the peer OF the hardvoods
/ No wood "a 80 universally used to-
! day for this purpose In every city
+ and country Of the world, no wood
( ~ SO freely md successfully imita
ted.
Americas architects and men Of
the furniture and cabInet-mafing
industries draw heavily upon the
markets of the world in the struggle
to supply an ever increasing demand
for genuine mahogany Hundreds of
tons of logs annually are imported
into this country and worked into
beautiful forms to grace fine homes
or dignity the interior Of public
buildings. large hotels or railway
cars
A few years ago mahogany was
regarded as very precious wood
and was employed only IN the inter
ior OF the finest houses and in the
manufacture Of the most expensive
furniture During the past few years
however. there hes been wonderful
development in mahogany importa-
don and use
The total quantity of mahogany
imported last year was nearly for
ty-tWo million board feet. OF this
large amount North America sup
per cent Though Europe supplied
only q little more than one-fourth
as much mahogany as there was i'm
ported from North America It's aver
age value per thousand feet was
more than twice as much due to
finer quality The remainder of the
imports came from Africa South
America, and Asia
Mexico furnished lG.2 per cent OF
the mahogany coming from North
America Nicaragua followed with
1g.2 per cent British Honduras with
1875 per cent Cuba With S per cont
and Honduras with a. per cent,
other Central American countries
furnished the small remaining per-
ceuOagc
Immediately following the war
with Spain, mmbermon of the Uni
ted states exploited the largest and
most accessible OF the Cuban mahog
any forests For few years the
forests OF Cuba contributed more
largely to the supply in this country
than at the present time, largely
owing to the rapidity with which !
this valuable timber was logged and |
shipped An engineer employed by
American authorities during the re-
cent Intervention In Cuba claims that
nearly all OF the available supply of
mahogany Of that island lps been
exhausted aud that what now re-
mains In any considerable quanti- !
ties is far remote from tUnsportn-
ton facilities.
The number OF buyers of mahog
any In this country's hardwood mar
ket Is now exceeded only by those
OF oak, maple, poplar, Eastwood, ash, !
birch chestnut and cypress The
principal reason FOR the popularity
OF mahogany Is that the importers
OF the logs and the manufacturers of
lumber have never advanced Its
prices beyond a modest nrofIt and
It Is relatively so low that It now
makes little difference in price
whether an Office building or home
is finished In mahogany or quarter
sawn white oak
Another reason for its popularity !
is because Il improves IN tone with
are After much experimentation
car builders finish practically all OF
their cars N mahogany, MS It with
stands satisfactorily the severe |
usage and also holds It's finish. The
chief centcrs Of mahogany imp0rta- !
ton and manufacture ARE Boston |
New York. Louisville, New Orleans, |
Chicago, and indianapolis,
The mahogany Is the wood OF |
tree OF Swietenia, OF tho natural |
family OF Cedrelacao, named by JAG
quIn IN honor OF J Van Swieten