The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1911-03-17

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ocean port. There the logs are piled
on the beach to wait for vessel. and
when 1t comes are rolled back into the
water and RATED and pulled out to the
ships side. always a dangerous under
taking. for the water Is rough. Once
beside the vessel the derricks are put
to work and the logs are lifted over
one by one, lowered with much din.
Guilty into the hold. and when enough
logs have come aboard the vessel Is
ready.
1t may well be believed that mahos.
any does not claim the respect In its
own land that 1t does In ours. There
has been much comment on the fact
that 1t Is used for railroad ties in the
lands across the gulf, and this may
well be. An immense amount Of it is
so far from the coast and from any
present means of transportation that
it practically Is valueless to the owner
of the land, SO he views the waste Of
it with comparative indifference.
True mahogany is the only species
of the Swietenia mahogani, and is dis
tinctly a native Of tropical America
but occasionally small specimens have
been found in southern Florida, and
q similar tree. never reaching the
height Of the American relative. how.
ever, has been located in India. This
swietenia has been planted in south
ern Florida, southern California and
parts of Mexico, but only as an orna-
mental tree, however, because It Is Of
such slow growth and requires for full
maturity such. natural surroundings,
that for commercial purposes it would
seem impossible of cultivation. It is
giant among even the giants Of trop-
ioal forest. It towers sometimes to q
height Of 100 feet. The trunk alone
Is often so feet in length and IL feet in
diameter. and 1t divides into 50 many
huge arms and throws the shade Of its
shining green leaves over so vast an
extent Of surface that more magniA-
cent or more useful object IL not to be
met with In the vegetable world. The
precise period Of its growth Is not &C.
curately known, but as, when large. 1t
changes little during the life of man.
the time Of its arriving at maturity is
probably not less than 200 years. The
name "Swietenia" was given to mahog.
any in honor of the celebrated Baron
Won Swieten, physician to Maria Their.
esa. The early Spanish called the tree
"Cedrela," species not unlike the
mahogany In many respects. and found
also. in about the same natural sur.
roundings. but the English mistook
that name for cedar, applying 1t direct
ly to mahogany, the result being that
Spanish cedar is a term still heard
occasionally or read without true un.
Outstanding In ancient books of travel
and discovery along the Spanish Main.
Only the best and biggest logs are
exported; the smaller ones and the
remnants of the sawed timber are uti-
liked as ordinary lumber on the spot
for the construction of houses or the
decoration Of small vessels, so that
in the tropics there can still be seen
the solid mahogany furniture which
originally made the wood so famous.
London is the mahogany center OF
the world. Here prices are set and
the character of wood decided. Beauty
of grain is, OF course, the chief char
acteristic, and that which at once
ranks 1t above other woods either for
constructive or decorative purposes;
allied to beauty is figure or pattern
and when the two are combined, ma
hogany then becomes supreme. Sheets
OF mahogany of wonderful thinness
can be cut from the parent log. WIN
very little loss.
Selling mahogany logs by auction Is
still the habit in vogue In the grea'
center the trade, GUS
tom inherited from generations OF BUY.
ing and selling. To these principal
markets in England merchants come
from every direction, for the PICK Oh
the forests can always be found there
In fact, the best class Of logs nom
tropical America are carried first
England, many Of them sold to manu-
facturers In the United States, to DC
finally imported through the Atlantlo
seaboard. thus having Travelled tW'co
across the ocean in their journey llo~
the forest to the factory.
It u gratifying to know that tne,'
Ii no wholesale destruction OF the me
hogany forests. The young timber ID.
to be preserved. At one time II W.
the law that no tree should DO o0'
which squared less than 1S incne
quite large tree, - one will nouc.
but that has become rather dead TO-
ter. and trees smaller than this -
cut every day. Still there is some =
fort to preserve the timber, ana ~.
70 do n appreciable amount OF re,U
estation. The trees are Of very ~ J. :.
growth. many Of the large trees, =
said. bearing evidence Of being q -
1000 years Old, and when there y - -.
l6Gness 8 greed n cutting, II me-
much 70 tie future Of the man0s