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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
r6
GETTING OUT
MAHOGANY,
'19
u/itl? \\ard
L. H. SCHNEIDER, of Nicaragua, is stop-
ping at the Hotel Albert. The gentle-
man is an extensive exporter of mahogany from
the country, where he has been residing for the
past few years, and where he has amassed a
competence in shipping that particular and
valuable wood.
"Mahogany is a very valuable wood, but is
hard to get out of the forests where it grows,''
he said to a reporter last night. '' However, it
pays if one goes at it right, and knows how to
manage the business. The way we go about
the work of getting out mahogany logs is, first,
to get a concession from the Nicaraguan govern-
ment. You must' stand in ' as they say in the
United States, if you get a concession, but an
enterprising citizen from any country can go
there and establish himself in the favor of the
officials, and if he has a good record at home as
a man able to tend to business, they grant him
a privilege. But that is only the beginning of
the trouble one has in cutting and exporting the
wood. You then proceed to make bargains with
the natives to cut and haul logs out of the for-
ests. If you treat them kindly they will work
for you for a time at the least. The best Indian
labor costs about 50 cents per day. It is often
hard, however, to get them to work, as they live
on fruits and can sustain themselves without
labor of any trying kind. Half of the year is
called the rainy season, and it runs from May
to October. It is then so wet that one finds it
impossible to get out any timber, and no one
will work for you during the wet season. When
the dry season opens we commence operations,
and if we can get enough labor we succeed, but
we have to be careful with them, as they become
easily misled and often think we are taking
some advantage of them. When they become
convinced that something is wrong, whether
they have cause to believe that such is the case
or not, they get angry, and the feeling spreads
among all the tribes. The woods are so dense
and the work so trying on men brought there
from other countries that they cannot stand it,
and there is no profit in paying them what they
require to risk their lives among the snakes and
in the swamps where the mahogany grows.
When the timber is cut we haul it, one log at a
time, on a two-wheeled ox-cart especially made
for the purpose. It is a very slow process, but
it is the only practicable way to get the timber
out. There are 400 and 500 logs to the acre,
and the price of the wood is so high partly be-
cause the timber is so hard to obtain."
'' What is the price of mahogany ? ''
" The average price of a good mahogany log
is $75. I sell very few logs in the United States,
and my principal market is in France. There I
ship practically all my timber. The price is
. better in France and the money is paid as soon
as the logs arrive in port. There are not as
many fortunes in mahogany as some people
imagine, as the wood is too difficult to draw
from the tangled forests of Nicaragua. When a
man from the north goes to Nicaragua he stands
the climate very well for a year, and is very
energetic, and wonders at the spirit of laziness
that prevails among all the people. But after
awhile he is overcome by the climatic conditions
and gets lazy and is unable to work three good
hours a day—if he don't die in the meantime.
The mahogany business is very pretty to talk
4 POINTS OF SUPERIORITY
OF THE
Celebrated
"Conover"
Pianos.
AND SWEETNESS of TONE.
^"SCIENTIFIC CONSTRUCTION.
^"DURABILITY."
I^TBEAUTY.
(THE ONLY STRICTLY
HIGH GRADE _PJ_ANO
MANUFACTURED
IN CHICAGO.)
CHICflGO COTTAGE ORGAN COMPANY,
SOLE FACTORS.
(The Largest Dealers in Pianos and Organs in the World.)
about and very nice in theory, and even in price,
but a great deal of the fancy profit that appar-
ently accrues on logs is lost in the time and
expense one is required to undergo to get the
logs out and carry them to the ships."
A NEW INVENTION.—A.: " I have brought
out a new invention ! ''
B. : "What is i t ? "
A. : " An automatic musical box ; you put a
penny in the slot
''
B. : "And the machine plays a tune, I sup-
pose ? ''
A.: " O n the contrary; the mechanism is
brought to a standstill, and the everlasting
racket stops."—Notidero.
A Cold Douche.—A vocalist with a very poor
voice, when singing one day, noticed a woman
who was crying in the audience. Thinking that
the sweet tones of his voice awakened certain
feelings in her breast, he exerted himself still
more, and the woman wept all the louder.
When the song was at an end he hastened to
inquire the cause of her tears. She replied :
'' Alas ! I am the unhappy woman whose donkey
was stolen last week ; and when I hear your
voice, which so strongly resembles that of the
poor beast, I am reminded of my loss and am
compelled to weep."—Illustrazione Popolare.
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL WAREROOMS,
(SECOND FLOOR.)
215 WABASH AVE.,
CHICAGO.
Enterprising dealers all over the Country are
fast securing the agency for the wonderful
A.
B.
CHASE
PIANOS.
valuable Town Lots in South-
W ILL ern EXCHANGE
Pines, N. C , the new winter health resort
that is so highly recommended by the medical profes-
sion as the most desirable location in the United States
for those suffering with throat and lung troubles, for
Piano or Organ, new or second hand; instrument must
be in good order. Lots to be rated at cash selling
prices.
JNO. T. PATRICK, Southern Pines, N. C.
"It is conceded upon all hands that Lyon & Healy have
won the greatest victory oi FTP- house in the music line."—
New York Times,
Wonderful in Tone Quality.
Wonderful in Selling Qualities,
Style, Finish, Strength,
Action, Durability and Popularity,
and
Improvement of Tone by Age and Use.
The Company Scrupulously protect their
agencies,
and
Never change when it can be avoided.
Hence the agency becomes more valuable
every year.
If y«u can, you should secure it at once,
by writing to
THE A. B. CHASE CO.,
NORWALK, OHIO.
The house of Lyon & Healy Becured honors at
the World's Fair that are entirely unprecedented,
no less than twelve Diplomas and Medals of the
highest class being awarded to the musical instru-
ments produced by their factories. This number
of awards has never been even approached by any
other music house, nor has any previous World's
Fair ever bestowed such recognition to the prod-
ucts of one firm