1052 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



that is, about every twelve days there is a quake of more 

 or less intensity. 



The Rasak and Lagan tinil^ers grow only on the high 

 ground, and in the swamps grows an impenetralile mass 

 of useless timber and vines. Rattan is very plentiful and 

 large quantities are exported. The natives have been 

 cutting the smaller and sound Rasak trees around the 

 bays for a long time, have hewed them square, and 

 shipped them to markets, but the problem of getting big 

 timber of the interior cut, is dit^cult. One of the com- 

 panies has started to build a railroad, and has purchased 

 regular Pacific Coast logging equijiment of the heaviest 

 type. This handles the logs all right, but the building of 

 the railroad presents great difficulties and costs an exor- 

 bitant, almost prohibitive, price. They cannot follow a 

 valley, because there is none, and they cannot follow a 

 ridge, because there is none, and all they can do, is to 

 bridge from one hill to another. Fills are almost out of 

 tlie question, because the nature of the soil is such, that 

 the heavy tropical rains wash the dirt away almost as 

 fast as it is put there. To reduce the large logs to mer- 



EUTT ICXD OF R.^SAK TIMBER 



Loaded on a car in the yards of the company on the Island of Si Maloe, 

 Dutch Kast Indies. This company has the concession for cutting this 

 timber granted by the Nederlandsch-Indische C,overnment wliich 

 controls the timber and mineral resources of the country. 



chantaljle size, that is, to cut all the sound parts of the 

 logs from around the defective center, the company has 

 I'Ut in one of the largest type Pacific Coast band mills. 

 The company has also evolved a plan of seasoning the 

 timber in fresh water, thereby increasing its lasting qual- 

 ities, to keep it from springing, when it is sawed Inter into 

 smaller dimensions. 



An extensive system of basins has been built and fresh 

 water flows through them. When the timber lea\es the 

 mill, it is loaded by an o\erhead traveling electric crane 

 of ten-ton capacity on railroad cars and taken to the 

 Ijasins. Alongside the basins are the railroad tracks, and 

 the tracks of the traveling electric driven derricks of 

 ten-ton capacity and a reach of forty-five feet, to hamlle 

 ihe timber from cars into the basin and vice versa. After 

 the timber has been in the ba>ins si.x months or longer, it 

 is taken to the drv sheds, where it is also handled bv elec- 



YOU.XG J.WA-M. 



W 1J.\1.\.\ 



1 his young lady is a representative of the type of Tavanese in the 

 Dutch East Indies. The writer of this article says the Javanese 

 ar^ closely watched by the Nederlandsch-Indische Government 

 officials in the fear tliat tliey may learn more tlian is desired about 

 the military defenses of the islands. 



trie driven overhead traveling cranes, and stacked up for 

 drying. On acctiunt of so much rain and damp weather 

 no timber or lumlier is stacked outside as is done in this 

 country. It might also be noticed, that nobody on the 

 island seems to be afraid of lire. Xo forest fires are 

 possible as everything is always green, and the tree- 

 tops and limljs from the trees that are cut down, are 

 kept so wet and soggy liy the constant rains, that they 

 could not burn. 



The houses and buildings are also so damp and moist, 

 that it wouUl be hard to set them on tire. On account of 

 so much rain, the ground, although it has the appearance 

 of rich soil, seems to be sour, and no vegetables grow. 

 The only grass that grows is a coarse variety, with no 

 nutritive value. .\ horse or a cnw would starve on it, 

 and consequently no horses, mules or cows are kept on 

 the island; l)ut there are "kerbow" (Water BuiTalo) with 

 tremendous horns, and goats and w'ild hogs are plentiful. 



While Si Alaloe is a verv green island, it is not a 

 flowery island. It is rare to see a flower or a blooming 

 tree ; although in tropical countries as a rule, plants and 

 trees bloom in profusion. The wet climate, with lit- 

 tle sunshine, seems to account for the absence of 

 flowers. The mechanic^ eniplnyed in the construction 



