HARDWOOD RECORD 



15 



ritory. We have two aci'es of land covered with 

 sheds which we keep full. 



Then, also, the prices mentioned in this article 

 are misleading, as you will se^rom the fact that 

 we sell 1-iu. plain, red oak at $75 to $80 ; 1-in. 

 iiuartered red oak from $87.50 to $95, and liri-'n- 

 and thicker at $5 per thousand more. Three- 

 eighths-in. quartered white oak is sold by us at 

 wholesale at $50 per thousand and retail $57.50. 

 We sell mahogany at from $175 to $200 per thou- 

 sand and our retail list on Spanish cedar is 

 $125 ; W'holesale, $115. We know that these facts 

 will be appreciated, hence we volunteer them. 



We would be pleased to take the trouble to 

 keep you posted on this market if you have no 

 one here permanently. — Westekx II-iUDWOOD 

 Lumber Compaxv. 



Hardwood Dimension Stock iu England. 



Referring to a recent imiuiry for names of 

 English houses handling oak furniture dimension 

 stock, tlie Record's London correspondent, who 

 is a competent a^lthority on this subject, advises 

 that the Englisli furniture trade is worked by a 

 lot uf small master-men who sell nuished articles 

 to the large stores, which distribute the goods, 

 and from the fact that patterns, styles and sizes 

 are altered as often as possible, comparatively 

 little furniture dimension stock is possible of 

 sale. He says seveial shippers have tried to in- 

 terest buyers, but it is hard to do so. About all 

 the standard sizes that can be named in oak are 

 squares for turning, as follows : 



■I x4 — 2U. 



4%x4%— 26. 



5 x5 — 26. 



5Hx5%^26. 



C x6 —26. 



2 x2 — 16 — 28—32—36. 



2yix2i4--16— 32. 



3 x3— 28— 32— 36. 

 Oak rails in both plain and quartered : 



1,4x2—48. 

 1x3-48. 

 Oak moulding and flooring strips in both plain 

 and quartered white and red oak : 



1x2 1/> to 51/0—14 and 16 ft. 



Same sizes 10 to 12 ft. 



Same sizes 10 to 16 ft. 



1 and 114x4 and 4% — 4 ft. and up, white 

 plain and quartered oak only. 

 Parquet strips : 



% and 1x2, 2% and 3 — 12 and multiples. 

 Staves : 



%xS. 4 and 5 — 28—36. 

 Following is a l.st of reliable London buyers of 

 the foregoing materials ; 



Duncan Ewing & Co. 



Wright, Graham & Co. 



(Jellibrand, Heywood & Co. 



iloss & Co. 



I. Kennedy & Co. 



Budgett Bros. 



Irvin & Sellers. 



H. llermann, Ltd. 

 Three prominent concerns who sell on commis- 

 sion only : 



Churchill & Sim. 



C. Leary & Co 



Price & Pierce. 

 The following are Liverpool firms who deal in 

 this kind of material: 



Churchill & Sim. 



Chaloner & Co. 



Farnworth & Jardine. 



James Webster & Bro. 



Irvin & Sellers. 



Duncan Ewing & Co. 



I. Kennedy & Co. 



Vincent Murphy & Co. 



Parquetri; Flooring. 



Although to the layman the use of vari- 

 colored woods in floors seems a decidedly 

 modern departure this impression is erroneous. 

 Not only did the idea originate and develop 

 nearly three hundred years ago, but it has 

 long been put to practical and quite common 

 use in Europe. As early as the middle of the 

 seventeenth century, it is recorded that the 

 Duke of Norfolk 's palace at Weybridge con- 

 tained ' ' wainscotted rooms, some of them 

 parquetted with cedar, yew and cypress. ' ' As 

 far as can be learned, these beautiful floors 

 ■were first made by the Italians, and by them 

 introduced throughout Europe, They formed 

 as mueli a part of ornamentation as did the 

 frescoed ceilings and tapestried walls, and 

 were found only in the mansions of the rich 

 or palaces of state. 



Today, however, so well are the advantages 

 of polished flooring understood and appreci- 

 ated that the modern well-appointed home 

 ■which is entirely without it is the exception 

 rather than tlie rule. i>om an economical 

 standpoint polished flooring is desirable; 

 while its first cost may be considerable, it is 

 far more lasting than the finest carpet. The 

 sanitary hotisekeeper knows that its use en- 

 ables her to wage a winning battle against 

 germ-breeding dust, and if she is artistic in 

 the arrangement of her belongings, she rea- 

 lizes that a beautiful, shining floor affords the 

 best possible background for warm-hued rugs 

 and other furnishings. 



Borders, introducing woods of contrasting 



ing vulgar taste. Because of its rich hue, 

 increasing with age, mahogany is particularly 

 well adapted to design work. The floor of the 

 grand salon in Monticello, laid by Jefferson 

 in 1803, is made almost entirely of satinwood 

 and rosewood, but is probably the only one 

 of its kind in the United States. 



Sycamore is a cheap wood, used only iu the 

 lower grades of parquetry. It cannot be high- 

 ly recommended because of its sensitiveness 

 to moisture. 



The popular judgment regarding cherry is 

 as absurd as iu the case of mahogany, hence 

 the custom of staining to obtain immediately 

 something of the color which age brings out. 

 Natural cherry is hard to find. Three to six 

 months' usage develops the characteristic tone, 



colors are often used, but ordinarily the de- 

 sign is worked out without a decided border 

 effect, having perhaps just a strip of color 

 outlining the room, or if the size of the room 

 wairduts, a border of the same wood as the 

 center. The simplest, least startling patterns 

 are in greatest demand, but designs are fre- 

 quently seen in which many colored woods are 

 laid in intricate and exquisite old Eoman, 

 Grecian and rococo effects, both in field and 

 ■jorder, forming a floor covering which rivals 

 iu beauty and excels in durability the costly 

 products of Persian and Turkish looms. 



Of recent years parquetry flooring has be- 

 come so popular that manufacturers are do- 

 ing an immense business both at home and 

 abroad. Even the Orient has been invaded 

 by American exporters, and material for a 

 number of floors has been sent to China for 

 the palaces of mandarins, and to Japan to be 

 used in the homes of the ■nealthy of that land. 

 Pine Manila, Colombo, Calcutta, and Bombay 

 houses, especially those recently erected, are 

 furnished with these handsome floors. Every 

 species of wood from the costly mahogany, 

 satinwood and rosewood of the tropics, to our 

 own less expensive but more useful white ash, 

 sycamore, maple, walnut, cherry and oak, 

 finds a place in one design or another. 



The natural color of mahogany is seldom 

 seen in modem finished furniture because of 

 the senseless custom of stainiug the wood red 

 for the apparent purpose of obtaining greater 

 uniformity of color and satisfying an unthink- 



Oak. Mahogany and Maple 



Oak and Mahogany 



r" 



Oak and Mahogany 



SPECIMEN PARQUETRY BORDERS, 

 which is infinitely more beautiful than any 

 process of coloring can produce. Cherry, 

 when very old, becomes too dark for extensive 

 use in parquetry fields, but is well fitted for 

 border work. 



Walnut has a nut-brown color quite difl'er- 

 ent from any other American wood, which 

 makes it, also, too gloomy looking for any- 

 thing but borders. Although it stands well 

 and works easily, it will not bear hard usage. 

 Its price is very high in spite of the present 

 limited demand in this country, but this is 

 doubtless due to scarcity and to the steady 

 export of logs to Europe. 



Vast quantities of hard maple flooring of 

 the common kind are used, but only the sap- 

 wood of the tree is available for parquetry, 



