HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



Hardwood Floors in the Philippines 



The most remarkable floors in the worhl 

 may be found in the houses of wealthy Span- 

 ish and Filipino families in the Philippine 

 Islands. This is due, no doubt, to the fact 

 that in beauty and variety of species the 

 hardwoods of the Philippines are unexcelled. 

 Then, too, the native hardwood floor makers 

 do not hesitate to devote days in the carving 

 of intricate figures in the flooring, charging 

 but nominal prices for their work. When the 

 American soldiers returned from the islands, 

 after a tour of duty, many brought home 

 to the United States small specimens of the 

 work of the patient native floor manufac- 

 turer. He goes into the dense forests of the 

 islands and secures special pieces of timber 

 for his work. The artisan has no trouble in 

 getting large quantities of rich hardwoods 

 admirably adapted to his purpose. He par- 

 ticularly seeks the intensely hard wood of the 

 roots of the so-called "wagon-tire" tree. 

 The roots of this tree extend about five feet 

 above the ground as sliown in Figure 1. Owing 



WARDrai 



cwooe I 



^^3FLpORj 



/}*'fj 



to its curves, wagon wheel makers of the isl- 

 ands often find pieces for wheel rims natu- 

 rally shaped in the right form. The selected 

 pieces are properly prepared and a very strong 

 wagon wheel rim results. Often the rim is 

 also the tire. That is, the wood is run to 

 the ground direct. On soft and muddy roads 

 this works well; on stone pavements, however, 

 the rim, no matter how tough, becomes worn 

 in time. 



Mative manufacturers often select oddly 

 shaped pieces of this wood, and preserve many 

 of the queer forms. Slabs are sawed from 

 these, and sets made for the completion of 

 certain designs. Intricate patterns are often 

 described by interlacing and arranging the 

 various oddly shaped slabs. This wood is given 

 a high polish before it is placed in the pat- 

 tern. Furthermore, the pieces are often elab- 

 orately carved in monograms or figures, scrolls 

 are described and angles made. 



The principal method of floor construction 

 in the islands is inlaid work. One may see 

 dozens of industrious natives squatted upon 

 the ground tioor of their nipa roofed shacks. 



shaping blocks, triangles, round pieces, disks 

 and diamond shapes from the very hardest 

 woods, using the crudest tools, preparing the 

 material for inlaying. Heaps of hard stock 

 like that shown in Figure 2 are piled about, 

 in process of seasoning. The workers chatter 

 continually. Time is no object to them; it 

 matters little whether they work or not, be- 

 cause the natural resources of the country 

 provide what food they require. 



The Filipino floor maker is ingenious in the 

 patterning of designs by combining the vari- 

 ous kinds of woods. Mahogany, a certain 

 species of oak, a wood similar to our maples 

 nnd other hardwoods are abundant in the 

 great forests of the islands. When the native 

 goes to the forests for material he is not 

 handicapped in any way; waste is nothing to 

 him. He fells a tree and selects the few 

 choice pieces he wants for flooring work, and, 

 though it be a giant of the forest, its great 

 body may be left upon the ground to decay. 



There is much deceit practiced by the na- 

 tives in the making of inlaid flooring. In a 

 i-.umber of places in which so-called hardwood 

 floors are manufactured, in order to get the 

 desired contrasting colors for patterns, cer- 

 tain inferior woods are dyed. The Filipino 

 prefers fancy colors and intricate designs to 

 plain patterns. It is a sign of position and 

 rank to have one's hall floor engraved about 

 the borders. The natives are careless about 

 many things, but their hall and reception 

 room floors are neatly kept. In all households 

 of importance there is a lad who attends ex- 

 clusively to the floors. With a pair of brushes 

 strapped to his feet he devotes much time to 



polishing them. The toot-brush is a form of 

 shoe with bristles in the sole. The lad applies 

 polishing oils while skating over the floors, 

 thus easily producing a rich gloss. 



All timber is thoroughly seasoned before 

 being used, and woods which are liable to 

 absorb moisture are avoided. A species of 

 sycamore grows in the Philippine forests, 

 but native floor makers say they cannot uti- 

 lize it because of that tendency. A wood that 

 appears to be a kind of satin-wood is fre- 

 quently employed. The rosewood of tropical 

 countries is also valuable for flooring and is 

 extensively used throughout the world. It is 

 found in abundance on certain of the islands. 



Although the native hardwood floor makers 

 are quite competent in designing and engrav- 

 ing patterns, they are not skillful in laying 

 floors. They fail to get the proper founda- 

 tions; therefore many are uneven. The diag- 

 onal arrangement of parquetry is not thor- 

 oughly understood by the workman. Often 

 the joints of the parquetry floor coincide 

 with those in the fouudation floor and depres- 

 sions result. 



Floor contractors usually make their signs 

 out of sections of hardwoods combined as in 

 Figure 3. The character of the work in the 

 sign, its finish, design, etc., aid many a buyer 

 to determine whether he shall patronize the 

 workman. An artistic sign, well made and 

 nicely finished, is always a means of securing 

 patronage. 



Figures 4, 5 and 6 are specimens of native 

 floor work, made by combining the vari-colored 

 woods, used in the houses of the rich, tri- 

 bunals, churches and public buildings. The 

 flooring used by the poor is simply inter- 

 laced split bamboo material as shown in Fig. 

 7. This is thrown over slat flooring and 

 really serves the purpose of a carpet. 



A Lumberman's Letters to His Son. 



Memi-his, Tenn., Jan. 6, 190(5. 



My Deae Son: You write the boys on the 

 road to advance the price of oak $3 a thou- 

 sand. There is nothing doing in oak in this 

 country. There isn't enough on hand at any 

 of the mills to wad a gun. The country is 

 full of buyers trying to purchase lumber and 

 every mill man is way up in the air on his 

 idea of values. The only way to visit an 

 ordinary sawmill in Arkansas nowadays is by 

 boat, as more of that state is under water 

 than on top of it. It rains every day and 

 sometimes twice a day, and a man dare not 

 go out to a dinner party without his gum 

 boots and a slicker. There is no prospect of 

 seeing any accumulation of oak lumber at the 

 mills for months to come. Oak is certainly it. 



Don't forget to impress upon the boys that 

 the orders to advance prices on oak are from 

 the old man, and that he means what he says. 



There is another thing we are up against 

 this year, and that is the matter of inspec- 

 tion. You tell the foreman that it won 't do 

 to take any more chances on stufling grades. 

 Even a man that don't buy more than two 

 carloads a year has got very wise on the grad- 

 ing proposition. After this there are just 



two things to do — make good grades and get 

 good prices. ' ' Chicago grades ' ' are a dead 

 duck in the pit. 



It isn 't only oak, but the prices asked for 

 gum, Cottonwood and ash down here are about 

 the same as we have been delivering the 

 goods for in wagonload lots in Chicago for 

 the last three months. 



Get busy with yourself and watch things 

 closely in the yard. Carefully inspect the 

 tally sheets and don't let any shipments go 

 out with short tallies. That scheme has al- 

 ways been a sucker trick and we have got 

 two or three inspectors who seem to think 

 it smart to turn in short count. It won't do; 

 business nowadays has to be done on the level. 



I, haven't bought lumber enough to even 

 make a dent in my balance in the hank, and 

 don 't know as I am going to be able to 

 buy any. 



Hope you and your mother are well, and 

 that the cook is still holding down her job. 

 Your affectionate Father. 



P. S. — Mark up the price of oak $5 a thou- 

 sand. If prospects of money making in the 

 hardwood game don 't improve, it will be wise 

 for you to make good with the Frisco heiress. 



