HARDWOOD RECORD 



25 



reoommentled to compose the board of directors 

 and the others the arbitration committee. 



Jiist previous to ndjounmient Mr. Harris, on 

 U'half of rred Helm, president of the Helm 

 Lumber Company, presented the Lumbermen's 

 Exchange with a large photograph of himself 

 and also a large photograph showing the de- 

 teased lumbermen of St. Louis. It Is a rare 

 collection and will be hung on the walls of the 

 Lumbermen's Exchange. 



At the election, held January 2 at the ofllce 

 of the association, the result was as follows : 



Capt. Lloyd G. Harris, president. 



W. W. t>ings. vice-president. 



A. J. Lang, H. Teckemeyer. F. Waldstein, E. 

 H. Warner, R. F. Krebs, J. R. Massengale, 

 board of directors, 



Tom I'owe. Kelly R, Chandler, L, AI. Korgess, 

 J, r. Richardson, board of arbitration. 



A secretary will be elected when the reports 

 are submitted January 10. 



Cincinnati Bankruptcy, 



The Wiborg & Hanna Company, large dealers in 

 hardwoods, were thrown Into bankruptcy last 

 week, on a petition tiled by attorneys on com- 

 plaint of the Swann-Day Lumber Company, the 

 Southern Lumber Company and the Briggs & 

 Cooper Company, Ltd. The first mentioned 

 claim Is that they have a note due them for 

 $4,322.67 for goods sold and delivered. The 

 second holds an account for $4,50u for lumber 

 sold and delivered, while the last mentioned has 

 a claim for ^'^92.20 against the bankrupt firm. 

 The firm has Issued a statement in which they 

 allege that their assets are greater than their 

 liabilities, and there is no cause of fear on the 

 part of creditors as they have plenty to assure 

 them full value. The tight money situation has 

 forced the company Into liquidation, and but 

 for this they would be doing business In the 

 same old way. They have, it is said, forwarded 

 much money for the cutting of timber and other 

 Instances where it became necessary to forward 

 money for lumber, and when some of their notes 

 fell due, and they were unable to secure the 

 cash to meet them, the creditors became alarmed 

 and took these steps. Representatives of cred- 

 itors are becoming Interested in the firm's state- 

 ment that its assets are large enough to pay 

 dollar for dollar. 



The Wiborg & Hanna Company say that they 

 will be able to pay every dollar due, and it is 

 only a question of time when everything will 

 be cleared up. They say that should the re- 

 ceivers proceed to sell stock and other material 

 as It stands now It would mean a great loss to 

 the company, but should they wait for a while 

 they will he able to sell stock on hand, and in 

 doing this will meet every bill against them 

 and also have a substantial amount left to 

 conduct their business. "The mills of the com- 

 pany in the South," said a representative of 

 the Wlljorg & Uanna Company, "will meet every 

 bill, and I will venture to say that the com- 

 pany's assets will reach near $400,000, while 

 their liabilities are not more than $230,000." 



The Wiborg & Hanna Company, previous to 

 this, has been doing a good business, and had 

 It not been for the money stringency It would 

 never have been In hot water. 



liUm'ber Camps in the Tropics. 



There Is probably no place on earth where 

 the admirer of outdoor life and sports can more 

 fully Indulge in the infatuating companionship 

 of nature than at a well located timber camp 

 down in the semi-tropics. Central America and 

 southern Mexico contain some of the most beau- 

 tiful stretches of scenery to be found anywhere 

 In the world. There Is a wild healthfulness In 

 camping, especially in timber regions, that creates 

 a ravenous appetite and develops a rugged, ro- 

 bust physique. It also acts as a tonic to the 

 mental as well as the physical conditions of 



man, expanding the Intellect and filling the mind 

 with useful Informallou, Impossible to obtain 

 even in the most advanced Institutions of learn- 

 ing. 



I wish to deviate a little from the formality 

 of lumber lore and dwell upon some of the ro- 

 mantic scenery and beauties and pleasures of 

 life at a mahogany camp In the tropics. 



The place which I have In mind is In the 

 southern part of Yucatan, where there is a large 

 extent of probably the finest and most richly 

 wooded territory in the world. This region as 

 yet Is practically undbsturbed, so far as Its 

 forest Is concerned, nothing having been taken 

 from it but a very small portion of the most 

 accessible mahogany. Of late years, however, 

 there have been some extensive camps estab- 

 lished here, and others are being contemplated. 

 The eastern portion of this territory is tributary 

 to the Hondo River, which empties into the 

 Caribbean Sea, near the line of British Honduras 

 and Yucatan, not far from the city of Corrosol. 

 It is an ideal stream for rafting timbers and 

 meanders through a section of lovely country with 

 a wonderful diversity of scenery. The country 

 adjacent to it on either side had for many years 

 up to quite recently been in the hands of a war- 

 like tribe of Indians, called the Mayas. There 

 had for many years exi>;tcd anion-; thcin a state 



several engagements, but Mexico has finally sup- 

 pressed them, sufliclently at least to quell their 

 warlike propensities and hold their leaders In 

 subjection. I'eople from the United States were 

 excepted by these wild tribes, they never having 

 held any particular HI will toward Americans, 

 who are comparatively safe In that country. 



This whole region Is teeming with an unsur- 

 passed forest wealth. It doubtless contains some 

 of the finest mahogany forests in existence, and 

 not far from Baccalar Is said to stand the largest 

 mahogany tree In Mexico. While on a trip Into that 

 portion of Y'ucatan the writer had occasion to 

 stay for a time at the home of a prominent 

 native whose place of residence was on a beau- 

 tiful elevation some ten or fifteen feet above the 

 level of the sea, at a place called Ceros camp. 

 This Jlttle cluster of native built houses Is lo- 

 cated In a sheltered nook on one of the small 

 open bays or bights common to the coast of 

 that country, and my stay at that place, though 

 brief, will always be a recollection of pleasure 

 and interest. The landscape In any direction 

 you might look was a scene of superlative beauty. 

 Sea fowls, with white and graceful wings, flew 

 in flocks low and slowly over the shimmering 

 blue waters. There were myriads of wild geese 

 and ducks that seemed almost tame, and their 

 cry and cronk was heard everywhere. They 



MEXICAN MAHOGANY CDTTERS' OPEN CAMP. 



of bitter hatred toward most all white men or 

 traders entering their domain, and the depreda- 

 tions of these fierce savages, usually led on by 

 some desperate renegade white man who had 

 taken up his abode among them, was for a long 

 series of years a menace to any enterprise that 

 was attempted In that country. It Is for this 

 reason that the great natural wealth of this 

 region is practically undisturbed. 



The principal stronghold of this savage race 

 was the old city Baccalar, most of which Is now 

 In ruins. The better class of the houses were 

 built of stone, but some were of adobe or sun- 

 dried brick ; there were also many mud huts. 

 Some of the buildings show the old Mexican and 

 Aztec style of architecture. It Is beautifully 

 located on a small plateau surrounded on all 

 sides by high mountains, and is almost inaccessi- 

 ble. It Is a quaint and lonesome place and Is 

 seldom vislleil by travelers. Baccalar was built 

 many years ago and inhabited by the Y'ucotas 

 or natives of Yucatan, but It was besieged and 

 taken by these Indians and all the inhabitants 

 fied or were slain and the city has ever since 

 remained in their pos.sesslon. They defied the 

 Mexican government and defeated Its soldiers In 



would rise and fly again and again upon the near 

 approach of our boat, they dived and swam and 

 rested on the gentle waves tliat rolled out over 

 the sea grass flats and flecked the shore with 

 froth and foam. Flamingoes, pelicans and cranes 

 waded in the shallow water here and there, seem- 

 ingly too little concerned about our approach to 

 be alarmed, and there was the finest fishing all 

 up and down the beach. Turning from this anl- 

 tnatlng scene to the landward view of this pano- 

 ramic display was the distant stretch of shore 

 line, fringed- with the coeoanut and palm trees. 

 Beyond these were plots of parklike sward or 

 lawn. Interspersed with clumps of magnificent 

 trees and frequent groups of mammoth fernlike 

 vegetation, with giant feathery sprays that hang 

 In circles like emerald archways over the wide 

 trail leading out into the bush and up Into the 

 heavily wooded forests of cedar and mahogany. 

 Still far beyond these in the smoky haze of dis- 

 tance was the irregular border line of the mighty 

 mountains,, penciled upon the vast scope of trop- 

 ical sky by the hand of nature. 



This wide sylvan region Is the home of many 

 wild beasts. Animals of many species Inhabit 

 these almost Impenetrable Jungles and few are 



