20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



HARDWOODS 



Hardwoods make a poor showiug in the exports from thiis country 

 to the West Indies for the reason that those islands are well sup- 

 plied with hardwoods of their own. The shipment of oak was 

 almost neglible, although that wood is not found there in commercial 

 quantities, other than live oak, the same species that grows in our 

 southern states. It is of poor form for the sawmill. In 1913 

 Jamaica took 2,000 feet of our oak lumber at $77.50 a thousand, 

 and Santo Domingo 1,000 feet at .$60. Cuba bought 121,000 feet 

 of yellow poplar for $10,775, and Jamaica 4,000 feet for $296. 

 Cypress, which is botanically a softwood, though it is sometimes 

 classed otherwise, was shipped to three of the islands last year. 

 Cuba paid $4,165 for 143,000 feet, Santo Domingo $1,409 for 38,000 

 feet, and Jamaica $38 for 1,000 feet. 



OTHER TIMBER 



There is considerable export of round and square timber to tlie 

 islands. Trinidad and Tobasco took 38,000 feet of round logs, Cuba 

 77,000 feet, and 13,000 feet of hewed timber went to Cuba, together 

 with railway ties worth $175,546. The British possessions paid 

 $2,611 for ties. Joists and scantling were shipped to the British 

 islands to the value of $53, to Haiti $2,721, and to Cuba $4,391. 

 Sawed timbers were shipped as follows to various parts of the 

 West Indies: 



Country Feet Value 



Cuba 1,137.000 $21,158 



Haiti 37,000 1,307 



Trinidad and Tobasco 31,000 580 



Jamaica 28,000 487 



Danish West Indies 11,000 472 



Dutch West Indies 3,000 128 



Total 1,247,000 $24,141 



ALL OTHER LUMBER 



Exports to the West Indies of lumber which does not properb' 

 fall under any of tlie preceding classes are shown in the following 

 table : 



Country Feet Value 



Jamaica 121,000 $ 4,219 



Other British 96,000 1,015 



Haiti 84,000 3,880 



Santo Domingo 74,000 2,829 



Dutch West Indies 54,000 2,148 



Cuba 20,000 1,373 



Trinidad and Tobasco 22,000 750 



Total 480,000 $17,114 



COOPERAGE AND BOXES. 

 Staves were one of the first commodities sent from the mainland 

 of North America to the West Indies, and shipments continue. 

 Molasses, sugar and rum were among the earliest products of 

 these islands to seek world markets. The oak of the Atlantic coast 

 from Xew England to Georgia, and later of the interior has sup- 

 plied the barrels which have carried the products to market. The 

 staves still go from the United States, and in recent years boxes 

 have been added to carry fruit. Our exports of staves to the islands 

 in 1913 are here shown: 



Country Value 



French West Indies $174,284 



Jamaica 62,975 



Trinidad and Tobasco 41,247 



Cuba 20.342 



Barbados 22 099 



Other British 305 



Total $330,272 



The export of barrel shooks for the same jieriod is liere given: 

 Country Value 



Barbados $104,097 



Triu'dad and Tobasco .'il.9G7 



Jamaica 29,100 



Dutch West Indies 27,575 



Other British 16,049 



Santo Domingo j 4-,o 



Haiti 774 



Tolal .S211,01S 



The value of box shooks for 1913 considerably exceeded the shooks 

 for barrels. The exports are given below: 



Country " '^alue 



Cuba $296,342 



Jamaica 28,947 



Santo Doniingo 7,421 



Danish West Indies 1,599 



Barbados ^*^ 



But eh West Indies •^9'^ 



Haiti ■ 213 



Total $335,961 



FURNITURE 



The people of the West Indies purchase much furniture from 

 tlie United States, and also much from Europe. The total from 

 this country exceeds in value a million dollars annually, as shown 

 lielow : 



Country Value 



Cuba * 926.587 



Santo Domingo 41,837 



Jamaica 29,929 



Trinidad and Tobasco 10,330 



French West Indies 10,040 



Dutch West Indies 3,519 



Barbados 3,317 



Danish West Indies 2,777 



Oils 9,617 



$1,037,968 



MISCELLANEOUS 



Large quantities of miscellaneous wood ex|iorts are shipped to 

 the various islands of the West Indies from the United States. 

 Some of the totals are shown in the following table: 



Articles Value 



Agricultural implements $157,215 



Empty barrels 59,041 



Doors 33,255 



Shingles 30,719 



Incubators 14,752 



Woodenware 9,411 



AH other wood niauufactures 533,889 



Tolal $839,182 



Physical Oeogkaphv 



In few regions has physical geography greater influence on com- 

 merce than in the West Indies. In most respects these conditions 

 are favorable but some are adverse. Ships can approach practically 

 all of the hundreds of islands to load and unload merchandise, for 

 which reason transportation is cheap. There are numerous com- 

 modious harbors where the largest ships may safely anchor. 



During the season from .luly to October violent storms are liable 

 to occur, which are frequently very destructive. They are known 

 as ' ' West Indian hurricanes. ' ' The origin of the name as well as 

 of the storms is in that region. The Carib Indians who once lived 

 there called this destructive storm ' ' hurakan, ' ' and though we 

 have changed the spelling the pronunciation remains the same. 

 These storms are supposed to be caused in some way by the trade 

 winds meeting the columns of heated air rising from the plains 

 of South America. The hurricanes usually take a north or north- 

 west course, and are not strangers to the coast of our southern 

 states. The Carolinas are occasionally visited, and the jiartial 

 destruction of Galveston is not forgotten. 



The Gulf Stream is a remarkable jihenomenon, whicli develops 

 in the West Indies, under pressure of tlie trade winds which force 

 vast volumes of water from the Atlantic ocean into the Caribbean 

 sea and the Gulf of Mexico, whence it escapes northward in two 

 enormous streams. The best known, but not the largest, of these 

 streams passes through the Florida strait. It carries as much water 

 as 300,000 Mississippi rivers. It is about fifty miles wide at the 

 narrowest point and 2,700 feet deep. The water is warm. It is 

 estimated to contain enough heat to keep constantly flowing a 

 stream of molten iron as large as the Mississippi river. It is this 

 heat that warms the British Isles and the northwestern countries 

 of Europe. 



