THE USES OF WOOD 



733 



be considered as it now exists in the United States, with 

 no further reference to past years, periods, styles, and 

 fashions than is necessary to illustrate certain features of 

 the subject. Treatment from that angle would deal 

 with materials, statistics, and methods ; the resources of 

 rough timber and the same resources transformed into 

 finished products ; the forest put to its highest use in the 

 service of the people. 



This article is written from the viewpoint of the pres- 

 ent rather than of the historical, and it is therefore neces- 

 sary to deal in statistics sufficiently to show the economic 

 as well as the esthetic side of the subject. It is neces- 

 sary, also, to eliminate from consideration all furniture 



made of ma- 

 *-, ^ terials other than 



wood ; but that 

 does not take 

 much away, be- 

 cause wood is 

 now, and has al- 

 ways been, the 

 leading depend- 

 ence of furni- 

 ture makers. 



It seems ap- 

 propriate, how- 

 ever, to devote 

 a few introduc- 

 tory paragraphs 

 to a review of 

 furniture's place 

 in human prog- 

 ress, for it has 

 had a place ; and 

 the full value of 

 what we possess 

 cannot be ade- 

 quately appreci- 

 ated unless it is 

 compared with 



t ^*^S r pie; and down to the present 



time furniture has been a 

 \\ measure of a people's culture 

 ^k in a greater degree, perhaps, 

 I than anything else, except 

 books, and the existence of 

 literature presupposes the ex- 

 istence of furniture. The 

 Japanese had writing desks 

 six inches high before they 

 had any other furniture, ex- 

 cept skins and rugs to sit on. 

 The Egyptians used doweled, 

 carved, and veneered furni- 

 ture 5,300 years ago. A bed- 

 stead dating from that period 

 is in existence. It is twelve 

 inches high, 26 inches wide, 

 and 63 inches long. If it was 

 made for an adult, his feet 

 must have hung over the foot- 

 board ; but it would fit a child, 

 and it is known that the 

 Egyptians made furniture for 

 children, for a child's chair, 

 3,400 years old, still in exist- 

 ence, had a back 23 inches 

 high, a seat seven and a half 

 inches high and 17 inches 

 wide. The back was con- 

 structed of panels one-fourth 

 of an inch apart. The old 

 furniture of the Nile was 

 principally of cedar but other 

 woods were used, among them 

 being ebony, while walnut and 



teak, believed to have bean brought from India, were 



occasionally used. 



The Greeks had faultlessly planned and exquisitely 



made furniture, but not much of it. Perhaps their 



A FAVORITE GIFT 



A handsome electric floor lamp would 

 delight almost any woman's heart. 



what went before. Wild men 

 never used furniture, and no- 

 mads had little. They could not 

 move it about with them in their 

 wanderings. The use of furni- 

 ture has always indicated a fair 

 degree of civilization in a peo- 



AN ARTISTIC COMBINATION 



Wood, reed, and upholstery blend well together when skillfully worked into furniture, particularly 

 when the piece of furniture is of large size. Woods may be had in colors to match nearly any surround- 

 ings that can be met with, from birds-eye maple and holly, the lightest, to walnut and ebony, the 

 darkest, and all shades between. 



