WOOD -WORKING INDUSTRY. 237 



chairs together is sometimes a specialist in the work. He gets 

 40 centavos a day. The commonest class of chairs is sold locally 

 at from 12 to 14 pesos a dozen, if the sale is a free one. When a 

 man advances the money to the manufacturer, he gets a reduction 

 in price. The amount of this reduction is variable, and may be 

 as much as one-third. 



I found it difficult to determine the amount of profit which 

 there is in making chairs, as the statements of many of the 

 workers seemed intended to mislead. To the best of my judg- 

 ment, the wood in a chair of the ordinary sort, if palo maria - 

 is used, costs, laid down at the place of manufacture, about 15 

 centavos. The rattan for the seat costs about 5 centavos. With 

 the average grade of management which prevails at San Vicente, 

 a chair of this kind costs the manufacturer, if he does none of 

 the work himself, between 70 and 80 centavos, allowing nothing 

 for the use of the place of manufacture, which is the ground 

 floor and yard of his house. 



There is no uniformity in the manner of disposing of the 

 manufactured articles. I know of several men who sometimes 

 advance money to the manufacturers and get their money back in 

 chairs. One of these men is at present trying to make furniture 

 brokerage a regular business — I do not know with how much 

 success. 



If a manufacturer has enough capital to be able to get on 

 without advances of money, he either disposes of his goods in 

 person or engages some one to take them on a peddling tour. 

 The peddling is either done from an ox cart, or the goods are 

 taken to Kagayan or Pangasinan by sea. Naturally, the farther 

 the chairs are taken from San Vicente, the more is charged for 

 them. But probably the system most commonly used is for the 

 consumer to send an order directly to the manufacturer. 



The material is sometimes bought ready dressed from dealers 

 in Vigan. More commonly the manufacturer or a member of 

 his household sets out on the road and buys the first tree that 

 suits his purpose. A good deal of the palo maria used in San 

 Vicente comes from the towns of Lapog and Maksiiiggal. Narra, 

 the only other wood used at all commonly by San Vicente chair- 

 makers, is usually bought ready dressed in Vigan. 



The situation of the woodworking industry of San Vicente 

 may be summed up as follows : There exists here a considerable 



' Calophyllum sp., Iloko name, bitaug, pronounced as three syllables. 



