CHAPTER XII. 
Wonders of Wood 
Think of what we make out of wood! 
We make— 
Railroad ties. 
Telegraph poles. 
Fences. 
Fence posts. 
Boxes. 
Crates. 
Excelsior for packing. 
Wood pulp for paper. 
We cut fire-wood to burn; we make frame houses with 
shingled roofs and all that goes under the roof! Look 
around you—how many wooden objects can you count? 
And the ships! Think of 
the Trojan galleys, centuries 
ago, their long oars flashing in 
the sun, the brown backs of 
the rowers glistening as they 
bent to their task. Think of 
the great Armada, that fleet 
of square-sailed Spanish gal- 
Woodsmen 
lows beaten so bravely by the English sailors of Queen 
Elizabeth—think of Columbus’ ship! A stout vessel she 
was, planked with oak; her masts were of oak, too, I 
think, cut from trees a hundred years old. Nowadays 
we need longer masts, so we find them among the tall, 
straight pine that grows in Oregon and along the shores 
of the Great Lakes or in Canada and Northern Maine. 
