Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/247

 1868.] Wall Hangings of Wood. 203 this company often cut the hangings in the old veneer shape, by greatly im- proved means ; but their most notice- able manner consists in this : A log of wood divested of bark and sap, is first reduced by ordinary turning, to an ex- act cylinder. It is then placed in a powerful lathe, specially adapted to the object, and the hangings are turned off, in a continuous sheet, from fifty to three hundred feet long, and of an uniform width, of from eighteen to forty-six inches. No matter what the gauge, the thickness must ever be uniform. Whether to be sliced, or cut around the log, the wood is always previously steamed. Both styles of cutting must be seen, to be properly appreciated. One most agreeable peculiarity of this method of cutting around the log, is that native woods, never heretofore con- sidered at all ornamental, become de- cidedly so ; and those, which from their smallness of growth, could not previ- ously be employed in veneers, yield their unsuspected charms to the lathe. Thus : sturdy, close grained, lustrous dogwood, notwithstanding its supposed plainness, develops very beautiful figures and is more eligible for certain uses, on ac- count of its creamy lightness of tint. If a still whiter and brighter apartment were desired, holly, with its exceeding fineness of grain and lustre of surface, would be employed. The maples alone furnish a great variety, each as beautiful as the other. American curled birch gives effects fully equal to the best of those of imported satin-wood ; and, under certain treatment, superior. Oak, ash, chestnut, bass and poplar, for plain tones, produce fine interiors, with great range of figure, whilst blistered, mot- tled, curled and striped walnut yields the richest of contrasts with the golden- hued maples. New experiments are constantly making, upon woods not hitherto used for decorative purposes ; and, of course amongst many rejections, new names repeatedly occur. We do not notice Elm; but it would answer well. The present range includes Holly, Dogwood, white and yellow Poplar, rock, curled and bird's-eye Maple, Oak, Ash, Birch, Cherry, Satin-Wood, Wal- nut of all the figures, Sycamore, Ma- hogany, Rosewood, and a number of others. It is worthy of remark, that all these — even the first two, generally considered white — are warm in tone, so that no matter which is used, or what combination of any two or more, the apartment must appear comfortable and cosy. Holly is milk white ; Dogwood, creamy, and, in some stocks, pinkish ; Poplar, Naples yellow, or sometimes Dutch pink ; Maple, in common varies from light to deep raw sienna and sal- mon ; Birch and the superior specimens of Maple give charming deep tones of burnt sienna and light ones of Vandyke brown ; Satin-Wood and some sheets of Birch approach fresh gallstone ; the Oaks and Ashes afford light hues, re- ferable to bistre, sepia, and other warm browns, while the curled, blistered, mottled and striped kinds of Walnut exhibit the deep hues of the same pig- ments ; Mahogany affords Indian-red and other russets ; and Rosewood, maroon. In durability, Wood-Hangings are not surpassed by solid wood. They have been tested, for upwards of a year, in hot rooms, exposed to furnace or other heat, with more or less steam, remain- ing in as good condition as when the wood was first hung, without blistering, shrinking or cracking. The varnish, or other finish upon them, fills the pores of the wood, so as to give complete protec- tion from the attacks of vermin of all sorts, from dry or wet rot, and, in fact, from any kind of deterioration. They are entirely free from the mineral poisons, so objectionable in the pigments used for the effects of certain wall-papers ; do not absorb moisture ; and receive no scent from smoke, or taint from the breath of the bed-ridden sick ; so that