Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 318, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 January 1920 — Lignum Vitae Only Used on Propellers of Vessels [ARTICLE]

Lignum Vitae Only Used on Propellers of Vessels

While inspecting the head of a golf club or fitting a caster to the dining room table, few landsmen realize that they are handling wood from the West Indian guaiacum. or lignum vitae tree, says Popular Mechanics. Fewer realine that this same wood has been used to make; propeller shaft bearings for every battleship and ocean liner on the high seas. This wood alone, of the thousands upon the earth, will survivethe grinding rotation of the great shafts. The reason is found on examining a’ lignum vitae log. The sap cells are seen to be full of heavy, solidified resin. Successive layers of fiber are arranged obliquely to each other, making it impossible to split the log. ■ ?. — : ,